Thanks to a growing selection of e-books, innovative new devices, and the notion that trees are just too valuable to waste on print, e-readers are ready for the mainstream. Yet draconian software is a significant barrier, preventing copying, lending or even freely accessing most modern books. Here is our lowdown on the latest devices
This has the advantage of a touch screen that allows you to navigate menus, add notes with a stylus and turn pages with a finger swipe. Needs a PC or Mac to download books and articles from the web
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The Kindle, available only from , automatically connects to a 3G cellphone network for free, so you can buy books, newspapers and magazines direct from Amazon. Slim, light, easy to use: the device to beat
Not to be outdone by Amazon, released its own e-reader with a 3G connection in October. It has a black and white screen for reading and a narrow colour touchscreen for browsing and buying. Only available in the US
iPhone e-readers
Why buy and carry a separate e-reader if your phone can do the job? Small screen aside, the pick of the iPhone e-readers are , and the , all free to download
Laptop e-readers
Limited battery life and weightiness make reading e-books on a laptop a chore. That could change next year with the arrival of – small, light, ultra low-power devices. For software try , or , all free to download