Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad: Which e-book reader should you buy?

CRAVE - CNET ^ | September 4, 2010 6:29 PM PDT | John P. Falcone

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Editors' note (September 3, 2010): This story has been updated to reflect the release of the new third-generation Kindle models and the announcement of new Sony Readers, among other new details.

Yes, it's true: now is a better time than ever to be in the market for an e-book reader. Hardware prices are more affordable than ever, and more titles are available electronically--anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions, depending on whether you include the huge library of free public-domain titles--than at any point in history.

The market has consolidated around a handful of major players: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, and Apple. Recently updated products from the first three include excellent options in the sub-$200 (and even sub-$150) price ranges. Also, a flood of new reading-centric apps continues to solidify the

Apple iPad's position as the premium media tablet of choice.

With these new variables, now is a perfect time to re-evaluate the e-book reader landscape and figure out which product is best for you. If you're an experienced shopper, you can jump straight to our list of top e-book readers; however, everyone else can consult this quick guide, which boils the purchase decision down to six questions:

[skeeter]

Have nothing to compare t to, but I have a Kindle and its great.

The only suggestion for improvement I have would be backlighting, but that'd probably come with power issues.

[Alex Murphy]

Ping to read later

[Old Teufel Hunden]

A fourth option, the old fashioned way. A book. Technology does not have to cover everything. Why fix something that isn’t broke? How can a Kindle replace turning the pages of a dog eared paperback in a park or at the beach?

[krb]

Get yourself an iPad, but put the screen protector on it better than the one in your picture :-)

[Domandred]

mobipocket to go onto existing devices. Been pretty happy with it. Enough that it prevents me from buying a standalone device for ebooks.

[4rcane]

I bought the kindle 3. Free internet with accesss to freerepublic forum

[2banana]

Anyone remember vu-graphs?

[County Agent Hank Kimball]

I looked very closely at the Kindle, but wound up buying a Sony Reader and I’m VERY glad I did. From what I can tell it’s far and away the choice.

Beautiful display. Wide variety of fonts. Annotation capability. Two-page or single page display. You can also save pics, pdfs, etc. if you’re so inclined. It comes with a light that can be bent to any possible orientation you want.

I’m not a super-big gadget guy...but I’m hooked on this after just two weeks. I got a PRS-900. When it first came out about a year ago it was $399, which was way higher than the competiive units like Kindle.....now you can get it for $299.

Strongly recommended!

Han

[AnotherUnixGeek]

The only suggestion for improvement I have would be backlighting

I'd skip that. Backlighting means eyestrain - I like being able to read the Kindle in the same lighting conditions I read paper books in, including dark airline cabins with the overhead light on. The Kindle can't do nearly as much as an LCD tablet, but what it does - display books for reading - it does better than an LCD display.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Hope this might be found useful...

[A_Cougar]

I’m anxious to buy one but I want one that can be used with different platforms.

[gogov]

I have not quite gotten up to speed on all options. Thanks for posting this.

The one with the keypad looks like the best concept. I do not like typing on a screen and its size looks much more manageable.

This unit by HP was way ahead of its time. Wish they would just bring it back with updated software and built in wi-fi. These were the best. Fits in your inside coat pocket. No need for a mouse. It is touch screen. Loaded with Office, IE, and with no hard drive battery lasts 9 hours. Instant on and off. No waitin for operating system to boot up.

Any HP Jornada 720 fans out there?

[UB355]

l was given the first gen Kindle as a gift. Very happy with it. I can also read the books on my PC and iPodTouch and sync last page read across all three.

[BreezyDog]

No need to live up to the first word in your screen name.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I got a firesale 905 at Fry's some time ago and finally opened the package...didn't have time to do anything with it as yet.

I wanted to get books from the device to my PC ...I am going to put together a Storage subsytem....for all kinds of reasons...but I barely know what I am doing.

[xjcsa]

Backlighting is completely incompatible with the e-ink display that the Kindle and others use, and would defeat the purpose of those displays anyway.

[gogov]

I bought the kindle 3. Free internet with accesss to freerepublic forum

Please tell me more. Really interested in info on this. As a side note, is there anything other than FReeRepublic on the intenet?

[Mamzelle]

I have a nook. I don't do business with Amazon. They're part of the perplexing Progressive Marxist Entrepreneurs...they've Got Theirs and want you to be poor, but just rich enough to make them richer. It doesn't make any sense, any more than how billionaires suddenly become eugenicists as soon as they're too rich to want any more money.

I recommend nook because it connects with a place you probably already frequent--a brick-and-mortor Barnes and Nobles. If you want to, you can read a book for free in a B&N, as long as you are in the building.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Was just looking at this:

***********************EXCERPT*********************

6. Do you need support for the EPUB format?

Each of the readers listed above can download and display books from their respective online bookstores, and the iPad works with several (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iBooks, to name a few). However, there's also an open e-book file standard known as EPUB. Using this format, you can obtain loaner books from certain online local libraries, as well as download free (mostly public domain, pre-1923) books from a variety of sources, such as Google Books.

Of the leading e-book readers, only the Kindle can not read files in the EPUB format. If that's a must-have feature, then, you'll want to steer clear of Amazon's reader. That said, thousands of the most desirable public-domain titles are available on the Kindle for free. As a result, we don't consider the Kindle's dearth of EPUB compatibility to be a black mark on the device.