With a spate of new eReaders and tablets hitting the market, we thought it worth spelling out some of the features and specs of the major players to help you discern which is right for you – or at least help you figure out what the differences are. Bear in mind, there is no real apple-to-apple comparison here (no pun intended). eReaders have black and white “eInk” screens and are designed to be fairly basic – the introduction of the latest $79 Kindle is the best proof of that. Tablets, on the other hand, are designed to be something like a laptop in your palm – and can be used for reading, gaming, browsing, streaming, recording, and many other “-ings” to boot. In the end, your (and your readers’) preferences may be driven by your choice of book retailer as much as by the features of any given eReader.
-Andre Calilhanna
Price: $99
Battery life (approximate): 30 hours
Screen: 6″ E-ink multi-touch (grayscale)
Resolution: 600 x 800 pixels
Memory: 4 GB (3 GB for content)
How many books is that?: 3,000
Size: 6.8″ x 4.7″ x 0.40″
Weight: 7.8 ounces
What files does it read? Kindle (.azw), .txt, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, .doc, .docx, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion
Color options: Silver
Connectivity: WiFi (3G model also available)
Features include: USB port, music playback, borrowing from library, 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, rear mounted stereo speakers, over 1 million titles available in book store (Amazon.com).
Additional features: Free cloud storage for Amazon content; Text-to-Speech can read English-language content out loud; Whispersync synchronizes last page read, bookmarks, and annotations across your devices.
5 eReader models available: Kindle ($79), Kindle Touch ($99), Kindle Touch 3G ($149), Kindle Keyboard ($99), Kindle Keyboard 3G ($139)
Price: $199
Battery life (approximate): 8 hours
Screen: 7″ multi-touch 16 million color display
Resolution: 1024 x 600 pixels
Memory: 8 GB (6 GB for content)
How many books is that?: 6,000
Size: 7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″
Weight: 14.6 ounces
What files does it read? Kindle (.azw), .txt, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)) .doc, .docx, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8
Color options: Black
Connectivity: WiFi (3G to come in 2012)
Features include: USB port, web browsing, music playback, movies, TV, apps, games, email, borrowing from library, 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, top-mounted stereo speakers, over 1 million titles available in book store (Amazon.com).
Additional features: Free cloud storage for Amazon content; Whispersync synchronizes last page read, bookmarks, and annotations across your devices.
Price: $499 (and up)
Battery life (approximate): 10 hours
Screen size: 9.7″ LED backlit
Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels
Memory: 16 (32 and 64 GB available)
How many books is that?: 48,000
Size: 9.5″ x 7.31″ x 0.34″
Weight: 1.33 lbs
What files does it read? ePub, PDF, iBooks (ePub w/Apple DRM), Kindle (w/app), Barnes & Noble (w/app), .jpg, .tiff, .gif; .doc and .docx; .htm and .html; .key; .numbers; .pages (Pages); .pdf; .ppt and .pptx; .txt; .rtf; .vcf; .xls and .xlsx
Color options: Black, White
Connectivity: Wi-Fi w/optional 3G
Features include: 30-pin input (USB adaptor included), microphone, web browsing, music playback, TV, movies, apps, games, email, note taking, borrow library books (w/ free app), camera on front and back for video and stills, over 200,000 titles available in iBook store.
Additional features: VoiceOver screen reader and support for closed-captioned content, iCloud to store all your content, AirPrint lets you print directly from your iPad.
Check out this comparison of the iPad and the Kindle Fire
Price: $149
Battery life (approximate): 15 hours
Screen size: 6″ 16-level grayscale
Resolution: 600 x 800 pixels
Memory: 1.3 GB (up to 32 GB w/memory card)
How many books is that?: 1,200
Size: 6 7/8″ x 4 3/8″ x 3/8″
Weight: 5.9 ounces
What files does it read? ePub (OPS v2.0, .epub file extension, Adobe DRM protected), PDF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3 (Non encrypted), AAC (Non encrypted), .txt
Color options: Black, White, Red
Connectivity: Wi-Fi
Features include: USB port, note taking, borrow library books, audio playback (w/ headphones), thousands of titles in Sony Bookstore.
Price: $139
Battery life (approximate): 30 hours
Screen size: 6″ 16-level grayscale
Resolution: 800 x 600 pixels
Memory: 2 GB (up to 32 GB w/memory card)
How many books is that?: 1,000
Size: 6.5″ x 5″ x .47″
Weight: 7.48 ounces
What files does it read? ePub, PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP
Color options: Black
Connectivity: Wi-Fi
Features include: Micro USB connector, borrow library books, over 2 million titles available at Barnes & Noble.
Additional features: Nook Friends networking, personalized wallpaper.
Price: $249
Battery life (approximate): 8 hours
Screen size: 7″ Color Touchscreen
Resolution: 1024 x 600 pixels
Memory: 8 GB (up to 32 GB w/memory card)
How many books is that?: 5,000
Size: 8.1″ x 5″ x .48″
Weight: 15.8 ounces
What files does it read? ePub, PDF, .xls, .doc, .ppt, .pps, .txt, .docm, .xlsm, .pptm, .ppsx, .ppsm, .docx, .xlx, .pptx, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, MP4, AAC, MP4
Color options: Black
Connectivity: Wi-Fi
Features include: USB port, web browsing, music playback, movies, apps, games, email, borrow library books, mono audio speakers, over 2 million titles available at Barnes & Noble.
Additional features: Nook Friends networking, personalized wallpaper, supports ePub 3.
