E-reader or tablet? It depends on you.

Almost one in four 18 to 30 year olds owns a tablet, while about 18% own an e-reader. For Millennials, who have long been glued to their smartphones, the emergence – and exponential growth – of tablets has become a phenomenon.

For the seeker of e-book readers and tablets, the options increase as the prices decrease for the new technologies, making it easy for Millennials to jump on the bandwagon. The phenomenon is based partly on the mania for ever-smaller electronics as well as the just-plain-awesomeness of having an easy-to-handle always-on hybrid between a smartphone and a laptop.

The merits of the iPad and the higher-end tablets, which generally range about $500 or less, have been discussed at length by partisans on all sides. For the masses, though, there are other options that can bring the price down to a quite accessible range from $80 to $250. These examples include items like the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook. Intended primarily for reading e-books, these do have some additional bells, but none of the truly dazzling apps available with the higher-end units.

At the lowest price point, there are the black-and-white “e-ink” readers, which are really intended for reading e-books and downloading magazines and newspapers. Despite their competitive price, these are superior to the higher-priced LCD screens if you want to read at the beach – or anywhere else where glare could be a factor.

A step up is the seven-inch color LCD screen “mini-tablets” that offer the handheld convenience of the tablet with many of the gadgety bonuses, but without shelling out almost twice the price for a full-scale iPad or full-size Android tablet.

While Android tablets cost less on average than the iPad, Android tablets have some advantages over it, including connecting to other devices essentially like a USB drive, allowing simple transfer of pictures, movies, music, and e-books by dragging and dropping, rather than the somewhat more cumbersome intermediary of connecting through iTunes. All tablets have an advantage over e-book readers in making it easy to Skype from anywhere, which is an advantage to those who like face-to-face.

Each has its advantages and disadvantages – if you can use the term “disadvantage” in describing, as the comedian Louis CK riffs brilliantly about, a technology that was beyond your sci-fi dreams just a few  brief years ago. 

CNET has done a good job delineating the advantages of each of these three categories of mobile technology and then went deeper into comparing the Nook Tablet with the Kindle Fire.

Experts conclude that the e-reader or tablet that is right for you is … well … the one that’s right for you. People have different needs and wants with their technology. Cost, purpose, size, and weight are all considerations. So, of course, is the coolness factor, which only the owner can evaluate.

For companies that make e-readers and tablets, messaging to the $400 billion Millennials market is crucial for continued growth. Millennials are notorious for intensively investigating products online before making a purchasing decision, so product attributes are key. But there is another, less tangible factor that can turn Millennials to a product or brand.

Millennials are the most socially conscious consumers ever. Associating a product or brand with social good can make the difference in Millennial purchasing, all other things being equal.

For companies that need to reach the 80 million North Americans between 18 and 30, there is one venue that provides an affordable, turnkey online option: CampusAuction: Bid for a Better World. To learn more about how CampusAuction puts your brand directly in the sightlines of millions of Millennials, contact partnerships@campusauction.com.