On ebook readers and tablet PC’s…

Finding good English language books (that aren’t counterfeits that fall apart an hour in) is difficult and expensive here in Ho Chi Minh City. For me, ebooks have filled a gap. I love to read and would feel truly lost if I didn’t have a book to fill idle moments.

For a while, I strongly considered buying a dedicated ebook reader. I researched and finally settled on Sony’s eReader Touch. I went so far as to almost have a friend visiting from Canada pick one up and bring it along for me. At the last minute, though, I changed my mind.

What made me change my mind was running through the differences between a dedicated ebook reader and reading on a more general purpose device. For the most part, I read books on my G1 phone, using FBReader for Android. Sometimes, I read books on my laptop. The Kindle and the Sony readers both offer huge bookstores that would let me buy pretty much any book I wanted if I had one of their devices.

But here’s the thing: both Sony and Amazon offer software to read these books on a PC. This means I don’t need their device–I just need a PC capable of running their software. I’ve played with both Sony’s software (kind of like iTunes for books) and the Kindle PC software (works, but still a little rough around the edges). Both work great, and both let me purchase books and read them. Coupled with FBReader, I have software that lets me read just about any ebook format out there.

Reading an ebook on a laptop is ok, but not ideal. For one, the laptop I have is a little heavy and warm on the lap. Reading in bed is a PITA. Ideally, I’d like something with the form factor of an ebook, but a more general device.

Enter the tablet, or slate, PC. These devices are creating a lot of buzz at CES right now, and Apple is rumoured to be ready to release their slate–an oversized iPod Touch (according to rumour).

The biggest complaint about tablet PC’s and laptops, when it comes to reading ebooks, is battery life. Dedicated readers have days of battery life. Laptops and tablets have hours at best. But for me, this argument is a non-starter. Everywhere I read tends to be within easy reach of an outlet. Power is not a problem.

Perhaps the biggest advantage to a dedicated reader is its display. The e-ink displays used in these things are terrific. They render crisp, sharp, incredibly readable pages. But is the display issue enough of an issue to change my mind? No. I’m quite used to a laptop display and a tablet PC would be colour–a bonus in my mind.

So I’m waiting a bit. Waiting to see what Apple releases. Waiting for the price of tablet PC’s to fall after a strong showing at CES. And, while I’m waiting, I’ll continue to read books on my laptop and my phone.