Once upon a time, I said that I’d never buy an e-reader, that I love the smell and feel of real books and nothing was more satisfying that flipping though the pages of a novel.
Well, on Sunday, after a couple days of hard deliberation, I went out and bought myself one of these:
A Kobo Touch eReader!
Man, those words taste funny…
I originally had thought about getting one after playing with my Grandpa’s Kindle Fire. I thought to myself, “Self, you read a lot of books. You’d probably save a lot of money if you bought the eBook version.” I also figured that once the baby gets here, it will be a lot easier to read a book with one hand if I only had to flick my finger to turn a page. I’d be mad if I dropped an actual book and lost my page while nursing.
I mentioned the idea of an eReader to Kyle, and he did a little bit of research on the different readers for me. There’s a lot of options!
I had originally thought of getting the Kobo Vox, which is very similar to the Kindle Fire. It has a color screen, downloadable apps, web access and more. Actually, the Vox, Fire and the Barnes & Noble Nook were all pretty equally ranked, with the Fire coming in slightly ahead of the rest. I was leaning towards the Vox based on the in-town availability (I would’ve had to order the Fire or Nook online). I also had a $100 gift card to a big-box electronic store, so that would cut back on the cost of things.
Then I thought about the Kobo Touch. It doesn’t have the pretty color screen or apps, but it does have Wi-Fi capabilities. I didn’t think I needed yet another wireless device. I already have a laptop and a smartphone, so why get an eReader with a bunch of bells and whistles when I just want to read books? I was certain that I was going to go with the “bare-bones” Touch but THEN Kyle did this:
Thanks, dear! This did not help and only made my brain hurt more. An iPad2 would be pretty amazing. I could pick whichever reader I wanted (iBook, Kobo, Kindle or the Nook) and I’d get full access to all the apps available through Apple (The Kobo only offers a “portion” of the Android apps). But they’re a little pricier than what we wanted to spend and the “yet another wireless device” dilemma came back.
After another night of contemplation, I decided I’d go to said big-box electronic store and try to make up my mind while I was there. The iPad2 was plenty alluring, with it’s pretty screen and über trendiness, but dang – it was just too much for what it was. I think if I were to own an Apple product, it would be an iPhone or a Macbook before a tablet. And – my brother had mentioned that the iPad has horrible visibility in sunlight. Not ideal since I like reading outside. (If it ever gets nice again!)
So, after looking at the Kobo Touch and getting a feel for it, I decided to go for it. It was in my budget and it’s going to do what I want without all the bells and whistles, which is fine by me.
So far, I’m pleased with it. It has Wi-Fi capabilities so I can download new books wherever there’s wireless internet access, plus I can plug it right into my computer and sync it that way. The screen is pretty awesome and it’s easy to read. I’ve downloaded a couple of the free books available from Kobo, and I’m trying to decide what my first actual purchase should be. (I’m leaning towards 50 Shades of Grey – thoughts?)
Perhaps I’ll do a full device review once I finish my fist book. Until then, I’m pretty excited for my new toy
Do you have an eReader? What brand? What made you pick it? Do you love it?