Depending on the model you buy (or if you’re really lucky are bought), your new eBook reader might not come with some of the essential items you expected. Here’s our round-up of the things you might need to buy to compliment your gift or purchase – some can even be bought from our online store:
1. Charger
Despite being battery powered, not every reader ships with a wall charger as standard with manufacturers preferring to bundle a cheap USB cable instead.
These are fine when you’re near a computer but if you’re likely to be away from your desk for prolonged periods you might want to invest in a wall or car charger.
When buying cheaper chargers made by firms other than your reader’s manufacturer be aware that some electronic warranties will only cover your item when used with branded accessories.
2. Case/cover
If you’re transporting your reader around in a bag it’s probably a good idea to invest in a case or slip-cover to protect it from scratches.
We’d recommend getting one which is easy to remove while you’re using the reader – there’s no point in having to hold your carefully designed reader with two hands just to accommodate the cover.
3. Screen protector/cleaning cloth
Before the arrival of touchscreen readers we wouldn’t have suggested bothering with a screen protector but with readers starting to go all iPhone and replacing easily accessible buttons with screen tapping you’re going to find yourself reading through a mist of fingerprints.
Cue the need to buy an overpriced sheet of ‘mark resistant’ plastic and a lovely soft cloth.
4. Reading light
Did you notice the flaw in your lovely new reader? Yup, just like a ‘real’ book it’s useless without a light making in bed reading a bit of a chore.
Some manufacturers sell hideously overpriced covers with built-in lights but much cheaper clip-on lights can be bought from most high streets, just be careful the clip won’t mark or damage your reader’s casing.
5. Memory card
The current range of readers come with pretty big internal memories but most also support memory cards – ideal if you need more space or prefer not to store your expensive books on the device’s memory.
