Display: The new machine has a 50% increased screen contrast, which would make it the sharpest screen in the industry. This generation uses a new high contrast E-Ink technology and Amazon’s proprietary Waveform and font technology. This means 20% faster page turns and sharper, crisper fonts and images. At the risk of getting too technical, Amazon also uses a font-hinting technology which I would describe as  being almost intuitive in nature by virtue of the clever programming. Bottom line: All these combined technologies are designed to give the user a fantastic reading experience.

Dimensions: 7.5″ x 4.8″ x 0.335″ (190 mm x 123 mm x 8.5 mm).

This illustration shows the size differences between the latest and previous Kindles. This is taken directly from the Amazon website.

Weight: 8.7 ounces (247 grams).

Storage: 4 GB, of which roughly 3 GB is usable for content (approx. 3500 books)

Battery Life: On a single charge and wireless off, up to a month on the same charge. Keep the wireless on all the time and your time will drop to about 10 days. Charging your battery will take approximately 4.5 hours with the provided wall charger. Charging from your computer via the usb cable is also an option.

Audio: Speakers mounted at the rear and a 3.5 mm headphone jack (like the previous gen.)

Experimental: Amazon has some features they classify as experimental and simply because they are features that are on the Kindle but still being worked on. Amazon encourages your input on these features in the interest of making them even better.

The Text-to-Speech: The Kindle can read books, magazines, blogs and newspapers to you in English. The Text-to-Speech feature also extends to the menu so you can navigate the Kindle without having to read your choices.

Webkit Browser: You can browse the internet via this browser which was designed for the Kindle. It is supposed to provide a better surfing experience while using the Kindle.

MP3: Listen to background music at your leisure. Transferring files to the Kindle is done via usb and your computer, much like any other mp3 player.

Whispersync: The Whispersync technology enables you to read a few pages on one of your other devices (like your blackberry or computer) and then return to your Kindle right where you left off on your other device. Very cool.

Overall: This promises to be a marvelous unit with all the enhancements over the previous generation.  Obviously there is a lot of overlap but the emphasis for upgrades was definitely placed in the right areas such as battery life, storage capacity, sharper reading screen and overall size of the unit. There’s also an improved pdf reader in the Kindle which makes viewing your personal documents a snap. To view Amazon’s spec. sheet on the Kindle 3 have a look here Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6″ Display, White, 3G Works Globally – Latest Generation – Specs.

Here’s a little advert for the Kindle 3 – 3G + Wifi. Enjoy!

Display: Like most other units, the Kobo eReader utilizes E-ink technology and utilizes a 6″ screen. Your choice of 2 font-styles and 5 type-sizes should accommodate most people’s preferred reading choices. 16 levels of gray scale will give you the sharpness and clarity you would expect, making this a very enjoyable reading device.

Dimensions:7.25″ x 4.73″ x 0.4″ (184mm x 120mm x 10mm)

Weight: 221 grams (just under half a pound).

Storage: Utilizes SD card storage. Can accommodate up to a 32 GB card, which means the storage of approximately 10,000 publications. More than the average person reads in 4 life-times.

Battery Life: Approximately 10 days or 10,000 page turns. Charging is simple. Connect to your computer with the provided usb cable. It may take up to 3 hours to charge but you can still do things with the Kobo eReader while it’s charging.

Audio: Unfortunately, there is no audio on the Kobo eReader N647. So, no audio-book ability.

What’s In The Box: Unpacking the eReader is easy as there is only the Kobo, a usb cable and a quick start guide.  That’s it, that’s all!

Overall: This is a very competent device that caters to the purist (yep another purist’s machine). It’s almost like the term “purist” is interchangeable with the term “no bells and whistles”.  Well, it is very comfortable to use with hidden buttons along the side which is great for avoiding accidental hits. However, some lefties have complained about some awkwardness due to this.

The Kobo comes pre-loaded with 100 free classics as a bonus. There are thousands of free books available online and at the public library. So this pre-loading of classics is a nice perk but nothing to “ooh and aah” about. As far as purchasing ebooks, there are well over 2 million titles to choose from.

We’ve given the Kobo portable ebook reader 4 stars. Why? Well, it runs really well and does the job it was intended to do flawlessly. But it’s light on perks, very light. Still it might interest you due to it’s ease of use design.

Click below to see actual user reviews and for any special pricing which may be available at the moment.

Hopefully this is a useful resource for you and will aide you in your decision on “which portable ebook reader should I buy?” If you have a question  that you don’t see the answer to, shoot us an e-mail: admin@bestportableebookreader.org

This version is no longer available as a brand new unit. However, there are refurbs and used available if you’re interested still (as such the price is quite affordable) Just click here Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6″ Display, U.S. Wireless)

Display: Using E Ink® paper display means a very friendly on the eyes experience. 600 x 800 pixel resolution, 16-level gray scale and 167 ppi.

Dimensions: 8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″ (203.2mm x 134.6mm x 9.1mm).

Weight: 10.2 ounces (289.2 grams).

Storage: A 2 GB capacity of which 1.4 GB is usable  (Approximately 1500 e-books).

Battery: A 3.7V Lithium-Ion battery which under pressure (wireless on), you can use for about 1 week. Turn off the wireless and you can expect roughly 2 weeks, all on a single charge! Of course battery life will vary based on how much you are browsing the Kindle store and how many downloads you do. Charging takes about 4 hours using house current or optionally you can charge up from your computer via the usb adapter.

Audio: That’s right, onboard rear-mounted speakers with a 3.5mm stereo audio jack. Listen to mp3 background music, download audio books from some of the 50,000 choices from audible.com or use the text-to-speech feature.  Some of the audio include newspapers, best-selling books and radio programs.

Zoom & Pan: Zoom in on images, adjust font size, manipulate pdf’s. With the 2 new font sizes and sharpness, reading is a joy.

Smooth, Sleek Design: The new ergonomic design & feel has made this machine a snap to use. Page turning buttons, accurate 5-way controller for highlighting text, looking up words and just a really comfortable on-screen navigation.

Web Browser: There is an experimental web browser, which works best for text-centric searches. Remember, there are no fees to connect. Bonus for you. Wikipedia is fully available. Obviously, browsing the kindle book store will be a priority but it will take you awhile as there are over 630,000 books available at the time of writing!

Owner Input: There are over 16,000 owner review/testimonials available for you to read. Based on our own research and other user opinions make this portable ebook reader our number one recomendation. Click here Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6″ Display, U.S. Wireless)to learn even more about this e-reader and to find out what other Kindle owners think of this little gem.

Display: Utilizing E-Ink ^® Vizplex^™ technology, is more like real ink on paper in direct sunlight. Resolution is 1280 X 1024 Pixels with 8 Levels of Grayscale.

Dimensions: 175.3 x 121.9 x 10.2 mm (6.9″ x 4.8″ x 0.4″)

Weight: 286 g (10.1 oz)

Storage: A 512MB capacity of which 380MB is usable  (approximately 350 e-books). For additional storage the Sony Digital Reader supports either the Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo for up to 16 GB, or SDHC for up to 16 GB

Battery: Rechargeable 3.7V Lithium Ion powers the Sony. Up to 2 weeks on a single charge

Audio: The Sony has onboard speakers and a jack, which allow you to play back unsecured MP3 and AAC audio files.

Touch Screen: One excellent feature is the touch-screen which eliminates the need for a keyboard and all kinds of extra buttons on the exterior. Having said that, there are right and left-hand side page advance buttons for those who like real controls, not just virtual ones. Turn pages by swiping your finger and enjoy navigating with the Sony’s intuitive nature. Use the virtual keyboard or if you like, use the included stylus to highlight text you may want to come back to later.

Other Items: The Sony needs a computer in order to download content.  This may be a drawback for some consumers. The charging of the unit and downloading are done through the usb 2.0 cable. Browsing the internet is not an option but if you purchase one of these, then you obviously have a computer or access to one anyway. The open-architecture design means that one can purchase e-books from many places, including getting thousands of free titles from Google Books.  Click here
Sony Digital Reader Touch Edition – Silver (PRS600SC) to get more details,  read more reviews and get opinions from other owners.

Display: E ink® Vizplex™ 6″ Diagonally with 16 levels of gray at 800 x 600 pixel resolution and a second 3.5″ color lcd tft touch-screen at 480 x 144 pixel resolution (This second screen is the navigation & surfing the net screen).

Dimensions: 7.7″ x 4.9″ x .5″ (196 mm x 126 mm x 12.8 mm)

Weight:12.1 ounces (343 grams)

Storage: 2GB Internal memory (up to 1,500 eBooks), expandable to virtually unlimited (according to manufacturer) using the microSD™ expansion slot.

Battery: Internal Rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery (which can be replaced without sending to manufacturer). Battery can last up to 10 days without a charge provided you have the wireless turned off. Charging can be done via the usb connection and your computer or a separate wall charger and takes roughly 3.5 hours.

Audio: Built-in mono speaker with a universal 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack. The nook is also an mp3 player, so you can have background music while reading.

Read For Free: If you are in a Barnes & Noble store, you can read any ebook for free and there’s over a million titles.

Surf the Web: Use the wi-fi to surf the web. You will use the full-color touch screen to do this. No cost attached and available as long as you’re near a hot-spot or in a Barnes & Noble store.

Other Stuff Worth Mentioning: The nook offers some neat features such as being able to lend a book to a friend for up to 14 days (for most books) and provided they download the free e-reader software for their hand-held device or computer. There’s a lot going for this unit.  Some folks love it and some find the operating system a bit buggy. Now, with the latest firmware update a lot of the bugginess has been removed, leaving a smoother machine. Based on recent performance, it’s apparent that Barnes & Noble are committed to keeping all consumers happy and keeping the nook a competitive machine via prompt customer service and steady firmware research to keep the machine running well and improving with each software upgrade. This is one worth considering. Learn more here Barnes & Noble NOOK ebook reader (WiFi + 3G)

Display: The Libre utilizes ePaper technology on it’s 5″ screen. The resolution is 640 x 480 with 16 level gray scale.

It’s just like reading a book and just as easy on the eyes but has it one trick a book doesn’t have: it can be used in portrait or landscape mode.

Dimensions: 6″ x 4.25″ x o.5″ (152.4 mm x 107.95 mm x 12.7 mm)

Weight: 8 ounces (227 grams)

Storage: Included is a 2GB sd card, preloaded with 100 books. The Libre can support up to a 32GB sd card (not included).

Battery:The Libre is powered by an internal lithium-ion polymer battery – with 2800mAh. It is supposed to last 24 hours if being used constantly. However, there have been reports of the battery lasting much longer than the advertised 24 hours. With this being the case, this unit may be a bit of an issue for travelers.

Audio: Onboard speakers and an earphone jack. Listen to background music while you read. Just remember music-on means lower battery life.

Other Items: The Libre is a purists ebook reader. Meaning it is just that; simply a portable  ebook reader. You can’t surf the net or do any computer tasks. Some people will love the simplicity and others will miss the extra bells and whistles. Out-of -the-box displays a very generous package. You get the unit, earphones, carrying strap, carrying case, usb cable, charger, quick start guide and warranty and registration card. Overall it’s a great, simple machine, designed for reading ebooks. To read what other owners have to say go to Aluratek LIBRE eBook Reader PRO – eBook reader – Flash: 2 GB – 5″ – black

Display: Using the E-Ink® technology and measures in at 5″ (3″ x 4″ – 76mm x 101mm) with a resolution 600 x 800 @ 200 dpi. 4 levels grey-scale and offers portrait and landscape modes which is activated by turning the cybook because of the G-sensor for motion detection (just like the i-products).

Dimensions: 6″ x 4.2″ and only.4″ thick (151mm x 108mm x 10mm)

Weight: 5.3 ounces (150 grams)

Storage: 1 GB Micro sd card (approx. 1000 books), extendable up to 8 GB for a storage capacity of roughly 9000 books.

Battery: Rechargeable and replaceable Internal Battery Lithium Ion-Polymer with 1000mAh, 8 000 page flips – roughly 2 weeks before the next charge.

Audio: None

Other Things To Mention: Included in the box is the Cybook Opus eBook reading device with a 12 month warranty, a USB cable, the quick start guide and a black leather protection sleeve. The Opus is a high quality unit with little complaints from it’s users about things going wrong. However, of late, the company seems to have lagged a bit in the area of customer support.  Firmware upgrades have caused frustration for many users and have not been well supported by Bookeen. All in all it’s a high quality, pure ebook reader which isn’t supported as well as it should be. Pricing is also a bit high given the array of choices for consumers in this truly competitive portable ebook reader market. To see what other users think go here: Bookeen Cybook Opus eBook Reader