Last year was definitely the year of the Kindle - we've seen a whole
new generation of eBook readers come out, finally making this gadget
category popular. To help you navigate the eBook reader waters, we spent
the last few days compiling a table comparing some of the biggest
eReader devices:
Kindle DX features that are the same in Kindle 2 are marked with "<-".
Without further ado, let the best eReader win:
So, who is the winner? Cast your vote in the comments.
Sources:
P.S. Please report any errors - we did our best to post all correct specs but an error or two may have gotten through. Also, any clarifications for the "Unknown" fields are appreciated.
- Spring Design Alex
- Barnes & Noble Nook
- Amazon Kindle 2
- Amazon Kindle DX
Kindle DX features that are the same in Kindle 2 are marked with "<-".
Without further ado, let the best eReader win:
Alex eReader
|
Barnes & Noble Nook
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order of release | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Release dates | April 14, 2010 | November 30, 2009 | February 9, 2009 | June 10, 2009 |
| Internal memory | 2GB | 2GB | 2GB | 4GB |
| Expandable memory | Yes - MicroSD | Yes - MicroSD | No - SD slot was removed | <- |
| Average # of books that can fit in internal memory | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 3500 |
| CPU speed | 624 MHz | Unknown but in the range of 533-800 MHz | 523 MHz | <- |
| Screen(s) | Dual, 6" E-Ink, 3.5" color LCD | Dual, 6" E-Ink, 3.5" color LCD | Single, 6" E-Ink | Single, 9.7" E-Ink |
| Screen resolution | 6": 600 x 800 px 3.5": 480 x 320 px | 6": 600 x 800 px 3.5": 480 x 144 px | 600 x 800 px | 1200 x 824 px |
| E-Ink display | Yes - 16 level grayscale | Yes - Vizplex, 16-level grayscale | Yes - 16-level grayscale | <- |
| WiFi | Yes - b/g | Yes - b/g (+free WiFi at B&N stores) | No | <- |
| Global wireless (3G, 4G, etc) | No but 3G, EVDO/CDMA, GSM support coming in a model that should be out later this year | Yes - 3G | Yes - 3G with fallback to EDGE/GPRS | <- |
| Web browser | Yes - on the color screen and the E-Ink screen | Stock Nook - no Rooted Nook - yes | Basic browser but a firmware update brought a more capable browser | <- |
| Content sharing/lending | No | Yes, up to 14 days, between nook, iPhone, iPod Touch, PC, and Mac devices | No | <- |
| FM radio | No | No | No | <- |
| PDF support | Yes | Yes | Yes | <- |
| Formats supported | EPUB, PDF, TXT, HTML, JPEG, GIF, BMP, MP3, MP4, Flash, 3GP | EPUB, PDB (eReader), PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3 | Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion | <- + Audible format 4, RTF |
| Speaker | Yes - stereo | Yes - mono | Yes - stereo | <- |
| Text-to-speech | No (confirmed to us by Spring Design) | No | Yes | <- |
| Auto rotation | No (confirmed to us by Spring Design) | Unknown | No | Yes |
| Connector type | MicroUSB | MicroUSB | MicroUSB | <- |
| Battery capacity | 3.7V 1530mAh (confirmed to us by Spring Design) | Unknown | 1530mAh | <- |
| Battery life | 14 days with wireless off, 6 hours with LCD screen on | 10 days with wireless off | 7 days with wireless on, 14 days with wireless off | <- |
| User replaceable battery | Yes | Yes | No | <- |
| Book selection | Borders via Kobo, Google Books, any protected ePub book from any bookseller | Barnes & Noble - 1,000,000+ paid and 500,000+ free books, newspapers and magazines | Amazon - 450,000+ post-1923 and 1,800,000+ pre-1923 books at the time of this review | <- |
| Synchronized last page read between devices | No but promised later | No but promised in early 2010 | Yes | <- |
| Operating system | Android 1.5 (2.0+ coming summer 2010) | Android 1.5 | Linux | <- |
| OTA (Over-The-Air) software updates | Yes (confirmed to us by Spring Design) | Yes | Yes | <- |
| Size | 8.9" x 4.7" x 0.4" | 7.7" x 4.9" x 0.5" | 8.0" x 5.3" x 0.36" | 10.4" x 7.2" x 0.38" |
| Weight | 11 oz | 12.1 oz | 10.2 oz | 18.9 oz |
| Price | $399 | $259 | $259.00 | $489.00 |
| Buy it | Buy It | Buy It | Buy It | Buy It |
Alex eReader
|
Barnes & Noble Nook
|
So, who is the winner? Cast your vote in the comments.
Sources:
P.S. Please report any errors - we did our best to post all correct specs but an error or two may have gotten through. Also, any clarifications for the "Unknown" fields are appreciated.
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