Portable Ebook Reader

The expanding popularity of portable e-book readers has e-gadget manufacturers climbing the walls to improve, innovate and expand operations, portability and user convenience. Amazon’s Kindle broke open the e-book reader market, although it wasn’t the first e-book reader on the scene. Barnes & Noble’s Nook is a terrific product as well, and its now-generation reader offers some tough choices for e-book fans that has Amazon concerned. Then bring in Sony products to further complicate matters. These top three e-book reader options can make an e-book reader’s head spin, so let’s compare them on size, capability and adaptability.

The information below reflects the common models within the same price range; it wouldn’t be fair to compare a “deluxe” model with a “basic” model. The approximate price range is roughly $115 to $160 and notes the Barnes and Noble Nook Touch Reader, Amazon’s Kindle 3 and Sony’s Reader Pocket Edition.

Size and Weight Comparison

BN’s Nook Touch Reader, hereafter called NTR for typing convenience, sports a 6-inch display and a 5 x 6.5-inch profile. Weighing in at 7.48 ounces, you barely know you’re holding or carrying it.

The Kindle 3 also offers a 6-inch display and a 4.8 x 7.5-inch profile; it’s a little longer than the Nook but not prohibitively so. The negligible weight difference with Nook, 8+ ounces versus 7.48 ounces, is noticed, but after the conscious notation, you barely notice it.

Sony’s Reader Pocket Edition boasts the smallest and lightest numbers of the three at 4.11 x 5.71 inches and 5.47 ounces. It also has the smallest display screen at 5 inches.

Capacity and Accessibility

The NTR can hold up to . Its battery can last up to two months on charge under minimum use capacity. In other words, you can’t get two months of use under full WiFi use or downloads—just reading. (Those general conditions restrict all battery use comparisons, however.)

The Kindle 3 can hold up to 3,500 e-books in its 4GB memory. The built-in, permanent battery can last up to a month on a single charge if WiFi is turned off. However, its WiFi capability draws a definite plus to this device.

Sony’s device can hold up to 1,200 e-books with a 2GB memory. It can also support word documents, Adobe PDFs, EPUB/ACS4 formats. The Pocket Edition is compatible with both Macs and PCs. Coming in a distant third in battery capacity, it provides only two weeks maximum average use prior to recharging. Sony’s product has no direct Internet access capability, so you must download from a PC or Mac into the device.

Distinct Advantages and Disadvantages

Sony’s device is great for short-term use and storage swaps, but its lack of direct connectivity is a drawback for many. It’s slimmer, lighter, more compact design is a plus over the others, however.

Nook’s longer battery life and expandable memory slot allows slight advantages over both the Kindle 3 and the Pocket Edition. Its multiple platform readability matches Kindle 3′s, and both Nook and Kindle stand above the Pocket Edition in direct Internet access.

Kindle 3′s biggest advantage is that the $114 price tag for the Kindle-With Special Offers edition. Completely identical to Kindle 3 in other ways, the Special Offers version provides a $25 discount for non-intrusive ads in the screen saver mode and on the main menu. Because there are no ads while reading, the ad-supported version is highly recommended.

However, the touch screen and button resign puts Barnes & Nobles’ Nook a half a notch above Kindle 3. Its longer battery life secures it in the number 1 slot—for now.

The author of this post is Holly Miller, who writes for Coupon Croc. In the market for the hottest gadgets? Save big when you shop online and use an Argos discount voucher.

Carry your library with you anywhere with the Sony PRS-350

Get the lowest price on the Sony PRS-350 here! And check out our review below!

The Sony PRS-350 is a great small sized e-reader that is highlighted by an exclusive and easy-to-use touch interface. It is a second edition reader also known as a Sony Pocket Reader as it can easily fit in your pocket. This 5-inch e-reader is the smallest & lightest ereader available on the market. Being 5.75”x 4.13”x 0.34” and 5 ½ ounces in weight it is surprisingly small, hence the name Sony Reader Pocket Edition. The Pearl display of the PRS-350 also gives amazing resolution.

Its aluminum front and back panel make it very visually impressive. Unlike Sony’s previous ereaders, the touchscreen of Sony PRS-350 does not present any glare problems so gives an exceptionally clear and dark text. You can even borrow eBooks from libraries with Adobe EPUB which also supports a large number of eBooks from various eBook stores. Wherever you go Sony Reader Pocket Edition brings your library with you. Its e-ink high contrast display makes it very easy to see in bright sunlight and does not affect your eyes. It also provides you with six font size choices for ease of use. The PRS-350 also includes a built-in dictionary for finding the definitions of any word.

Let’s have a look on the specifications of the Sony Pocket Reader PRS-350:

• Dimensions: 5.75”x 4.13”x 0.34”
• Built-in 2GB memory
• 5” monochrome e-ink display screen
• 4-bit image with 800×600 pixel display resolution
• Supports JPEG, PNG, BMP & GIF image file formats

And now some of the feature highlights of the Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350:

• Impressive Touchscreen - Unlike previous Sony models, the Sony PRS-350 has a new touchscreen with no additional layer over the top of the screen. NeoNode’s zForce infrared technology has made its touchscreen very responsive both with your finger and with the stylus. Fingerprints are easily wiped off and are so much less noticeable.
• Hardware & Software - The Sony Pocket Reader has a 2GB built-in memory out of which 1.4GB is available for use. You can store around 1200 eBooks & documents. Its battery life is about 15 days or 10,000 pages per charge. Here are few on-screen features of the PRS-350:
• Favorite pages can be bookmarked.
• On-screen keyboard to add notes.
• Change font sizes within 6 given choices.
• View full page or split into 2 or 3 columns.
• Lock the page with a custom zoom dial.

• Added Text Styling - Out of the box The PRS-350 supports only one font, but you can add as many more as you want. Margin cut settings are also available in the case of some eBooks with white space.
• Formats & Languages - The Sony PRS-350 supports a wide variety of formats like Adobe DRM for EPUB & PDF. Thus you can even read eBooks from local libraries. RTF, TXT & Word files are also supported. Languages support includes English, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.

Here’s our quick pros & cons list for the Sony PRS-350.

Pros

• Lightest ebook reader on the market
• Easily fits into a pocket, highly portable
• Clear, high contrast touchscreen
• Supports EPUB

Cons

• Lacks WiFi & 3G
• No audio player

Verdict

The Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350 slips easily in your shirt or coat pocket, is as light as it gets and has a brand new glare-free incredibly responsive touchscreen. It’s perfect for anyone looking for a portable eBook reader with all the basic ereader functionality they need at a very competitive price.

Buy the Sony PRS-350 here!

Recently announced at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the 11.5-inch Skiff e-reader is thought to be the largest device in CES. Perfect for magazines and newspapers, this big display on the Skiff is almost two inches larger than our favorite Kindle DX. The next-generation flexible screen at an impressive 1,600 x 1,200 resolution eliminates the fragility of glass at the same time making the Skiff the first e-reader optimized for newspaper and magazine content. What makes this e-reader to be unique it is not only its size and highest-resolution display. The Skiff e-reader is the first device to integrate the upcoming Skiff Service. As a digital content providing company, Skiff offers a wide selection of newspapers, magazines, books and blogs from different publishers available for delivery via the Web. The device is also designed to work on a variety of platforms such as the Palm Pre and a Viliv MID.

The Skiff e-reader is connected via Sprint’s 3G network and has a Wi-Fi option. You can also load your content via USB port. Newspapers, magazines and e-books- all are available for Skiff users. While reading a content users can annotate, make notes and share the content with others. The interface of the Skiff is set to be easy used and turn pages with the swipe of a finger. The touchscreen display allows also to swip vertically changing the text sizes. The e-reader features three buttons and clickwheel along the right side of the frame. Weighing in just over one pound the Skiff e-reader is lightweight and easy to hold.

The Skiff comes equipped with 4GB of internal memory with support of a SDHC memory card. The battery is efficient; it can be charged once a week if the device is used on average.Other features included in the package are built-in speaker and 3.5 mm standard audio jack. Unfortunately there is no information about pricing and release date yet.

The Astak 5-inch Pocket PRO eBook reader is an inexpensive and compact device produced by a leading provider of customer electronics, Astak Inc. The Astak 5-inch Pocket PRO is set to work with Adobe Digital edition and bring customers a new way to turn their digital pages. The device is very compact sporting 5-inch screen and weighting 6 ounces.

It is a sharp 8-level grayscale E-ink screen with 600 x 800 pixel resolution. On the bottom of the device there is a 3.5mm headset jack and along the top there is the power button, miniUSB port, and SecureDigital card slot. For high speed page turns, Astak Pocket PRO comes with a 400 MHz processor and an internal Epson controller. Along with these, the integrated handy Scrollwheel makes page-turning even smoother.

The device is capable of supporting more than 20 DRM-free formats, including ADE (Adobe Digital Edition), PDF, TXT, PDB, DOC, HTML, FB2, LIT, MP3, EPUB, PRC, WOL, CHM, PPT, TIF, PNG, GIF, RAR, ZIP, DJVU, JPG, and BMP. As collaborating with Adobe Digital Editions, the gadget is powered with Adobe firmware allowing users to read DRM-protected PDF files in addition to public domain titles and copy-protected PDFs.

The manufacturer seems was very serious about users’ reading experience, as it comes packed with PDF reflow and text-to-speech functions. The first feature will make your documents more legible while the second will read them aloud. With Astak’s 5-inch PRO eBook reader on your hands you won’t ever suffer from eyestrain after hours of reading. While reading to enhance your reading experince the EZ Reader Pocket PRO can also play mp3 music.

The device comes with 512MB of internal storage space, while an SDHC card reader will add up to 16GB of capacity. The EZ pro’s removable 1000 mAh Li-Polymer battery will deliver up to 8,000 page turns on one full charge. The Astak 5″ EZ Reader Pocket PRO is available in six different colors, including Alpine White, Onyx Black, Slate Blue, Classic Maroon, Powder Pink, and Metallic Purple. The device is now available for preorders and will cost as low as $199 putting it at the small end of eReader continuum.

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The Archos Company, known as a French consumer electronics manufacturer, is the author of the 7^th generation internet tablet Archos 5 (announced on September, 2009). Running on the Google’s Android operating system the Anchos 5 is expected to deliver all Android capabilities and bring the consumer a new way to enjoy Internet, Media and TV all in one. It is powered by an ARM Cortex A8 processor at 800 MHz and 4.8- inch 800×400 touchscreen display. It is a sharp and bright display which uses a resistive touch technology and has two common drawbacks. The tablet features only two physical buttons.

The Archos 5 has been designed to be a slim and sexy device and is certainly good to look at. Overall the tablet has dimensions of 143.2 x 78.8 x 10.4mm and weighs 182g. The Archos 5 Internet Tablet has built-in features of a PDF reader, Mac and PC compatibility, built-in speaker, integrated kickstand and game capabilities. On the audio side the tablet have support for great variety of formats, including MP3, WMA, OGG, and FLAC. It is also best for video playing. The device comes with two HDMI ports and is capable of 720p video playback. For video, expect MP4, WMV and MKV file supports. Don’t worry about the tablet memory, as Archos offers you a whopping 250 Gb of storage that can hold 300 movies, 145,000 songs or millions of photos. The size of the storage on the Archos 5 is very competitive with many current notebooks on the market.

For connectivity Archos has chosen to use Wi-Fi B/N/G along with Bluetooth, through which you can access the 3G connection of your mobile phone. The Archos 5 Internet Tablet has also GPS capabilities that the company powered with a photo satellite view version of the map. Thanks to this feature you won’t get lost with the Anchor 5 in your hands, and yet you will enjoy the navigation as this software includes various tons of options including type of route, traffic, list of radars and more. Browsing becomes almost seamless with the built-in Opera web-browser and Adobe Flash 8 video supports. Thanks to the Archos built-in full email apps you won’t also miss the ability to write, download or send attachments right to your contacts. And lastly, the Archos 5 comes with a built-in battery that can deliver up to 12 hours of audio and 4 hours of video.The Archos 5 can be a great choice for you and the pricing of the tablet starts at $249.99 for the 8GB device and maxes out at $439.99 for 500GB.

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet can be found at:

• Amazon for $302 USD

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Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry. Pocket is still known for publishing books on management skills, self-development, customer care, and all aspects of business and management. There are over 100 different titles of e-books to choose from the Pocket list which are ideal for continuing professional development.

The newest in the PocketBook line the PocketBook 360 is a 5 inch e-book reader with a terrific ergonomic design featuring the newest processor and Vizplex display for faster page turns and more enjoyable reading. Also known as 360 Degree Feedback, it is one of the most powerful experiences a person can have in the workplace, according to Tony Peacock the author of the 360 Degree Feedback Pocketbook.

The PocketBook 360 model uses a 5’’ third generation Vizplex electronic display with G-sensor, allowing automatic orientation of pages in portrait or landscape mode. Smaller than the 6-inch standard for most eReaders it has nonetheless a resolution of 600×800 and is capable of displaying up to 8 shades of gray. Controls placed on the side of the unit combined with a position sensor allow for holding and control in either hand or in landscape mode.

The 360 Degree PB is running on a Samsung S3C2440 AL-40 processor with 400MHz, and Linux operating system. The battery is powered by Li-Polymer (1000 mAh) which lasts without being recharged up to 8000 page turnings. The eReader is equipped with 4MB of RAM expandable to 32GB. The PocketBook 360 comes with 512MB internal memory which can be supported a microSD slot up to 2 GB. For connectivity the PocketBook 360 has no Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or cellular 3G connectivity- you’re stuck with the USB cord.

Communication possibilities include the availability of Mini-USB port, there is a slot for microSD, microSDHC memory card. When connected to PC this particular device is recognized as a USB-device, which allows easy transfers of electronic books to the device. The PocketBook 360 can read FB2, TXT, PDF, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, DJVU, DOC, EPUB and TCR formats and supports JPG, BMP, PNG and TIF image formats. The languages on the book are German, English, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Russian, and Hebrew. The main page is available a list of the last 2 open books, a larger list can cause short-term pressing the power button.

Of the additional functions of PocketBook the 360 Degree features a set of mini-games, the possibility of reading a computer preloaded with RSS feeds, calendar and notes. Five games are included in the package: Sudoku, Chess, Solitair and Ship Battle. The PocketBook 360 offers also users to download English-Russian dictionary along with other dictionaries from the developer’s site.

The PB e-book measures 6.6 inch x 5.5 inch x 0.39 inch and weights just 150 grams. The design of the case and layout of the controls the PB360 was produced exclusively for the PocketBook Company and comes in color black or ivory color. This stylish 360 Degree can be a great choice for e-book readers and also for PB fans.

The PocketBook 360 can be found at:

• Dulin’s Books for $239 USD
• PocketBook for $259 USD

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