Go Paperless While Carrying Up to 200 of Your Favorite Reads

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You’re on vacation or commuting to work, and realize that your book simply stinks. Instead of harping in hindsight (why didn’t you also take along that novel from your nightstand?) you can now press a button and wirelessly download a new book or your favorite blog in under two minutes. Well, next time, that is. First you’ll need to pick up a Kindle, the electronic reading device produced by Amazon.

Another electronic reading device is the Sony Reader. It can store up to 160 books, but they must be downloaded directly from your PC, so choose a few before you head out for a long weekend.

Either way, you’ll save trees from being made into paper; chemicals from being turned into ink; energy running printing presses, and will be reducing the carbon footprint that would have been used for shipping.

With a quick Internet search, I was able to spot a Sony Reader for as low as $194. And check out a video of the little guy in action. The Kindle is still holding its price at $359. though I did find one on ebay for $285. Watch the Kindle work its magic in this clip.

Eight months ago, Rob Beschizza, a writer for Wired, compared the Sony Reader and the Kindle. John Timmer of ars technica did a nice sum up of the Kindle and Nate Anderson, also from ars technica, took a look at the Sony Reader.

Kindle

-The good:

– Great screen and easy controls make book reading a pleasure.
– Going shopping for books anywhere, any time on Amazon’s tab.
– Full text searches of all the books, web content, and personal documents that fit on the device.
– Having the newspaper ready to read on the subway without any action on your part.

-The bad:

– Design flaws and interface inconsistencies make their presence known far too often.
– Book reading model doesn’t fit other content as well.
– Many activities are sluggish.

-The ugly:

– The Kindle browser.
– The terms of service that make using it a nerve-wracking experience.

Nate Anderson’s look at the Sony Reader:

-The good:

– Incredible screen with superb text reproduction.
– PDF support.
– Excellent build quality, weight, and design.
– Simple bookmarking.

-The bad:

– Screen flashes when changing the display.
– Delay in moving between pages.
– Music player lacks useful options.
– Dropping $10 on an e-book.

-The ugly:

– Explaining “the Flash”… again.

Image: On Money Making