Publishing ebook reader reviews or comparing ebook readers is getting ever more complex. Since Amazon released the Kindle ebook reader in 2007, the marketplace has become ever more crowded.
Barnes & Noble promote their Nook ereaders, and Borders their Kobo ereader, and Sony have a number of digital readers on the market. Samsung offer the Papyrus, and the BeBook Neo and the Pandigital Novel eReader have their fans. The Nook reader can be seen as a cross between a versatile tablet and an ebook reader. There are a number of tablet computers like the Apple iPad 2 and the new Kindle Fire which are promoted as a good ereaders, amongst their many other functions.
How do you decide what is the best ebook reader? Read our ebook reader reviews and ebook reader comparison, based on our extensive research and consumer feedback. See our recommendations before making your choice. Please remember that we are primarily examining each device with a view to its ability to present a good reading experience. Whatever other functionality a device offers beyond the reading experience can be seen as a bonus.
NOOK Simple Touch Reader (Barnes & Noble)
 Price: $99 Rating:  Rating: 6.5″ x 5″ Weight: 7.48 oz Like: Compact reader- decent price with good touchscreen. Good battery. Great bookstore. Dislike: No audio – no 3G option. Summary: A popular ereader, with great touchscreen navigation. Access newspapers, magazines, and over 1 million ebooks. |
| CLICK for full NOOK Touch Review … |
NOOK Reader – Color(Barnes & Noble)
 Price: $199 Rating:  Size: 8.1″ x 5″ Weight: 15.8 ounces Like: Color-rich 7-inch touch screen. Good performance. B&N NewsStand and Bookstore. Dislike: No 3G. Battery life is short for an ebook reader. Summary: Perfect if you are a regular magazine reader. Very popular with women. Between a ebook reader and a full-blown tablet, the Nook Color is bigger,heavier and more expensive than the basic monochrome ereaders. |
| CLICK for full NOOK Color Reviews … |
Amazon Kindle
 Price: $109 or $79(ads) Rating: Size: 6.5″ x 4.5″ Weight: 5.98 oz Like: Good display. Wi-Fi and 2GB capacity. Good bookstore. Dislike: No EPub support. No touchscreen. Summary: The Special Offer deal at $79 is an ideal entry point. Decent battery life. |
| CLICK for full Amazon Kindle Review … |
Amazon Kindle Touch
 Price: $139 or $99(ads) Rating: Size: 6.8″ x 4.7″ Weight: 7.5 oz Like: Good display. Touchscreen. Wi-Fi and 4GB capacity. Great bookstore. Dislike: No support for EPub format. Summary: The Special Offer deal at $99 is almost irresistible with touchscreen. Good battery life. |
| CLICK for full Amazon Kindle Touch Review … |
Amazon Kindle Keyboard
 Price: $139 or $99(ads) Rating: Size: 7.5″ x 4.8″ Weight: 8.7 oz Like: Good design and screen display. Wi-Fi and 4GB capacity. Kindle Store. Dislike: No EPub format format. No touchscreen. Summary: The best-selling ereader on Amazon.com. Improved from previous models, at a lower price. Good battery life. |
| CLICK for full Kindle Keyboard Review … |
Sony PRS-T1
Price: $149 Rating:   Size: 6.8″ x 4.3″ Weight: 5.9 oz Like: Touchscreen, Great display. Wi-Fi, Lightweight. Good dictionaries. And Multi-language. Dislike: Touchscreen response a tad slow, but no obvious failings. Summary: A good ereader, and a real competitor for the new Kindle. |
Amazon Kindle Keyboard(3G + Wi-Fi)
 Price: $189 or $139(ads) Rating: Size: 7.5″ x 4.8″ Weight: 8.7 oz Like: Good design. Clear Screen. Lightweight. Wi-Fi and G3 means downloading wherever you go. Dislike: No support for EPub. No touchscreen.Summary: If you’re always on the road, you can download newspapers, ebooks, journals, and magazines wherever you find a phone signal. |
| CLICK for full Kindle Keyboard 3G Review … |
Amazon Kindle Fire
Price: $199 Rating:  Size: 7.5′ x 4.7′ Weight: 14.6 ounces Like: Impressive LCD 7-inch touch screen makes for great media viewing, with easy access to all of Amazon’s varied content. Intuitive adaptation of Android is a winner. Dislike: As a reading experience cannot compete with the Kindle. Wi-Fi only, no 3G or Bluetooth. Battery life is short. Summary: The Kindle Fire is a tablet with ereader facilities. Seamless access to Amazon’s huge library of media content. LCD screen not the best for ebook reading. |
| CLICK for Full Kindle Fire Reviews … |
Amazon Kindle DX
 Price: $379 Rating: Size: 10.4″ x 7.2″ Weight: 18.9oz Like: Love the bigger, clear screen. 4GB, Wi-Fi. Text to speech. Great for PDFs. Dislike: High price for an eReader. No touchscreen. Not the most intuitive interface. Summary: If you are mostly a home reader with imperfect eyesight, or read documents rather than novels, the DX will serve you well. |
| CLICK for full Amazon Kindle DX Review … |
Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350SC
 Price: $189 Rating: Size: 5.7″ x 4.1″ Weight: 5.3 oz Like: Compact, lightweight – good touchscreen. Good legibility in bright light. Intuitive navigation. Dislike: No Wi-Fi or 3G. Pricey for a basic ereader. Summary: The smallest and lightest dedicated e-book reader offers A great reading experience from the smallest and lightest dedicated e-book reader, but price and lack of Wi-Fi are negative factors. Read detailed review … |
Sony Reader Digital Book (PRS-700)
 Price: $399 Rating: Size: 6.9″ x 5.1″ Weight: 10.1 oz Like: Good touchscreen. Good interface and attractive design. Dislike: High price – No wireless downloads. Summary: Popular stylish ereader, but the lack of Wi-Fi and the price sure to deter buyers. Read detailed review … |
Sony Daily Edition PRS 900
 Price: $290 Rating:  Size: 8.1″ x 5″ Weight: 12.8 oz Like: Wireless book downloads via integrated 3G radio . Good design and touchscreen display. Dislike: Expensive. Not the clearest display. Summary: Battery life is good, portrait or landscape orientation. Supports many file formats. Read detailed review … |
The Kobo eReader Touch Edition
 Price: $129 Rating: Size: 6.5″ x 4.5″ Weight: 7.1 oz Like: Compact and lightweight, with touchcscreen navigation. Wi-Fi, and good battery. Good BookStore. Dislike: Quirky interface and performance slightly below the competition. Summary: A decent affordable electronic book reader in a very competitive market. Read detailed review … |
Pandigital Novel
 Price: $169(white) or $249 (black) Rating:  Size: 7.5″ x 5.5″ Weight: 12 oz Like: More than an ebook reader,really a cheapish tablet computer. Dislike: Not the best screen display- browsing experience slightly disappointing. Summary: The Novel is somewhere between an ereader and tablet. A decent price. Read detailed review … |
BeBook Neo
 Price: $249 Rating: Size: 7.7″ x 4.8″ Weight: 10.5 oz Like: Powerful processor. ePaper technology makes for good reading experience. Dislike: Browser can be unstable. Battery life good when reading, less so with wireless on. Summary: Ambitious in design and functionality – not completely successful condidering high price. Read detailed review … |
Apple Ipad 2
 Price: $499 Rating: Size: 9.5″ x 7.3″ Weight: 1.3 pounds Like: Does present good ereader experience amongst the wealth of the iPad tablet functions. Dislike: Expensive for an ereader, and short battery life compared to dedicated ereaders. Summary: You do get a multi-talented tablet which has an excellent ereader function. The iPad LCD screen is more tiring on the eye than the e-Ink screens of other ereaders, and reflection is a major problem outdoors. Read detailed review … |
eBook Reader Reviews – The Right Choice
Some of the important features to consider when doing your ebook reader reviews are size, portability, display type, content choice, connectivity and, of course, price.
eBook Reader Reviews – Size and Portability
Where will you be using your electronic book reader? If the answer is mostly at home, then size, weight and portability are less of a concern. If you are in this category, then you might choose a large screen reader like the 10-inch Amazon Kindle DX. If, on the other hand, you want to read when away from the home, portability becomes the major issue. You will want an ebook reader that is light and compact, and that will slip into a pocket or purse, so you could be looking at the new Kindle from Amazon or the 5-inch Sony Reader Pocket Edition.
eBook Reader Reviews – Display Type
Most of the dedicated eBook readers, like the Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, use e-ink technology for their screen. This reproduces the look of printed paper(in monochrome), is highly readable indoors and outdoors, even in sunlight, and suffers less from reflection than competing technologies. With e-Ink the screen is not backlit, so you cannot read in the dark, but there are accessories to meet this need if you do read in bed. Most of the tablet devices which double as ebook readers have LCD screens(like your desktop monitor), which are back-lit, so they are perfectly readable in the dark. But, as anyone who has tried using a laptop outdoors on a sunny day will know, the LCD screen is quite difficult to read outdoors because of reflection. LCD screens do tend to cause more eyestrain over protracted reading sessions(anything over 30 minutes) than e-Ink screens.
eBook Reader Reviews – Content
The various ebook readers store their digital content in a variety of file formats. Kindle uses its own unique format, which means that any Kindle ebooks you bought could not be simply copied onto another ereader. The most popular format is ePub. The more file types your ebook reader supports, the better, because that gives you more reading and more purchasing options. The Barnes & Noble Bookstore claims over 2 million titles, including journals, magazines and children’s digital books, and the Amazon Kindle Store has over 1 million books available for download, as do Kobo.
eBook Reader Reviews – Connectivity
Most ebook readers offer WiFi connectivity, which means that you can browse your online bookstore, purchase and download your ebooks whenever you are in a WiFi hotspot. Some also offer 3G connectivity, so you can do this wherever there is a phone signal, which is most places in the civilized world. Many ereaders also have Web-browsing functions, but this can be fairly basic on the cheaper readers.
eBook Reader Reviews – Price
Prices vary from the good entry-point readers like the Amazon Kindle at $79 right up to the multi-function Apple Ipad 2 at $499, so in your electronic book reader comparison the choice depends mainly on whether you want a dedicated ebook reader or a multi-purpose tablet with ebook reading functionality. Hope you have enjoyed our ebook reader reviews, and that you enjoy even more your reader of choice when you do purchase.
