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CES 2010: Top 10 new e-book readers

Summary: E-book readers exploded in popularity on the show floor at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, in an array of colors, shapes, sizes and capabilities. Here are the top 10 e-readers I saw at this year's show.

Andrew Nusca

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DMC WorldWide unveiled at CES six e-reader devices in two lines: Ocean and Tidal. The Ocean line range between 6-inch and 9-inch capacitive touchscreen e-ink displays at 600 by 800-pixel and 768 by 1024-pixel resolutions, respectively, and include 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, an accelerometer and an internal microphone, as well as 3G in some models. The Tidal line is similar on the inside but comes in a curvier body in several colors. Prices range from $199 to $299.

E-book readers exploded in popularity on the show floor at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, in an array of colors, shapes, sizes and capabilities. Here are the top 10 e-readers I saw at this year's show.

Read the original post: CES 2010: Top 10 new e-book readers
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Topics: Hardware, Mobility

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45 comments
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  • sorry, more that $200 for a book reader is not interesting to me.

    thought you were going to show me something new, like the color e-ink tech.

    or something great like a color pdf reader for less than $200.

    think i'll pass for now.
    just read my star trek books the old fashioned way.

    :)
    .
    wessonjoe
    Reply Vote

    • Price versus tech

      I agree, under $200 is the only way I'll look at buying an e-reader. I care less about snazzy features and more about having essential functionality at a good price.
      gtaylor2
      Reply Vote

      • Blio

        I'm going to look at this one. The price is one I'll pay :-)
        StageRt
        Reply Vote

        • Blio??? Not an eReader - just a PDF clone...

          What's so good about Blio?

          It does what Adobe Acrobat PDF does, but is not an industry standard. (Yes, PDF supports interactive multi-media through Flash and Javascript).
          gmeader
          Reply Vote

    • Getting too pricey!

      Ebooks need to stay affordable or they will not be around long. I'm not sure what reasearch these companies are doing that shows people will fork over several hundred dollars for an e-reader. Not in my circle of friends/co-workers.
      tgschmidt
      Reply Vote

  • whats the point..... tablets will be there shortly.. no need for readers

    its pointless now.
    Been_Done_Before
    Reply Vote

    • I don't think so

      Unless you have super-ultra discerning detectors
      where most of us have eyes, you will have lots of
      fun staring at your black tablet screen, sitting
      in the garden on a sunny day.

      Readers most definitely have great advantages.
      Bart B. Van Bockstaele
      Reply Vote

      • I agree with you in 3 years, but five?

        I think between three to five years, the color e-
        ink, oled, batteries or some other technology will
        come to market making ebooks pointless.

        And BLIO? Isn't that just Acrobat, only different?
        caspianhiro
        Reply Vote

        • In five years...

          That's nice, except for one little detail. We
          happen to
          live now, not in three to five years from now.
          The
          probable availability of something in five years
          from
          now, is of no help whatsoever to me at this very
          moment.

          BLIO seems indeed nothing particularly
          interesting. And it is still vapourware. It is
          hard to use something that is not yet available
          ^_^
          Bart B. Van Bockstaele
          Reply Vote

    • quite WRONG

      Totally different screens. Materials that are comfortable to read REFLECT light; they don't emit it.

      That's something that OS vendors forgot, and they're still foisting inverse color schemes on customers by default (although thankfully you can change that on most systems, with one notable exception).
      dgurney
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Top 10 e-readers at CES 2010: Blio (CES 2010: Top 10 new e-book readers)

    326,315 reasons to embrace ereading !!!
    http://www.ereaderuniverse.com/profiles/blogs/326315-reasons-to-embrace
    ereaderuniverse
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Top 10 e-readers at CES 2010: Blio (CES 2010: Top 10 new e-book readers)

    Personally, I don't see the need. I prefer books on audio for when I am driving - - it's too dangerous to actually READ when driving :-)

    And if I am sitting to where I can read, I prefer the actual book - - it will surely never run out of battery power in the middle of the good part!
    dlandrum@...
    Reply Vote

    • Better than paper

      Folks like dlandrum have obviously never used an actual ereader. Paper books never lie flat. They are either big and heavy with good paper or small with crappy paper. Compare holding a paperback with one hand while reading lying down and holding a Kindle 2. The ereader is far easier to deal with. As for running out of battery during the good parts, my K2 runs for a week or so without being plugged in and my whole bookshelf weighs about 7 ozs. And textbooks? That's a no brainer. Let's see, 50 lbs of text books or 12 ounces of ereader? let's see, hhmmm.
      rjcarlson49
      Reply Vote

    • Text to Speech

      While not available for all books, most of the ones I have purchased on my Kindle have text-to-speech that's not half-bad. Doesn't match the quality of an Audio CD book, but far more versatile.
      Gritztastic
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Top 10 e-readers at CES 2010: Blio (CES 2010: Top 10 new e-book readers)

    Obviously, the reviewer did not visit the Astak booth in the eBook Tech Zone. Astak was showing a new Touchscreen and Wi-Fi 6 inch that was lighter than 6 ounces and had a CLEAR Touchscreen! THAT was news!!

    Astak also showed the 5 inch Pocket PRO with a scroll wheel and the Epson Controller and Text-To-Speech. This device cost $199 and was what the aattendees were after.

    I think too many reviewers go for the new and expensive only. Anybody can build an expensive device. The trick is to build a device that runs quickly, is full-featured, is light and fun to hold, and sells for around $200.
    RobertbEZ
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Top 10 e-readers at CES 2010: Blio (CES 2010: Top 10 new e-book readers)

    Tablet screens are not reader friendly, nor is lugging a "slate" or a battery charger.
    syfr
    Reply Vote

    • Tablets with LCD are not reader-friendly is a myth

      I read a LCD all day long (programming and web browsing and doing email and editing documents.) Been doing that for years without a problem.

      You just need to turn off the flourescent lights - that's what's causing eye fatigue.

      And don't you have to lug a battery charger for your cellphone/iPhone and iPod?

      And don't you have to connect your iPod to a computer to get new content?
      gmeader
      Reply Vote

      • Computer may not be needed

        <i>"And don't you have to connect your iPod to a computer to get new content?"</i>

        Well yes and no. If you are using an older iPod, you'll be tethered. With the iPod Touch, you can grab quite a bit of content direct from the Internet or you can use the app store from the iPod Touch.

        I have seen the future -- it was small and unreadable.
        DNSB
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Top 10 e-readers at CES 2010: Blio (CES 2010: Top 10 new e-book readers

    I agree. Except that I would not use a Kindle. My 2 Sonys
    are bad enough. I was hoping that PlasticLogic would
    bring me something I could really use, but they are
    sorely disappointing. Skiff seems better, but only
    marginally. I am waiting to find a DIN A4 or letter sized
    device. That would at least cover most books and most
    printed office/study material.
    Bart B. Van Bockstaele
    Reply Vote

    • Didn't you see the Skiff Reader, first one shown? (nt)

      nt
      babyboomer57
      Reply Vote
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