The Amazon Kindle Pros and Cons

Both the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle are great if you want a dedicated e Reader, but there are some differences you'll want to know about before you run out and buy one for yourself or your kids. If you're looking for something more than just an e Reader find out why we are in love with Apple's iPad.

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Kindle Pros

1) You can download books to read online onto the Kindle anytime, anywhere. It has 3G wireless with no monthly fees, no contracts, and no looking for Wi-Fi spots!

2) You can do Google and other basic web searches with the Amazon Kindle through the 3G Network; it's all included in the price of the Kindle. So you can check your email, get directions from Google maps and more. Although the speed and usability is not the greatest there are no monthly fees for this feature! This is a HUGE plus for us.

3) It can read to you. It converts the text in the e book to speech, which is nice if there are younger, pre-readers around and you need to occupy them for a short time. The Sony Reader does not have a text to speech capability (yet).

4) Both e book readers have an average of 7-14 days worth of battery life before needing a charge!

5) Both e book readers work with Mac and PC

Kindle Cons

1) Most of the Kindle books are around $10 (but you can download the classics that were written before 1923 for free). The Sony Reader e books range from $2-$20 with most being from $4-$10 (the Sony Reader has the option to download e library books for free and Kindle does not although you can download public domain classics on the Kindle).

2) The Amazon Kindle does not have a touch screen out yet. I guess this could be a pro or a con depending on what you like.

3) The Kindle does not have an open pub format (they do have their own files that are similar).

4) The Amazon Kindle does not have expandable memory sticks available (yet). But it can hold 1,500 e books, which is comparable to the Sony's high end reader (which is $100 more).

5) The Kindle has around 500,000 e books to choose from and the Sony Reader has over 1 million to choose from.

6) The Kindle is not back lit, making it hard to read at night or in bed without a lamp.

You can get a Kindle for $259 or a Kindle DX for $489. The Sony's comparable reader to the Kindle ($259) is the Daily Edition and is $100 more at $350.

And the Winner Is...

It's a toss up for us. We like the Sony's touch screen, free library book downloads and more books to choose from. We also like the Sony's back light for night reading. At the same time we think the Kindle is a better bang for your buck. The free 3G web browsing capabilities and the read to me feature are huge for us! To be able to check email or get directions without paying an expensive monthly fee seems too good to be true! If you don't mind the expensive monthly fee and are looking for way more than what the Sony or the Kindle can do you may want to look into an Apple iPad.

You'll have to make your own choice in the end but I hope this hunt for the best e book reader helped narrow your decision!

Check out the Sony Reader Pros and Cons page for more information to make your decision.

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