Five Alternatives To Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader

If you are yearning for an eBook Reader but don't want to be stung by Amazon's pricey books or the initial outlay for an ebook reader or want something more versatile, then try either the F&H GP436 or the MY Guide 4228.

These are not e-book readers per se but satellite navigation devices that offer ebook reading functionality amongst other things. They both have fairly big colour touchscreen displays and can play audio and video files as well but you won't be able to read Amazon-based novels on that.

If you have an iPod Touch or an iPhone, you could well use the ereader Application from Stanza which is developed by Lexcycle.

Available for free, it will give you access to more than 100,000 books and periodicals and importantly, makes use of Apple's exceptionally good platform.

This means, full touchscreen, accelerometer, colour content and wireless connectivity. Obviously, buying an iPod Touch or an iPhone only for reading eBooks is not cost effective.

If you're looking for an even cheaper solution, you can still go for a ... high resolution digital photo frame like the Linx at £40 (from Amazon).

How would you read text on a photo frame? You would need to convert the book to images and then put it, as an series of photos, on your photo frame and then watch it as a slideshow.

There are obvious disadvantages like poor battery life, the fact that it will be bulky (because of the 8-inch colour screen). But then you can reuse it as a digital photo frame, it has speakers and a memory card reader.