Kindle touch rivals

Marco Arment is the creator of Instapaper.  Here he reviews the Kindle Touch, Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Touch and Kindle 4:

They all have the same E-Ink Pearl screen with the same contrast, the same resolution, and the same type of IR touch-screen sensor. (Any screen differences in the photos are the result of uneven lighting, not any real differences.)

They’re all available for $99, but the Kindle and Kobo both show ads (“special offers”) at that price — if you’re looking for an ad-free reader, the Nook is the least expensive at $99, with the ad-free Kobo at $129 and the ad-free Kindle at $139.

Content libraries and ecosystems

All of the major e-readers have similar content libraries these days.

The Nook is particularly good for magazine availability, even slightly exceeding the Kindle’s availability in my searches. But Barnes & Noble’s content store is very buggy for me: I often get errors claiming unspecified problems with purchases, downloads, or connectivity. (This also happens on the Nook Tablet.)

Kobo’s ecosystem is still a disadvantage. In my searches, while book availability was pretty good, it had the highest prices most often. And critically, its magazine and newspaper selection is abysmal — if you intend to read magazines or newspapers on your e-reader, you shouldn’t consider Kobo.

Much more in the article.

(Via marco.org)

2 COMMENTS

  1. I really disagree with a lot of the things the author was saying about the Nook Simple Touch (which I have). He seemed to be nit-picking about non-existent problems.

    He complained about the bevel casting a shadow on the text, but I’ve never noticed that problem. I read at all times of day, in all sorts of lighting conditions, and the shadow cast by the bevel does not obscure the text.

    I also don’t find the page turn buttons to hurt, like the author does (and, if they do, so what? you can also swipe across the screen to turn a page!).

    He also complained about the Nook store being full of bugs/glitches. I primarily get my e-books by purchasing them directly from my Nook Simple Touch, and I’ve never had a problem.

    Overall, I think he’s doing a real disservice to the Nook Simple Touch. It’s an amazing e-reader that I would recommend to anyone.

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