The Sony PRS-T2 is a perfectly good touch-screen e-reader whose only sin is that it doesn't have any competitive advantages over Amazon's and Barnes & Noble's e-readers.
The Archos 70 offers more horsepower and features than any other tablet under $300, but its limitations make it more of a toy than a tool.
While it's relatively affordable, the Kobo Vox is a truly unexceptional Android tablet, with nothing to recommend it over the identically priced Kindle Fire.
With an excellent built-in light and Amazon's best-in-class e-book selection, the Kindle Paperwhite rises to the top of the e-reader pack.
The new touch-screen Nook is a major advancement over its predecessor and offers some real advantages over the 2010 Kindle.
The Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight sets the standard for e-ink e-readers going forward and is well worth the extra money if you do a lot of nighttime reading.
Barnes & Noble's Nook Color is a capable color touch-screen e-book reader that offers much of the functionality of an Android tablet for half the price of an iPad.
While there's no compelling reason to buy it over the Kindle Touch, the Sony Reader Wi-Fi is a very solid e-reader.
Though the Kobo eReader Touch Edition doesn't quite measure up to the Nook Touch or the Kindle, it's a respectable and affordable touch-screen e-reader with a lot of pluses.
Though the Kobo Wireless eReader is a serviceable e-book reader with built-in Wi-Fi, it's worth spending the extra money to get the Kindle or the Nook instead.
The Nook Wi-Fi doesn't quite measure up to the Kindle in terms of design and overall performance, but it's a worthy alternative if you're looking for a more open e-reader that supports the EPUB format.
The third-generation Kindle's winning combination of noteworthy upgrades--an improved screen, better battery life, lighter weight, and lower price--vaults it to the top of the e-book reader category.
The feature set of the affordable Pandigital Novel looks good on paper, but this color e-book reader and multimedia device is hobbled by its extremely slow performance and unresponsive touch screen.
The Iriver Story HD is a decent e-reader for fans of Google Books, but it's tough to recommend over its identically priced competitors, which offer touch screens and 3G.