Suggestions needed for a ebook Reader

[hightech]

I want to get an ebook reader for a friend and am not sure which one is good. From the Cnet and Consumer Reports, the Barnes and Noble Nook with backlight seems nice but not sure if Canadians can get content on it as well if I am stuck only buying stuff from them instead of downloading PDF, and other formats and installing it. Another option is the Sony PRST1 which seems to be decent but not sure if the screen is as good as others.

My friend does a lot of reading indoors, outdoors and would like to get her something that is clear and easy to use and supports decent formats.

What do you guys suggest and what are the best deals going on for this?

Thanks

[PiusPatronus]

Bought my mom a Kobo Touch and she's been happy with it ever since.
It doesn't have the backlight functionality that you mentioned, but who reads in the dark? I think eInk is best used under good lighting conditions.

I've also seen the Sony eReader PRS-T1. It has a little bit more functionality, but all in all, it seems to be equivalent to the Kobo Touch (if reading eBooks is all you do).

[JamesA1]

They're basically all very similar in technology at the moment: same 6" Pearl e-Ink screen, same infrared touch display, same processing power and memory. There are minor secondary differences in hardware, like the Kobo Touch has microSD, Kindle Touch has headphone jack for audio books etc.. Nook has the Glow backlit model (in the U.S. only) for a little more, but the extra screen layer reduces sharpness slightly and is vulnerable to scratches that can make it unusable.

They all have slightly different user interfaces, and some people prefer one over the other - but usually just because they're already accustomed to one, not because of any real difference in capability.

The bookstores are another matter.

- Amazon has has the most mature and polished bookstore, but some of their content is U.S.-only. They also use a proprietary Amazon-only ebook format and the Kindles do not support borrowing from public libraries.

- The Kobo bookstore has a wide selection and good international coverage. Prices are generally competitive, and they use standard epub format shared with other bookstores. The Kobo and the Sony can borrow epub books from public libraries.

- Barnes & Noble bookstore is U.S.-only, so you would have to buy your Nook unofficially and get your books from other sources. Fortunately the Nook supports epub format.

PC software like Calibre can convert ebooks between different formats - even DRM-protected formats with appropriate plugins.

[hightech]

They're basically all very similar in technology at the moment: same 6" Pearl e-Ink screen, same infrared touch display, same processing power and memory. There are minor secondary differences in hardware, like the Kobo Touch has microSD, Kindle Touch has headphone jack for audio books etc.. Nook has the Glow backlit model (in the U.S. only) for a little more, but the extra screen layer reduces sharpness slightly and is vulnerable to scratches that can make it unusable.

They all have slightly different user interfaces, and some people prefer one over the other - but usually just because they're already accustomed to one, not because of any real difference in capability.

The bookstores are another matter.

- Amazon has has the most mature and polished bookstore, but some of their content is U.S.-only. They also use a proprietary Amazon-only ebook format and the Kindles do not support borrowing from public libraries.

- The Kobo bookstore has a wide selection and good international coverage. Prices are generally competitive, and they use standard epub format shared with other bookstores. The Kobo and the Sony can borrow epub books from public libraries.

- Barnes & Noble bookstore is U.S.-only, so you would have to buy your Nook unofficially and get your books from other sources. Fortunately the Nook supports epub format.

PC software like Calibre can convert ebooks between different formats - even DRM-protected formats with appropriate plugins.

Thanks for the information. I guess the Amazon may be the better unit and the Kindle Keyboard 3G seems nice. Is there no way to convert PDF, Word files to view on Kindle?

[mikeo007]

Thanks for the information. I guess the Amazon may be the better unit and the Kindle Keyboard 3G seems nice. Is there no way to convert PDF, Word files to view on Kindle?

+1 for the kindle. The screen is wonderful to read on. You can easily convert any book format to read on the kindle.