What is the best E-Reader?

[Avfin]

My wife wants a E-Reader for Christmas. What is the best one out there? She is thinking the Kindle--Are there any drawbacks to this choice?
Any help from my freak friends would be a big help-

 

[Silent December]

Good topic man! I'm looking to get an E-reader for my wife for Christmas too. I've read a couple of 3rd party articles and the Amazon's Kindle looks to the winner especially the new re-designed one that was just released. Lighter, better contrast, and the Wi-fi version is only 139$ shipped. I think I might go with that one unless I hear someone recommend otherwise in this thread?

 

[Jen]

I liked the Nook a lot - though I now have an iPad - just cause I can do more with it.

 

[BadMoon]

Jen is on point. The Nook is the best!

 

[The Ween]

I'm iPad stupid, so I'm not sure how the work. Do you have to buy a plan to get on the internet or do you just simply use it where there's Wi-Fi?

 

[Jen]

I'm iPad stupid, so I'm not sure how the work. Do you have to buy a plan to get on the internet or do you just simply use it where there's Wi-Fi?

There's two versions - 3G one needs a plan and is more expensive. The regular one (which I have) only needs Wi-Fi. You can also download the Kindle and Nook apps for it.

 

[spidermonkey]

I'm iPad stupid, so I'm not sure how the work. Do you have to buy a plan to get on the internet or do you just simply use it where there's Wi-Fi?

If you get the 3g plan for the i-pad you will have to pay monthly, but Wi-Fi is free.

 

[Kabukiman]

I love the nook (original WiFi). I went with the nook for various reasons, but the dealbreaker was the e-ink screen (which the Kindle also has), and it's support of the epub and PDF formats.

I can buy epubs or PDFs from virtually any store that sells ebooks. The Kindle only supports a propriety format made only by Amazon. I think there may be 3rd party ways to convert Amazon format to epub and vice versa, but I haven't looked into it at great length.

The nook and Kindle both sport an e-ink screen. Words cannot describe how awesome it is. It's like magic when you first see it. Looking at an LCD screen like on the iPad or the nook color, makes me feel like I'm working, and it's difficult for me to get into "leisure mode".

If LCD screens don't bother you, there is the nook color. I got to play with one briefly today and was pleasantly surprised; it's a really nice machine. I was shocked at how good it was considering the price. And it will only get better once B&N open up their app store. The color LCD really shines with web browsing and magazines.

The iPad often comes up when discussing e-readers, but I don't really consider it an e-reader. The iPad is a really powerful tablet computing device, and the price reflects that. If you have the money to spare, and you don't mind LCD screens, the iPad has it's own iBooks app, Kindle app, and nook app. You get the best of all worlds here, plus the added bonus of everything else the iPad has to offer. It's a bit heavy for extended reading for my taste, though.

 

[Darth Waller]

I used to own a Kindle and thought it was a cool device and very easy to read. I sold it to a friend since I didn't use it much. I don't know much about the Nook.