Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: e-book readers
By Paul Miller 
posted November 16th 2009 4:30PM
posted November 16th 2009 4:30PM
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season.
With the push toward convergence these days, does your prospective gift recipient really need a dedicated device for reading books on? Well, if they're a heavy reader their eyes might just thank you. The E Ink displays used on a majority of these devices is very similar to reading off of regular paper, and therefore much more easy on the eyes than those now-ubiquitous LCD screens we've all surrounded ourselves with. We've rounded up a few of our favorite devices, though be warned: with a market this much in its infancy, there's always going to be something just a bit more exciting right around the corner.
Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-300 - Representing the bare bones of the bare bones for major manufacturers, the Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-300 has a one of the smaller screens around (5-inch), no wireless capabilities, and doesn't even play back music. It makes up for these shortcomings with a sweet price tag and Sony's much improved 3.0 software, which is available for Mac and PC and syncs the device iTunes-style not only with Sony-bought books, but with thousands of free titles available through Google Books and even content available from your local library -- making it not only easy on your pocket, but easily replenished by your knowledge-loving recipient.
$199 - Buy from Sony
OpenMoko WikiReader - It's not exactly for reading books, but the OpenMoko is a single-purpose device for browsing a cached version of what is perhaps the greatest paper book killer of them all: Wikipedia. Of course, any decent smartphone has access to Wikipedia online or through an app, but for somebody unwilling or incapable of pulling up Wikipedia articles on their phone, this little touchscreen, monochrome device provides a nice alternative.
$99 - Buy from OpenMoko
Gift certificate - Like we said at the outset, many people don't even need or want a dedicated device for reading e-books, and if the book lover in your life already has an iPhone or an iPod touch it's no trouble at all keeping them drenched in prose. They simply need the free Kindle or Barnes & Noble app and they can use a Barnes & Noble gift card or Amazon gift card to purchase e-books for download and reading. Alternatively they could use an iTunes gift card to purchase one-off e-book apps, but those are a bit of a mixed bag in interface and quality, so buyer beware.
Buy from Barnes & Noble
Buy from Amazon
Buy from Apple
Amazon Kindle - The clear leader in e-book land (marketshare-wise, at least) is of course Amazon's Kindle, and not for no reason: the device itself is simple enough for your parents to love, but has enough tech to impress the nerds in your life. The well-established Whisper Sync technology lets people keep track of a single book across multiple devices, there's a physical keyboard right up front, and the device can even browse the web. Your recipient will be pretty locked down for content, since the Kindle doesn't support the open, Google-backed ePub format, but you can't do much better for paid content than the Kindle Store.
$259 - Buy from Amazon
Barnes & Noble Nook - While Barnes & Noble has shown off its new Nook e-book reader to the masses, at the time of this writing we haven't actually played with it, and odds are most holiday shoppers won't get an opportunity to try before they buy either: current pre-orderers will receive their device on December 18th. Still, Barnes & Noble brings a formidable force to the e-book market, and its dual-screen interface, open format support and in-store tie-ins differentiate it from Amazon's offering. So it's a bit of a risk from a gift giving perspective, but if you've got a Barnes & Noble fanboy in your sights, it might just be worth it.
$259 - Buy from Barnes & Noble Update: If you were slow on the trigger then you'll have to look elsewhere, since the Nook is already sold out for the holidays. Maybe next year?
Sony Reader Daily Edition PRS-900- Up against the Kindle and the Nook, Sony's Daily Edition reader seems dramatically overpriced. However, for that price you get the only 7-inch touchscreen among the trio. It's also the winner on format support, and of course works with those afore-mentioned Sony e-book store advantages. Unfortunately, it's also on backorder at the time of this writing, and has an even lower chance than the Nook of being spotted in the flesh before Christmas.
$399 - Buy from Sony
Amazon Kindle DX - Aimed at businesses and students, with a 9.7-inch screen and wider format support (like PDF), the Kindle DX still seems prohibitively pricey for what you're getting, but if you can swing it we're sure the much loved PDF junky in your life won't mind.
$489 - Buy from Amazon
IREX DR 800SG - With stylus input and an 8.1-inch screen, the IREX DR 800SG is a luxurious way to approach the e-book market, and includes a number of wireless-accessible stores to choose from for content. It also has a world roaming modem capable of downloading books in the States and internationally. It probably won't be on as many wish lists as the Nook or Kindle, but for a few (very particular) readers it might be just the thing. Unfortunately, its product page at Best Buy is down at the moment, but hopefully it's back in time for the holidays.
$449 - Buy from Best Buy
"Wait" - No, there's no e-book reader catchily dubbed the "Wait," but there's plenty of interesting stuff happening in e-book land in the near future, particularly in the premium space. Plastic Logic's QUE proReader 8.5 x 11-inch behemoth quickly comes to mind, as does the Spring Design Alex -- whose dual-screen design is litigiously similar to that of the Nook. There's also of course the steady drumbeat of technology, the ever-rumored Apple tablet and an inevitable 3rd generation Kindle to look out for, so perhaps your gift recipient would be understanding of an IOU this holiday season.
Stocking stuffer
$199 - Buy from Sony
$99 - Buy from OpenMoko
Buy from Barnes & Noble
Buy from Amazon
Buy from Apple
Oh, you shouldn't have
$259 - Buy from Amazon
$399 - Buy from Sony
We can't afford the rent now, can we?
$489 - Buy from Amazon
$449 - Buy from Best Buy
Some consider the Foxit E-Slick to be the best at reading PDF files. Makes sense, since Foxit is already highly regarded for it’s PDF reader software.
It also has built in MP3 player.
Actually Sean O, This would be great for myself. I buy about a book a week, averaging price around 20 bucks. I've noticed the same books on amazon for kindle at 2.99. Even if you only bought a book a month, this would pay itself off in no time.
The only problem with the nook is that the book prices at Barnes and Noble are so much more than at Amazon's Kindle store. They've lowered their prices a bit, but they still need to be lower to be competitive. On the other hand, library books are available for the Nook (have to be sideloaded) and there are lots of free ePub books.
The perfect compromise would be for Kindle books to work on the Nook or for the Kindle to open up. You can convert most ePub books and make them Kindle readable, but I don't want those extra steps.
The keyboard on the Kindle is pretty annoying or I'd probably accept the DRM and go with the Kindle. The touch screen on the Nook will probably turn out to be annoying too. I'll hold off until I hear actual reviews.
Are there any eReaders that let you purchase new release books and have an Android app counterpart?
I would love to have a nice eReader at home and be able to read the same books on my android phone during short breaks at work or downtime when I am running around town.
I think it is pretty frustrating that B&N is releasing an Android based tablet, but doesn't have an Android app available to read the ebooks they sell (but they probably wouldn't get the concept of letting customers share one purchase across multiple devices anyways).
You can share most B&N ebooks across multiple devices, even multiple Nooks, if they are on your same Barnes and Noble account. There's a device limit. Plus the "lend" feature, which I think is kind of lame.
I got a Kindle back in May as a birthday gift, and while I'll admit it's got some problems ( big one : I have a really hard time convincing myself to re-buy books I've already paid for, and I can't necessarily find every thing I want to read on Amazon kindle store ), I still love it. I've got the same problem a lot of people do -- I can, will, do read several dozen books while traveling. Especially with so many airlines charging for checked bags, I don't want to waste the precious space in my carry-on by packing a dozen or more books. I also read a bunch of fan fiction ( an excellent source of free reading material, if you're willing to dig around. There's an awful high crap-to-good ratio out there ), and a Kindle allows me to load fanfic onto the device and read it when I'm *not* glued to a PC.
Would I have gone out and bought one myself? I can't say. I probably would have wished for one, but I'm a college student -- it's a tad expensive. But I'm thankful to have one, use it on a daily basis, and have nothing but rave reviews for the support line.
An idea I just had: wouldn't it be awesome if you could get digital copies of books when you bought them? Kind of like you can get digital copies of some movies when you get them on DVD/Blu-ray? I think that would be really cool and encourage the sale of more regular and electronic books. Just my opinion/idea.
I think you're absolutely right, and it's something I've been thinking about myself.
It's not an uncommon practice to bundle in "extras" to encourage growth in a market segment. During the push to DVD by the industry, Mission To Mars (and several other films) came in bundles where you got a DVD version of the same movie for free. Dragon Age: Origins comes with download-codes for extra content to get people into the habit of going online to look for that kind of stuff. Why SHOULDN'T they bundle books with a download code? It's extremely cheap advertising that bolsters their online efforts.
Been using an HTC Advantage (7501) for three years now. Good size . . . much multitasking (GPS, Media player(audiobooks), Internet,games, oh yeah phone) Eye stain? . . . what eye stain. Using mobipocket, just adjust text color and background color . . bingo.
And all this stuff about battery life . . . 6-8 hours is plenty of reading at one sitting. Not near a charger after that . . . . . one word . . books.
I have an iPod touch and Stanza is a Godsend. I don't understand why people don't like LCD's for reading, I'm fine for long reading periods. One thing I don't see mentioned online enough is the horrible page turning speed (at least on the kindle I tried). Much too annoying for me...
I'd go with the last option: Wait!
Lets face it people, all of this E-reading gadgets are good the truth IS that when THE APPLE TABLET hits, ALL of this are going to be ready to be deposited in a trash can! after a broken Sony-reader and a Kindle 2, im ready for the most awaited A-Pad to arrive :), heck am willing to wait another year if necessary cus I know THIS is going to be THE real multi-function e-reader killer !!!
Actually Apple has everything to do with ebooks. They did invent them, but not with the iPhone. The Apple Newton was the first ebook reader and actually had authoring software for fomatting ebooks for the device.
In answer to one person’s question, some consider the Foxit E-Slick to be the best at reading PDF files. Makes sense, since Foxit is already highly regarded for it’s PDF reader software.
It also has built in MP3 player.
i think it's important to talk about the pricing and availability of content. from browsing the e-bookstore, the kindle store is usually 10-20% cheaper than other e-bookstores, which is a major pro for me
I want the nook so bad! I cant help but get excited over the free google books support and the cool screen on the bottom.
Kindle 2 has pdf support. It was added via update.
People still read books?
/s :D
I won't be getting an eReader until they have color eInk so I can get my comic subscriptions onto my eReader. It makes sense to hold off for now.