Top E Ink Readers for 2010,  What’s best for you?

By Elizabeth Yaws

December 14th, 2010

SPAN staff explores the Nook Color at Best Buy, November 2010.

During a trip in November 2010 to Best Buy, the SPAN staff met with an expert to learn about the available eReaders and all they had to offer. Our hope is that by highlighting our findings we will give you insight into each eReader reviewed, thus helping you to decide which one may be best suited for your needs. (Prices and availability are subject to change.)

Even though were many different eReaders available on display at Best Buy, we chose to review only the Kindle, Nook, Nook Color, and Sony Reader. These were highest quality, and most competitive dedicated eReaders (i.e. not tablets).

Amazon Kindle $139 wifi $189 wifi+3G

*Kindle (AZW)

*TXT

*PDF

*Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX))

*MP3

*unprotected MOBI

PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reader-3G-Wifi-Graphite/dp/B002FQJT3Q

Editors Note: There appears to be a number of defective Kindles being sold by Amazon. While we, of course, did not notice any errors with the in-store unit. A Kindle purchased by About Books, Inc. President Debi Flora began to freeze up the first evening of use. Claims on the Internet are that Amazon is promptly replacing the defective devices, or fixing the problems with firmware upgrades.  Although as of this posting, Mrs. Flora has spoken with Amazon and tech support was told that they would get back to her with a solution for her current device in a near future because sending her a new unit might not fix the problem.

The first eReader presented to us was the Amazon Kindle, which is a closed format device.  The Kindle reads mobi files, which are sold by Amazon.  Having  4 GB of memory, 3Gb of which are available for user content, and it can accommodate up to 3,500 books in its library. The Kindle offers a great reading experience with the non-glare screen and easy use; it is a remarkably light 8.5 ounces, has a six-inch E Ink display, and  it’s simple navigation allows a reader to access the different functions and brows across pages.  While it is fairly easy to highlight and add annotations to text, the process is still fairly clunky. Highlighted text and notes can be shared via Facebook or Twitter ; although, the process for sharing text often creates a defacto endorsement for Amazon.

While the Kindle offers wifi connectivity, access is limited to Amazon.com’s eBookstore. However, the limited wifi, along with the E Ink screen, serves to extend battery life, up to three weeks when the wifi is turned off, offering plenty of uninterrupted reading, The Kindle’s user-friendly features and simplicity when it comes to solely needing an eReading device make it the number one selling eReader, and it’s easy to see why. ($139 wifi and $189 3G wifi)

Barnes and Noble Nook, $149.99 for wifi and $199.99 wifi+3G

* EPUB (including Non or Adobe DRM)

* PDB

* PDF

* Graphics: JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP

* Audio: MP3

Source: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/features/techspecs/index.asp

The Barnes and Noble Nook comes in two variations, the Nook and the Nook Color.  The Nook family is notable for Barnes & Nobles LendMe™ technology, which allows you to lend out an eBook to a friend for up to 14 days, although the original owner cannot access the files while the book is being lent.

The Nook is a basic eReading device, which provides a six-inch screen for a comparably sized read to that of a paperback print book. Like the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle, the display uses E Ink technology that provides a glare free reading experience, making outdoor reading easier and the appearance more like that of a page in a print book.  On all three of the devices using E Ink there is a flash when turning pages as the display resets, but this is easily overlooked once you lose yourself in a book.

The Nook sets itself apart with a small touch screen below the main screen, which is used for navigation and to display bookcovers. While we found this to be a bit of a novelty; it did not seem to take away from or add much to the functionality of the device.

While not as lightweight as the Kindle, the Nook weighs in at just over 12 ounces. There is wifi connectivity simply for the use of purchasing books on line at Barnes and Noble’s store. The lithium polymer battery can last seven days with the wifi turned on and up to 10 days with the wifi disabled, making it great for avid readers.

Unlike the Kindle, the Nook supports an open format (ePub), which allows readers to buy books from multiple websites and to use those files (potentially) across multiple types of devices. With less storage space than the Kindle, this device has 2GB and can hold up to 1,500 books  while additional titles can be stored on an optional micro-sd card . We like the benefits of an open format reader, and the Nook is a great buy for those only needing an eReader device. ($149.99 for wifi and $199.99 for 3G wifi)

Barnes and Noble Nook Color, $249.99

* EPUB (including Non or Adobe DRM)

* PDF, including password-protected PDF*

* Other documents: XLS, DOC, PPT, PPS, TXT, DOCM, XLSM, PPTM, PPSX, PPSM, DOCX, XLX, PPTX

* Graphics: JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP

* Audio: MP3, AAC

* Video: MP4

Source: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookcolor/features/techspecs/index.asp?cds2Pid=35607

*Source: Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_%26_Noble_Nook]

The Nook Color offers all that the original Nook does plus some. The screen is slightly larger and the device weighs 15 ounces. This is because the display type is a LCD Vivid View touch screen, a great feature for children’s books and books that contain detailed graphics. On the downside, the backlit LED screen makes outdoor reading difficult, but owners can purchase a screen cover to solve this.

The Nook Color comes with a modified Android operating system, with limited features, and unfortunately, no access to the Android App store. There are plans to expand the functionality of the device, so if you are looking for a inexpensive tablet with full functions, you may be disappointed with the Nook Color. A Pandora app is available, as well as wifi access to a limited number of websites, but the primary function is limited to the reading of books

It comes with a standard 8GB, worth approximately 6,000 books, with a slot for a micro-sd card.  The battery duration is lower on the Nook Color because of the LCD screen and internet capabilities; on average lasting eight hours. All of these extras bring the price up, so decide whether or not these additional features are truly needed for your use. ($249.99 wifi)

Sony Reader

Daily Edition (7” Screen), $299.99

Touch Edition (6” Screen), $229.99

Pocket Edition (5” Screen), $179.99

Media Formats Supported:

* DRM Text : ePub (Adobe DRM protected), PDF (Adobe DRM protected), BBeB Book (PRS DRM protected), Text, RTF

* Image : JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP

* Unsecured Audio : Unsecured Adudio: MP3 (Non encrypted), AAC (Non encrypted)

* Unsecured Text : ePub, BBeB Book, PDF, TXT, RTF, Micrsoft® Word, (Conversion to the Reader requires Word installed on your PC)

Source: [http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666257815#specifications]

The Sony Reader Touch Edition was our top choice of the three options from Sony. The Pocket Edition  which is smaller, was harder to read than the Touch Edition Reader.

The Daily Edition, with its 7” screen and all the features of the Touch Edition, has lots of potential, but it seemed bulky for everyday use. We found the Touch Edition to be just right in that regard, not to big and not to small, and it will be the focus for this portion of the review.

The Touch Edition is an open format device that supports ePub files. The display is E Ink touch screen, and while the refresh rate appeared strange when integrated with the touch screen’s visual response, we assume that, like with most E Ink refresh rates, you get use to this nuance.

However, any such trade off may be worth it, as what makes the Sony Reader unique stems from the full touch screen. The Sony Reader family can highlight, underline, and make notations using a stylus directly on the screen. With other devices these capabilities were more awkward to use, requiring navigation with buttons. This would be a great buy for students or anyone who loves annotations.; the entire notation file can be downloaded to the users computer for later review.

It comes standard with 2GB of memory, or 1,200 books, with expansion slots for Memory Stick Duo™ and SD Card up to 32GB..

Wifi and 3G are both offered on the Sony and it is Mac and PC friendly. Even with the touch screen, the battery life can last up to two weeks before needing to be recharged. The Sony Reader Touch Edition rings in at a steep $229.99, but before you shy away from the high price, remember that you are paying for both the eReader and the touch screen.

Conclusion

All eReaders that were on display were very user friendly and provided for an easy electronic reading experience. They were all similar in library and book retrieval, page turning, book marking, and functionality.  The only difficult function on the Nook, Nook Color, and Kindle was the ability to insert notes or highlight text; the Sony Reader clearly stood out in this area with the use of the stylus.  Each eReader has its negatives and positives, with the most obvious negative being the ongoing unreliability of  small number of Kindles.

While in the long run we think it’s fair to assume that any reliability issues with the Kindle will be taken care of by Amazon. Even with that in mind, we are concerned with Amazon’s proprietary point of sales system, which prevents independent publishers from selling to the Kindle directly and for these two reasons we choose not to endorse it.

We would recommend the Sony Reader to anyone who takes lots of notes and is looking to maintain an archive of their notations, the Nook Color for use with kids books, and, purely for reading, the Barnes and Noble Nook for its affordable price, open format, and ability to loan out books.