E-Book Reader Comparisons

• Apple iPad
• Sony Daily Edition

It's not difficult to find reviews of e-book readers on the Internet these days. The Kindle versus the Daily Edition, the Nook compared to the iPad etc. However, the large majority of these reviews focus on the hardware which, whilst undeniably an important factor, is only part of the story.

When choosing an e-book reader, there are a variety of considerations over and above the hardware, that you may wish to take into account. For example:

• How pleasant is it to read on?
• How legible is the screen in different lighting conditions?
• How many books are available?
• How much do books cost?
• What format are the books in?
• How well laid out are the controls?
• How easy is it to use?
• How easy is it to download books?
• What is the pricing plan?

Some of these are fairly subjective - beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. Others can be quantified however, and should be taken into account when deciding which e-book reader to choose.

Why don't we take a look at the cost of books as an example? A recent study by the New York Times considered the cost of buying 10 books for the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and the Sony family of readers. The books chosen were from the New York Times ten "best books" of 2009 and consisted of 5 fiction and 5 non-fiction titles - see the table below:

As you can see, there's quite a large difference in the average price per book across the three readers. In fact if you're in the habit of reading say, a book a week then, based on these figures, choosing the Kindle reader instead of the Nook, would save you almost $300 a year.

Your Kindle reader would, in the space of 12 months, not just pay for itself but leave you with a few dollars to buy some books. This is just one example of the types of non-hardware related factors that you might want consider.

If you're a first-time buyer of an e-book reader then, in all probability, you will be mentally comparing your potential future e-book reader purchase with the experience of reading a "real" book. Will you miss turning the pages, the feel of the paper, the ability to mark your page with a "dog ear"? Maybe you will, maybe you won't - it's a very personal thing. Statistically speaking - 80% of American e-book reader owners prefer reading on a reader to reading a conventional book. Personally speaking, the thought of manhandling a big heavy book seems truly antiquated after having used the Kindle reader.

At the end of the day, it's about a good read. Do you enjoy books - or do you enjoy reading? Does it matter to you if your book was hand written by a cloistered monk, printed on a printing press or digitally stored in e-book format? The fact is, when you're reading a good book you probably won't even notice that you are using the Kindle instead of a more traditional paper version.

Anyway, this is a slightly long-winded way of saying that this section contains hardware reviews. It is intended to help you choose your e-book reader - but there may be other considerations for you which should also be taken into account.