iRex Digital Reader 1000S

Identifying an untapped e-reader market, iRex fashioned their Digital Reader series to meet the needs of business users as opposed to pleasure readers. This choice is reflected in every aspect of the iRex Digital Reader 1000S' design, from the bulky, heavy casing that frames the 10.2-inch display, to a feature set that is ideal for marking up and sharing business documents. Touch-screen navigation makes it easy to mark and add notes to documents, and extensive file format support enables rendering of a wide array of documents. Although the display is monochrome, experts report that it shows charts and graphs beautifully. The Digital Reader is especially praised for its rendering of PDFs in their native size. On the downside, the Digital Reader's battery life is a paltry 10 to 15 hours. Even more concerning are the bugs that several reviewers discovered in their tests. Paired with a hefty $860 price tag, most reviewers end up pointing to Amazon Kindle 2 (*Est. $260) as a superior ebook reader. For business users, the Amazon Kindle DX (*Est. $490) is optimized for reading newspapers and magazines, but does not have robust file support.

Both Forbes.com and USA Today provide solid, in-depth reviews of the iRex Digital Reader 1000S. TopTenReviews.com is slightly less detailed, but its helpful chart shows how the iRex e-reader stacks up against the competition. Also helpful is David Carnoy's review at CNET, where the iRex ebook reader gets a comprehensive evaluation and an overall rating.