How the e-readers stack up

Which of the three is most deserving of your dough? Money tested them to help you pick one you won't be able to put down.


Barnes & Noble Nook
Cost: $259

The new kid on the block is the winner. Besides having the biggest bookstore (from which you can download wirelessly), the Nook has the best access to all kinds of content. It can display the EPUB format (so you can read titles from your public library and from Google) as well as PDFs, photos, and MP3 audio files. Its screen makes reading easy. And navigating is a cinch, thanks to the LCD touchscreen along the bottom.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amazon Kindle
 

Cost: $259
The reading screen on this second-generation Kindle is on par with the Nook's, but navigating is trickier (look at all the buttons!). Amazon offers a nice selection of blogs and periodicals. But while it often has the best prices on books, it offers fewer titles than Barnes & Noble. Plus, you can't access as many free books as on the Nook because the Kindle doesn't support the EPUB format.










Sony Reader Touch Edition

Cost: $299

The Reader can grab free content from Google and libraries. And its touch-screen is a joy to use. But the fun stops there: The screen's low contrast and glare make reading unpleasant. Also, you must hook up the Reader to a PC to download books and charge the battery. This one comes in a distant third.