Ann Darling's List: E readers

• here is a bit of a lag before the writing appears on the screen. Writing with a stylus seems a little retro, however, like using a Palm Pilot.

   

  The E60 includes app
• • not backlit, but can share books wifi but not 3g
• And the E60 will include the same lending capabilities as the Nook, allowing users to share certain books with another reader for 14 days. But the policy isn’t all that generous: You can only share a book once.
• The eReader E60 is a nice little package but  the $40 price premium over the Kindle and Nook, especially considering that Amazon and Barnes & Noble e-book readers can deliver content via the cellular network, may be hard to sell.

2 more annotations...

• But the Whispersync caveat applies here, too--you can't access books on more than one device simultaneously. By contrast, Sony lets you download the book to up to five Sony Readers that are registered to your account with no other restrictions.

  Additional features
• In a nod to Apple, Amazon has also sealed the battery into the back of the unit, so you can't replace it yourself (Amazon charges $60 for battery replacement). That's the bad news. The good news is Amazon says the battery now delivers about 25 percent more battery life, which should give you a few da
• with a new charging system. Instead of an AC adapter port, there's a port at the bottom of the device. However, it's not your standard Mini-USB port; rather it's the smaller microUSB variety you'll find on some new cell phones and Bluetooth headsets
• Using that same microUSB port, you can transfer files to the spare memory on your Kindle (it shows up as a standard USB storage drive when connected to a computer)
• n easier way to support podcast subscriptions as well.
• conversion to Kindle-friendly formats. T
• The Nook, Sony Reader devices, and other e-books are compatible with the widely used ePub format.
• hich means you won't be able to download any e-books from local libraries for they, too, are standardized on ePub.
• The lack of ePub compatibility also means you can't read the huge library of free Google Books that are available in that format. Still, it's worth noting that those titles are usually public domain classics that predate the First World War--Mark Twain, Jules Verne, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the like. Also, many of those same titles are available for free on Amazon.
• ough some CNET readers are waiting for color, especially when it comes to Web surfing. (It appears that a color version of the Kindle is still years away.)

9 more annotations...

• t-in free wireless data network (no PC needed), plus Wi-Fi connectivity; separate capacitive color touch-screen pad for navigation, and a virtual keyboard for notes and annotations; 2GB of internal memory (capable of storing 1,500 electronic books) as well as an expansion microSD slot for additional
• dows and Mac machines; battery is removable and user replaceable; allows free, in-store browsing of full-text books while wit
• for up to 14 days free of charge; ePub format compatibility lets you read free Google Books and loaner e
• Device can be slow, especially when booting up and first accessing a book; no protective carrying case included; color LCD appears to have a significant impact on battery life; in-store reading and loaning capabilities come with notable limits and caveats; no support for Word or text files; some bugs in software; no ability to download books when outside the U.S., even when on Wi-Fi.

• & Noble will have to work out the device's kinks before it can reach its full potential.

  Read full review

3 more annotations...