By Carl Laron on November 24, 2010 in
Ebook readers are dead, the pundits cried after the debut of the iPad last summer. Not so fast, the public replied, as e-reader makers cut prices to deal with the reality of the post-iPad world. Fast-forward to today, and e-readers are expected to be a popular holiday gift for 2010. Because of that, it's no surprise the e-readers are also the subject of lots of Black Friday offers. Some of the deals are sure to be best sellers; others belong on the clearance table. Read on to see which is which.
Great expectations
To the disappointment of some and the surprise of few, the current-generation Amazon Kindle is not being discounted for the holidays. As noted at The-Digital-Reader.com, the Kindle is selling too well at its current price for a further discount to make sense (at least to the retailer). However, if you're willing to accept a refurbished unit, Amazon will be putting up its previous-generation Kindle for $89 beginning at 9 a.m. on Black Friday.
We and just about every expert out there give the Kindle the nod as the best e-reader of them all. You can see why in our report on ebook readers. However, the Barnes & Noble nook isn't all that far behind, especially after a firmware upgrade that cleaned up most of that e-reader's loose ends and wonky habits. And, the nook has one major advantage: more universal compatibility with ebook formats that give it access to ebook stores, free ebook sites and public libraries that the Kindle just can't reach.
At its everyday selling price, the Kindle is still a better buy, we believe. However, Best Buy will be placing the Wi-Fi only nook on sale for $99, $50 below what it normally sells for. At that price, it's easily one of the best deals for an e-reader on Black Friday. User reviews are generally solid and professional reviewers such as CNET now give the revamped nook pretty good grades. One downside is that the $99 nook is a Best Buy doorbuster, and the company is only promising 10 per store.
As an alternative, Walmart is offering the Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-300 for $99 as well, roughly $40 below its regular price of $139.98. This, too, is a door buster deal, available between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Black Friday, while supplies last.
This e-reader has been recently discontinued by the maker in favor of the PRS-350, which adds a touch screen and enough extra cost to make some say that it is now overpriced. However, the PRS-300 remains a good performer with enough pluses for us to previously name it as the best budget e-reader. You can read our take on the PRS-300 here. You can read user reviews at Walmart.com, most of which paint a very positive picture.
Withering heights
While we like Best Buy's offer of the nook at $99, if you're too late to the party to snag one, you might be tempted by the store's offer of the Literati Digital Reader at $119.99. We suggest you resist the temptation. Despite that e-reader's presence in the Best Buy Black Friday circular, $119.99 is what the store typically sells that e-reader for, and if so moved, you could go to BestBuy.com and order one right now.
The Literati Digital Reader, which was produced for The Sharper Image, doesn't exactly earn rave reviews, either. The bright color LCD screen earns a few kudos but critics complain about slow navigation, short battery life, the lack of a word-search function, and generally buggy operation. See the reviews at PCMag.com, The New York Times and The-Digital-Reader.com for some not-so-flattering feedback.
The story's the same for the Shift3 LookBook, being offered by CVS at its regular selling price of $118.88 on Black Friday. Ignore the claim of $98.88 in the circular, because the store is rolling $20 of loyalty points into the deal to get to that price, a tactic that we find... unfortunate. Reviews of the LookBook aren't extensive, but The-Digital-Reader.com took it out for a spin. The site finds many similarities with the Literati reader profiled above, and that's not a good thing. With Black Friday deals for good e-readers available for a little less, or the Amazon Kindle available at its everyday price for a little more, this is ebook reader deal is not exactly a page turner.