So you've decided to buy an e-book reader. If you aren't sure which one to plunk your discretionary money down for, here's a little help. Consumer Reports, a non-profit, independent, subscription-supported, rating organization, comes to the rescue. It ranks items from paint to peanut butter to MP3 players to portable GPS, and yes, even cars and computers.
Consumer Reports, that venerable advice source, finally came out with ratings on the "gotta have" device for literature buffs: e-book readers. Only a few contenders were considered for the July issue. Nine readers were tested in its labs. Several had unfamiliar names, such as the Alaratek Libre eBook Reader Pro, the BeBook Neo, and the iRex DR800SG, with prices of $170, $300, and $400, respectively. The lesser-knowns probably earned that status, since the Consumer Reports testing uncovered nothing that set them apart from the pack.
A different review of the Libre product with photos can be found at Gadgeteer. You can buy it at Staples, where it is advertised for $149. The iRex product is sold by Best Buy. The BeBook Neo is out of the Netherlands. Contrary to Consumer Reports' unimpressed reviewers, the BeBook and its Neo version placed second and first among eight e-readers tested by the Dutch PC magazine Computer Totaal. TopTenReviews placed the BeBook third, before fourth-place Nook and fifth-place Sony Touch Edition PRS600.
Sony
The Sony products earned points for their digital notepad's text and drawings feature. On the other hand, the Apple
The popular Nook from Barnes & Noble
So who came out the winner? Consumer Reports pinned the blue ribbon on Amazon's
Amazon is touting the new Kindle as being "thin as most magazines, lighter than a typical paperback, with 3G wireless in 100 countries for downloading books with no contracts or monthly fees." The Kindle Store claims 540,000 titles. How many of them are worth reading is another issue.
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