eReader

Trying to choose an eReader... considered

iPad
lowest end runs about $500... specs for 16MB version....

9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology

1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip
Built-in 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery
Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
Input/Output: Dock connector port, 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack,  Built-in speaker, Microphone, Micro-SIM card tray (Wi-Fi + 3G model only)

Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Dock Connector to VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable


H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format



Velocity Micro Cruz Tablet
http://www.cruzreader.com/

eReader : $200
• Full color TFT display

• 7” diagonal 800x600 screen
• Android 2.0
• 256MB RAM, 256MB internal storage
• Supports ePub, PDF, TXT, PDB, HTML reader files
• MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV audio support
• MPEG-4, H.264
• JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP image support
• 802.11 b/g wifi
• Li-Ion battery - up to 10+ hours of life, 24+ standby
• 4GB Bundled micro SD card
• Full size SD card slot
• Dimensions: 7.5"x 5.6"x .57"


TABLET  :  $300

• Full color TFT display
• 7” diagonal 16:9 800x480 screen
• Capacitive touch screen – ultra responsive!
• Android 2.1
• 512MB RAM
• 1GB internal storage
• 4GB internal installed SD card
• 8GB bundled SD card
• Supports ePub, PDF, TXT, PDB, HTML reader files
• MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV audio support
• MPEG-4, H.264, H.263, MOV, AVI video support
• JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP image support
• 802.11n wifi
• Built in speakers
• Mic and headphone jacks
• Mini USB
• Li-Ion battery - up to 10+ hours of life, 24+ standby
• Dimensions: 7.5"x 4.75"x .6"

======================
distributed by Borders and Costco... September 2010... company is taking pre-orders. Went to Borders in Kailua to test. Screen was kind of small. In September, the only version they had was the $200 version.

IN THE MEANTIME
Sony Vaio 4A1L 12" laptop... 1ghz... 512MB RAM... to get a headstart idea on what the speed would be like on similar configurations... installed xp, acrobat 9, kindle for pc, adobe digital editions. At first the processor was really slow but I think that was due to all the updates from xp, antivirus and acrobat that it had to deal with before going into production.


UPDATE:  October 3, 2010
Ended up with an iPad... lowest end specification ... 16GB.
Great resolution... like how the screen turns from portrait to landscape. Captive touch screen is more responsive than most readers or tablet I've played with. A little "weighty" to hold in your hand for long periods of time but light enough to carry when on-the-road, which is quite often these days.

Got a RED cover so I can spot it easier if I accidently lay papers on top of it. Originally got a cover where the unit slips into it but it covered the sides of the screen... if I ever needed to touch areas on the corners of the screen, i would have to manually move the cover out of the way. The RED cover encapulates the 4 edges of the unit, thus giving access to the whole "real estate". Needed a stylus and out of all the brands, boxwave was the best.

The only "pain" is uploading videos and books to the unit. I currently have to do it from the MAC. Only because I haven't take the time to figure out how to do it on the PC.

FREE BOOKS
Most of my technical books come from here...
http://www.ebooksdownloadfree.com/