Dozens of electronic book readers, or e-readers, have hit the market since they were first introduced in 1998. E-readers have certainly come a long way since then. New e-reader models and new Personal Data Assistants (PDAs) with e-reader capabilities are being released regularly. Some smart phones now have e-reader capability or reader applications that can be added.

If you’re shopping for an e-reader, some factors to consider are how much you read (storage capacity), available library and cost per title, weight, usability, type size, wireless capability, battery life, and purchase price. Money magazine recently did a comparison of three similarly priced e-readers currently on the market and priced
between $250 and $300.

Bookseller Barnes and Noble recently unveiled its e-reader, the Nook. As Money magazine’s top pick, the Nook has a 3.6-inch by 4.8-inch screen and has a separate LCD touch screen for viewing controls. The Nook can store approximately 1500 books; Barnes and Noble offers more than a million books and periodicals available for the Nook. Best sellers cost between $7 and $23. The Nook also can read other file formats, which allows you to access free content from Google and your public library. The Nook supports wireless access to the Internet to download content.

Amazon, the Internet retailer, offers an e-reader called the Kindle, now in its second generation. The Kindle 2 weighs 10 ounces and is the same size as the Nook; it can store approximately 1500 books. The Kindle has wireless capability and downloads quickly. However, books for the Kindle 2 can only be purchased through Amazon.com. Although books are cheaper (best sellers are $10), Amazon’s book library is much smaller than that of Barnes and Noble.

The most expensive of the three, Sony’s e-reader, called the Reader Touch Edition, is easy to use with its user-friendly touch screen. However, the screen has a lower contrast, which can make it difficult to read at times. The Reader requires a cable connection to a computer to load content and charge the battery, although a wireless version is expected soon. Only about 200,000 books are currently available, and the Reader’s built-in memory holds approximately 350 books.

Still not sure? Visit eReaderchoice.com for a side by side comparison of all the e-readers.