Stowi

There are few things selling faster right now than e-book readers, and even if you’ve never really thought about buying one, here are some amazing benefits that just may change your mind.

There are many things that make ebook readers appealing but the technology itself is one of the biggest. They can perform certain functions that can never be done with a regular book.

Let’s ignore most of the normal technical talk used when describing such devices and talk about the easy to understand benefits of owning an e-reader.

1. Capacity for Thousands of Books Ebook readers have the ability and capacity to hold tens of thousands of books. It’s rather fascinating since some libraries are not able to handle that many books. If you are a voracious reader, you will no longer need to be worried about not having enough books to read.

2. You Can Take Them Anywhere They are super easy to transport since they are lightweight and about the size of a small book. Remember, it is small but can literally hold thousands of titles. It’s not hard to see that you will be able to choose from many more books, especially if you are traveling.

3. Low Book Prices-Even for Best Sellers Despite variations in price, it is a common practice to find best selling authors and books for just $10.00. That is a great price. In addition, you can often get many titles for free.

4. Wifi Web Access Several of the new book readers are wifi enabled. That gives you great flexibility in being able to access the internet and get books as you are traveling. You can stop at hotels, restaurants, and other locations that have wifi access and have the ability to download new books, etc. There are also a few readers that have built in wifi capability so that you don’t even need a wifi hotspot.

5. Read at the Beach Being able to read in bright sunlight at the beach or pool is a very important factor for many ebook readers. Unlike many laptop computers and smart phones, several ebook makers paid close attention to the need to be able to read while outdoors. For some buyers, this one feature can be far more important than memory size or how many books a reader can hold.

6. Share Books with Friends and Family Several of the best models on the market contain technology that allows you to share your books with friends and family. You can certainly do this with a regular book but it takes more work and you may or may not see your favorite book again. If you share using an ereader, you still retain a copy too.

7. Ebook Readers Are Cool The bottom line is that ebook readers are plain cool and obviously the wave of the future. Ebook readers are used by many kinds of people for business, pleasure, and travel regardless of how old they may be or where they come from in the world.

Learn more about Where to Buy Nook …the hottest selling new ebook reader and other helpful tips on how tobuy ebook readers.

The Belkin Clip-On Reading Light for Kindle is amongst the classics between all other eReader accessories for your Kindle. As it does not have a backlight, having a reliable exterior source of reading light is crucial to fully enjoy the Kindle. The Belkin Clip-On Reading Light gives off a powerful cozy light, which comes in two settings.

You can adjust the level of illumination according to how much is needed for comfortable reading. Even on the lowest settings, the three LED bulbs give off good illumination to read on the Kindle without being disturbing to anyone who is alongside you.

The Belkin Clip-On Reading Light’s minimalist and elegant design makes it a great match for your Kindle. It may seem delicate but it gives serious performance. This model has a slim adaptable head that can be adjusted to achieve the best glare-free reading. It is also designed not to interfere in any way with the reading pleasure.

The clip-on base of this product is wide enough to get a firm grip on the Kindle, making it easier for us to move it about and even lie down on your side whilst viewing. And since it is cleverly designed, the base does not get in the way with our view of the display.

Another great feature of the Belkin Clip-On Reading Light is its usage of three AAA batteries instead of the flat watch batteries you annoyingly find in many other products. It is less of a challenge to locate a triple A battery lying about the place than a watch battery. Plus, it has no inconvenient anchoring screws making battery changing an easier activity.

The batteries will definitely give your Kindle a little extra weight but with the conveniences involving longer lighting lifespan and simpler maintenance, it is a small price to pay. This eReader accessory also includes a switch that can be hidden safely away when stored; it will prevent the light from unintentionally turning on and will help save a lot on its battery life.

Highlights:

Compact designed yet powerful reading light source.

Three LED bulbs provide robust, warm lighting.

Is easily stored.

Dimensions are 76.1×4.2×1.4 inches and weighs 4.3 ounces.

3xAAA batteries required.

Color white.

Check out eReader Review HQ for more great product reviews and opinions or find all of our other eReader Accessories Reviews here. Join our mailing list and receive eReader Reviews right to your inbox.

The popularity of e-book readers has been on the rise for quite some time. It’s probably true to suggest that the Amazon Kindle reader has been a very important factor in the growth of the market for e-book readers. The Kindle may not have been first to market when it was originally released in November of 2007, but it was a significant improvement on other readers available on the market at that time.

Amazon made good use of customer feedback and firmly established its market leadership position with the launch of the Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009. The large format Kindle DX followed in the summer of the same year and August 2010 saw Amazon release the third generation Kindle reader.

The Kindle is Amazon’s top selling product. Amazon recently advised that they are selling more Kindle books than hardback books – 180 Kindle books for every 100 hardcovers. It can only be a matter of time before Kindle books start outselling paperbacks – and they will eventually outsell both paperbacks and hardbacks combined.

There’s little doubt that e-book readers, and the e-books to be read on them, are here to stay. The future of reading seems to be digital. Some book lovers will have an attachment to conventional physical books, which is perfectly understandable of course. Some people are unsure as to whether or not an e-book reader would be a good option for them. Some book lovers fear that they will miss the feel, and even the smell, of a real book. Others wonder if they will enjoy reading on an e-ink display, or if the page turns will spoil their enjoyment.

It’s not always easy to form an opinion. It may soon be available in selected retails stores but, for the moment, the main outlet for the Amazon Kindle is online, so – unless you know someone who owns one – it can be hard to see it working in order to form an opinion. You can find any number of reviews on the internet – but many of these seem to be chiefly concerned with the technical aspects rather than the user experience. For the majority of prospective first time buyers, how an e-book reader compares with reading traditional books will be of more interest than how it stacks up alongside other e-book readers.

So, if you’re wondering whether or not an e-book reader would be right for you, here are a few points to consider

1. Due to the fact that they are small and lightweight, e-book readers are ideal for one handed use. This means that reading on a crowded bus, subway or plane is easy – as is reading propped up in bed or relaxing on the sofa.

2. The e-ink technology display is very much better to read on than a back-lit computer screen. It’s just like reading text printed on paper – but with a light grey background as opposed to white.

3, When you “turn the page”, there will be a momentary flicker. The screen momentarily goes blank. However, this really is extremely fast and – after you’ve been using your reader for an hour or two – you won’t even notice this.

4. The selling prices of e-books is usually lower than that of printed books – due to the fact that they use no paper, ink or bindings. They also don’t need to be mailed or transported by road.

5. E-books cost less than printed books – due to the fact that they use no paper, ink or bindings. They also don’t need to be delivered by road transport.

6. Because e-books use no paper, ink or bindings – and because there’s no physical product to be shipped – they are much kinder to the environment than traditional books.

7. Battery life, with the Wi-Fi turned off, is three to four weeks.

8. It’s very easy to download Kindle books. It really does take less than 60 seconds. As long as you are in an area with coverage – pretty much everywhere these days – you can buy a new book whatever the time of day. You’ll never find yourself in a hotel room with jet lag and nothing to read at two o’clock in the morning again.

9. You can download the first chapter of Kindle books for free – so you’ll be able to tell if you like a book before you buy it.

10. You can “try before you buy” by downloading the first chapter of Kindle books for free.

A recent survey found that 80% of U.S. based e-book reader owners preferred reading e-books to traditional books. It’s hardly surprising, when you look at the list of benefits above. If you are a book lover, then the Amazon Kindle reader may be the perfect gadget for you.

Learn more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.

At this time last year, the market for e-book readers was buoyant. Following the enormous success which Amazon had achieved with its Kindle reader – first with the Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009 and then with the large display DX model in the summer of the same year – a small army of personal electronics firms seemed to be developing, releasing or updating e-book readers of their own in order to grab a share of the new and rapidly developing market.

Sony and Barnes and Noble were working feverishly to get their new readers to market in advance of the 2009 festive season and Plastic Logic, Asus and a number of others were rushing to get their readers released as quickly as they could manage. The Computer Electronics Show (CES), held in Las Vegas in early 2010, had a dedicated e-book reader section for the first time ever. E-book readers were a hot new emerging market.

However, just a few months later, it’s a very different scene. The price of e-book reader hardware has been in free fall. The latest third generation Kindle now has a Wi-Fi only entry level model available for only $ 139 – less than 40% of the $ 359 price which the Kindle 2.0 launched. The price of the Nook reader from Barnes and Noble has also been slashed to just $ 149 – and a further cut before the festive season arrives seems highly likely.

A number of e-book readers in development – including Plastic Logic’s Que – have been shelved. The market seems to be entering a new stage in its development – and whether there is any place in it for pure electronics manufacturers or not is highly debatable. Amazon’s business model is very well suited to selling lower priced reader hardware and making a profit on the follow up sales of Kindle books. Barnes and Noble could employ a similar strategy – but it’s somewhat debatable as to whether or not they could make use of economies of scale in the same way that Amazon can.

The launch of Apple’s iPad has clearly been an important factor in these latest developments. There’s no doubt that the price of e-book reader hardware was going to fall anyway – but the arrival of the iPad on the scene has certainly hurried things along. However, considering that the third generation Kindles sold out almost immediately after launch – even today customers are facing a three to four week wait for their Kindles to ship – it doesn’t look like the iPad is the long awaited Kindle Killer that it was widely forecast to be.

Even putting the debate about e-ink displays being easier to read on than back-lit screens to one side, there is – at this time – enough of a gap between the price of the Kindle and the price of the entry level iPad to ensure that the Kindle will continue to be the more attractive option for anyone who just wants to read books. The fact that the iPad has a monthly download/connection fee will not please everyone.

It does seem that there is enough room in the market for both the Amazon Kindle and the iPad to co-exist – for the short term future at any rate. Other manufacturers of e-book readers, including major players like Barnes and Noble and Sony, may well find things starting to get tough as reader prices keep falling.

Find out more about the Kindle ebook reader for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.

The Kindle reader rapidly rose to be the top selling item on Amazon. All it takes is a few minutes to review the benefits offered and it is apparent why that has happened. There are a tremendous number of books available for immediate download to the Kindle. You will also be able to read your personal PDF files and receive a large number of periodicals. You can use it almost anywhere in the US, and many other counties as well. There will be no other cables, a computer or software required. The reader will be ready to go right out of the box.

One of the most interesting features is the high quality of text that is provided by the “E ink” technology that uses ink that is electronically displayed. It gives the sense of looking at a page from a book on the six-inch diagonal screen. You will find it does not seem you are reading from a computer screen. There are six different font sizes to choose from.

Basically, all of your books can now be large-print text if you prefer. Images are presented in sixteen shades of gray which ensures images are bright and clear. They can also be rotated and displayed in full-screen mode. You can browse basic text-based websites and services for sport scores, images and maps.

Since there is no back-lighting involved, you will find there is no glare like with typical electronic devices. Users are very impressed with the ability to use a Kindle inside, or out on a sunny beach, with no loss of clarity. There is 2 GB of internal storage. The battery will last for two weeks when you turn off the wireless capability, otherwise the battery life is cut in half, you will be able to carry it with you anywhere.

The Kindle is designed to be synchronized with computers and hand-held devices. You’ll be able to read on any of the devices and pick up where you left off. The included power adapter and USB cable will enable you to recharge the battery. The USB cable will also allow for easy file transfer of larger files that are downloaded to your computer.

With over a half-million books, nearly 2 million public domain writings, over 50,000 audio books, ebooks and periodicals available, you will build a very impressive personal library. There are free samples for almost all books. If you like it, one click and it can be purchased and downloaded. There is even a text-to-speech function with most books.

The Kindle is designed for long-term use. It only weighs 10 ounces, yet holds up to 1,500 books. If you ever come to a point you need more room, all of your purchases are stored for you and can be re-downloaded. It is very thin, about the thickness of a lead pencil, so it can be held comfortably in one hand. Both sides of the screen have the buttons used to turn the pages.

A Kindle reader will allow you to carry your personal library with you and keep track of where you left off in each book. You will be able to read what you want where you want on a computer or hand-held devices and keep them all in sync. Bookmarks, notations and clips saved will always be kept for your reference. Add some MP3’s for background music and reading will take on a whole new perspective.

Discover the Kindle 3 for yourself. It’s the future of reading – you can even download free books for your Kindle – right from the Amazon website!

It’s not that long since Amazon announced that they were selling more Kindle books than hardback editions. They are now advising that Kindle books are even outselling paperbacks. It can only be a matter of time before Kindle book sales are higher than both hardbacks and paperbacks combined.

It has a certain air of inevitability when you think about it. Anyone who is prepared to pay over $ 100 for an e-book reader is probably going to be the type of person who reads a good number of books, surely? Of course, there will always be some book lovers who prefer reading a traditional printed book – but, over the piece, we do appear to be heading towards a scenario where e-books assume increasingly more importance in the publishing world.

There’s certainly no shortage of Kindle books for prospective customers to choose from. Currently there are in excess of 800,000 Kindle books on sale on Amazon’s Kindle store. This number is growing daily – and there are a further 1.8 million out of copyright books which can be downloaded for free. These include titles by the likes of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Homer, Virgil among others.

Amazon has also released a variety of free apps which allow Kindle books to be read without the use of a Kindle reader. These exist for the PC, the Mac, the Apple iPad, the iPod Touch, the Blackberry smart phone and any device which runs Android. An app for the HP tablet computer is believed to be imminent. What this means is that users needn’t worry about their Kindle becoming obsolete. Each app also serves as an additional retail outlet for Amazon.

Amazon are estimated to enjoy around about a 90% share of the current e-book market. Obviously that can’t continue, and industry analysts are forecasting an approximately equal three way split between Amazon, Google and Apple by 2015. However, those are the same analysts who forecast that the launch of the Apple iPad would be the death of the Kindle, and they got that wrong didn’t they?

As a matter of fact, the latest third generation Kindle reader is selling better than ever before. It was Amazon’s best selling product (again) during the 2010 Christmas sales period, and the Kindle has now been Amazon’s best selling product for 18 months. 2011 sales forecasts have been increased from 5 million Kindles to 8 million, based upon recent sales returns. Some market rationalisation seems inevitable in future, but there’s nothing to suggest any reduction in the Kindle’s dominance in the short to medium term.

Learn all about the Kindle 3 for yourself. It’s the future of reading – you can even play games on the Amazon Kindle – some games are even free!

Just recently the eBook has become more popular than ever and surprisingly we have just seen the first instance of sales of the eBook surpassing the sales of paperback books. A lot of people have bought this device already, but it seems certain that a lot more will buy an eBook reader in 2011. Although many people find that the eBook is a really beneficial device to have, there are some of these devices which are better than others; that is why making the right choice is so important or you could end up with buyer’s remorse after your purchase.

The following are the most common mistakes that people make when they buy eBook readers.

- Before you actually buy an eBook reader, you need to check if it is tied to a particular store as many of them are. There are some stores that only have specific books available so you could find that you can’t buy the books that you wanted for your eBook reader. Another thing to check is the number of free books available with that particular store as these can be limited too.

- The ability to read PDF files is very important for an eBook reader because it means that you will get more choice of books to read. Not every eBook reader will allow you to read this type of file, but if yours does it will mean that you can read a lot more texts for free. You might also want a reader that can mange other file types such as word documents.

- Check whether or not your eBook reader comes with a backlight before you buy if this is something that you want. A lot of readers don’t come with a backlight and so you will need to use some type of light if you want to read in a dark area just like a normal book.

- Check the battery life of the device too because some of these readers only have very short battery lives.

Moby Memory are one of the world’s best suppliers of memory cards, phone accessories and memory accessories

There are many e-book reader reviews on the Internet right now. You can also find them in magazines and newspapers from time to time. This simply reflects the fact that e-book readers have really taken off – powered, to a large extent, by the release of the Amazon Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009. Today there is a wide variety of e-book readers to choose from and many people are looking for guidance to help them choose the right reader for them.

Many reviews, understandably perhaps, concentrate very strongly on the hardware – the size of the Kindle screen is this, the Sony Daily Edition screen size is that, this reader incorporates touch screen controls, that reader has a wireless connection etc. Which is fine, but if you’re looking for your first e-book reader then the chances are that you will be making a mental comparison between e-books and conventional books rather than between different types of e-book reader.

Firstly, to put your mind at rest, a recently conducted survey of American e-book reader owners found that 80% of them prefer to use their e-book reader rather than to read a traditional book. Based on that type of feedback it doesn’t look as if those who have changed from paper to electronic books are missing the feel of a real book too much. It appears as if manhandling large, paper books is not an attractive prospect for those who already have experience of e-book readers.

The display is one of the key things that you should consider when selecting your e-book reader. Assuming that the main purpose of your e-book reader is to read books, as opposed to surfing the web or watching video, you will certainly want to go for a reader which has an e-ink technology display. These really are very much like reading normal text printed on normal paper – much more so than reading on a backlit computer screen. They also require very much less power and this means you can go for a long time between charges. When you turn the page, the screen will flicker and go black very briefly. This is not a big problem. In the beginning you will notice it because it is something new but, after just a couple of reading sessions, you will be completely unaware of it.

Another important factor to consider is the controls and the ease of use. The controls of the Amazon Kindle for example, are well laid out and easy to use. It’s very easy to operate the Kindle using only one hand, which makes it ideal if you’re sitting propped up in bed or on a crowded train or bus. The Sony reader has touch screen controls – but this comes at the expense of a slightly poorer display as current touch screen technology is not completely transparent and also requires a slightly more reflective screen.

Finally, do not make the mistake of thinking that e-book prices are the same for different readers. A recent survey carried out by the New York Times showed that there were some very significant differences in the price of e-books for different readers. In some cases the difference was so large that someone who reads a book a week could save $300 a year – enough to pay for the e-book reader in other words. Book pricing is very volatile – so be sure to check on the price of e-books for the reader that you are considering buying.

Discover the Amazon Kindle for yourself – and don’t forget to pick up a Kindle cover – it’ll customise and protect your device.

The Amazon Kindle has established itself as the leader of the e-book reader pack. It has a 60% share of the U.S. e-book reader market – Sony’s PRS reader comes second with 35% – and both the Kindle 2.0 and the Kindle DX are now on sale internationally. The fact that almost every new e-book reader which shows the slightest promise is immediately christened the “Kindle Killer” only serves to underline the fact that the Kindle is not only the market leader but the benchmark against which all new readers will be measured.

Given the current dominance of the Kindle, it’s easy to overlook the fact that it is a very recent addition to the e-book reader scene. The eBookman, by Franklin, was launched in 1999 – over a decade ago. Sony’s PRS reader launched in 2006. The original Kindle wasn’t released until November 2007. February 2009 saw the upgraded Kindle 2.0 released and the larger DX followed in June on the same year.

Meanwhile, Amazon’s competitors have been busy. Sony’s Daily Edition reader and the Nook from Barnes and Noble were launched just before Christmas. The new Apple iPad is also perceived as a threat to the Kindle by many industry watchers. There are numerous other e-book readers available now, and many of the newer ones include features which are absent in the current Kindle version – color screen, touch screen control functionality etc.

How will Amazon respond? Thus far, apart from some firmware updates, Amazon’s main response to higher levels of competition has been to cut the price of the Kindle 2.0 by $ 100 to $ 259. However, there are rumors aplenty that the next Kindle version will be released in the first six months of 2010. Which prompts the question – what enhancements will the new Kindle incorporate?

One of the key factors in the success of the Kindle to date is the fact that it provides a great user experience. It’s very easy to use with one hand, the controls are excellent and the e-ink display is easy to read in a wide range of different lighting conditions. In a way, it would be something of a shame if Amazon were to follow the course of Sony’s Daily Edition reader by introducing touch screen functionality. If your main intent is simply to read books then this may not be regarded as a huge advance. If anything, one handed operation will become more difficult and, because touch screens have a more reflective surface, it may be harder to read in certain lighting conditions.

A color display would definitely be good – but not if it were done in the same way that Barnes and Noble included it in the Nook – which features color in the navigation menu only with the main reader display still being monochrome. In fact, a monochrome display is not a huge disadvantage for most readers – after all, 90% of the books we read consist of black text printed on white paper.

What Amazon may decide to do, and what they have done better than all of their competitors to date, is to provide a superior user experience. Instead of concentrating on gimmicky hardware enhancements, Amazon may decide to introduce options which will be genuinely useful for their customers. Faster page turns with less screen flicker and prolonged battery life may be enhancements which users would find desirable. Similarly, greater choice of e-books, quicker downloads and the potential to share Kindle books may be more important to some users than major hardware mods.

Amazon has assumed the position of market leader due to their ability to meet customer needs. Unsurprisingly they understand what people who read books actually want. As a result, the Kindle is now their number one selling product and, so far, they have not just led the market but pretty well defined it. The next iteration of the Kindle will show exactly which way the market will develop in future. On the balance of probabilities, it seems likely that Amazon will continue to lead the e-book reader market, not follow.

Have a look at the Amazon Kindle reader – and the wide range Kindle accessories available to help you customise and enhance it.

There are plenty of reviews on Amazon’s Kindle reader available right now. It’s way ahead of the other e-book readers available right now, and is very much the “must have” gadget of the moment. Most reviews concentrate on the Kindle’s technical aspects, which is quite understandable. It’s a piece of high tech personal electronics after all. Even so, a brief look at the actual user experience with the Kindle might not be a bad idea.

Firstly though, a very brief examination of the spec. The Kindle 2.0 costs $ 259. It’s about the same size as a typical paperback book and about as thick as a monthly magazine. It weighs just over 10 ounces and has enough memory to store 1500 books – give or take (depending upon the size of them and the number of illustrations, if any). One of the most important features is the e-ink display. This provides a very good reading experience and doesn’t strain your eyes. It also requires less power.

My first impression, when I got my Kindle a few weeks ago, was that the button positioning wasn’t right. There are two buttons on the left hand side – “prev page” and “next page”. There are a further two buttons on the right hand side – “home” and “next page” (again). At first I thought that one of the “next page” buttons was redundant. I thought that the left hand one wasn’t required.

After using the Kindle for no more than a matter of minutes it made sense though. Lying on a sofa reading, sitting in a cramped seat on a plane, or drinking coffee in McDonald’s, it’s perfect. You can hold the Kindle in one hand and leaf forwards and backwards through the pages using your thumb. It’s considerably easier to use one handed than a real book.

Before I got hold of my Kindle reader, I had tried out an e-book reader which was on display in my local book shop. To be honest, I didn’t really take to the way the page flickered slightly when it was “turned”. Once again, after I had been using the Kindle for no more than a few minutes, I quickly became used to this. For me, it feels just like turning the pages in a traditional book now.

When it comes to the actual reading experience itself, the e-ink display is fantastic. The background is a light grey instead of the traditional white or cream of paper – but you get used to this very quickly. Compared to reading on a back-lit PC monitor, it produces a lot less eye strain. All I can say is that, whenever I’m reading a good book on the Kindle, I’m totally oblivious to the fact that I’m using it rather than reading a conventional book.

The e-ink display’s low power requirement is another big plus point. I’m a fairly heavy user – I read a lot – and I find that, with the wireless turned off, the Kindle will last for about three weeks before it needs recharging. I only turn the wireless connection on if I want to buy a book. On the subject of buying books, the process is very simple, in fact it may be a little too efficient, I know I have made a few impulse buys. The Amazon publicity for the Kindle says that books download in just under a minute. I would say, based upon my own experience, that it takes a lot less than a minute for a typical book which isn’t packed with illustrations. It may not be a big deal – but it is all part of the positive user experience.

In summary, to try to give you an idea of just what a pleasant experience reading on the Kindle is, a couple of days ago I received an e-mail from Amazon which told me that my order had been shipped. I knew that I hadn’t ordered anything, so I went to check what had happened. I turned out that I had pre-ordered a book by one of my favourite authors some weeks ago and then forgotten about it. In all honesty, the idea of going back to reading a large heavy printed book (it’s a fairly hefty volume), albeit one written by an author that I really enjoy, is something of a disappointment. The thought of holding a big, clumsy book in my left hand and flipping pages with my right seems downright antiquated to me now.

Learn more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.