Kindle Leads The Way As Favorite ereader

[Brad Wasson]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://lifehacker.com/5826280/five-best-ebook-readers' target='_blank'>http://lifehacker.com/5826280/five-...t-ebook-readers</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"A few weeks ago, we asked you which ebook store you used to get your favorite books onto your ereader. This week, we wanted to know which ereader you preferred to read those books. We collected your votes, and now we're back to look at the ones you nominated."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1312419199.usr110171.jpg" style="border: 0;" /></p><p>Lifehacker recently did a survey where they asked site visitors which was their favorite ereader. The top five choices included the Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook/Nook Color, Apple iPad, Sony Digital Reader, and the Kobo. Each device has its pro's and con's, of course, but each one can definitely get the job done. I personally own a Kindle, which I really like and use almost daily, but I have to say that the Barnes and Noble Nook Color device is moving in a very interesting direction. It will be fun to see what they do with it next. The Read link has more information about the survey results.</p>

[Chris Gohlke]

I'll be really curious to see where Amazon goes with their rumored tablet. I wonder if it will be part of the "Kindle" brand to complete with the Nook Color. Or, they might not want people thinking of it just as a reader that does other things, so may stay away from the Kindle branding altogether.

[sundown]

Numbers and brand recognition favor the Kindle. I favor the Nook (I have all three versions) over the Kindle and everyone I know who has one favors it. I suppose if you ask Kindle users, they would favor their device. This kind of survey isn't a good indication of the best device for the money. It's better at showing the relative success at marketing each device.

[Chris Gohlke]

Good point. I've never used the Nook, but I would agree that from the hardware perspective it does appear to be a better device, I was very close, on many occasions, to buying a Nook color to hack into a full android tablet. My decision to purchase a Kindle anyway came down to the fact that I was already an Amazon customer and was highly satisfied with their service and felt their ecosystem had the better chance of being around for the long haul.

[Sven Johannsen]

Amazon sort of needs to get their color model out there. Not for the android tablet aspect, but for the backlight. I had a Sony, replaced it with a Kindle. My wife went with the Nook. She has all three. I have an iPad which has both the Kindle and Nook apps, and she has an Iconia tab with both Kindle and Nook apps. While I spend most of my reading time on the Kindle itself, she will spend most of her time on the Nook Color and Iconia. She likes the backlight. I expect many people would. She has no problem with the reduced battery life. If you go with Kindle, your option at this point for backlight is to buy a relatively expensive tablet from someone other than Kindle (Amazon). With a 'low' priced backlit Kindle, comparable to the Nook color, I bet they would take some market from those that are Kindle based, but want the backlight and are now buying tablets of some sort.

Personaly I would be happy with a grayscale, e-paper something with a backlight/sidelight you could turn on or off. I have the reader to read. It is light, very legible, perfect size, has great battery life. I have a book light for when it is dark, just like on a real book. Would be nice not to have to fiddle with the attached book light. If I want to check mail, surf the web, etc, I have other options for that, including my phone.

[sundown]

As a side note, I bought the N2A micro sd card (Nook2Android) so I can dual boot my Nook Color to the Nook OS and Android 2.3 without rooting it. It required almost no setup and I now read my Nook books and magazines (on a better reader reader app than the Nook OS uses) as well as my Kindle books. Android works so well on this thing, it feels like it's an OEM OS.