E-book Reader Matrix
From MobileRead
This page compares e-book reader devices that use epaper. If you prefer Devices that use an LCD (TFT) display See: LCD E-Book Reader Matrix. For a general introduction to all e-book devices see: E-book devices. See also Web Tablets, PDA devices and Smartphones that may be used as e-book readers.
Contents |
[edit] Matrix (epaper devices)
[edit] 5" Devices
| Brandname | Sony Portable Reader | Bookeen | Pocketbook | HanLin eBook | Readius? | Hanvon | Azbooka | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Pocket Edition PRS-300 | Cybook Opus | 360° | V5 | Readius (unreleased) | WISEreader N526, N520, Elonex 511EB | WISEreader N518 | HandyBOOK N516 | WISEreader 516 | |
| Manufacturer | Sony | Netronix | Jinke Electronics | Wistron | Hanvon | |||||
| Picture |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Dimensions | 158 × 108 × 10 mm (6.2" x 4.2" x .4") | 151 × 108 × 10 mm (5.9" × 4.3" × .4") | 140 × 118 × 12 mm (5.5" × 4.6" × .47") | 152 × 102 × 9 mm (6" × 4" × .35") | 57 × 115 × 21 mm (closed) 160 × 115 × 21 mm (open) | 173 × 117 × 10 mm (6.8" × 4.6" × .4") | 153 × 112 × 12 mm (6" x 4.4" x .5) | 152 × 108 × 12 mm (6" x 4.3" x .5") | 152 × 108 × 12 mm (6" x 4.3" x .5") | |
| Weight | 220g (7.8oz) | 150g (5.3oz) | 148g (5.3oz) | 160g (5.7oz) | 115g (4.1oz) | 195g (6.9oz) | 190g (6.7oz) | 170g (5.8oz) | 170g (5.8oz) | |
| Screen Technology | E Ink Vizplex | Rollable organic TFT backplane with Vizplex frontplane | E Ink Vizplex | |||||||
| Display Size | (76 × 102mm) 5" 600 × 800 pixels, 200 ppi | 5" 240 × 320 pixels, 85 ppi | (76 × 102mm) 5" 600 × 800 pixels, 200 ppi | |||||||
| Grey Levels | 8 | 4 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| Controller | Metronome | Apollo | Apollo | Epson Broadsheet | iRex Delta | ? | Epson Broadsheet | Metronome | Metronome | |
| Touch Screen | no | no | no | no | no | N526 | yes (finger or stylus) | no | no | |
| Full-screen Refresh Rate | ? | 0.9s | ? | 0.9s | ? | <=1s | <=1s | <=1s | <=1s | |
| Power | ? | Li-Polymer 1000mAh | Li-Polymer 1000mAh | Li-Polymer 1000mAh | ? | Li-Polymer 1500mAh | Li-Polymer 1500mAh | Li-Polymer 1500mAh | Li-Polymer 1500mAh | |
| Battery Life | 7'500 pages | 8'000 pages | 8'000 pages | 9'000 pages | "30 hours" | 8'000 pages | 9'000 pages | 9'000 pages | 9'000 pages | |
| OS | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux | WinCE | WinCE | WinCE | Linux | Linux | |
| Boot Time | ? | 15s | 21s | 16s | ? | ~20s | 20s | 20s | ? | |
| SDK | ? | yes | yes | yes | ? | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
| CPU | Freescale i.MXL MC9328MXLVP20
(ARM920T core, 200MHz) | Samsung® S3C2440
(ARM920T core, 400MHz) | Samsung® S3C2440
(ARM920T core, 400MHz) | Samsung® S3C2440
(ARM920T core, 400MHz) | ARM11 400MHz | Ingenic® JZ4740
(MIPS XBurst core, 336MHz) | Ingenic® JZ4740
(MIPS XBurst core, 336MHz) | Ingenic® JZ4740
(MIPS XBurst core, 336MHz) | Ingenic® JZ4740
(MIPS XBurst core, 336MHz) | |
| Memory | ?MB RAM, 512MB Internal (440 MB User Accessible) | 32MB RAM, 1GB Internal | 64MB RAM, 512MB Internal | 32MB RAM, 512MB Internal, 2M NOR Flash | 128MB RAM, 256MB Internal | ??MB RAM, 512MB Internal | 64MB RAM, 512MB Internal | 64MB RAM, 512MB Internal | 64MB RAM, 512MB Internal | |
| Expansion Slots | none | Micro SD | Micro SD/SDHC | SD/SDHC | Micro SD | SD/SDHC | SD/SDHC | SD/SDHC | SD/SDHC/SDIO | |
| Other Interfaces | USB 2.0 (charging) | USB 2.0 (charging) | USB 2.0 (charging) | USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo | USB 2.0 (charging), Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, GSM/GPRS/ EDGE tri-band | USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo (micro-USB 1.1 host reserved for future use) | USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo | USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo | USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo | |
| Supported Formats | BBeB (LRF/LRX), PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG | OEB-XHTML, TXT, HTML, PDF, EPUB, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3 | FB2, TXT, PDF, DJVU, RTF, HTML, PRC, PDB (PalmDoc), Plucker, CHM, EPUB, DOC, TCR,JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF | PDF (reflow), TXT, RTF, EPUB, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP | TXT, HTML, PDF | TXT, HTML, PDF, EPUB, MTXT, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3 | FB2, ePub, MOBI, HTML, CHM, RTF, TXT, PalmDOC, zTXT, TCR, JPG, GIF, PNG | |||
| Supported DRM Formats | Marlin DRM (BBeB), Adobe (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe (EPUB/PDF) | Wolf, Adobe (EPUB/PDF) | ? | Adobe (EPUB/PDF) | none | |||
| Font Sizes | 3 | 12 | 20 | 3-5 | ? | 8-12 | 12 | |||
| Search functionality / Dictionary lookup | no | no | yes | no | ? | yes | yes | no | yes | |
| Note taking / highlighting / underlining | no | no | yes | no | no | N526 | yes | no | ? | |
| Text to Speech | no | no | no | yes | no | yes | no | |||
| PDF Capabilities |
Full Page; Landscape; Single Page Reflow; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; |
Full Page; Landscape; Manual Crop Margins; Fixed Zoom; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; |
Full Page Continuous; Landscape Continuous; Two Column; Manual Crop Margins; Autocrop Margins; Single Page Reflow; Zoom Images in Reflow (?); Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; Text Search; Dictionary Lookup; |
Full Page; Landscape; (XPDF: Autocrop Margins); Single Page Reflow; Passwords; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; Text to Speech; | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Software | eBook Library, Adobe Digital Editions, calibre | Adobe Digital Editions | Adobe Digital Editions, FBReader, PocketNews (for RSS Feeds) | WOLF Maker, WOLF Printer, Adobe Digital Editions | ? | Adobe Digital Editions | FBReader | |||
| Services | Sony CONNECT (US/Canada only) | ? | iStation, ReadMan | ? | ||||||
| Content Partners | ? | Ubibooks, Cluster21 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||||
| Price | US$199 | US$280 / 249€ / £215 | 240$ | US$229 | ? | £129 | US$299 | US$239 | US$239(?) | |
| Release Date | August 2009 | 27 July 2009 | August, 2009 | August 2009 | NEVER? | 18 July 2009 | ? | July 2009 | July 2009 | |
| Misc Info | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2004 | Sold directly by Bookeen. Hardware made by Netronix exclusively for Bookeen. Software by Bookeen. | Hardware made by Netronix exclusively for Pocketbook. Software by Pocketbook. Original firmware used FBReader for all reflowable formats, now additionally includes mobile Adobe Digital Editions for PDF and ePub. | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2000.
Sold under other names worldwide: Bebook mini, Astak EZ Reader Pocket PRO. | Device also functions as a phone and has SMS capabilities. Polymer Vision has emerged from bankruptcy, and will concentrate on rollable displays for e-readers rather than mobile phones. So the Readius in its current form will not be released. | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2008
Originally only available in China, now in the US and the Europe | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2008
Originally only available in China, now in the US and the Europe N516 supported by open source e-reader firmware Openinkpot | Hardware is from Hanvon but software is Open Source from Openinkpot | ||
[edit] 6" Devices
| Brandname | HanLin eBook | Sony Portable Reader | Amazon Kindle | Bookeen | COOL-ER | Pocketbook | txtr reader | NUUTbook | iriver | Onyx | Barnes and Noble | Spring Design | ViewSonic | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | V3 | A6 | Touch Edition PRS-600 | Kindle 2 | Cybook Gen3 | Cool-er Classic | 301 Plus | 302 (unreleased) | txtr reader (unreleased) | NUUT2 | iriver Story | Boox60 | Nook | Alex (unreleased) | Viewsonic VEB612 |
| Manufacturer | Jinke Electronics | Sony | Hon Hai Precision Industries | Netronix | txtr GmbH | Neolux Corporation | iriver | Onyx | Barnes & Noble | Spring Design | ViewSonic | ||||
| Picture |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Dimensions | 184 × 121 × 10 mm (7.24" × 4.74" × .39") | 185.2 × 124.6 × 10.9 mm (7.3"×4.9"×.43") | 175 x 122 x 9.7 mm (6.9" x 4.8" x 0.4") | 203 x 135 x 9 mm (8" x 5.3" x 0.36") | 188 × 118 × 8.5 mm (7.4" × 4.7" × .3") | 188 × 118 × 8.5 mm (7.4" × 4.7" × .3") | 188 × 118 × 8.5 mm (7.4" × 4.7" × .3") | 190 x 131 x 13 mm (7.5" × 5.2" × .5") | 151 × 131 × 12 mm (5" × 5.75" × .3") | 178 × 137 × 19 mm (7" × 5.4" × .75") | 203.5 × 127 × 9.4 mm (8" × 5" × .4") | 196 x 121 x 10.5 mm (4.7” x 7.4” x 0.3”) | 196 x 126 x 13 mm (7.7" x 4.9" x .5") | 226 x 119 x ?? mm (8.9" x 4.7" x .?") | 115 x 185 x 9.5mm (4.5" x 7.3" x 0.4")
|
| Weight | 200g (7.05oz) | 290g (10.23oz) | 285g (10.1oz) | 289g (10.2oz) | 174g (6.13oz) | 174g (6.13oz) | 174g (6.13oz) | 280g (9.9oz) | 300g (10.5oz) | 300g (10.5oz) | 298g (10.5oz) | 284g (10oz) | 317g (11.2oz) | 310g (11oz) | 180g (0.4lb.) |
| Screen Technology | E Ink Vizplex | SiPix | E Ink Vizplex | ||||||||||||
| Display Size | (90 × 120mm) 6" 600 × 800 pixels, 167 ppi | ||||||||||||||
| Grey Levels | 4 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 4(16 soft) | 16 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 8 (16 soon) | 16 | 8 | 8 |
| Controller | Apollo | ? | Epson Broadsheet | Epson Broadsheet | Apollo | Apollo | Apollo | Epson Broadsheet | Epson Broadsheet | Epson Broadsheet | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Touch Screen | no | yes | yes (finger or stylus) | n.a. | no | n.a. | n.a. | yes (finger or stylus) | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | yes (Wacom) | Separate color LCD touchscreen, 480 x 144 pixels | Separate color LCD touchscreen, 480 x 320 pixels | no
|
| Full-screen Refresh Rate | 0.9s | ? | 0.37s (fast mode) | 0.9s | 0.9s | ? | 0.6s | ? | < 1 s | ? | ? | ? | ? | 0.3 | ? |
| Power | Li-ion 950mAh (Nokia Phone battery) | Li-Polymer 1500mAh | Li-ion | Li-ion 1530mAh | Li-Polymer 1000mAh | Li-Polymer 1000mAh | Li-Polymer 1000mAh | Li-Polymer 2050mAh | Li-Ion 2500mAh | Li-Polymer 1250mAh | Li-Polymer 1800mAh | Li-Polymer 1600mAh | Li-Polymer 1530mAh | Li-Polymer 1530mAh | Li-Polymer |
| Battery Life | 9'000 pages | ? | 7'500 pages | with EVDO: "4 days", without: "up to two weeks" | 8'000 pages | 7'000 pages | 8'000 pages | 16'000 pages | ? | 7'000 pages | 7'000 pages, 20h Audio | 8'000 pages | up to 10 days with wireless off | 7'500 pages, 6hrs media playback | 8'000 pages |
| OS | Linux | Linux 2.6 | Linux 2.6.23 | Linux 2.6.22 | Linux 2.6.18 | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux | Android 1.5, Linux 2.6.27 | Android 1.5 | ? |
| Boot Time | 16s | ? | 15s | ? | 20s | 30s | 9s | ? | ? | ? | ? | 22s | ? | ? | ? |
| SDK | yes | ? | no | no | ? | no | yes | API yes | ? | ? | yes | ? | ? | ? | |
| CPU | Samsung® S3C2410 (ARM920T core, 200MHz) | Samsung Arm9 (ARM9, 400MHz) | Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz) | Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz) | V1, V2: Samsung® S3C2410 (ARM920T core, 200MHz) V3, Gold: Samsung® S3C2440 (ARM920T core, 400MHz) | Samsung® S3C2440 (ARM920T core, 400MHz) | Samsung® S3C2440 (ARM920T core, 400MHz) | Samsung® S3C2440 (ARM920T core, 400MHz) | Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz) | ARM compatible (300MHz) | ARM11 (533MHz) | Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz) | Samsung S3C6410 (ARM1176JZF-S core, 667MHz) | Marvell Monahan PXA303 (Xscale core, 624MHz) | ? |
| Memory | 512MB, Internal 2M NOR Flash, 512MB SD Card included | 128MB RAM, 2MB NOR Flash, 2GB NAND Flash | 128MB RAM, 512MB(NAND) Flash (~420MB user accessible) | 128MB RAM, 2GB Flash (1.4GB user accessible) | V1: 16MB RAM, 64MB Flash V2: 16MB RAM, 512 Flash V3: 32MB RAM, 512MB Flash Gold: ??MB RAM, 1GB Flash | 128MB RAM, 1GB Flash | 64MB RAM, 512MB Flash | 64MB RAM, 512MB Flash | 64MB RAM | ?MB RAM, 1GB Flash (512MB user accessible) | ?MB RAM, 2 GB Flash | 32MB RAM, 512MB Flash | ?MB RAM, 2 GB Flash | 256MB RAM, 4 GB Flash | 512MB Internal |
| Expansion Slots | SD/MMC up to 4GB | SD/SDHC/MMC up to 16GB | MMC/SD/SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo | none | SD/SDHC | SD up to 4GB | SD/SDHC | MicroSD/SDHC, USB Host | MicroSD/microSDHC - 8GB microSD included | SD/SDHC, USB host | SD/SDHC | SD/SDHC, USB OTG | MicroSD/SDHC | MicroSD/SDHC | SD card up to 4GB |
| Other Interfaces | USB 1.1 (charging), headphone | USB 2.0 | USB 2.0, headphone | USB 2.0 (charging), headphone, EVDO/CDMA | USB 2.0 (charging), 2.5mm stereo | USB 2.0 (charging), 2.5mm stereo | USB 2.0 (charging), 2.5mm stereo | USB 2.0 (charging), 3.5mm stereo, Bluetooth, WiFi | USB 2.0 (charging), Bluetooth, 3G/GPRS | USB 2.0 (charging), 24-pin cell charger, 3.5mm stereo, WiFi, | USB 2.0 (charging)?, headphone, microphone | USB 2.0 (charging), 3.5mm stereo, WiFi | Micro USB 2.0 (charging), 3.5mm stereo, WiFi, 3G/GPRS | Micro USB 2.0 (charging), 2.5mm stereo, WiFi | USB 2.0 Slave Card Reader SD Slot Earphone Jack 2.5mm Phone Jack 2.5mm - 3.5mm for audio |
| Supported Formats | PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, PRC/MOBI, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP | PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, FB2, PPT, DJVU, DOC, HTML, BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF, MP3 | BBeB (LRF/LRX), PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, MP3, AAC | Kindle (AZW and TOPAZ), PRC/MOBI (non DRM), PDF (non DRM), TXT, MP3, Audible (format 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3; | Mobi firmware: OEB-XHTML, TXT, HTML, PDF (non DRM), PRC/MOBI, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3 ePub firmware: ePub, OEB-XHTML, TXT, HTML, PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3 | PDF, EPUB, FB2, RTF, TXT, HTML, PRC, JPG AND MP3 | FB2, TXT, PDF, DJVU, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, EPUB, DOC, TCR, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, MP3, ZIP | PDF, EPUB, HTML, RTF, Powerpoint | PDF, EPUB, TXT, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, WAV | PDF, EPUB, TXT, PDF, DOC, PPT, XLS, JPG, BMP, GIF, MP3, WMA, OGG | PDF, EPUB, MOBI, FB2, TXT, PDB, HTML, CHM, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF | PDF, EPUB, eReader, PDB, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3 | PDF, EPUB, HTML, TXT, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, MIDI, WAV, MPEG2/4, 3GPP, Flash | PDF, TXT, ePub, HTML, PRC, MP3 | |
| Supported DRM Formats | Wolf and MobiPocket or Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Marlin DRM (BBeB), Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | AZW and TOPAZ (Kindle only) | MobiPocket | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | eReader (EPUB/eReader), Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | EPUB | |
| Font Sizes | 3-9 | ? | 5 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 20 | ? | ? | 3 | 5 | 5 | ? | ? | |
| Folder Navigation | Yes | ? | No (collections) | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | |
| Search functionality / Dictionary lookup | yes | yes | built-in dictionary and search using touchscreen | search using keyboard, built-in dictionary using 5-way | MOBI dictionaries using D-pad | no | yes | dictionary and search using creative keyboard input | no | library search: yes / inside ebook search: no / dictionary: no | yes | search using touchscreen keyboard, built-in dictionary | search using touchscreen keyboard, ?built-in dictionary? | ? | |
| Note taking / highlighting / underlining | no | using touchscreen | using touchscreen | using keyboard and 5-way | bookmark menu | bookmark menu | yes | ? | ? | separate notes application / no highlighting | using touchscreen | using color touchscreen | using color touchscreen | ? | |
| Text to Speech | no | ? | no | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no? | no | |
| PDF Capabilities |
Full Page; Landscape; (XPDF: Autocrop Margins); Single Page Reflow; Passwords; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; Text to Speech; |
? |
Full Page; Landscape; Arbitrary Zoom; Single Page Reflow; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; Text Search; Dictionary Lookup; |
Full Page; Landscape Autocrop; Text Search; |
Full Page; Landscape; Manual Crop Margins; Fixed Zoom; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; | ? |
Full Page Continuous; Landscape Continuous; Two Column; Manual Crop Margins; Autocrop Margins; Single Page Reflow; Zoom Images in Reflow (?); Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; Text Search; Dictionary Lookup; | ? | ? | ? |
Full Page; Landscape; Autocrop Margins; Fixed Zoom; Arbitrary Zoom; Single Page Reflow; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; Text Search; |
Full Page; Single Page Reflow; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; | ? | ? | |
| Software | WOLF Maker, WOLF Printer | ? | eBook Library, Adobe Digital Editions | NetFront web browser & MobiPocket Java Reader | Bookeen® Multi-format eBook reader | Adobe Digital Editions | Adobe Digital Editions, PocketBook News Reader, 3d party applications (open API) | Adobe Digital Editions | Adobe Digital Editions | Adobe Digital Editions | Adobe Digital Editions | Adobe Digital Editions | Adobe Digital Editions | ? | |
| Services | iStation, ReadMan | Bookstore (Support Adobe CS4 server) | Sony CONNECT | Amazon Kindle Whispernet. E-mail conversion of DOC, HTML, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and PDF | ? | ? | Book purchase | Newspaper download via WiFi | ? | ? | 3G via AT&T | ? | ? | ||
| Content Partners | MobiPocket | ? | Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Libri.de, Thalia.de, Thalia.ch, stauffacher.ch | Amazon | MobiPocket, Ubibooks, Cluster21 | Cooler Books | ? | online portal txtr.com | ? | ? | ? | B&N eBooks | [1] | [2] | |
| Price | US$299 | US$265-275 | US$299 | US$259 | US$350 / 280€ / £225 | US$249 | US$360 | ? | 299€ | KRW 299,000 | 279€ | $349 | $259 | $359 | $259.00 (2010.01.05) |
| Release Date | Q3 2007 | ? | 25 August 2009 | Ordering began 02/09/09 | Ordering began 28 Oct, 2007 | 7 July, 2009 | October, 2008(June, 2009) | March 2010 | 15 December 2009 | June, 2009 (Korea) | September, 2009 (Korea) / November, 2009 (EU-Germany) | October 2009 | 30 November 2009 | 22 February 2010? | ? |
| Misc Info | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2000.
Sold under other names worldwide: lBook V3, DigiBook Reader V3, Apollo-Hanlin V3, Walkbook, Papyre 6.1, BEBOOK, Astak EZ Reader, Kolibri V3, ECO Reader. V3 supported by open source e-reader firmware Openinkpot | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2000. Introduced at CES 2010. | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2004 | Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity for Kindle so there are no monthly wireless bills, data plans, or service commitments for customers.
Internationally available as of October 2009. Annotations stored in plain text files. | Sold directly by Bookeen, by BooksOnBoard.com in the US & Canada, and via wholesalers.
3rd generation Cybook (1st with E Ink). The original hardware was an EB-001, like the STAReBOOK STK-101, with 16MB of memory and a 200MHz CPU. It is now an EB-600, like the Pocketbook 301 plus, Astak Mentor Lite, COOL-ER Classic and Elonex 600EB. The Gold Edition adds the Epson Broadsheet controller and 8 grey levels. The software is from Bookeen. The Gold drops MOBI and dictionary support and adds Adobe Digital Editions (DRMed PDF and ePub). | Other brand names for the Netronix EB-600 with Netronix standard software include iLiber, Inves-Book 600 and Elonex 600EB (sold by Borders UK). The Astak Mentor Lite 2 is similar, but with an Epson Broadsheet controller and 8 grey levels. | Hardware is an EB-600, like the Bookeen Cybook Gen3, COOL-ER Classic and Elonex 600EB. Software by Pocketbook. Software package containing calendar, notepad, calculator and some games. | Hardware is a standard Netronix design, and will be available from other vendors. Software by Pocketbook. Software package containing calendar, notepad, calculator and some games. | capacitive slider controls. orientation sensor integrated | Separate indicator bar shows: Battery, Loading status, USB, Audio volume levels. Company's 1st reader, the NUUT NP-601 was based on the Netronix EB-100 and released in 2007. The NUUT2 is an in-house design. Will be sold in Europe by ROYAL-LINE AB. | Also sold under different names in some markets | Comic Viewer (JPG, BMP and GIF in ZIP Container, Calendar), Education and Wifi-Versions later this year | US only, free WiFi in B&N stores, digital lending. B&N pays for the wireless connectivity for Nook so there are no monthly wireless bills, data plans, or service commitments for customers. | ViewSonic VEB612 eBook Reader, universal power adaptor (US/Canada), USB cable, earphones, leatherette cover, wrist strap, Quick Start Guide | |
[edit] Larger Devices
| Brandname | Sony Portable Reader | HanLin eBook | iRex | Amazon Kindle | Astak Mentor | Pocketbook | QUE | Skiff | enTourage Systems | Fujitsu FLEPia | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Daily Edition PRS-900 | A9 (unreleased) | DR800SG | iLiad | Digital Reader 1000 | Kindle DX | Mentor Electra (unreleased) | PocketBook 901 (unreleased) | QUE proReader (pre-order) | Skiff Reader | enTourage eDGe (unreleased) | FLEPia |
| Manufacturer | Sony | Jinke Electronics | iRex Technologies | Hon Hai Precision Industries | Netronix | Plastic Logic | ? | ? | Fujitsu | |||
| Picture |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ? |
| Dimensions | 209 × 122 × 15 mm (8.1" × 5" × 0.6") | 262 × 170 × 12 mm (10.3" × 6.7" × .47") | 193 × 149 × 10.7 mm (7.6" × 5.9" × 0.4") | 216 × 155 × 16 mm (8.5" × 6.1" × 0.6") | 268 × 217 × 12 mm (10.6" × 8.5" × 0.5") | 264 × 183 × 10 mm (10.4" × 7.2" × 0.38") | 255 × 195 × 14 mm (10.0" × 7.7" × 0.55") | 240 × 181 × 11 mm (9.5" × 7.1" × 0.43") | 279 × 217 × 7 mm (11" × 8.5" × 0.3") | 279 × 229 × 7 mm (11" × 9" × 0.27") | 210 × 273 × 25 mm (8.25" × 10.75" × 1.0") | 240 × 158 × 12.5 mm (9.4"" × 6.2" × 0.5") |
| Weight | 360g (12.7oz) | 500g (17.7oz) | 360g (12.6oz) | 435g (15.3oz) | 570g (20.1oz) | 535g (18.9oz) | 535g (18.9oz) | 350g (12.3oz) | 488g (17.2oz) | 498g (17.6oz) | 1,250g (44oz) | 385g (13.5oz) |
| Screen Technology | E Ink Vizplex | SiPix | E Ink Vizplex | E Ink Vizplex | E Ink Vizplex | E Ink Vizplex | E Ink Vizplex FlexiScreen | E Ink Vizplex on flexible plastic | E Ink Vizplex on flexible stainless steel | E Ink Vizplex | color cholesteric liquid crystal | |
| Display Size | (90 × 154mm) 7.1" 600 × 1024 pixels, 167 ppi | (137 × 183mm) 9" 768 × 1024 pixels, 142 ppi | (122 × 163mm) 8.1" 768 × 1024 pixels, 160 ppi | (122 × 163mm) 8.1" 768 × 1024 pixels, 158 ppi | (163 × 203mm) 10.2" 1024 × 1280 pixels, 160 ppi | (140 × 203mm) 9.7" 825 × 1200 pixels, 150 ppi | (160 × 214mm) 10.5" 944 × 1264 pixels, 150 ppi | (175 × 234mm) 11.5" 1200 × 1600 pixels, 174 ppi | (140 × 203mm) 9.7" 825 × 1200 pixels, 150 ppi | (124 × 165mm) 8" 768 × 1024 pixels, ?ppi | ||
| Grey Levels | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 8 | ? | 16 | 260,000 colors (3 Scans); 4,096 (2 Scans); 64 colors (1 Scan) |
| Controller | Epson Broadsheet | ? | iRex Delta | iRex Delta | iRex Delta | Epson Broadsheet | Epson Broadsheet | Epson Broadsheet | Marvell ARMADA 166E (integrated) | Marvell ARMADA 166E (integrated) | Marvell ARMADA 166E (integrated) | FPGA |
| Touch Screen | yes (finger or stylus) | yes (finger) | yes (Wacom Pen) | yes (Wacom Pen) | yes (Wacom Pen, DR1000S & DR1000SW editions) | no | yes (finger or stylus) | no | yes (finger) | yes (finger or stylus) | yes (Wacom Pen) | yes (Wacom Digitizer) |
| Full-screen Refresh Rate | ? | ? | ? | 1.3s | 0.85s | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.8s(1 Scan), 5s(2 Scans), 8s(3 Scans) |
| Power | Li-ion 1400mAh | Li-ion Polymer 2300 mAh | Li-ion 2800mAh | Li-ion 2200mAh (2x 1100mAh cells); 2nd Edition ~20% larger | Li-ion 1140mAh | Li-ion 1530mAh | Li-Ion 2100mAh | ? | ? | Li-ion | Li-Ion polymer ????mAh | Li-polymer 1520mAh |
| Battery Life | 12'000 pages | ? | 6'000 pages or several days | 15 hrs with larger battery | 10 hrs | with EVDO: "4 days", without: "up to two weeks" | 5'000 pages | 10'000 pages | "measured in days not hours" | One week | 16+ hrs | 40 hrs (2,400 pages at 1 min/page with 64 colors) |
| OS | Linux | Linux 2.6 | Linux | Linux | Linux 2.6.24 | Linux 2.6.22.19 | Linux | Linux | Microsoft Windows CE | ? | Android 1.6 | Microsoft Windows CE5.0
|
| Boot Time | ? | ? | 55s | 44s | 50s | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| SDK | no | ? | yes | yes; many Linux apps have been ported | yes | yes; KDK | ? | yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| CPU | Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz) | Samsung® S3C2440 (ARM920T core, 400MHz) | Freescale i.MX31L | Intel X-Scale 400MHz | Freescale i.MX31L 400MHz? | Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz) | Samsung S3C2443 400MHz | ? | Marvell ARMADA 166E 800MHz | Marvell ARMADA 166E 800MHz | Marvell ARMADA 166E 800MHz | Intel XScale RISC CPU |
| Memory | 128MB Ram + 2GB (NAND) Flash (~1.6GB user accessible) | 128MB Ram + 4GB (NAND) Flash | 128MB Ram + 2GB Micro SD | 64MB Ram + 128MB free Flash | 128MB Ram + 1GB SD | 128MB Ram + 8MB NOR Flash + 4GB NAND Flash (~3.3GB user accessible) | 64MB Ram + 512MB NAND Flash | ? | ??MB Ram + 8GB (~7.6GB user accessible) | ?Ram + 4GB (~3GB user accessible) | ?Ram + 4GB (~3GB user accessible) | ? |
| Expansion Slots | MMC/SD/SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo | SD/SDHC | Micro SD/SDHC | MMC, CF Type II, USB Memory | SD/SDHC | none | SD/SDHC | SD/SDHC | none | SD/SDHC | SD | SD |
| Other Interfaces | USB 2.0, headphone, 3G (AT&T) | USB 2.0 (charging), headphone, WiFi 802.11g, | USB 2.0 (charging); 3G (Verizon); [DR800S as European version have no 3G] | USB 1.1, headphone, WiFi 802.11b (NOT for Book Edition), 10/100 LAN | USB 2.0 (charging); 1000SW only: WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth | USB 2.0, headphone, EVDO/CDMA | 2 × USB 2.0 (one charging), headphone, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11g, SD3G | ? | USB 2.0 (charging), Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11g, 3G (US: AT&T) | USB 2.0 (charging), headphone, WiFi 802.11g, 3G (US: Sprint) | 2 x USB, headphone, WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, 3G (optional), 1.3 Megapixel camera, internal microphone and speakers | USB 2.0 mini-B connector × 1, Bluetooth Ver2.0+EDR, Stereo speakers, headphone, WiFi 802.11b/g |
| Supported Formats | BBeB (LRF/LRX), PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, MP3, AAC | PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, PRC/MOBI, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP | eReader, ePub, PDF, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG | PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG, PRC/MOBI, DJVU (via FBReader: fb2, CHM, Plucker, zTxt, TCR, RTF, OEB, EPUB) | PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG, PRC/MOBI (via FBReader: fb2, CHM, Plucker, zTxt, TCR, RTF, OEB, EPUB, via evice: DJVU) | Kindle (AZW and TOPAZ), PRC/MOBI (non DRM), TXT, PDF, Audible (format 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3; | eReader, PDF, EPUB, HTML/CHM, TXT, RTF, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, AAC | FB2, TXT, PDF, DJVU, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, EPUB, DOC, TCR, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, MP3, ZIP | PDF, ePub, eReader, TXT, GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP | ? | ePub, PDF | ? |
| Supported DRM Formats | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | eReader, Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | MobiPocket | MobiPocket | AZW and TOPAZ (USA only) | eReader, Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | eReader, Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | ? | Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | ? |
| Font Sizes | 6 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 5 | ? | ? | ? |
| Folder Navigation | no (collections) | yes | no (available with firmware edit) | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Search functionality / Dictionary lookup | built-in dictionary and search using touchscreen | dictionary and search using touchscreen | search using touchscreen | using touchscreen | using touchscreen | using keyboard and 5-way | using touchscreen | yes | search using touchscreen | ? | ? | ? |
| Note taking / highlighting / underlining | using touchscreen | using touchscreen | not initially, available later | using touchscreen | using touchscreen | using keyboard and 5-way (unavailable in PDF files) | ? | yes | using touchscreen | ? | using touchscreen and bluetooth/usb keyboard | ? |
| Text to Speech | no | yes | no | no | no | yes | yes | no | no | ? | ? | no |
| PDF Capabilities |
Full Page; Landscape; Autocrop Margins; Arbitrary Zoom; Single Page Reflow; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; Text Search; Dictionary Lookup; | ? |
Full Page; Single Page reflow; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; Text Search; |
Full Page; Landscape Continuous Autocrop; Two Column; Manual Crop Margins; Arbitrary Zoom; Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; | ? |
Full Page; Landscape Autocrop; Text Search; | ? |
Full Page Continuous; Landscape Continuous; Two Column; Manual Crop Margins; Autocrop Margins; Single Page Reflow; Zoom Images in Reflow (?); Table of Contents; Hyperlinks; Text Search; Dictionary Lookup; | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Services | Sony CONNECT via 3G | ? | Barnes&Noble ebook store via 3G | iRex Technologies Delivery Service (iDS) | Amazon Kindle Whispernet. E-mail conversion of DOC, HTML, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and PDF | ? | ? | Barnes&Noble ebook store via wiFi and 3G | Skiff store via wiFi and 3G | ? | ? | |
| Content Partners | Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Libri.de, Thalia.de, Thalia.ch, stauffacher.ch | ? | Barnes&Noble | De Tijd, IFRA, Les Echos, NRC Handelsblad, MobiPocket | Amazon | FictionWise | ? | Barnes&Noble | ? | ? | "PAPYLESS CO.,Ltd." on "FLEPia World" website | |
| Price | US$399 | US$??? / €350 | US$399 / €499 | 2nd edition: US$699 / €599; Book Edition: US$599 / €499 / £399 | DR1000: US$??? / €???; DR1000S: US$859 / €699; DR1000SW: US$??? / €???; | US$489 / €n.a. | US$??? | US$450-500 for the basic version without touchscreen & wi-fi | US$799 | US$??? | US$499 | ~US$1000 |
| Release Date | December, 2009 | April, 2010 | January, 2010 [DR800S released on January 18, 2010] | Q3 2006; 2nd Edition Q3 2007;
Book Edition 7 May 2008 | DR1000 ?;
DR1000S Oct 1st, 2008; DR1000SW ? | 10 June, 2009 | Q3 2010 (?) | September, 2010 (?) | 15 April, 2010 | 2010 | February 2010 | April 2009 (Japan) |
| Misc Info | Sony pays for the wireless connectivity (via AT&T, for Sony CONNECT access only?), so there are no monthly wireless bills, data plans, or service commitments for customers. US-only. | Will be sold under other names worldwide: lBook, DigiBook, Walkbook, Papyre, BEBOOK, Astak EZ Reader, ECO Reader]. | DR800SG released in the US only. The DR800S (no 3G) available in Europe. | Company was established in 2001 as a Royal Philips Electronics spin-off.
2nd Edition iLiad beefs up the case frame and upgrades with larger battery. Book Edition is the same as 2nd Edition without WiFi and lower priced | Company was established in 2001 as a Royal Philips Electronics spin-off.
Base DR1000 without touchscreen, DR1000S adds touchscreen. DR1000SW adds WiFi and Bluetooth. Only the DR1000S has been released. Annotations stored in plain text files and only exportable to Windows (and perhaps only for PDFs). | US version: Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity for Kindle so there are no monthly wireless bills, data plans, or service commitments for customers.
Check details of international version. | Astak and Netronix are sister companies. Will be sold (HW only or HW+SW) worldwide under other names. Perhaps only the Astak will include eReader support. | Aimed specifically at the, price sensitive, education market. | Plastic Logic is making its own screens with a flexible backplane. Sold by B&N, with wireless provided by AT&T, in the US. A version without 3G and with 4GB of memory is $649. | Skiff Reader will be sold from Sprint Stores in the US. There are no details on format support, and the Skiff Store may be the only source for DRMed content. Extra adverts will be injected into some content (e.g. newspapers) at the point of delivery. | The world's first dualbook, combining an EInk Reader (described above) with a netbook on a LCD Touchscreen Display Size: 1024 x 600 (10.1" diagonal) | 1st commercial color epaper device |
[edit] Older Devices
| Brandname | HanLin eBook | Sony Portable Reader | Amazon Kindle | STAReBOOK | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Hanlin V2 | PRS-500 | PRS-505 | PRS-700 | Kindle | STK-101 |
| Manufacturer | Jinke Electronics | Sony | Hon Hai Precision Industries | Netronix | ||
| Picture |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Dimensions | 194 × 134 × 13.5 mm (7.6" by 5.3" by .5") | 176 × 124 × 14 mm (6.9" by 4.9" by .5") | 175 × 122 × 8 mm (6.9" × 4.8" × .3") | 175 × 128 × 10 mm (6.8 × 5.0 × 0.4") | 203 × 135 × 9 mm (8" x 5.3" x 0.36") | 188 × 118 × 8.5 mm (7.4" × 4.6" × .3") |
| Weight | 300g (10.6oz) | 250g (9oz) | 250g (9oz) | 283g (10oz) | 289g (10.2oz) | 176g (6.2oz) |
| Screen Technology | E Ink | E-Ink | EInk Vizplex | E Ink Vizplex | E Ink | |
| Display Size | (90 × 120mm) 6" 600 × 800 pixels, 167 ppi | |||||
| Grey Levels | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Controller | Apollo | Apollo | Metronome | Epson Broadsheet | Apollo | Apollo |
| Touch Screen | 254x96 LCD FSTN | n.a. | n.a. | yes (finger or stylus) | n.a. | n.a. |
| Full-screen Refresh Rate | 0.9s | 1.0s | 0.8s | ? | ? | 0.9s |
| Power | Li-ion 760mAh | Li-ion | Li-ion | Li-ion | Li-ion 1530mAh | Li-ion 800mAh |
| Battery Life | 10'000 pages | 7'500 pages | 7'500 pages | 7'500 pages | with EVDO: "4 days", without: "up to two weeks" | 8'000-10'000 pages |
| OS | Wolf Linux | Linux | Linux 2.4.17 | Linux 2.6.23 | Linux 2.6.22 | Linux |
| Boot Time | 15s | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | ? | 15s |
| SDK | yes | no | no | yes | no | no |
| CPU | Samsung® S3C2410 (ARM920T core, 200MHz) | FreeScale Dragonball MC9328MXL (ARM920T core, 200MHz) | Freescale i.MXL MC9328MXLVP20 (ARM920T core, 200MHz) | Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz) | XScale PXA250 (400MHz) | Samsung® S3C2410A (ARM920T core, 250MHz) |
| Memory | 64MB Ram + 64MB Flash, 512MB SD Card included | 64MB RAM, 2MB(NOR) + 128MB(NAND) Flash (91.9MB user accessible) | 64MB RAM, 2MB(NOR) + 256MB(NAND) Flash (~210MB user accessible) | 128MB RAM, 256MB(NAND) Flash (~180MB user accessible) | 128MB RAM, 2GB Flash (1.4GB user accessible) | 64MB RAM |
| Expansion Slots | SD/MMC | MMC/SD/SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo | MMC/SD/SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo | MMC/SD/SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo | SD/MMC | SD/MMC |
| Other Interfaces | USB 1.1, headphone | USB 1.1, headphone | USB 2.0, headphone | USB 2.0, headphone | USB 2.0, headphone, EVDO/CDMA | USB 2.0, headphone, mono speaker |
| Supported Formats | PDF, TXT, RTF, EPUB, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, PRC/MOBI, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP | BBeB (LRF/LRX), PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, MP3, AAC | Kindle (AZW and TOPAZ), PRC/MOBI, TXT, MP3, Audible (format 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)) | STK, MP3 | ||
| Supported DRM Formats | Wolf | Marlin DRM (BBeB), Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF) | AZW and TOPAZ | .stk? | ||
| Font Sizes | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ? |
| Search functionality / Dictionary lookup | no | no | no | search using touchscreen | search using keyboard, built-in dictionary using select wheel | no |
| Note taking / highlighting / underlining | no | no | no | using touchscreen | using keyboard and | ? |
| Text to Speech | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Software | WOLF Maker, WOLF Printer | eBook Library, Adobe Digital Editions | NetFront web browser & MobiPocket Java Reader | eREAD Editor | ||
| Services | iStation, ReadMan | Sony CONNECT | Amazon Kindle Whispernet. E-mail conversion of DOC, HTML, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and PDF | Isoshu | ||
| Content Partners | Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Libri.de, Thalia.de, Online-Artikel.de, Thalia.ch, stauffacher.ch | Amazon | Isoshu | |||
| Price | US$349 | US$329 | US$299 / €300 / £199 | US$349 | US$299 | US$420 |
| Release Date | Q2 2006 | 26 September, 2006 | 2 October, 2007 | 14 October 2008 | November 2007 | 11/2006 |
| Misc Info | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2000 (V8 not shown). | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2004.
PRS-500 was only available in the US, PRS-700 only in US and Canada. PRS-505 still for sale in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. | Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity for Kindle so there are no monthly wireless bills, data plans, or service commitments for customers.
USA Only Annotations stored in plain text files. | eREAD is a Taiwanese company (also available in: China and New Zealand). | ||
