Buy e-reader

An e-reader is a device that allows people to read digital books. The books on an e-reader are called e-books (or e-books in English). So they are not physical books, but computer files that the reader puts on the e-reader. For example, purchase them in an online bookstore or borrow them from the library.

An e-reader is more or less like a tablet. The largest part of the housing consists of a (touch) screen. Yet there is an important difference: an e-reader is only intended for reading books. The screen is designed in such a way that it should make you forget that you are not holding a physical book. Reading a book on the bright or mirrored screen of a tablet is often more tiring. Furthermore, you cannot install apps or play games on an e-reader.

What are the advantages of an e-reader?

• Thousands of books fit on it. That saves space in the living room.
• He is lightweight. Easily take the e-reader with you on the road or on holiday.
• Font and size are customizable. That makes reading easier.
• You can start reading right away. From the comfort of your home, download an e-book onto the device and voila, you’re ready to read.

Every e-reader has a so-called e-ink screen. Di is a screen that accurately imitates paper. This screen technology is also very energy efficient. This means you don’t have to charge an e-reader as often. There are two important things to keep in mind when choosing an e-reader.

• The screen size: This is expressed in inches. For example, a screen of 6 or 7 inches (about 17 to 18 cm) is smaller than a page of an average book. An 8 inch (20 cm) e-reader is about the same size as a physical book. But they are also larger, for example 10 inches (25 cm). Decide for yourself what you like.
• The resolution: this is expressed in pixels. The resolution determines how sharp the image is. The higher the resolution, the sharper the letters on the screen. The lower the resolution, the grainier the letters become.

You can also pay attention to other points. For example, do you like to read in the bath? Then a waterproof screen is useful. And if you often read in a dark environment, a backlit e-reader is recommended. There are also more luxurious models that automatically adjust the screen lighting to the ambient light.

Most e-readers are operated via a touch screen, also known as touchscreen. This is handy, because reading on an e-reader is more like reading a physical book. But a disadvantage is that fingerprints remain on the screen. Do you find that annoying? Then choose a reading device with physical buttons. In that case, you do not need to touch the screen. Many e-readers have both a touch screen and physical buttons.

Cheap e-readers sometimes have slow operation. For example, the menu opens slowly and it takes a while before a new page appears. The more working memory, the faster the reading device generally performs. The e-reader usually works smoothly if it has at least 512 MB of RAM.

Every new e-reader offers space for a lot of e-books. About a thousand digital books fit on every gigabyte. New e-readers from well-known brands such as Kobo and PocketBook offer 8, 16 or even 32 gigabytes of storage capacity. Keep in mind that newspapers and magazines take up more space on the device than e-books. Sometimes you can expand the space on an e-reader yourself. You do this with a microSD memory card.

Dutch E-books are usually always EPUB files. You buy them in an online store or borrow them from the library. By keeping these files on the device, you can read the e-books. Almost every e-reader can handle epub files. Only Amazon Kindle e-readers are not directly suitable for it. Kindles, as Amazon’s e-readers are called, are especially useful for English-language books you buy on Amazon.

In addition to epub files, users can often put other types of files on their e-reader. Documents (pdf and docx), images (jpg, png and tiff) and even audio (mp3) for example. The latter is useful, for example, if you want to download audiobooks. Think in advance which files you want to keep on the device. Then choose an e-reader that can handle these files.

Many e-readers today have an integrated bookstore. Find a nice title and purchase the e-book directly. A prerequisite is that the reading device is connected to Wi-Fi. Manufacturers provide their e-readers with all kinds of extra functions. For example, the menu often contains a browser for surfing the Internet. Don’t expect too much from that. An e-ink screen builds up the image slowly, so you have to wait a while for the website. In addition, the image is black and white. Helpfully, most e-readers allow you to look up difficult words in an online dictionary or encyclopedia.

More expensive e-readers often come with a cover. Protect the device against dirt and scratches. Often the cover also serves as a support, so that you can put the e-reader down. Usually the e-ink screen turns on automatically when the cover is unfolded. When you close the magnetic flap again, the reading device goes into sleep mode. If a protective cover is not included, you can usually purchase it separately.