We’ve been shopping around for a new ereader, and here are the three things we wanted in our device:
- E-ink — what’s the point of having an eReader if you can’t use it to read outside, where we do much of our summer reading
- Touch screen — ideally the device would have both buttons and a touch screen for ease of use
- Reads .txt, .doc, or .rtf files — because of all the manuscripts we have to review
We already ruled out the iPad, as it’s back lit, so the three devices we had left to choose from:
- Kindle — uses e-ink, a touch-screen version has not been released, yet you can read Word files on it
- Nook — there’s an e-ink version, has a touch-screen and buttons for page turns, but does not read .txt, .doc, or .rtf files, only .epub and .pdfs
- Kobo — uses e-ink, has a touch screen, and supports .html, .rtf, .txt files
I was about to order a Kobo, as it had everything we wanted, until a friend told me about a shareware program called Calibre. Calibre can convert files to .epub or whichever format your eReader uses. That eliminated the one hurdle stopping us from purchasing a Nook.
Our Nook is now on order.
