REVIEW: The Kindle vs. The King

Looking for an e-book reader? Here we examine two of the cheaper options available locally, Amazon’s new Kindle 3 and CDR-King’s SB-96. Holy crap, CD-R King has everything! You can’t help but think that once you go in and pick up the SB-96, their e-book reader/multimedia player that runs at a very cheap, very efficient P3,990. With the rising popularity of digital books, CD-R King has gotten into the market relatively early, at an amazingly low price point, with a machine that delivers bang for your budgeted buck. On the other hand we’ve got the Amazon Kindle 3 (I’m using the wifi only version) which boasts a slew of great online features, easy book purchasing, and one of the finest ebook reading experiences to be had. While it’s not in stores and not as readily available as the SB-96, ordering it via ebay.com.ph is easy enough. I got mine through here for only P8,500. It’s supposed to cost $139, but then when you factor in the shipping and other costs, it evens out. You could also order it directly through Amazon. Now the question, obviously, is which one should you get? The nice thing about these two devices is, although they are both e-book readers, they have enough differences between them to address two totally different markets. This means your choice would depend on what you want in a reader, and what other things you would use them for. Let's compare the reading experiences on the two devices (since that is the core experience for both) and then go on to compare the other things that the devices do. Reading experience

Probably the most glaring difference (literally and figuratively) between the two devices is the screen output. The Kindle 3 uses e-ink, which is very easy on the eyes. There’s very little to no eye strain, one can read for hours on end. On the other hand, the SB-96 is LCD backlit, and at times can be a bit too bright in its output. Both readers do well reading in direct sunlight, but the SB-96’s screen can get taxing on the eyes. The screen size of the SB-96 is bigger by about an inch, but the adjustability is limited. You have three zoom options, and sometimes things don’t fit automatically onto the page. This is a small tradeoff when you consider the price that you’re paying. That’s going to be a common thing to keep in mind with the SB-96, since you’re paying so little for it, there are things you will have to put up with. The Kindle on the other hand offers an array of ways to adjust the page you’re reading. The formats that you’re reading on the Kindle will most likely have been designed for that device. This optimizes the reading experience. You will only get similarly optimized reading experiences with the SB-96 if you find very well laid-out PDFs that were designed to operate on a number of different readers. Another problem encountered with the SB-96 is it does have trouble dealing with epub and other formats if these were just converted (say using Calibre). It's best to load PDFs on the SB-96. The core reading experience is superior on the Kindle. It’s lighter (about half the weight of the SB-96; though the SB-96 is pretty light itself, about the weight of a paperback) has a nicer screen output, and plain reads better. The SB-96 though is no slouch, and brightness issues notwithstanding, one can breeze through any book on it just the same. The customizability may be limited, but then if you load things up in PDF format then you won’t have many problems anyway. Extra features The SB-96 pulls ahead with its other features though, such as its memory capacity. The Kindle 3 ships with 4GB, with somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.7GB available for books and audio. That’s not too bad, and according to Amazon’s published rates, that means somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,500 books, and most likely more. The SB-96 has a default 2GB of memory, but has expandable memory of up to 16GB (via Micro-SD card). Who needs 16GB of books? No one, really, but it comes in handy when you factor in what else the SB-96 can do. Along with being a reader and a music player, probably the best feature that the SB-96 boasts (actually better than its being an e-book reader, weirdly enough) is that it has 720p digital video output. That’s right, it plays high definition video. So that screen that can get too bright at times when reading becomes perfect when watching video. It also plays a range of video formats, including avi, mkv, mov, and flv which makes it a versatile multimedia device. The SB-96’s screen size, weight, and feel make it a perfect video player for watching when you’re on the go. On the other hand, extra features for the Kindle 3 are enabled by its connectivity. Not only can you easily download new books, you can also integrate your reader with your social networks, posting stuff online as you read it. You can easily annotate books and share notes with just few button presses. It also has a net browser, which isn’t a great browser but does alright. It comes with easy access to Wikipedia, along with its pre-installed dictionary so any difficult references are easily searched on the net. Verdict Looking at the two devices then, it becomes clear that as a pure reader, the Kindle 3 weighs in as a better option. It reads better and its functionality is also geared towards enhancing your reading experience. You can buy and download books in a matter of minutes. You can annotate readings, post stuff to your social networks, and generally enhance your reading experience with the online options. On the other hand, the SB-96 doesn’t go online, but it does a number of things in an efficient manner. It’s efficient as a PDF reader and music player, and it's a generally remarkable video player. The SB-96 is a bare bones reader which does what it needs to do. The Kindle on the other hand is an example of what a book person wants in an e-book reader. When we look at the price difference though, we can appreciate and allow for the disparity between machine performance. Yes the Kindle works like a dream, but its price comes more than double the SB-96. If you want a good, cheap e-book reader, then the Sb-96 is for you. But if you’re willing to shell out a lot of money for a superior experience, then the Kindle is worth the money, and you will feel the difference in quality. - GMANews.TV