Gadget Review - ECO Reader

I thought I would share something totally unrelated to quilting.

 

Let me introduce you to the ECO Reader. This is an ebook reader. I bought this little baby about 6 months ago and I love it. I love reading books, and lots of books. 

I had at one stage several bookcases full of books that I had read, and a lot of them at least twice. I hated selling or giving away a book incase I wanted to read it again. It got to a point that I could no longer sustain my reading habit. It was getting to expensive but the main problem was that I had no where to store them and reading ebooks on the computer was not very convenient. At the time I wanted to buy an ebook reader the options were not huge. The kindle was not being sold to anyone living outside the US, and some of the other readers where being sold on ebay and the like and I didn’t like the idea of buying something that could not be serviced or exchanged if something was wrong with it. 

Along came the ECO Reader. It is a local product and available both online and in some stores. I love my ECO. It accepts almost all ebook formats. I carry it constantly with me in my handbag. It is light, lighter than a paperback novel and much thinner. It can last for days, sometimes weeks between recharges and it doesn’t take long to charge when it does.


One thing I really appreciate about the ECO Reader, is that my range of books has increased dramatically. There are so many free ebooks out there that it is not funny. I think I downloaded almost 1GB of the classics on the first day I got it. There are so many sites that have free books, books that only cost a few dollars, as well as the latest novels. I love the fact I am saving trees by not buying the paper versions of most of these books. Admittedly there are still some authors that I still buy as paperbacks - I still love the feel of paper at times. At the moment all my craft books are bought as well. 


I can read a few different books at a time and my ECO remembers where I am in each book, so when I feel like reading a book I just click on it and it brings it up on the last page I was on. I love that it is not backlit which makes it very easy to read for long periods.


Even though I love my ECO reader, I think I will some time in the future (hopefully not too far off) get the iPad. The main reason for this purchase would be to read PDF ebooks that have colour illustrations, manuals, childrens books,quilting, knitting and crocheting books. These are not well suited to the ECO simply as it is not in colour and the fact that it is only has a 6" screen. Having said that, I will not be giving up my ECO just yet. 


Food for thought for those of you that love to read novels, paperbacks and the classics.