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When it comes to reading electronic books, Amazon’s Kindle and the Apple iPad are no longer the only games in town. A bevy of new e-readers are hitting the market this year, and two pint-sized book readers have recently hit the shelves.
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Here are some thoughts on both of them.
Spring Design Alex E-Reader
A dark horse of an e-book reader, the quirky Alex is electronic ink up top and Android PDA on the bottom. The 3.5-inch touchscreen on the bottom of the device is surprisingly responsive (though it has accuracy issues), and it’s best put to use downloading books from Google Books or Project Gutenberg. Find what you want using the browser on the lower screen, then tap the sync button and whatever you’re looking at shows up on the 6-inch reader screen above. It works reasonably well once you get the hang of it, but it requires a bit of patience to get books centered just right so the text doesn’t stray off one side of the screen
Cons: The device is terribly slow to startup, and refresh rates are average at best. The Wi-Fi works well, but there’s no 3G for on-the-go downloads. A version with 3G support — and a proper 3.5mm headphone jack instead of the useless 2.5mm jack included here — is in the works. Adding new apps is a massive pain, as Android Marketplace isn’t installed by default.
Overall: It’s a great proof of concept that deserves some attention, but it’s rough around the edges and needs some polish with its second version. Pricey, too.
$400, http://www.springdesign.com/
Barnes & Noble Nook
Tied to Barnes & Noble’s e-book market (though Google Books is also supported and Nook titles can be shared with other e-readers by transferring them to your PC), the Nook is a well-polished alternative to the Kindle with a bit of a twist. Like the Alex, the Nook has two screens, a six-inch primary electronic-ink display on the top and a slim color LCD below. The LCD is a touchscreen, and you use it to navigate the Barnes & Noble bookstore, find titles in your library, and even play a few basic games. Using the Nook takes some getting used to, though, because you have to use a combination of the touchscreen and the physical “forward” and “back” buttons on the sides of the device in order to navigate the interface. Even B&N acknowledges that there’s a learning curve here,Affliction, but once you “get it,” it all becomes fairly simple. One of the Nook’s killer features: Take it into any B&N store and you can read books for free while you shop and sip coffee. You can also lend most e-books to other Nook users for up to two weeks.
Cons: Feels on the slow side,Juicy Couture swimwear, but a bigger problem is that the Nook’s battery drains surprisingly quickly, even when it’s not in use.
Overall: At $259, price is identical to the Kindle. Both readers are perfectly apt — the Kindle is easier to use but the Nook has a few bonus features you may come to enjoy. It’s ultimately really a question of where you want to buy your books, from Amazon or from B&N.
$259, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp
— Christopher Null is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.
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