Nook Canada Review

Barnes & Noble has managed to ship its all-new Nook e-reader to stores and customers starting today, June 1st, ahead of its original June 10th launch date. We managed to get a unit, and here’s a hands-on review.

Before getting started, I should clarify that I’m a fairly avid Nook user with copies of both the Nook Color and the Nook Wi-Fi First Edition. Sometimes I also read books (but mostly magazines) on my iPad. (You might then ask why I use so many devices for roughly the same purpose, but that’s an entirely different story.)

Continuing on, I was quite excited to get my hands on the new Nook. Dubbed the “simple touch reader,” it initially looks and feels incredibly smaller than the average e-book reader available now. In terms of how it feels in my hand, it is somewhere on par with the Sony Reader Pocket Edition. However, the all-new Nook (which really needs a new name after awhile because it won’t be “all-new” for long) actually sports the exact same 6-inch eInk Pearl monochrome display as the Nook First Edition. Except this time the display supports touch gestures. Thus, naturally, the second generation of the Nook also drops the bottom touch screen.

There have been a few qualms in the tech media and by competitors since Barnes & Noble introduced the new Nook last week. First, Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch declared that Amazon’s Kindle 3 has 38 buttons, which is 37 more than the all new Nook. That one button Lynch was referring to was the power button, yet that assertion really isn’t accurate. There are four buttons (two on each side) for page turning in case a user doesn’t want to or maybe can’t turn pages easily on the touch screen (this could be the case when standing on a subway train while reading). Even the included manual refers to these four ridges as buttons, so really, the Nook has five buttons (six if you count the “n” Nook button at the bottom of the device too). Still, that’s far fewer than the previous edition of the black-and-white Nook and the Kindle.

The second upset that gained the most notoriety was Barnes & Noble’s announcement that this device has the longest lasting battery life than any other e-book reader on the market at a staggeringly long life of two months on a single charge. That point is based on the idea that a user only reads for 30 minutes per day. There haven’t been enough studies to accurately determine just which is the average amount of time a reader spends perusing books and magazines on an electronic device, but if you’re using such a product while commuting on a train or bus, I’m willing to bet that it’s a minimum of 30 minutes each way. Naturally, Amazon quickly tried to refute these claims and boast about the Kindle’s battery life, but the all-new Nook still outlasts the Kindle 3 at a rate of 150 hours to 56 hours respectively.

Once we get past those points of controversy, this review becomes much simpler. Some of the bigger improvements with this version of the Nook include the interface and the fact that there is 80% less screen flashing than on any other e-book reader. A user can go at least six pages without seeing that black flash between page turns, which actually becomes a nuisance once you get used to the fact that it’s gone most of the time. Additionally, users can speed up page turning to a rapid pace by holding down the side buttons. There’s almost no flash at all during this movement.

As for the interface, the easiest way to explain it is that it’s basically a dumbed-down, grayscale version of the Nook Color’s UI. Users can create shelves, navigate and toggle between menus by the pop-up bars at the bottom of the page and shop directly from the device with a much cleaner layout. However, don’t expect to see any games or audio players (there’s no headphone jack or speaker). That microSD card slot is really only useful for more book and periodical storage as there’s 240MB of on-board storage space. Nevertheless, at only 7.5 ounces heavy and being 15% thinner than the original Nook, it hardly gets more portable than this.

To sum up simply: This is a stripped, bare basics version of the Nook that would be ideal for students and anyone else on a budget.

Nook Canada

Kobo Canada

With 8 levels of grayscale, the 6-inch screen of the Kobo displays with 600 x 800 pixels. This provides a very impressive display pixel concentration of 170 dots per inch (dpi).

The only two fonts available on this unit are Georgia (serif) and Trebuchet (sans serif). Each font is available in five sizes. It’s a good idea to use the smaller font size because using a larger font size increases page turn requirements. Using bigger font size is not an advantage for this unit unless the user suffers from sight problems. This device literally does not support sound. This means that there is no text- to-voice option available on in this eReader.

The Kobo Reader has a search functionality which provides the option to find by Title, by Author, or even by time last read. You can view your books either as a virtual bookshelf or as a simple list. The battery is good for turning 8000 pages. At a 5-second average, the page opening time is fast and brisk.

Lacking backlight, the unit avoids the resultant complication of eye strain. The repercussion, though, is that darkness or insufficient lighting will make the text unreadable.

The display on its own leaves much to be desired. The gray background does not change and does’nt provide a clean clear backdrop. However, reading with this device is quite pleasant, due to the Vizplex eInk display with 8 level grayscale. Nothing special happens from page transitions. The effect is somewhat awkward as the display shows the content in white text on a black background before resolving into the proceeding page.

There is no scrolling feature on this device; you must push a button to turn the page. There is no way provided to jump to a certain chapter or page unless you jump through each chapter without opening its page contents up for reading.

Positives
• Satisfactory battery life
• Outstanding paper-like display quality
• Compact dimensions, light weight and affordably priced
• Easy on the pocket, both in regards to price and weight
• Quality materials utilized
• 100 eBooks come pre-loaded
• Bluetooth wireless radio

Negatives
• Only compatible with the Blackberry at this time
• Lack of 3G or Wi-Fi capability
• Best suited for right hand users

Bottom Line:
Thus, in a nutshell, the Kobo Reader is a barebones eReader that is hoping simplicity will distinguish it in the already crowded eReader market.

Kobo Canada

iPad Canada as a Reader

Let’s get something out of the way right off the bat. I have an iPad. The original. I use it as an e-reader. I like it as an e-reader. I consider it a very good e-reader. But it’s not perfect.

Like a lot of other people, after the lines died down last Friday, iPad 2 launch day, I took a trip to my local Apple store to mingle with the crowds and handle the object that has been getting so much attention. My mission, however, was a little more focused than some people’s. Sure, I took the Web browser for a spin and tried to get a feel for how much zippier the thing might be. But I largely ignored the built-in front and back cameras and other new features such as the Garage Band app because plenty has already been written about that stuff.

What I was most curious about was how the iPad 2 performed as an e-reader and whether Apple had done anything to the screen to make the reading experience better.

As some of you know who’ve visited an Apple store, Apple only loads certain apps onto their demo devices, and the Kindle or Nook apps aren’t part of the offerings (only iBooks is, which I don’t blame Apple for doing). So I popped open iBooks and opened a few of the titles that were present in the library, which included a few novels and color children’s books.

The first thing you notice, of course, is that the iPad 2 is lighter and thinner than the original. One of the problems with the original iPad was that it was a bit heavy and you really had to prop it up on something when reading for long periods. The iPad 2 shaves off 3.2 ounces, bringing the weight down to 1.3 pounds, and it makes a difference. Not a huge difference, but 3 ounces is 3 ounces, and I’ll take it. That said, it isn’t light, and you’ll still have to prop it up when reading for long periods.

Where you’ll also see an improvement is in the overall speed and responsiveness of the device. It’s not a major difference when it comes to e-reading, but e-books seemed to load slightly faster and those of you with large libraries should find that covers images get drawn to the screen more quickly when your library loads.

In June, Apple is scheduled to force booksellers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo to modify their apps to sell their wares through the apps themselves (with Apple taking a 30 percent cut of sales), and it remains up in the air how those companies (and many others) will respond to those demands. But thanks to the new dual-core A5 processor, the iPad 2′s browser is also faster–up to 50 percent, according to reports–so for now anyway you’ll be able to browse and buy e-books more quickly.

Any performance boost is good. But the real question I had was whether Apple had done anything to reduce the glare issues encountered from overhead lighting and sunlight. Apparently, according to the helpful Apple rep in the store, the answer is no.

She said that while Apple had taken steps to make the screen more fingerprint-resistant, the screen had remained basically the same in terms of resolution and contrast. While it’s no Retina display, text appears sharp and the touch screen is great for navigating content, flipping pages, and highlighting words to look up in the dictionary (or just highlight for future reference). Since this is an LCD, you also won’t have an issue reading in the dark, like you do with e-ink e-readers.

The rep said the fingerprint resistance was accomplished through a special coating on the screen. She also said Apple’s new Smart Magnetic cover “automatically” removed fingerprints while it was on. The process seemed to involve the microfiber cloth magically lifting prints while it protected the screen. (Since there were no Smart Magnetic covers around to try out, I’ll have to get an update on this from Donald Bell, who has CNET’s only iPad 2 review sample out in SF).

If Apple has indeed made changes to the glass layer of the screen to make it more fingerprint resistant, it’s hard to tell. The one thing I can tell you is that it didn’t make any changes that would make it more glare resistant. It’s still very reflective, which becomes a problem when you have any overhead lighting to contend with (those “flares” you see in the pictures are Apple’s in-store lights, which are attached to the top of a glass ceiling far overhead). This reflection is issue more common than you’d think. Really, any overhead light will cause some glare and I find myself frequently adjusting my iPad’s angle to help reduce it.

Does this make the iPad 2 a bad e-reader? No, as I said, it remains a very good one. But the fact is any time you put a layer of protective glass over the top of any screen (and this goes for any tablet and a lot of laptop displays), you’re going to be greeted with some irritating reflectivity. I will say that I preferred the white iPad 2 over the black one for the simply reason that the white border seemed less reflective than the black one.

Later this year, we should start seeing anti-reflective color display technologies such as Mirasol hit the market. These types of displays don’t appear to offer quite the color saturation that the iPad 2′s display does, but they are viewable in direct sunlight, which is another complaint people have about the iPad and iPad 2: they just aren’t as usable as they should be outdoors on a bright day. If you’ve seen Amazon’s sometimes entertaining Kindle ads, you know that outdoor readability is a competitive advantage Amazon likes to tout. You can expect more of those ads.

So, what’s the bottom line on all this? Well, if you’re buying the iPad 2 as an e-reader, you’ll be mostly happy. Just know that it still has one glaring problem.

iPad Canada

Bebook Club Canada Review

The BeBook Club is the latest in an increasing number of eBook readers to land on our desks at PC Pro. Naturally, the very first question we’ll be asking is whether or not it can live up to the high standards set by market leaders: Amazon’s latest Kindle and Sony’s Reader Touch PRS-650.

Physically it’s a little bit bigger and heavier than the Kindle. It measures 121 x 10.6 x 196mm (WDH) and weighs in at 278g – distinctly less svelte. It does, however, feel durable. Design is kept minimal: the front panel is made from white plastic, while the back is coated in cool-to-the-touch brushed aluminium, and aside from two page-turn buttons and a directional pad, the only other buttons on the face of the Club are Home and Back.

Other physical aspects are kept unfussy too. On the bottom edge is a volume control button, USB port, 3.5mm audio jack, and SD card support – a necessity rather than a bonus since the Club comes with only 512MB of internal memory. That’s considerably less than the 4GB in the Kindle or the 2GB in the Reader Touch.

BeBook Club

The 6in Vizplex E Ink screen has a resolution of 600 x 800, which is the match of most readers on the market, but it’s an older generation, non-touchscreen panel. It can display only eight levels of grey, compared to the 16 that the Sony and Amazon readers offer, and it suffers in comparison. While the text is readable, it’s a clear level below the screen on the Kindle, on which text looks crisper and more solid. And contrast is worse too, with a greyer, less paper-like background.

Battery life is better, though, and comes in at an impressive 12,000 page views or 25 plus hours of music playback.

Despite lacking Wi-Fi or 3G, the task of loading eBooks onto the Club is straightforward. It’s simply a case of dragging and dropping files when connected to a PC. Alongside ePub support, PDF, JPEG and text file formats are supported. Paid-for books, meanwhile, are transferred via Adobe’s Digital Editions software, as with other non-Kindle readers.

The Club’s PDF file handling, meanwhile, is good but not stellar. In standard mode you can zoom and scroll pages, and you can also re-flow and resize text. But these features are rendered useless by appalling performance: panning and zooming is a task requiring the patience of a saint. Last, but by no means least, audio playback is poor with no external speaker and a volume level that’s far too low.

None of this would be a major issue if the price had been different, but given it’s more expensive than the Kindle, and not a whole lot cheaper than the Sony PRS-650, passing judgement is a no-brainer. We recommend you don’t buy one; it simply isn’t good enough.

Bebook Canada

Sony Daily edition

The good: First Sony Reader with wireless 3G service; larger 7.1-inch touch screen displays significantly more lines of text; with the addition of an optional memory card (SD or Memory Stick Pro), it’s capable of storing thousands of electronic books; six adjustable font sizes; decent battery life; displays Word and PDF files (and zooms in on them), shows most image files, and plays MP3 and AAC audio; Sony’s eBook Library software is now both Windows- and Mac-compatible; most bestsellers cost $9.99 (just like from Amazon); EPUB file compatibility lets you access thousands of free classic Google Books and loaner files from many local libraries; built-in dictionary now included; charger and protective case included.

The bad: Expensive; screen is still glare-prone and the contrast isn’t as good as other non-touch-screen e-readers; battery isn’t user-replaceable; can’t “cloud-push” files from Sony’s online store (using your desktop) to the device as you can with the Kindle; limited selection of periodicals compared with Kindle.

The bottom line: Though there’s a lot to like about the Daily Edition, the dazzle of Sony’s first e-reader to integrate cellular wireless connectivity is diminished by its lackluster screen and high price tag.

Sony Canada

Welcome

Welcome to my personal ebook reader information website. I will try to compare and give my opinion on the various ebook readers out there. I prefer to focus on the top ebook readers because I can’t possibly try and test all of them. I will examine the following 5:

  • Amazon Kindle
  • Kobo reader
  • Sony reader
  • Barnes & Noble Nook
  • Apple iPad Reader

Ebook readers come in all shapes and sizes, so lets get right to it and see which reader is the best one for you. Most importantly, I will tell you how you can get your very own ebook reader in Canada. In some cases, like the Kindle reader or the Barnes and Nobles Nook, it may not be so straight forward. That’s why I wrote these guides.

Click on the ebook reader  for more information, reviews, and how-to-buy guides:

 

ebook readers