I’ve been looking extensively into all the various eReaders to see which one would be most useful to me and thought I would post the data here as a comparison study. The readers I’ve looked into the most have been the iRex iLiad, Sony eReader 505, Cybook ePaper, and the Amazon Kindle. There are some technical specs for each (they represent the best data I could find and I left out a few things that I didn’t think were important, such as some support formats that really won’t be of much use for eBook readers anyway). Here goes: iRex iLiad Battery Life — 15 hours. Charger — AC wall charger. Formats — PDF / HTML / TXT / JPG / BMP / PNG / PRC (other formats later) Wireless — Yes / Ethernet Disk Space — 128 MB Flash / Expandable w/ USB / MMC / CF Screen Size — 8.1 in. 768 x 1024 Processor — 400 Mhz. Memory — 64 MB Weight — 15.3 oz. Price — $699.00 Pros: What sets the iLiad apart from the others for me is the fact that it is easy to upload different formats. You are not limited to loading DRM only books and from what I’ve read you can put PDFs on this and they’ll work. It’s battery life isn’t really all that bad, although in comparison to others it’s not very good. It also has wireless for updates and you’re not limited to a specific network. If there’s wireless Internet where you are, you can get online. It also can automatically update your RSS feeds for newspapers, etc. It’s also bigger than the others, which is good and bad, depending on your perspective on that.It uses a stylus like a PDA and also allows you to take written notes that can later be turned into printed text, which make the iLiad ideal for students. Additionally, because the iLiad isn’t limited by its hardware in the same way that other eReaders are, updates to it could very well open the door to the use of other formats, such as Word documents. But, then again, it might not matter because it can do stuff online (blogs and newspapers) and that big screen makes it rather easy. Interestingly enough, to turn the page on this thing you actually have to turn a little “dial” of sorts, which might help simulate the reading experience. Cons: It’s freaking expensive. For something that doesn’t even come close to doing what a laptop of the same price could do, you’re paying quite a big chunk of change. True, the iLiad is more “open” than the others (especially over the eReader and Kindle), but depending on what you’re using it for, it might not matter. If you’re okay with using Sony’s ebook format or Amazon’s, then skip the iLiad. However, if you want a lot more freedom to bring all your written content with you, whether they be books, newspapers, blog feeds, etc., then perhaps the iLiad is for you. The iLiad is also a little slower in some respects to the others. This is mostly in reference to the menus as it is faster at page turning than the Sony eReader. Sony eReader 505 Battery Life — 7,500 page turns (whatever that translates to in hours, I don’t know) Charger — AC wall charger or USB Formats — BBeB / JPG / GIF / PNG / BMP / TXT / RTF / PDF / DOC Wireless — No Disk Space — 20 MB / Expandable with USB Screen Size — 6 in. 170 pixels per in. Processor — 800 Mhz. Memory — 128 MB Weight — 9 oz. Price — $299.99 Pros: What the Sony has over the other eReaders is its price. It’s the cheapest of them all, including the Kindle, and yet it’s also not that different from it’s biggest competition (the Kindle again). It’s rumored to have an exceedingly long battery life and pretty much does what it’s supposed to. Cons: It’s biggest issues are what killed it for me. It functions almost exclusively with Sony’s ebook format, which limits your selection, and, while it can view other formats, everything I have read suggests it isn’t very good at these things. PDFs especially are said to be notoriously difficult, as are newspaper feeds, etc. It’s great with the Sony format, but it falls apart if you want to use it for anything else. It also lacks wireless, which means you have to have all the books you want to read on there beforehand and can’t pick something up off the airport wireless if your trip is delayed or something. This also means you have to wait until you can plug into your computer before you can get updates to the machine itself or whatever feeds you might be reading (or attempting to). I’m also told that Sony is pretty much PC specific and requires the use of an iTunes-like Sony platform. Lots of cons, but if you’re only going to read eBooks and aren’t too picky about selection, it’s the best one out there for the price. Cybook ePaper Battery Life — 8,000 screen refreshes (whatever that means) Charger — AC wall charger. Formats — PRC / PDB / HTML / TXT / PDF / JPG / GIF / PNG Wireless — No (update via USB) Disk Space — 512 MB / Expandable with SD Screen Size — 6 in. 600 x 800 Processor — 200 Mhz. Memory — 16 MB Weight — 6.13 oz. Price — $540 Pros: The Cybook has a lot of internal disk space for all your books. There isn’t a lot out there about the Cybook, and I suspect that has a lot to do with the fact that, well, nobody even knows it exists. Unlike the Sony eReader or Amazon Kindle, the Cybook has been relegated to the land of obscurity. Because of that, I don’t know a whole lot about it or how well it works.
