New to ereaders. Overwhelmed. Best to buy given these listed preferences?

[filtery]

Hi everyone. I'm interested in an eReader with an e-Ink screen for reading novels and textbooks (I'm a college student).

Here are my main priorities:

* Would like to have an eReader with a web browser that is able to effectively read text-based sites under WiFi. I read a lot on the internet and would like to be able to continue doing that with little eye strain with this reader. Mostly just able to browse mobile reddit discussion-based subreddits. Example

* Would like to have it fit in my pocket. I'm male and wear blue jeans and khaki shorts with pretty big pockets. I'm pretty sure I can fit most eReaders in my pocket so this mostly just eliminates those over 7 inches.

* I primarily obtain books through alternative means, and a lot of the times they are PDFs, so I need an eReader that is adept at displaying those, and one that isn't too locked down with DRM so that I can effectively and efficiently transfer books to and fro.

* Readability is huge. This is why I'm getting an eInk eReader over just a tablet. I've heard a lot of varying reports over which is currently the easiest on the eyes, often people claiming either the Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Glo/Aura, or Nook Glowlight having the best or most even screens.

* A good dictionary is a must. I have a pretty week vocabulary and often the books I enjoy most have quite a large lexicon. I heard the Kindle has the best dictionary but I wasn't sure if that was the case or how I could confirm that. A touch screen would be necessary for quickly tapping a word to get its definition. Some of the words may be spanish, italian, or french that I'll be looking up (but still 99.9% english words).

* Aesthetics and Durability. I suppose this one is more subjective but I'm a fan of simple, clean, and sturdy. Not a lot of wasted space and looking sharp. Also, if it could not shatter instantly when dropped that would be preferable.

* Release date. I would prefer to buy something new and up-to-date. So if something was released in 2010 and hasn't been updated since, I'll pass. Only looking for current revisions and not previous editions.

* Price. I'm looking to spend between $50 and $150 dollars.

* Customer support. If the screen dies or the device breaks in any way, I don't want to have to jump through hoops just to exchange it.

* Proper front light. I'm basically nocturnal but also like to read outside during the day at times. Would like a well-designed front light that clearly illuminates the entire screen evenly while also being able to turned to a very low intensity or even off for when the room is completely pitch black.

* Responsive touch screen. I'm not about to be swiping 5 times every time I want to go to the next page.

* Games. I heard some eReaders have games like Chess and Sodoku. While this is not a requirement that'd be kinda cool.

* Search feature. When reading a textbook it is often required to search for a piece of text.

What doesn't matter:

* Storage size. I don't read that many books and if I do run out of space I don't mind clearing house.

* Battery life. I figure as long as it can last a day I'm going to leave it charging when I sleep regardless.

* Anything cloud. I don't need any syncing, online backup, cloud login, or anything like that. This doesn't matter to me at all.

I feel like with these considerations in mind, it pretty much comes down to Kindle, Kobo, Sony, or Nook, but which of those I choose I'm still not sure of. Thanks for reading!

[susan_cassidy]

Sounds like a perfect fit for a Kindle Paperwhite. I wouldn't put it in a pocket, though. Any torsion on the screen will break it. If, when it is in the pocket, there is any strain on the screen, that would be A Bad Thing.

[desertgrandma]

I agree with susan.....a big plus factor is that you can order from Amazon, and have a 30 day, no questions asked, return policy, paying only return shipping, which should be between $4-$5.....

This gives you time to really 'play' with it, download books, and see if it fits your needs...

Throwing ANY device in your pocket is just asking for trouble......

[speakingtohe]

If you can get one the Sony T3 is a true joy.

Helen

[meeera]

All eink readers with glass substrates can break if you drop, bend or twist them, far more readily than a smartphone with gorilla glass will. The new flexible screens are still pretty experimental and there is no device that meets all of your requirements in that category.

So you need to decide which of your desired features are just desired features, and which are dealbreakers.

[samhy]

Regarding your first point, you can save interesting texts in Pocket or another service (is it readibility???) and read them on your Kobo for the former or Amazon for the latter. If you do so, you don't have to bother with the browser too much.

[glos]

I just want to point out that if you have many PDFs to read, a normal 6' e-reader is going to make you struggle, if those pdf are made to be read on a pc screen.... for pdf the best way to go is a tablet, or a big e-reader...(almost always, of course it depends on those pdf).

And, yes, it's definitely going to break in your pocket.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

If you can get one the Sony T3 is a true joy.

Not going to dispute that the Sony T3 is a joy (I'm betting it is the best non-lighted reader available ), but considering one of the OP's main priorities is "Proper front light", it's a poor choice compared to the other options available.

The Kobo Aura is smaller so a better fit for your pocket, but the search capabilities & dictionaries are (I *think*) better on the Kindle Paperwhite, while customer support certainly is. Both are suspect in terms of PDF, but that is true for all e-ink products. The rest is probably all pretty subjective....

[charmian]

I agree with Glos. Especially if these are pdfs of textbooks.

Try doing a search in this specific subforum for pdfs and reading those threads. Small e-ink readers are most suitable for reflowable books in HTML/txt/epub/mobi based formats.

[Buber]

Aura (and HD) with Koreader copes quite well with pdfs - let's you crop the margins and reading is not that bad...

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by l_macd

Not going to dispute that the Sony T3 is a joy (I'm betting it is the best non-lighted reader available ), but considering one of the OP's main priorities is "Proper front light", it's a poor choice compared to the other options available.

The Kobo Aura is smaller so a better fit for your pocket, but the search capabilities & dictionaries are (I *think*) better on the Kindle Paperwhite, while customer support certainly is. Both are suspect in terms of PDF, but that is true for all e-ink products. The rest is probably all pretty subjective....

* Would like to have it fit in my pocketThe Aura is thinner and lighter and is very slightly smaller over all it looked larger in the store (probably the aspect ratio).
Aura - 150 x 114 x 8.1 mm
T3 - 109 x 160 x 11.3 mm
As you say subjective but either will fit in my girly pants pockets.

* Readability is huge.
The Sony T3 is the most readable reader I have used and I have a Kobo Mini and an Aura HD. Perhaps the kindles are better, I couldn't say.

* A good dictionary is a must.
Sony dictionaries are very good, Kobo not so much in my experience. Maybe kindles are better?
* Aesthetics and Durability.
Subjective. I have had 4 Sony readers and they are still undamaged despite being dropped and carried around in pockets and backpacks etc. The Gorilla glass on my tablet cracked in 2 places by falling slowly off it's stand. It still works but I don't use it because it annoys me to look at it

* Release date
Pretty much the same

* Price.
Sony T3 is $99 in Canada but can't be bought everywhere.

* Customer support.
I've never needed it for Sony but when my mothers kindle keyboard broke Amazon's was pretty good on the 3rd try. Kobo I would be kind of scared, but I got mine from Indigo so if I need support theirs is pretty good. Most Sony readers AFAIK outlast the warrantee by a few years.

* Proper front light. I'm basically nocturnal but also like to read outside during the day at times. Would like a well-designed front light that clearly illuminates the entire screen evenly while also being able to turned to a very low intensity or even off for when the room is completely pitch black.

Both the Sony and Kobo readers I have are perfectly readable outside without the light in my experience. Probably the Aura and kindle are as well. (except when it is raining heavily on them)

The T3 doesn't have a light, but as light was fairly far down the list, it didn't seem like the number one priority so I thought I would mention it anyway. Sorry for that.

* Responsive touch screen.
Works every time with no page skips or other weird behaviors. Again kindle is probably as reliable.

* Games.
No idea, I just read on mine.

* Search feature.
Pretty much okay on all although kindle may be best.


My subjective opinion is that Sony T3 is the best, but I have only used one kindle and only glimpsed one Nook briefly. For me Sony shines in ease of use, durability and reliability and general aesthetics. Still although it handles and sorts collections etc. with speed and ease using calibre (another strong point for me) it is not perfect. I would like a whiter screen and a smaller bezel. The Kobo Aura HD screen appears whiter with the light on, but the light hurts my eyes and you have to adjust it every time as it insists on going to 1% every time you open the options.

Helen

Edit: The Sony T3 refresh seems softer and less intrusive. The Aura HD often refreshes the page in 1/3ds with several harsh black flashes per refresh, and the Aura I tried in the store did the same. Sony seems to be more of a fade and I have to be watching to even notice.

[soulfuldog]

speakingtohe, I wasn't meaning to particularly pick out your post as if I was having a go at you. Sorry if it appeared that way.

Very concise answer anyway. Like I said, if a reader with a light isn't important, I'm betting the T3 would possibly be the best choice. Certainly in terms of readability. I'm probably hyper-critical of screen quality, but it is certainly true there is a slight trade-off to the screen if you want a built-in light.

The Kindle dictionaries have always been on par with the Sony's, AFAIK Kobo and every other reader come a poor second to those two. The touch screen on the Kobo Aura & Kindle Paperwhite should be better since they use the more precise capacitive touch screens, but then, not everyone gets on with capacitive touch.

[Josieb1]

The Paperwhite is quite bad with PDFs, the Kobo Aura is much better although no ereader will be great with PDFs tbh, for that you need a larger screen, I.e a 7 inch tablet as a minimum.

[markom]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

The Paperwhite is quite bad with PDFs, the Kobo Aura is much better although no ereader will be great with PDFs tbh, for that you need a larger screen, I.e a 7 inch tablet as a minimum.

On Kindles and Kobo we can install kindlepdfviewer(KOReader for Paperwhite) in a couple of minutes and got very good 6" pdf reader for A5 pdf formats (majority of books there), or even A4 format by using the reflow function in kindlepdfviewer or k2pdfopt app that even reflows text on scanned images.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PauN_9O4dM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5bH8T2QiFE

On Android readers like Nook or Sony we can install good third party pdf readers like Orion, APV, Ebooka, EZpdf ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayAcdHuI5hw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWBcvWuWw_w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln_GNGhTgZU

If, for whatever reason, we don't want to install anything thereon, we can still read pdfs comfortably on any 6" reader by using k2pdfopt app that will automatically crop margins, adjust pdf resolution, size and mode (portraite, landscape), reflow text etc. beforehand for our reader, so that even if our reader is old or slow it will turn the pdf pages rather quickly.

http://www.willus.com/k2pdfopt/

The same goes for bigger 8" and 10" readers like Kindle DX, Jetbook Color, Icarus Excel, Pocketbook color lux etc. that will be better or quicker pdf readers after adjusting pdfs with k2pdfopt beforehand.