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Larry Dignan, Andrew Nusca and Rachel King
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Here comes the retail e-reader showdown: Best Buy to stock Amazon's Kindle

By | September 9, 2010, 7:04am PDT

Comparing e-reader devices in real life settings hasn’t exactly been easy, but that’s about to change pronto. Best Buy said Thursday it will stock the Amazon Kindle this fall. The move sets up a holiday retail showdown with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony.

What’s the big deal? Best Buy will now have the Kindle, Sony’s Reader line-up and Barnes & Noble’s nook in one place. Simply put, it’ll be a lot easier to figure out if Sony’s touch screen is more important to you than Kindle’s price and connectivity.

And the real question is this: How many folks will check out e-readers and then wander over to Best Buy’s Apple iPad display.

This demo bake-off will be welcome for the holiday season. To compare e-readers before you’d have to go to Best Buy to check out the nook and Sony Readers and then go to Target to see the Kindle. It’s a lot of work.

Best Buy said in a statement that it will be “the only retailer to carry all of the top e-reader brands in-store.”

In any case, Best Buy’s move is a positive development. You can try before you buy and better compare prices and features.

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Topics

E-reader, Best Buy Co. Inc., Stock, Amazon.com Inc., Amazon Kindle, E-books & E-Readers, Personal Technology, Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

Disclosure

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn’t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

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RE: Here comes the retail e-reader showdown: Best Buy to stock Amazon's Kindle
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RE: Here comes the retail e-reader showdown: Best Buy to stock Amazon's Kindle
rmashford Updated - 10th Sep 2010
With the e-reader price wars we're seeing, soon people will be able to afford a dedicated e-reader as well as an iPad. They really are two very different things. Before the price wars I would never have considered a dedicated e-reader, especially since the free Kindle software works so well on iPhone, laptops, iPad, etc.
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RE: Here comes the retail e-reader showdown: Best Buy to stock Amazon's Kindle
Bookmark71 9th Sep 2010
I'm still really enjoying my Nook. Wish I didn't pay $259 for it but I don't regret the purchase. I didn't even look into Kindle because I couldn't try one in person at the time.

Hands on testing and falling prices may really spur their sales. iPads are great but they do cost a lot more and e-ink is really pleasant to read.
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Free 3G Connectivity
davidthayer 9th Sep 2010
I still consider the free 3G connectivity the distinguishing feature of my Kindle. I frequently use it to look up background information on what I am reading. Alas, it appears that the new Kindle has dropped this important feature.
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Kindle did NOT drop 3G
mroberts@... Updated - 10th Sep 2010
The new Kindle did NOT drop 3G. It added Wi-fi to the mix. Two different models, one with 3G and Wi-fi, the other just Wi-fi. Here's the sweet part: the 3G is FREE on Kindle, on iPad it is NOT. A winner for me. The fact that the Wi-fi is there as well is a big plus. So you have a choice: Wi-fi only or Wi-fi plus 3G. Works for me just fine!!
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RE: Here comes the retail e-reader showdown: Best Buy to stock Amazon's Kindle
mroberts@... 10th Sep 2010
The Kindle 3 did NOT lose 3G connectivity...it comes in 2 models. One is Wi-fi only ($139). The other is Wi-fi PLUS 3G ($189) via AT&T and that is FREE. The AT&T 3G on the iPad costs $$. On Kindle it is FREE. For $50 more you get free 3G forever. So, you see, Kindle did not lose the 3G, it added Wi-fi into the mix. For me, a winner.
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