5 EReaders for Travel that Let You Listen While Driving

E-Readers are known for their amazing portability. However, which are best for traveling? We need to set criteria of what features are most needed when traveling. First, we can assume text to speech is a plus and a must, because we can't exactly read if wee are driving, right? Another would be to overall size and weight, and of course how long the battery will last before it needs recharging. With these criteria in mind, lets look at some of the best e-readers currently on the market, or will be. Which ones are the best considering the criteria set forth?

Bookleen CyBook Opus ($300 to $400)

This is a nice little e-reader, I think, and I do mean little it 6 inches by 4.2 inches, and only .4 inches thick. It does have the required text-to-speech capability, however, and weighs only 5.3 ounces. It uses e-ink technology, like most do and its screen is 5 inches with its resolution at 800 x 600 with 200 dpi (dots per inch) and it is good enough to read in the daytime, and will accommodate landscape and portrait positions. The Opus uses 32 MB if RAM, has 1 GB of storage and uses a microSD storage card. It has automatic screen orientation with a forward and backward page button as well. It runs on Linux and includes capability to read the Pub, PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, GIF and PNG formats. The lithium polymer battery allows or up to 8000 page turns. While it is small, which means portable, it still has a decent screen for using it while traveling.

Teclast K3 Handheld eBook Reader Linux ($219 to $279)

The Telcast K3 is a cheaper e-reader than the CyBook, but it actually has more in the way of features, including the other requirements. The Text-to-speech is crisp and clear and it weighs only about 5.5 ounces (155 grams translated to ounces)is 8.9mm thick, 6.4 inches long and 4.3 inches wide (approx.) . The K3 supports more formats, specifically PDF, EPUB, TXT, HTML, HWP, PDB, WORD, FB2 SKY, JPG and BMP. The Lithium ion battery holds for at least 20 hours of audio and 1000 page turns. K3 also turns any which way you want it to, according to how you are holding it. The screen supports the usual e-ink and is 6.0 inches diameter with a resolution of 800 x 600. So, with 4 GB of storage included, I believe all the criteria have been met, this is definitely one of the better traveling e-readers.

Asus DR-900 (N/A)

The soon to be released Asus DR-900 could possibly be the Kindle DX killer, according to CrunchGear, in a post dated March 2. Announced at the CeBIT in Germany, this e-reader has a 9 inch display and will actually offer Wi-If and 3G capabilities. It will also sport 4 GB of included storage and is expandable with the microSD card slot. The screen is a Sipix touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 768. It has the required text-to-speech, but it remains to be seen how big it will be and how much it will weigh. It supports PDF, TXT, MP3 and ePUB formats and others. The DR-900 also has a battery that will last up to 10,000 page turns which are done by page navigation buttons, or with the touchscreen. There is no release date officially announced as of yet, but speculation is it will be released before summer 2010.

Samsung E60 E-Book Reader ($299)

This e-reader was originally announced at the CES as the E6. Since then Samsung has changed its name to what you see here. This E-reader has Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth support, and handwriting technology. It has the requires Tect to speech technology plus a recorder for taking notes and memos, and more. It will support the EPUB, JPG, BMP, TXT, and other formats as well. This one comes with a stylus as it can actually take notes in the margins as well as "scribble" on the screen. That's about all the specs there are, and it will be released in the coming springtime of 2010.

The Skiff Reader (N/A)

This is one of my personal favorites. I did a review on this one a few months ago and it also appeared at the CES. This e-reader is also soon to be released, however meets all the requirements for a traveling e-reader. Its dimensions consist of 9 inches wide by 11 inches long by .2 inches thick. However, this is one of the heavier ones, at a little over a pound. It features an 11.5 inch display using the metal foil technology and has a resolution of 1200 x 1600 pixels with 174 ppi. It has 4 GB of internal memory, its battery is a lithium ion and the website claims it will last for up to a week with limited 3G usage. The only thing it lacks is the text to speech, however, I am sure future models will have it.

If you are in the market for an e-reader, see if you can't hold out for one of the last three, as there are some really portable ones listed and they are sure to be a hit. If you can't, then try the CyBook or the K3, they are great when it comes to battery usage and both are so small you can probably fit them in a larger sized pocket.

References & Resources:
ZDNet Blogs: Samsung E60 e-reader ...
ZDNet Blogs: Asus announces 9-inch DR-900 e-reader ...
Bookleen Online Shop CyBook Opus
E-Crater: Teclast K3 Handheld E-Book Reader
Skiff: Skiff Reader Technical Specs
CrunchGear: The Asus DR-900 ebook reader brings Wi-Fi and 3g to a 9-inch screen