140294-sony_prs600_thumb_original.jpgIf you haven’t finished shopping yet and are going to get an ereader, perhaps the review roundup at Macworld will help. They look at the Kindle, Kindle DX, Astak EZReader Pocket Pro, Nook, foxit eSlick, Interead Cool-ER, Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition, Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition.

Here is their bottom line:

We recently completed thorough hands-on testing of several of the top e-readers available today and came to a surprising conclusion: Our number one choice isn’t from Amazon at all; it’s the Sony Reader Touch Edition. Of course, no company’s lead in the rapidly evolving e-reader market is safe.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. Here is the MacWorld score card:

    #1 ( 4.5 mice )
    Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition

    # 2 ( 4 mice )
    Kindle DX

    # 3 (3.5 mice ) .. 3-way tie:
    Interead Cool-ER
    Kindle
    Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition

    # 4 ( 3 mice )
    Barnes & Noble Nook

    # 5 ( 2.5 mice) 2-way tie:
    Astak EZReader Pocket Pro
    Foxit eSlick

    Although I like MacWorld, I would not entirely trust these kinds of reviews: so much depends on how you would be using the hardware. Test out the devices for yourself. Try the Nook at a B&N book store; try the Sony Reader at a Best Buy; borrow a Kindle from a friend, and so on.

    And keep in mind two notions that the media hardly mentions:
    1) It is possible to read ebooks without investing in a dedicated reading device; and
    2) Ebook devices coming in early 2010 will be far more feature-rich than the devices offered right now.

    Michael Pastore
    50 Benefits of Ebooks

  2. I have an IREX and an EZReader Pro 5. The bare-bones EZReader has proved an incredibly handy device that I carry everywhere. Its simplicity has proved a great bonus.

    Someimes not having features is the best feature.

  4. Also, as usual, the long-term book buying experience gets short shrift in these gadgetboy reviews. The winning Sony ereader has no wireless connection capability and is not exactly Mac friendly.

    Perhaps more importantly, as the Inkmesh blog recently discovered, you will be paying much, much more for books at the Sony ebookstore than at B&N (and much, much more at B&N than at Amazon). If you buy and read a lot of new books, the Sony is a losing proposition. See http://inkmesh.com/blog/2009/11/30/amazon-barnes-and-noble-sony-ebook-pricing/

    You may note that the Sony can read ePub protected books from other sellers. These other sellers were also included in the Inkmesh survey and still came in well behind B&N and Amazon.

    The head of Sony’s digital division was recently complaining that ebook prices are too low and singing the praises of tight DRM. This is not a consumer-friendly outfit. See http://paidcontent.org/article/419-ebook-summit-sonys-haber-you-cant-make-money-selling-ebooks-for-9.99-d/

  5. Well, Aaron, it depends.

    I was looking into buying the entire A Series of Unfortunate Events – the Sony store had it for a little over $70, which was far below anyone else’s price.

    The real point is that with an ePub supported reader, you can shop around. With the Kindle, not so much. Sure, Amazon prices may be lower overall NOW, but that may not last. Personally, I’m willing to pay a little more now to be able to enjoy my books later.

    Of course, if you’re not a re-reader, then this won’t matter to you. But it does to a lot of us.

    Then there’s that whole ‘a million free Google Books’ thing.

  6. How is the Sony Reader not Mac friendly? There’s official Mac software for it now, plus there’s also Calibre. If you couldn’t use it on the Mac, I’d think Macworld of all the sites out there would definitely slam it for it.

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