Thursday, August 4, 2011

Ebook Reader Comparison

With all the new ereaders on the market competing with each other, it may help you to review their features through an ebook reader comparison. When Amazon came out with their Kindle wireless reading device, there really were no comparable digital readers on the market, but other manufacturers are now competing for the wireless crowd of readers.

Let us first tackle the two ebook reader versions offered by Amazon. There is the Kindle International version and the Kindle DX. The main differences is the current Kindle DX only has 3G wireless capability in the U.S. whereas the International version is available now in over 100 countries. The Kindle DX also is larger in both screen size and capacity. The DX has a nine inch screen, whereas the normal Kindle only has a six inch screen. The Kindle DX also has a larger memory size and can hold 3,500 books versus only 1,500 books in the Global Kindle.

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A fairly new competitor is the Barnes and Noble Nook ereader. It has a lot of the same features as the Kindle Global version with a few added features. The Nook has Wi-Fi capability, whereas neither of Amazon's Kindle's do not. In addition, the Nook has memory expansion as an option and the ability to share media with friends through their Nook reader or through an iPhone, or iPod Touch, select BlackBerry and Motorola smartphones, as well as Windows or Mac PCs.

Newly released is the Sony Reader Daily edition. Their previous Touch ereader did not have wireless capability so was not really a contender in the ebook reader race. But the Daily now can compete with the best of them offering both 3G and Wi-Fi wireless connection and downloads. It does not have sharing capability like the Barnes and Noble Nook, but does offer an expansion slot and touch screen which Kindle lacks. The only drawback is the current price which is 0 more than both the Kindle Global and Nook.

Running close behind in the race is the latest Irex Digital Reader. Like the Sony Reader Daily, it is priced 0 higher than the Nook and Global Kindle without offering too much in upgrades. It does have a larger screen size at eight inches and access to over 750,000 book titles, but no Wi-Fi. The 3G network is through Verizon with a Gobi chipset for worldwide use.

One important note to mention is content availability. The Amazon Kindle has a closed proprietary format which will always limit your media collection to a Kindle unit. The Nook, Sony Reader and Irex support the ePub open format which will always give your more flexibility for your library collection.

Based on the current choices and what each has to offer, there is no clear winner. It all depends upon what each individual user is looking for in an ebook reader. Do you want a larger size ereader for easier reading or ability to download books when on vacation in France? Think about how often you like to read, where you like to read and how many books you have purchased over the past year. Hopefully this ebook reader comparison will help make your decision a little easier.

Ebook Reader Comparison

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