How to pick the right e-reader

Are you ready to take your book collection digital and buy your first e-book reader? We're here to help. We break down the best e-readers from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others.

If you’re looking for a new e-reader, whether you’re upgrading or buying your first device, you’ll find there are a lot of options. There are four big names in the e-book reader market and they each offer a range of e-readers to suit different budgets and requirements. There’s a reason these companies are dominating the e-reader scene, so if you want quality, great features, and reasonable prices, there’s no need to look beyond them.

We are going to focus on dedicated E Ink devices for reading e-books here, so we won’t delve into full-fledged tablets. We’ll also ignore discontinued lines, although there are bargains to be had out there in the secondhand market. Let’s take a look at the options and then we’ll compare at the end.

Barnes & Noble Nook

The popular Nook from Barnes & Noble comes in two flavors. There’s the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, and the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch Reader.

For the basic Reader you’ll need to shell out $100. It has an E Ink display, which is easy to read, even in direct sunlight. It also has a 6-inch touchscreen and can hold up to 1,000 books, magazines, or newspapers. A single charge will last you up to two months based on an average of 30 minutes reading per day.

The GlowLight version is $20 more at $120. It is essentially the same, but it has a backlit touchscreen so that you can read in the dark. The GlowLight reduces the battery life to a, still respectable, one month. That’s also based on an average of 30 minutes reading per day.

Both devices have a microSD card slot so you can expand memory by up to 32GB. That’s a lot of books.

For more details you can read our in-depth review.

Amazon Kindle

A perfect marriage of content and hardware has allowed the Kindle range to really drive the widespread adoption of e-readers. You have quite a few choices if you want to buy an e-reader from Amazon. There’s the basic Kindle, the Kindle Keyboard 3G, the Kindle DX, the Kindle Paperwhite, and the Kindle Paperwhite 3G.

At just $70, the basic Kindle is a steal. It has a 6-inch e-ink display that’s easy to read, even in direct sunlight; it can hold up to 1,000 books, magazines, or newspapers; and a single charge will last you up to one month based on an average of 30 minutes reading per day.

The Kindle Keyboard 3G costs $140 and it adds a physical keyboard into the mix and 3G connectivity. It also has double the storage of the basic Kindle and it boasts stereo speakers. A single charge will last you up to two months based on an average of 30 minutes reading per day. It is also larger and heavier.

For anyone seeking something even bigger, there’s the Kindle DX. It has a 9.7-inch screen, free 3G, stereo speakers, 4GB of storage, and a physical keyboard. However, it costs a whopping $380 and battery life is just three weeks.

The Paperwhite is Amazon’s answer to the GlowLight Nook. It also allows you to read in the dark, but the screen is not backlit, instead there’s a light at the top. The basic Kindle Paperwhite is $120. It boasts an extremely sharp 6-inch touchscreen, can store over 1,000 books, and can also last up to two months on a single charge, once again, based on a half hour of daily reading.

The top of the range choice is the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 3G which costs $180. It simply adds free 3G to the basic Kindle Paperwhite.

You can pay an extra $20 for any of the entries in the Kindle range in order to avoid any advertising. The special offers take the form of adverts on your screensaver and at the bottom of your home screen. There is no intrusion on your actual reading.

Kobo

It doesn’t have as big a name, but Kobo does offer a good e-reader range. There’s the Kobo Mini, the Kobo Glo, and the Kobo Touch.

The Kobo Mini costs $80. It has a 5-inch e-ink touchscreen. It can store 1,000 books and the battery can also last up to one month, but no usage estimates in terms of daily reading are provided. The one month battery claim is also contradicted in the Kobo FAQ which says two weeks.

As you might expect, the Kobo Glo allows you to read in the dark and it costs $130. It has a 6-inch E Ink touchscreen, can also hold around 1,000 books, and the battery will give you 55 hours of continuous use with the light on.

The Kobo Touch also costs $130, although you’ll find it discounted in a lot of places. It has a 6-inch E Ink touchscreen. It has the standard 2GB storage which is room for up to 1,000 books. The battery life is up to one month.

The Kobo Glo and the Kobo Touch also have microSD card slots so you can expand the storage by up to 32GB.

Sony Reader

You current options are the Sony Reader PRST2HBC and the Sony Reader PRST2RC. As far as we can make out both devices are the same except for the color options. The Sony Reader PRST2HBC is standard grey/black while the PRST2RC comes in white or red.

The Sony Reader costs $130. It has a 6-inch E Ink touchscreen. There is just 1.3GB internal memory, but there is a microSD card slot so you can expand storage up to 32GB. It can also last up to two months on a single charge, once again, based on a half hour of daily reading.

What to buy?

If low price is your prime concern then you can’t beat the basic Kindle at $70. We’d give second place to the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch Reader at $100. You could also consider the Kobo Mini at $80 but it has a smaller screen and poorer battery life.

If you want to be able to read in the dark then it’s a straight head-to-head between the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight at $140 and the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite at $120. The Nook has expandable memory, but the Kindle has a sharper screen, and coupled with the lower price, it edges this one. The Kobo Glo could be worth a look at $130, but it falls down on battery life again.

The presence of 3G, which will allow you to connect to a mobile network and download books even when you are out and about, is only available on selected Kindles now. Is it worth the premium? We think probably not. Most people will be happy to load up books using Wi-Fi and won’t feel the need to connect all the time.

As with any expensive purchase, we would strongly recommend that you try these out before you buy. The feel of an e-reader is very important. If you want something light then the Kobo Mini and the Sony Reader are actually the lightest, closely followed by the basic Kindle. The sharpest screen on the market is the Kindle Paperwhite at 212 ppi.

Ultimately, the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Amazon Kindle range get our strongest recommendation. You are unlikely to be disappointed with either.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/ereader-comparison/

Read More

Spotify vs Rdio vs Deezer: battle of the streaming services

Deezer enables you to manage a collection of your favourite artists, albums and tracks

After the CD came the MP3, then the streaming subscription -- but where should you spend your £10 a month? For UK music lovers old favourite Spotify has recently been joined by the US-based Rdio and the France-based Deezer. Which offers best value for money?

We tested out all three packages based on the higher £9.99 (USD $9.99, AUD $11.99) monthly subscription. Each service also provides a £4.99 (USD $4.99, AUD $6.99) plan that excludes mobile use.

There are some variations with the Australian Dollar (AUD) pricing: Deezer is AUD $14.49 and $7.49 for each package and is not available in the US. Rdio is AUD $12.90 and AUD $8.90 for each package.

Spotify is the only platform that provides a free level, with listening limits and advertising, though both Rdio and Deezer offer free trials you can use to test the water.

Spotify vs Rdio vs Deezer: Apps and third-party support

Spotify has always existed solely as a desktop client, though rumours from TechCrunch suggest the launch of a browser-based app is imminent. Perhaps this is due in part to the influence of Rdio and Deezer, which both run through a browser. Rdio also has a desktop app available, though it doesn't offer much more than the online version.

All three services offer competent mobile apps for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry, though the Deezer app feels more rough around the edges than the other two. In addition, iPad-specific apps have been released for each of these services; Android tablet users have to make use with a one-size-fits all app, at least for the time being. In terms of mobile compatibility, all our contestants are on a level playing field, with Spotify just edging it for the most mature and classy client.

Spotify is the oldest service here, and you'll find support for it baked into hardware like the Sonos speaker line-up and online platforms such as Tumblr. It also has an app eco-system of its own, though for us this doesn't really bring anything of particular use to the table. Spotify, Rdio and Deezer all support scrobbling to the popular listening history tool Last.fm.

Spotify vs Deezer vs Rdio: Look, feel and ease of use

Rdio has recently revamped its interface and it's a real thing of beauty, particularly if you like a minimal approach (and pale blue). Spotify's app feels somewhat dark and foreboding by comparison, and could take a leaf out of Rdio's use of spacing and album art. Again, Deezer has a few rough edges -- a phrase that keeps cropping up with this service -- and there's something vaguely 80s about its appearance. Still, it's not a complete eyesore.

Moving around all three apps and controlling playback is smooth and straightforward. There's little to choose between them for ease of use, though Rdio would be our winner for the cleanest, most intuitive interface, the one that beginners will be able to pick up the quickest.

Spotify vs Deezer vs Rdio: Catalogue and audio quality

Assessing a catalogue of millions of tracks is difficult and more than a little subjective. All three services claim a catalogue of "more than 18m" tracks, though we found disparities, so it can't be the same 18 million songs. Artists such as Coldplay, Beyoncé and the Beach Boys are everywhere; digital hold-outs the Beatles and Oasis are nowhere. Where we did find gaps, it seems to be the smaller labels involved -- you'll be able to get a flavour of our music taste when we say Canadian rockers Arcade Fire and pop duo Sleigh Bells were on Deezer and Spotify but not Rdio, while Sufjan Stevens' latest LP is only on Spotify, and Pink Floyd (surprisingly) appear on Deezer but not the other two services.

From our enquiries with press contacts, all of these services claim a maximum quality of 320kbps when streaming music. To our layman's ears, there isn't a great deal to choose between them, both streaming tracks and playing from the offline cache. If you have a serious music setup at home, you'll have to test Spotify, Rdio and Deezer in turn for differences in listening quality.

Spotify vs Deezer vs Rdio: Playlists and sharing

Smart playlists have yet to appear in streaming subscription land, but Spotify, Rdio and Deezer make it very straightforward to create and build playlists manually. Rdio and Deezer make it easier than Spotify to manage your 'collection' -- think iTunes Library vs the whole iTunes Store -- but Spotify was our favourite for managing a queue. If you prefer to add on songs, albums and playlists to the end of what you're currently listening to, in one long uninterrupted stream of music, Spotify does this a little better than the others.

If you want to work on collaborative playlists, this is possible in each service. Spotify and Deezer give you more control over shared playlists, enabling you to choose specific users who can make changes. In Rdio, playlists are either private, public (can be edited by anyone), or accessible to everyone you are following. In terms of simple, non-collaborative sharing, this is again available on all three of these platforms, whether you want to use Facebook, Twitter or the service's built-in user-to-user sharing capabilities. Deezer and Spotify really push their friction-less Facebook sharing capabilities, though it is just about possible to keep your listening habits private if you tweak the relevant settings.

Rdio vs Spotify vs Deezer: Offline syncing/local files

Offline syncing is pretty essential for mobile use, and Spotify, Rdio and Deezer all have this functionality built into their mobile apps. It can also come in handy on the desktop, should your Internet go down or you want to use your bandwidth for another task -- Spotify's desktop client can cache files for offline use, and so can Deezer's web client, if you install the official browser extension. Rdio doesn't currently offer offline syncing on the web or in its desktop application.

Both Spotify and Deezer let you import your own tracks into your collection, though the process is much easier with Spotify, which can monitor particular folders or libraries on your hard drive. Deezer uses a clumsy browser-based upload system -- it's not ideal, but it works. However, there's no ability to do this in Rdio, perhaps the biggest black mark against it. Its desktop app can scan and match what's in your iTunes or Windows Media Player library, but anything that isn't matched isn't available.

Spotify vs Deezer vs Rdio: Verdict

It's a close run race between Rdio and Spotify at this moment in time, though both services are introducing new features on a regular basis. In many ways we found Rdio to be the best-looking, easiest-to-use, most intuitive platform. It has a Collection feature to beat Spotify's, but there's one huge problem -- no local file support. That means the gaps in Rdio's catalogue (like Arcade Fire) can't be filled, so you'll still have to start up iTunes if you want to listen to something Rdio doesn't have. There's also no offline caching on the desktop, and for these reasons our £10 a month is staying with Spotify. Its desktop and mobile apps have improved in recent months, and it has matured into a stable and comprehensive service. If the rumours of a browser-based app are true, we'll love it even more. Deezer is a decent bronze medal winner -- in many ways it offers the best of Spotify and Rdio, but it was too fiddly and too unintuitive in too many areas. It has potential, but it's not up to the level of the other two yet.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/spotify-vs-rdio-vs-deezer-battle-of-the-streaming-services-1100175

Read More