UKC

I'm considering getting an e-reader or a low cost Android tablet in order to be able to carry a technical reference library with me easily. I'm pretty sure that I'd want access to books via Kindle, so it would at least have to be able to install the Kindle app. I'd also want to be able to access PDFs and probably other e-book formats, as well as perhaps Word and Excel if only in read-only mode. Colour might be a useful feature to have for some of the technical documents.

One of the actual Kindle devices would seem to be an obvious option, but I'm concerned as to how tightly Amazon lock them down in respect of things like installing third-party apps.

I know the Tesco Hudl devices were well-reviewed when they came out, and they're at the same sort of price point as the Kindle Fire devices. Being a pretty generic Android device I assume they have largely unrestricted access to the Google "ecosystem".

I'm not looking for 3G or 4G connectivity, nor is the quality of the camera an issue. In fact I don't much mind if it doesn't even have a camera.

Anyone able to comment on the pros and cons of each of the above, or suggest other alternatives?

In reply to Martin W:

I was given a Kobo for xmas - I put pretty much what I want on it, mine's a e-ink one tho but has full internet access via wifi. Can't say how it would take apps as I haven't tried but there's a fair few different formats on there at the moment with no issues.

In reply to Martin W:
Iirc the price of the Kindle fire was dropped to that of a Hudl in order to compete. I'd be put off the kindle (and was) due to the lack of access to Google play app store.
My vote is Hudl, bargain for the spec, especially if you have vouchers to trade.

PS not sure about word and excel, but my hudl does read PDFs and has a kindle app. And has a colour screen

In reply to Martin W:

Kobo arc tablet is pretty good and I'm saving up for one. Kobo can read lots of different file types whereas the kindle is restricted to yheir file type I think. Not sure about having office docs on there as office program. My son's tablet has office on it but it's harder to work (in my mind because I'm used to a laptop). You can save any excel/word docs as a PDF and put them on a kobo and be able to open it & read it. You have more options to the types of docs you can read on a kobo I think than on a kindle. Not sure about the hudl as I've not had a chance to play with one yet