October 27, 2010
 Revised October 27, 2010. Copyright © 2010
Dealhack.com. All Rights
Reserved.
Kindle defined the eBook
readers category the way that the iconic iPod
defined the MP3 players. But after it had the field all to itself, over
the past 12 months it encountered some serious competition. Before we
get into details, we
must say that eBook readers are not for everyone. If you like to slowly
savor your way through one book at a time, you probably don’t need one.
But if you travel a lot and/or like to always have a choice of what to
read, the concept of having 100’s of books in a small package is
appealing. In considering an eBook reader, the most important factors –
in addition to price - are access to content, and features such as
display and connectivity. While
the Kindle remains the popular choice, our recommendation is the Nook
from Barnes & Noble. To find out why, read on.
Amazon Kindle 3 continues the tradition of great
e-readers from Amazon. It's light (less than 9 oz), fast, has 6"
display, comes with 4GB of memory to store over 2,000 books, has Wi-Fi
connectivity and access to Amazon's e-bookstore. If you want to have
global connectivity, you should opt for the 3G option in addition to
Wi-Fi. The screen is on purpose less reflective and easy to
read in a bright sunlight.
The gripes are slow (in some areas) Wi-Fi connections and inability to
read many popular file types unless they have been converted. Still,
Kindle 3 is the one to beat. The Kindle 3 Wi-Fi is available for $139
shipped from Amazon, or with 3G and Wi-Fi for $189 shipped.
Barnes & Noble’ Nook offers a great selection
of books and
publications from B&N’s ebookstore and excellent connectivity (both
3G and Wi-Fi). The display is superb, probably the best in the
category. You can select different font sizes depending on your
eyesight.
There is a touchscreen just under the main screen which allows for easy
navigation. With 2GB of storage, the Nook will
easily store over a thousand of books. At 12 oz, it's heavier than
Kindle 3. The Nook has a unique and convenient book-lending capability
that lets you share books with friends.The Nook uses
the Android OS,
which makes it possible to add Android applications. Speaking of the
apps, B&N offers Nook apps for iPad, iPhone, Android smartphones,
and PCs. The Nook is available for $149
shipped for Wi-Fi, $199 for 3G+Wi-Fi from Barnes & Noble. They
are also introducing the Nook Color for $249 with larger 7" color
display and enhanced web and social features.
The Sony Reader PRS-650 has the same screen size as
Kindle 3, and the Nook and weighs under 8 oz. It has good
touchscreen and
supports many different formats, giving users access to more sources of
content. At 2GB it’s storage is same as Nook's. It has no
wireless
connectivity, only USB port, and its dedicated content store is not as
extensive as the
one
behind Kindle or Nook. PRS-650 is a bit pricier than
its competitors: $229.99 shipped at Sony although there are sales
under $200. If you are looking
for a lighter eBook reader with access to more free sources of content,
PRS-650 might be for you. The
PRS-950 model will add larger screen and wireless capability but it’s
pricier at $299.99 shipped (on pre-order from Sony). The
current PRS-900 model is cheaper (on 10/27 it is selling for $248.99) but weighs almost 13 oz.
Lastly, there is the Kobo eBook reader from Borders. It has 6" display,
weighs 8 oz, and comes with 1GB of memory (expandable to 4GB). It has
Wi-Fi option but no 3G connectivity. The list of supported formats is
fairly short but you have access to the Borders' catalog. We don't own
one but some reviews indicated that Kobo is slow compared to others. it
does boast the only under $100 price point from the major e-readers: $99.99 for the USB-only version. The wireless version is $139.99 (releases on November
10).
There are other eBook readers on the market, such as Cool-Er and BeBook
Neo. But without massive ebookstores to back them up, they are
disadvantaged. The picture will be incomplete without mentioning
"portable" eBook readers such as Sony PRS-350 Pocket Edition. With only
a 5" display we find these to be not as good of a
"book replacement" but they are cheaper and lighter. For an even
smaller screen (and better eyes than ours), there are eBook readers
apps for iPhones, Android phones, and other mobile devices.
And of course we would be remiss to omit the Apple iPad. The iPad can be used to read books -
and it works well for that - but it is a multimedia device that
happens to have e-reader capabilities. The color screen is difficult to
see in bright light, and can strain the eyes over long periods. It's a
lot heavier, has shorter battery life and costs three to five times as
much as dedicated e-readers. If you're primarily looking for an
e-reader, iPad is not a good option. But if you're looking for a
full-featured multimedia experience, go with iPad. These are different
product categories.
Although Kindle 3 is a popular consensus on tech review blogs, our
choice is the Nook. Yes, the Kindle is lighter and a bit cheaper. We
like the Nook's choice of Android OS and think that it will allow the
Nook to introduce more web apps and evolve to a multimedia platform
(the Nook Color is the first step in this direction). But more
important, we believe that the Nook
offers lower overall cost of ownership than the Kindle You have
to get e-books for your e-reader and most of them are not free.
However, you can borrow e-books from your library. Most libraries we
checked use the OverDrive platform which is compatible with the
Nook, Kobo, and Sony e-readers - but not the Kindle. Perhaps this
will change going forward but for now it's a significant drawback
that prevents us from recommending the Kindle.
What's next technologically? For some time now, a number of companies
have been promising to bring to market flexible eBook readers, which
you can bend and manipulate the way you do magazines. While prototypes
have been demonstrated, we are not aware of a mass-market commercial
implementation yet.
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