The Best eBook Reader 2012

The long-awaited Amazon tablet is now available for purchase for only $199.

I had one on pre-order and it has already shipped. You can now order and have it ship in a few days. It is possible that the Fire could sell out with Christmas coming but hopefully Amazon was prepared.

The Kindle Fire has a lot of cool features for both a tablet and an eReader. But where eReader shoppers may be particularly happy with the Kindle Fire is as a PDF reader as we all know that the current Kindle lacks in the area on PDF reading.

Whether the Fire will become the best PDF reader or not will be unclear until November, but it certainly looks promising. The downfall of this newest Kindle compared to the Kindle 3 will be the lack of e-ink and battery life. But the good news for people who would still prefer the Kindle 3 is that the prices will be dropped.

Amazon's Kindle was the eReader that really broke open the market and even today it remains the best eReader. Second place would have to go to B&N's Nook.

Here a few reasons why the Kindle remains the bestselling eBook reader in comparison to the Nook:

- The Kindle is a bit lighter than the Nook.
- The Kindle stores more books (except for the Nook Color).
- The Kindle has a longer battery life.
- The Kindle offers blog subscriptions.
- The Kindle is now cheaper with its special offer price (ads).

There is one downfall to the Kindle - the inability to support the ePub format. The Nook is also currently more friendly to library loaning but Amazon is working on that for the Kindle so that is likely just a short-term disadvantage.

And let's face it, Amazon is an innovative company and the Kindle is likely to only continue to be improved. If you want the best eReader in 2011 and beyond, your best bet will be on the Kindle. That said, be sure to check out my review of the Nook Color below for added functionality.

The Nook eReader from Barnes & Noble is the biggest rival to the bestselling Kindle eReader by Amazon. Like the Kindle, the Nook offers a WiFi connection, easy store browsing and all the other standard features of the best eReaders. So what, if anything sets the Nook apart?

Nook vs Kindle - The Pros
Like the Amazon Kindle, B&N's Nook has all the features that a user wants in an eReader: a large library of digital books and magazines to choose from. The Nook also has incorporated WiFi technology. But one thing you can do with the Nook vs the Kindle is to browse books (full text) while visiting a B&N store.

But the real advantage of the Nook over the Kindle is the color display. Thus far Amazon has not released a color version of the Kindle (update: see the Kindle Fire). The Nook also has an expandable memory.

There are also some personalization features to the Nook that users enjoy such as creating customization screen savers. And while Amazon seems to be working on a lending feature, the Nook has had the benefit of library book loaning for awhile now. You can also lend a fellow Nook user one of your books for free for a period of time.

User Complaints with the Nook

In general, the Nook has experienced more interface problems than the Kindle which is probably why the Kindle remains the best ereader by sales volume. B&N does offer updates that have tackled many of the issues. But remaining technical issues still favor Amazon when comparing the Kindle vs Nook.

Features of the Nook
* 3.5 inch color touch screen LCD,
- 12.1 ounces,
- E-Ink paper-link display,
- 2GB storage with expandable slot,
- Up to ten days battery life,
- Photo galleries,
- Supports ePub, PDF, PDB, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP and MP3 files.

Overall, the Barners & Noble Nook has certainly given the Kindle a run for its money. And in the end, all potential owners of eReaders benefit from this competition as features continue to be enhanced. But for now, the Nook has the advantage of a color screen and easier lending options. After the Kindle, the Nook is the next best eReader of 2011.

Update: Check out the Kindle Fire above for PDF reading

If you read some of the forums you will find that many people are looking for an eReader that can handle PDFs well. The consensus seems to be that there is no perfect PDF eReader currently on the market, there is still room for improvement.

That said, most people recommend either the Kindle DX or the Apple iPad as the best PDF eReaders currently available. The advantage of these two devices seems to come down mostly to screen size. Having a larger screen allows for easier reading of PDFs.

Of course, the iPad isn't an eReader it is a tablet, so it won't have the advantages of an eReader (like reduced eye strain and long battery life), but some people say that it is easier to read off of the iPad than off of a laptop. As far as comparing the iPad to the Kindle DX, the iPad is in color and has a lot more functionality as a tablet (since it is really like a small computer). But that functionality comes at a much higher price tag. The Kindle DX has all the advantages of an eReader at lower price than the iPad, but without the added functions.

The bottom line is that if you are looking for the perfect PDF reading device, you may be disappointed. But the Kindle DX and Apple iPad are the best thus far. Another worthy option is the new Nook Color which is basically a cheap Android tablet.

The Kindle DX is a larger version of Amazon's fabulously popular Kindle eReader, coming with a larger screen but also at a higher cost. There may be a few added features, but is the Kindle DX really worth the added expense?

Some Features of the Kindle DX
- a 9.7 inch display
- eInk technology
- 1.1 lbs
- 3.3GB memory
- Free 3G wireless connectivity
- Built in keyboard and speakers
- Built in PDF support
- Supports DOC, PDF, TXT, HTML, RTF, PRC, BMO, GIF, PNG, JPEG and MP3 files

Benefits of the Kindle DX

The main benefit of the Kindle DX is it's larger screen size which is over twice as big as a regular kindle. This makes book reading and newspaper reading a bit easier.The larger screen size is especially better for students who use a Kindle for textbook reading and for people who read a lot of PDFs with incorporated images. But even with standard books, having a larger screen means less page turning and no mid-sentence breaking offs that sometimes occur with the standard Kindle.

In fact, if you plan to read a lot of PDF documents then you may find the Kindle DX better suited to your needs. In addition to a larger capacity for storing PDFs and books, the Kindle DX allows for both portrait and landscape viewing of the screen much like an iPad.

If you are specifically comparing the Apple iPad to the Kindle DX, keep in mind the differences in screen lighting. The e-ink technology of a Kindle is far easier on the eyes allowing you to read for hours without any eye strain. e-Ink is also much easier to read in sunlight.

Downside of the Kindle DX

For many people the cost of a DX is too high in comparison to other eReaders. While the extra features will be worth the cost to some folks, some people may not be able to justify the added cost.

Beyond cost, the main disadvantage of the Kindle DX is its weight. It is heavier than smaller eReaders.

If you are shopping for an eReader that can handle large-print books, PDFs, and Newspaper well, then a Kindle DX is probably for you. The DX has all of the benefits of the Amazon Kindle but with a larger screen. But if you are just looking for everyday book reading you may be better off with the standard Kindle at a lower price.

While the Amazon Kindle seems to be the best dedicated eBook reader, the Nook Color has some added versatility that will appeal to some people.

The Nook Color is sort of a hybrid between a tablet PC and an eReader. It has all of the functions of the standard Nook eReader (except the ePaper, it is full LCD) yet has incorporated extra features through its Android operating system. If you have been torn between buying an eReader and a tablet, the Nook Color just may be your answer.

The Nook Color does not have the processing power of an iPad, but it is powerful enough to check emails or do web searches. If you are primarily reading books or online content you will find that the Nook Color is smaller and lighter than an iPad.

Whether or not the Nook Color is a good PDF reader is still unclear. I was able to easily read online scanned books from places like Archive.org, but the demo model I was using did not have the ezPDF reader app downloaded so I couldn't test out PDFs. But if you access many out-of-print books as I do on the Internet Archive or Google Books, I think you will be impressed with the Nook Color.

Overall, the Nook Color has some great features as a hybrid device. The disadvantages as primarily an eReader will be the LCD screen (eye strain) and the short battery life. But for the more casual readers, magazine readers and scanned book readers, the Nook Color is a great option.

Having an eReader doesn't have to be an ongoing expense. There are many free books available online.

If you buy a Kindle or a Nook you can scan the free ebook section on either Amazon (Kindle) or on Barnes & Noble (Nook). Most classic literature is available for free - authors like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and many more.

In addition, these sites also offer free ebooks:

Manybooks.net
Gutenberg.org
Freekindlebooks.org
Archive.org
Openlibrary.org