How Do E-Readers Stack Up With iPad In The Mix? Use Our Chart As A Guide

	Apple iPad	Amazon Kindle 2	Amazon Kindle DX	Barnes & Noble Nook	Sony Daily Edition	Plastic Logic Que proReader
Link	iPad	Kindle 2	Kindle DX	Nook	Reader Daily Edition	Que
Available	March (WiFi only) April (WiFi/3G)	Now	Now	Now	Now	Mid-April
Price	WiFi: $499-699 3G/WiFi: $629-829	$259	$489	$259	$399	WiFi/4GB: $649 WiFi/3G/8GB: $799
Size	.5 inches thick	8 x 5.3 x 0.36 inches	10.4 x 7.2 x 0.38 inches	7.7 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches	8.13 x 4 x 19/32 inches	8.5 x 11x .33 inches
Weight	1.5 lbs.	10.2 oz.	18.9 oz.	12.1 oz.	12.75 oz.	17 oz.
Screen Size	9.7 inches	6 inches	9.7 inches	6 inches	7.1 inches	10.5 inches
Display	Backlit IPS Color	Grayscale	Grayscale	Grayscale reading, color nav	Grayscale	Grayscale
Touchscreen/Rotate	Yes/Yes	No/Manual	No/Yes	Yes/No	Yes/Yes	Yes
Battery Life	11 hours	7 days with wireless Whispersync on	7 days with wireless Whispersync on	10 days	7 days with wireless on	N/A
Storage/Expandable	16GB; 32GB; 64GB/No	2GB/No	4GB/No	2GB/Yes (microSD)	1.6GB/Yes (Memory Stick Duo/SD)	4GB; 8GB/No
Input	Touchscreen/Soft keyboard (wireless keyboard available)	Keyboard	Keyboard	Virtual keyboard	Stylus/virtual keyboard	Touchscreen/Virtual Keyboard
Wireless/Bluetooth	3G through AT&T/WiFi3G plans: up to 250MB, $15; unlimited $30. No contract.	Units sold through Oct. 22, Sprint 3G; Now 3G/roaming through AT&T/NO	3G (Whispernet/Sprint)	3G (AT&T)/WiFi	3G (AT&T)/WiFi	3G (AT&T)/WiFi/Bluetooth
International	No deals yet; 3G unlocked	3G Roaming (AT&T)	3G Roaming (AT&T)	No	No	N/A
Native Formats	EPUB; Audible; Kindle (through app); iTunes;additional formats NA	Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC; Native PDF	Kindle (AZW), Native PDF, TXT, Audible (formats 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC	EPUB, eReader, PDFs, MP3s, JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP.	EPUB, PDF, JPEG, BBeB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP , MP3, AAC	Native PDF, GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, ePub, and TXT; Will work with Office, HTML via Que software
Platform	Open to approved third-party developers	Closed now but SDK has been released for upcoming beta and store with approved third-party developers	Closed now but SDK has been released for upcoming beta and store with approved third-party developers	Closed	Closed to developers; open in terms of multi-format, non-DRM use.	Closed
Browser	Safari	Yes in U.S., Japan. NA in most countries.	Yes	No	No	No
Available Content	Number of iBookstore titles N/A; Kindle Store; iPhone apps	400,000-plus books, more than 130 newspapers & magazines, 8,000 blogs (Numbers vary internationally)	400,000-plus books, more than 130 newspapers & magazines, 8,000 blogs (Numbers vary internationally)	350,000 books for sale, public domain; about 30 newspapers, magazines. Google Books brings titles to 1 million	Includes public domain, access to public libraries through OverDrive	350,000 books for sale, public domain
Bookstore	iBookstore	The Kindle Store	The Kindle Store	Barnes and Noble eBookstore, Google Books	Sony eBook Store (converting to EPUB this year), Google Books	QUEreader.com (powered by Barnes & Noble); periodicals from Dow Jones, others.
Book Sharing	N/A	Between devices, Kindle apps on same acct.	Between devices on same acct.	14 days on many titles	No	No
Microphone/Speakers	Yes/Yes	No/Yes	No/Yes	No/Yes	No/Yes	No/No
Archive	Apple	Amazon	Amazon	Barnes & Noble	Sony	Plastic Logic

This chart was first published Jan. 29 and was last updated at 10:30 p.m. ET Jan. 31. // Edited by Staci D. Kramer. Based on manufacturer information, additional reporting.

This is like comparing kitchen knife with Swiss army knife, but the chart is useful nonetheless.