iPad, Kindle or Nook? Chart Compares the E-Readers

With the announcement of the (unfortunately named) iPad this month, the e-reader competition just got more heated. And you know with Apple in the mix, plus opening the iTunes-ish iBookstore, the e-books, e-mags, and e-newspapers Availability Fuse just got lit.

So now that Words Printed on Actual Paper is starting its slide towards the same archaic junk pile that includes mobile phones that do nothing but take calls; MP3 players without video and WiFi; and VCRs, it might be time to start thinking about buying the device that lets you hold an entire library in your hands.

But with 4 or 5 major players in the market… and more to come… how do you know which is for you, before you drop the requisite few hundred bucks to own one?

Check out this comparison chart put together – and regularly updated – by the writers at PaidContent.org. It lists the features of the six most popular readers, so even the technically challenged can find the perfect fit. (Click here for full chart.)

A few highlights: Even though the iPad is designed to do a lot more than be an e-reader, it still may not hold up against some of the competition. At 1.5 lbs, it is by far the heavyweight of the group, more than twice as heavy as the Amazon Kindle 2. But it is also the only one with a full color screen, and along with the Kindle 2, is the only one with a web browser. And the iPad is also the only one open to third party developers for those slick apps we’ve all become addicted to.

But as an iPhone owner, that may not be enough to get me to part with close to a grand for the 3G/WiFi version, just to be able to read the Sunday paper without getting ink on my hands. I’d rather save a few hundred and go with the Nook.