There are plenty of reasons for buying an e-reader, mostly because they are more lightweight than a laptop and because they are as convenient as books. They are cheaper than computers, have a longer battery life, the screen does not strain the eyes, and in the case of dozens of electronic books stored in memory, most certainly weighs less than packing around the physical medium.

Kindle Fire and Vox – Two of the Best E-Readers

Once someone decides that an e-reader is just right for their needs, the question is which one. It does pay to do a little research as there are several models on the market, but it is not too much worry because most cost less than 250 dollars. Two great contenders are the Kindle Fire (Customer reviews here) and Kobo Vox (Customer reviews here). They are both priced at 200 bucks, and have similar capabilities. They are from different manufacturers and do have slightly different capabilities. They are book digital book readers, and only have a limited range of other functions.

Both devices have about 8 gigabytes total memory and the processors are not much faster than each other. The processors are about as powerful as a netbook, or perhaps a little underneath. It is not designed for playing games or high resolution videos, although they are capable of playing a range of media formats. Neither device can play CDs, although both can be inserted into a PC via a USB cable. They can fuction as mass storage devices, even though smaller and lighter tools can serve that purpose.

Kindle Fire: Better eBook File Support

One major difference is that the Kobo Vox only reads ePub files, intended to be download from a single provider. The Kindle Fire can read Kindle books, but also unprotected PDF files and even Word document files, those with a .doc or .docx designation. Although the Kobo Vox lacks in document compatibility, it can play a wide range of music and video formats, and is special compared to the Kindle Fire because it accepts Micro DS cards. The Fire uses cloud storage.

Similar Screen Quality

Both devices have a screen about 7 inches wide and the same resolution. Both are wifi capable, and both are limited to about 7 hours of operation. The Kindle Fire has built in media streaming for video services such as Hulu and Netflix. The Vox might not have such capabilities right out of the box, but might be capable of easy upgrade. Whatever the consumer’s choice, both devices provide a range of services. It pays to read as many e-reader reviews as possible.