If you’re looking for an e-book reader and find yourself overwhelmed with options, you are not alone. Quick research will familiarize you with top players, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple but before you make your final choice, you should consider your requirements and usage.

How much do e-books cost?

There are several cheap E-book readers available today but it is advised you stay with the captioned options as the small price difference does not justify the gap in quality and features. The Amazon Kindle is priced at $139, The Barnes & Noble Nook is available for $149 and the iPad starts from $499 for the 16GB, Wi-Fi only version.

Amazon also has a large screen version – Kindle DX, which is available for $379; but if you are willing to spend that amount of money, you should opt for the iPad. The Apple product gives you more than just an e-book reader, with a seemingly endless list of applications, color touch screen and motion video it qualifies for a mini Netbook. There is a higher version of the iPad available for $829 which has a capacity of 64GB and has Wi-Fi plus 3G features.

Is size & weight important?

If you are an avid e-book reader, you would probably carry your e-book reader everywhere; which makes its screen size and weight very important. The zoom feature is basic to all readers and you can increase the font to suit your reading style, but you may still want to minimize scrolling by opting for a larger screen.

Do you have a screen preference?

E-ink, like the name suggests, is like ink and is the closest you can get to a paper printed book. It is black and white, and the technology is not quick in processing pages one after another. You can read the print in direct sunlight but in the dark you will need a light.

The LCD option is full color with backlights for reading in darker places, although reading in direct sunlight is tough with the LCD screen.

While Kindle and Nook use e-ink, iPad opts for the LCD display.

Is having internet on the road wanted?

If you need to be online Wi-Fi should suffice, unless you are off to remote areas for long periods of time and cannot download enough e-books in advance. Also the 3G options comes into play when you are using features in addition to e-books – surfing, emails, social networking.

The basic Kindle, Nook and iPads have only the Wi-Fi feature. For 3G versions Kindle and Nook cost an additional $50 and the service is itself offered free. The 3G iPad costs $130 more plus you have to pay for AT&T’s 3G data service as well.

Do you connect your e-books?

Having your e-books in the proverbial cloud, allows you to access them from other devices besides the reader. Kindle and Nook are compatible with iPads, iPhones, Blackberries, Android phones, PCs and Macs; enabling you to access your e-books from any of these devices. The iPad however, is only compatible with other Apple products, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Do you need E-Libraries and EPUB compatibility?

Google Books and other online libraries allow free download of books in the EPUB format. Kindle is the only reader that does not support EPUB but makes up by having an almost endless list of titles available in its own library for free.

That’s a wrap!

If you are looking for JUST a e-book reader then you may want to look more into technology that just does that and does it well. However, if your looking for something that does more than just the e-book function, epicaNETWORK recommends the iPad simply because it has proven to be supierior to all the other gadgets we’ve tested. Happy e-book reader shopping!