Amazon has begun listing the Kindle Voyage in Canada for the CDN$ 299, around $219 American dollars, for direct purchase.
That’s not that much more than the U.S. price, but still plenty for buyers on a budget. You can get a decent Android tablet for half that.
With the $50 Fire Tablet not yet available in Canada, what is thrifty aspiring e-book reader to do? Below, is my little shopping guide with options for every type of device, and price point. Happy shopping!
Option 1: E-Ink Readers
1) Second-Hand Market. Honestly, this is your best bet. The last time I was at a store like Cash Converters, I saw at least four E Ink devices for about $40. These included Sony readers, Kobo devices and even an older-gen Kindle.
2) Kindle Readers. If you don’t want a light built into your screen, the basic Kindle is $79. If you do, the Paperwhite is a very good option at $140, but at that price point, I would go with a tablet, to be honest.
3) Kobo Readers. Kobo does not have as slick an ecosystem as Amazon does, and their store can be very frustrating. The Kobo Touch is so ancient it’s almost unusable in my opinion, but you can get it for $90. The Kobo Glo is $130.
Recommendation: Second-Hand Market, Basic Kindle or tablet. Even the Paperwhite is over-priced in today’s cheap tablet market!
Option 2: Tablet Devices
1) Best Buy. With the closure of Future Shop last year, this is pretty much the only game in town for most Canadians! I tested the lower-end ones (the Le Pan is still listed on-line for just shy of $100) and found them laggy and unresponsive. But you can still get a Samsung Galaxy Tab for $150, that’s the best buy, I think. Solid brand, decent screen, and you can run the perfectly fine Kindle app—and several other ones—no problem.
2) Apple. Entry-level iPad Mini 2 starts at $329. It’s a lovely machine if you have the budget.
Happy shopping, Canada!
Clarification: For U.S. readers, we’ve now spelled out U.S.-Canadian currency difference in regard to pricing of the Voyage. One Canadian dollar is currently .73 U.S. dollar. That said, Joanna still sees the Voyage price as quite steep for what the e-reader offers. So her main point here remains.
You might want to check out the Nexus 7. The 16GB model has better screen stats at the $150.00 price point.
$200 US is $316 Canadian at current exchange rates. So you’re getting a slight discount.
I managed to goof that up. $299 Canadian is $216 US. Not a discount, but close.
@Paul: Thanks! The copy now reflects the Canadian-U.S. currency difference, with Google as a source on that.
Discount on America or not, it is still a price gouge when you can get a decent Android tablet for half that. And an IPad for only $30 more than the Kindle! It is obscene.
And—I understand why my editors added in the currency conversion for context to our American readers. But you have to understand that when you are a Canadian customer living in Canada and shopping in Canadian dollars, that is not really a relevant point. I still need $300 of my dollars to purchase this thing if I want it—not the $216 it would cost an American.
@Paul and @Joanna: So glad you both weighed in. It was just a Canadian-U.S. thing. As you can see, Joanna knew what was up. We just needed to explain the extent of the currency difference to U.S. readers so the $300 Canadian would be in context.