Best Values in eReaders – A Comparative Review

Through the trail blazed by Amazon’s Kindle series of eReaders numerous competitors made their way to the arena. Some survived the years, a few found bigger partners to run with, while others yielded ground. Below is a representative list of the churn in the industry last year:

1. Hearst Corporation: News Corp acquired Hearst Corporation’s Skiff Reader in June 2010. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But, if the unforgiving environment for new readers is any indication, Rupert Murdoch acquired it for a throwaway price. Apparently, News Corp was interested only in the software platform that runs the device.
2. Foxit: Their reader, eSlick, was considered among the best due to its excellent pdf support. But last month, the company announced plans of ceasing development of the hardware and offering the software for other digital book providers.
3. Interead: A small start-up from UK made an emphatic splash at the 2009 Book Expo America when it announced its reader COOL-ER. But by July 2010, it went bankrupt.
4. Plastic Logic: This Company is pioneering the use of plastic substrate instead of silicon. Their premium reader the QUE proReader announced with big fanfare at CES was targeted towards business users. But, in August, Plastic Logic announced the Que as no longer commercially viable.
5. iRex Technologies: Netherlands based iRex delayed their Digital Reader 800 launch for not getting FCC approval on time. The original plan was to release it in time for the holiday shopping season. But in June, the company filed for Chapter 11.
6. Polymer Vision: The Company enjoyed a good following with its distinct bendable e-paper display, but ran out of capital before the projected launch date of the reader Readius. The company warned about funds being too low for the launch to go through in April and filed for bankruptcy protection in July.

A flurry of undaunted players, are entering the ring this year. Below is a summary with projected release dates, status, and other relevant details:

Product	Thumbnail	Release Date	Pricing	Description
Entourage eDGe E-Book Reader		3/12/2010	$499	Distinct look with a dual-screen (9.7” e-ink and 10.1” LCD) display, WiFi enabled, and comes with a virtual keyboard.
Kogan eBook Reader		08/27/2010	AU$189 (About US $170)	Marketed as a reader made in Australia for native use, it uses the open EPUB format along with a number of other formats. It does not have WiFi or 3G.
Kobo eReader by Kobo Inc		06/17/2010	$129	A Borders book-store backed reader from Australia with features similar to the Kogan. The original pricing of $149 made it cheaper than the Kindle but the Kindle 3 WiFi release at $139 had them scrambling and eventually reducing the price to the current $129. Borders also has an alternative smaller (5” screen) reader from Aluratek at $99.
Alex eReader by Spring Designs		04/14/2010	$399	The winner of Best of CES 2010 eReader category, it is a dual-screen Android driven device allowing it to run Android applications. The dual functionality puts it closer to the Apple iPad than Amazon’s Kindle.
Pi by Infibeam.com		02/24/2010	Rs 9999 (~$220)	A standard 6” player from India with WiFi, 512MB storage, an SD card slot, and multiple language support. The store has over 1,00,000 titles currently available. It can also double as music player and a rudimentary games console.
Wink by EC Media		08/19/2010	Rs 11490 (~$250)	Another 6” player from India with 2GB storage, and SD card slot, and multiple language support. Has a tie-up with DC Books and the store has over 2,00,000 titles.
Gorld 600TW		03/15/2010	2880 Yuan (~$420)	A full-featured 6” combination player from China with a cellphone, WiFi, GSM GPRS, and blue-tooth.

* HP Slate, Samsung E6 Slider, and Samsung E61 did not make this list, as they are not yet generally available. Txtr by Wizpac, the eReader from Germany, also is not listed above for; it is only available on pre-order (299 Euros) without a set delivery date.

Below is a list of new versions of eReaders released in the last year with pricing and summarized feature descriptions:

Product	Thumbnail	Release Date	Price	Description
Amazon Kindle Wi-Fi		08/25/2010	$139	3rd generation 6” reader. No 3G, but pricing makes it an unbeatable deal.
Amazon Kindle Wi-Fi 3G		08/25/2010	$189	Pricing again makes this an outstanding deal, with 3G functionality!
Amazon Kindle DX		08/25/2010	$379	Premium 9.7” reader with WiFi and 3G.
Barnes & Noble Nook		06/21/2010	$149	WiFi only economical alternative of the original Nook priced $40 lower.
iRiver Story			185 pounds in the UK (~$250)	Korean reader with some unique features and very good build quality but pricing is too high.
Cybook Opus by Bookeen		05/07/2010	$199.99	Smaller 5” screen with 1GB storage and Micro SD card option.
Elonex eBook		01/04/2010	129 pounds in the UK	Smaller 5” screen with SD card and preloaded with 100 classics. Built-in Adobe Reader Mobile.

* Sony Reader Pocket, Touch, and Daily Editions along with the Hanlin & Hanvon eReaders from China are not listed above, as their 2010 versions are not generally available yet.

Summary & Recommendation:

Overall, based on popularity, reputation and brand recognition, the best value options are:

1. Amazon Kindle 3 Wi-Fi,
2. Barnes & Noble Nook,
3. Kobo eReader,
4. Alex eReader.

One big decision point when choosing amongst these is epub support: Amazon’s eBook format is proprietary. The rest of the competition supports epub (click to see the huge almost free epub selections). Also, Amazon announced a library lending feature for Kindle on 04/20/2011 which would further differentiate Kindle from its competitors. If you are OK with being tied to Amazon’s proprietary file format, then choose the Kindle – the hardware pricing & ebook selections on the Kindle are hard to beat. Otherwise, choose either the B&N Nook or the Kobo eReader (Australia only) depending on where you are from. Alex eReader is a great option, if you are looking for a single device that can run applications and be an eReader as well. When looking for values, it would be sacrilege not to mention India’s $35 Android tablet set for release on 01/2011 - unfortunately, dashing the hopes of millions, the project is delayed at least till the summer, as they dropped the manufacturer HCL Technologies. 

Related Posts:

1. Best Values in eReaders - A Comparative Review.
2. Kindle eReaders - A Comparative Review.
3. Kindle 2 eBook Reader - Is it Bleeding Edge? - A Frugal Take.

Last Updated: 05/2011.