Christmas 2012: The black and white guide to your perfect e-reader!

It’s Christmas time, and for many, that means lots of books on the Christmas list. But in 2012, there’s a new dilemma: what to actually read them on. The e-reader market has never been more packed, and it’s not just an Amazon one-man show any more. In today’s gift guide, we’re looking at the best digital paperback players for your friends and family, whatever their needs. Best for pockets Most black and white e-readers tend to hover around screen widths of six inches, around the size of a paperback. If you want something smaller and more pocketable, the Kobo Mini is what you want, with a teeny tiny, but perfectly legible five inch screen that slips into a back pocket or handbag. And at £59.99, it’s a bargain. Best for bargains If it’s a straight up e-reader you want for reading books on holiday, look no further than the entry level Amazon Kindle. With a crisp six inch black and white screen and Wi-Fi to download books and keep them in sync on Kindle apps for every computing platform under the sun, it’s simply the best value e-reader for its price (£69.99) on the planet right now. Best for Amazon haters Maybe you don’t like Amazon – that’s cool. There are still plenty of other e-reader options out there, the best of which is Barnes & Noble’s Nook SimpleTouch. It’s the equivalent of Amazon’s Kindle Touch, but starts at just £79. It connects to an online store, syncs with smartphone apps, and lets you leaf through pages with a tap of the display – and you can be sure a single penny won’t be going in Jeff Bezos’ pocket. Best for on the go If you’re just stocking up for a long holiday, a Wi-Fi powered e-reader is all you need, since you can just download books when you’re at home or on a hotspot. But if you want to read the virtual newspaper on the commute every day, or send articles on the internet to your e-reader(Yep, you can do that), you’ll want one with 3G. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 3G is what you want: this Porsche of a digital paperback packs a stunning screen that you can light up in the dark, and free data for downloading books on the go. Multimedia double duty With access to Kindle, Nook and Kobo apps, almost every tablet doubles up as an e-reader these days. And while the iPad mini is our favourite tiny tablet, if you don’t want to use iBooks, you’ll get a better experience on Android, where you can buy books from within the app. The best of the Android tablets is still this summer’s stunning Google Nexus 7, with a great screen and compact frame. www.tell-me-first.com