Color e-readers?

[chedva]

I'm looking to buy a simple color e-reader for an aunt who is not particularly tech savvy (just got a computer last year). It needs to be color as she looks at antiques catalogs, quilt books, etc.

I'd like it to have Wi-Fi or 3G to make it easy for her to buy and download books. She won't be converting formats.

The Kindle Fire seems like way too much for her, and I'm a little afraid of the Nook being tied to Barnes & Noble, since who knows how long they'll be around. (It's also ridiculously expensive!)

Any suggestions?

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Well, LCD "ereaders" like the Fire and Nook and Kobo Vox are as simple as you're going to get. For color, your only other choice right now is a full tablet, which will be more complicated.

But... they aren't complicated. They are very easy to use. Their design concept is intuitive and I think most people will adjust fast. But for someone so new to tech, it will be an adjustment.

That's the reality of using a device you've never used before. No real way around it. Tablets/LCD ereaders look different from regular computers because if they didn't, they'd be infinitely more complex than need be. The form factor demands a different approach.

And it's a much simpler approach than a regular computer, really. It's just different.

[VicLavigne]

Originally Posted by chedva

I'm looking to buy a simple color e-reader for an aunt who is not particularly tech savvy (just got a computer last year). It needs to be color as she looks at antiques catalogs, quilt books, etc.

I'd like it to have Wi-Fi or 3G to make it easy for her to buy and download books. She won't be converting formats.

The Kindle Fire seems like way too much for her, and I'm a little afraid of the Nook being tied to Barnes & Noble, since who knows how long they'll be around. (It's also ridiculously expensive!)

Any suggestions?

The Nook Color is the same price as the Kindle Fire: $199. So not sure what you mean by "ridiculously expensive". And you don't have to buy books from B&N, although for a lot of people this is the simplest way to get them. They can be bought from a variety of online stores and simply moved to it via cable. If you think the Fire is complicated, then the NC is probably the simplest mainstream color ereader you can find.

Vic