Consumer Reports Best EReaders
Consumer Reports recently tested the top E Readers on the market, including the Amazon Kindle. Since the release of the Amazon Kindle in 2007, the market for E Readers has been heating up. Though these devices have been around for over 10 years, Amazon with its Kindle, has put E Readers and E Books on the mainstream map.
With mainstream success, more and more publishers have come on board the digital media train with many new titles that were previously unavailable. Another item of note that makes today’s EReaders more popular, is the standardization of media. Previous generations had proprietary displays and formats which made them unpopular.
With an estimated 1 million units slated to sell this Holiday Season, below are the E Readers you should consider:
CR Best Buy Value Rated EReader: The Amazon Kindle is by far the best EReader value on the market. It falls in between the Sony pocket reader and PRS 600 in terms of price, but it offers so much more in terms of user experience than the other two readers. We found the Free 3G connectivity to be the most compelling reason to buy the Kindle. This allows you to not only download books on the go but also allows users who do not own a PC to download content. The Kindle is also a more versatile Reader since it supports more file types, doubles as a basic internet browser and MP3 player. In short, the Amazon Kindle gives its user a lot more value for their money than the other two EReaders.
Top Rated E Readers Sorted by Price:
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The Sony PRS-300 is a pocket edition EReader and the lowest cost reader on the market. The PRS-300 is lightweight device featuring a 5″ screen and 512mb of internal memory allowing you to store over 300 EBooks. It is also highly portable since it weighs just 7.8oz and is just .2″ thin. A standard USB port and onboard eBook Library software makes for EBook downloading from
your computer fast and easy. This reader also has excellent battery life, providing up to 2 weeks or 7,500 page turns worth of reading on a single charge. The PRS-300 makes for an excellent entry level reader with all the standard features you could want.
Features:
- ePub, BBeB, Adobe PDF, TXT, RTF and Microsoft Word text formats.
- 5″ diagonal viewing screen, 6.2″ overall height, 4.2″ overall width,
.2″ thick, .7.8 oz - Rechargeable lithium-ion, up to 2 weeks per charge
- USB pc interface
- Comes with protective sleeve
$195.00 Best Price at Amazon.com
Amazon Kindle
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The Amazon Kindle is the most versatile and user friendly of the bunch. It is
also the most stylish. The new Kindle features FREE 3G wireless
connectivity so you can download books directly from the internet. Of course you
can also upload books via your PC through a standard USB port. It also has
the most capacity out of the bunch with up to 1.4gb capacity that will hold up
to 1,500 books. Another cool thing about the Kindle is the paper like display
that uses E Ink technology. Unlike displays on other devices, the Kindle has an
anti glare screen using which allows you to read it just like a book. Other cool
features include the built in keyboard for fast and easy annotations. Probably
the coolest thing about the Kindle is that it serves as more than just an
EReader since it functions as a basic web browser , MP3 player and digital audio
book player. All in all, the Kindle offers the best bang for the buck with it’s
new lower price.
Features:
- 1.4gb internal storage
- E Ink® electronic paper display, 600 x 800 pixel resolution
- 6″ diagonal viewing screen, 8″” overall height, 5.3″ overall width,
.36″ thick, 10.2 oz - Large array of supported formats: Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 4,
Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, HTML,
DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion - USB pc interface
$259.00 Best Price at Amazon.com
Sony PRS-600
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The Sony PRS-600 is a step up from the PRS-300. The 600 main feature is the 6″ 800×600 resolution touch screen that allows for easy page turning at the touch of your finger tip. The other difference is the virtual keyboard which allows for quick and easy annotations.
Another item of note is that the PRS-600 is slightly bigger and heavier. All other features such as USB and 512mb storage are held over from the PRS-300. All in all, The PRS-600 is a nice reader but it is hard to justify the extra $100 for a slightly larger screen and touch capabilities.
Features:
- 512MB internal storage
- ePub, BBeB, Adobe PDF, TXT, RTF and Microsoft Word text formats.
- 6″ diagonal viewing screen, 6.9″ overall height, 4.8″ overall width,
.4″ thick, .10.1 oz - Rechargeable lithium-ion, up to 2 weeks per charge
- USB pc interface
- Comes with protective sleeve