K. Tempest Bradford at Tor.com has posted a brief rundown of 8 different e-book readers, ranging from his favorite (the Spring Design Alex) down to his least favorite (the iRex DR800SG). There’s not a lot to argue with, as it’s mostly his opinions, but it’s interesting to see what other people think.
Meanwhile, Engadget has an in-depth look at the Spring Design Alex. On the whole, they found it enjoyable to use (with just a few minor caveats), but note that commercial e-books and an app store will not be available until the summer, and the $399 price is rather high compared to the Kindle (which seems to have become the gold standard against which people, even me, judge other e-book prices).
I must admit, I am becoming intrigued now by how much people seem to like the Alex. Perhaps it is not so bad for being a chimera after all.
Hi. Tempest is a she–not a he.
Rankings based on feature bullet points don’t mean much when they’re given equal weight. The relative importance of each aspect of an e-reader depends on the individuals needs and desires. Some people may feel an dictionary is essential (knock the DR800, maybe others, off the list), don’t want ePub without justified text (eliminate all the Sony Readers except the Daily Edition), desire a larger screen than 6″ (drop all but three from that list), and so on.
The trick is to know what you want/need before shopping for a e-reading device.
Very true, ted. Which is why all the links in that Tor post go to the full reviews. Though I wasn’t aware that text justification was a major deal when looking for an eBook reader. Now that you say it, that completely makes sense. I will see about including that in future reviews.
I’m always interested in what things make or break and eReader for people, especially very picky people.
And Chris, the Alex’s chimera nature is one of its best features. I really like it and you should check it out when you can.