Whenever I hear the term ebook reader from someone, usually in the same sentence I hear the word Kindle. There is no doubt that the Kindle line of portable ebook readers are the benchmark with other readers in their wake. Not too far in the distance is the Barnes and Noble Nook and the Sony PRS600. For our purposes we can focus on these three units as they are the most popular.
So why does one person choose one over the other.
Size is a factor if you're looking at purse storage or your vehicle glove box. The Kindle 2 is the largest of these 3 (not by much though).
Battery Life is most important to travelers. If you know you don't have access to a power source then this is really key. The Sony PRS600 and the Kindle 2 will last up to 2 weeks before the need for a charge. The Nook will go ten days. The Nook and the Kindle need to have their wi-fi turned off to achieve this. The Sony doesn't have wi-fi.
Internet is available on the Nook and the Kindle 2 via wi-fi and the 3G network. Not the Sony. The Sony would be more for the purist. The Kindle's web surfing is more of a textcentric kind of surfing due to the limitations of the E Ink® paper display while the Nook has a second full color TFT screen.
Screen is crucial to look at. The new E Ink® paper display technology is truly amazing and makes reading in the daylight even better. The Sony PRS600 is a touch screen unit and therefore the screen's crispness is not as good as the other two readers. The Kindle 2 and the Nook are both 600 x 800 pixel resolution with 16 levels of grayscale. This makes for a fantastic monochrome display. The Sony has more pixel resolution with only 8 levels of grayscale... interesting.
Audio is onboard with all 3 of these units. They each have headphone jacks and can play mp3 music. I like having background music or sometimes an audio book is nice while you're driving.
Book shopping is a no-brainer with the Kindle. You have no choice but to buy from the Kindle store through Amazon. It sounds a bit rough but when you consider they have over half a million titles, it's not so bad. The Sony and the Nook are an open-architecture design and therefore you can buy books from more than one place. Not to mention the free sources of books available at Google Books and Gutenberg.org.
Downloading with the Barnes and Noble Nook and the Kindle 2 are a snap as you don't need a computer. You're utiliziing the wireless 3G network (it's free for both units) while the Sony requires a usb hook up to a computer.
At the time of writing this, each one of these units is under $200. A bargain, in my books (no pun intended).
These would be the main criteria to look at. See which one fits your lifestyle and needs then move forward and pick one up. You will never regret it. The more reading one does the better off they will become and I find a well-read person is interesting to speak with. So, become interesting and pick up one of these babies!
James Dalton - The ebook reader is a new way of doing something. Like everything else it will evolve and become cheaper, while having more functionality and features. James is committed to keeping up with the changes so he is an indispensable resource for anyone who needs help choosing an ebook reader. To learn more about the portable ebook reader go to James' site http://bestportableebookreader.org.
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