E-readers for Business

High-end e-readers designed for business use

Business users have different needs in an e-reader, and there are a few models specifically designed with larger screens to read PDFs, spreadsheets and charts, as well as business documents. However, the Apple iPad 2 (*Est. $500 and up) , a fully fledged tablet computer with a complete e-reader function, has these e-reader-only devices on the ropes, critics say. As a result, the only big-screen e-book reader that our sources still recommend, the Amazon Kindle DX (*Est. $380) , and one of the very few still available, has seen its price drop by more than $100.

Still, the entry-level iPad 2 costs only about $100 more, and "the DX doesn't do color or a fraction of the things the iPad can do," CNET's David Carnoy says. "Heck, it doesn't even have a touchscreen." See our discussion on the iPad 2's use as an e-book reader for more.

Some users say they prefer e-readers with grayscale E Ink screens, which look more like real paper than the iPad 2's backlit color computer screen and don't need to be recharged every day. The Kindle DX's 9.7-inch widescreen display is optimized for reading magazines, newspapers and textbooks, and the latest screen is easier to read than before, with blacker type and a lighter-gray background against a graphite frame that testers say makes the screen pop better than the old white case did. It's the same type of screen you'll find on the top-rated, smaller Amazon Kindle. The Kindle DX has 3 GB of available onboard storage (enough to hold about 3,500 e-books).

The Kindle DX's bigger screen is indeed better for viewing PDFs, textbooks, newspapers and magazines than the smaller Kindle's, experts say -- but not as good as an iPad 2. "The iPad's ability to display color and its zippier touchscreen interface give it a big advantage," Carnoy says. And the Kindle DX leaves out some PDF features, says Lisa Gade at MobileTechReview.com. For example, "There is still no TOC (table of contents) support, and that's maddening for text books and technical manuals (no easy way to jump to chapter 12)."

Users posting to Amazon.com rate the Amazon Kindle DX slightly lower than the regular Amazon Kindle, giving it an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Many owners praise the large display and the ability to increase the font size, but some are disappointed with the missing PDF features. Others wish the Kindle DX included Wi-Fi like the smaller Kindle does -- the DX downloads books and documents and browses the web via free AT&T 3G wireless only. Although 3G is fairly fast, it's slower than Wi-Fi, and experts say browsing the web is still clunky on Kindle DX.

The Kindle DX measures 10.4 inches by 7.2 inches by 0.38 inches and weighs about 19 ounces -- that's nearly as heavy as an iPad and more than twice as heavy as a regular Kindle, and reviews say the DX does indeed get too heavy to hold for a long time. And like the regular Kindle, the Kindle DX won't read the widely used ePub file type, so you can't check e-books out from the public library -- or buy e-books from anybody but Amazon.