The site I wish existed when I was choosing a reader

[VividTree]

Hi everybody,

I think it's time I announce the website I created. The idea of it came when I was doing a research to find an ereader myself. I was surprised to find that there are no websites that had all the ereaders in one place and allowed you to choose one by filtering/comparing.

As a result of my frustration, the ereaderlookup.com site was born (I launched it in early December and it's been well and growing ever since).

The website is basically an ereader database and comparison engine. Its sole purpose is to allow people to quickly find and compare ereaders according to one's needs. There is a fairly user friendly (according to feedback I've gotten so far) filter form on the home page that allows to play with various ereader parameters, and as you adjust it the list of ereaders that match is being updated below on-the-fly. You can then select the readers you like and compare them side-by-side.

I tried to keep the whole concept simple and concentrate on just one thing - making it fast and easy to filter and compare ereaders. And that's one thing I hope this website does well.

I also spent countless hours researching various devices and collecting information. Currently there are 125 devices in the database, but that number continues to grow as I go through my daily routine. Eventually I hope to be getting more info directly from users/vendors.

A few things that I am planning to add:
1. Add a simple "Wizard" to allow less savvy users to research ereaders.
2. Add a graph of ereaders (some devices are physically the same, but branded differently, so it makes sense to show that certain brands/models are actually the same device).
3. Add a few more parameters to the database - keyboard type, memory available to the user, battery life (this is a tough one), dimensions. Currently there are 28 various parameters that are being used, but I think this list can be expanded.

Currently I'm looking to get as much feedback as possible to continue improving the website and make it the best of its sort. I already got a fair bit of feedback from my friends and sites like Feedback Roulette, and now I'm turning to you - the most hardcore ereading audience .

Any type of constructive feedback is welcome! Please tell me honestly what you think?

[LovePlanetEarth]

I honestly think that this is a great idea!!!
And the web design is really great! Simple and informative!

As for feedback for improving...
I did a search on bigger e-readers and noticed that some were not listed in the search result: Onyx Boox M92, Hanvon E920 and C920, Ectaco JetBook Color (which is pretty much the same as Hanvon, but still differ) and Hanlin A9...

On the whole, the job you've done is amazing!!!
Cannot even imagine how much time you spent on it...

Thank you so much for you hard work

[VividTree]

LovePlanetEarth, thanks for warm words and the list of missing ereaders! I will add them shortly.

[Belfaborac]

You seem to be missing the Sony PRS-950 as well. Overall I find the site extremely easy to use and supremely useful. Great work!

[HarryT]

Your site is very good indeed, but I do have one suggestion:

I would suggest that the very first thing you should do is to ascertain which COUNTRY the user is in. That's the primary determining factor in choice of reader, and everything else is dependent upon it. I'm sure your site is useful to the 5% of the world's population who live in the United States, but most of us do not .

[TGS]

Great site but how often are you checking the links to retailer sites? It would be better if your site told us the item was currently unavailable than clicking through to a retailer site, where we are told the item is unavailable - iRex Dr 800 for example.

[Kumabjorn]

Other search parameters might be weight (some want a light Reader), text-to-speech feature, possibility of connecting external devices (speakers, keyboard etc).

I concur with earlier poster, it is a great site.

I noticed that you had USB devices listed. That sort of covers what i meant by external devices, but the device also needs to support it. Some have USB ports only for charging it.

[Rich_D]

I filtered on formats, selected epub and pdf and it showed Kindles as an option. They're pdf compatible but not epub.

[Gardenman]

Why do you include readers that were never make. Such as the one from Plastic Logic

[VividTree]

Thank you everyone for responses!

LovePlanetEarth, I have added some of the readers you've pointed out, and will add the rest of Hanlin ereaders shortly.

Belfaborac, will add the Sony PRS-950 as well.

I know that there are still many ereaders to be added to the database and I'm constantly working on adding more. If there's anything you are missing in particular, please let me know.

Your site is very good indeed, but I do have one suggestion:

I would suggest that the very first thing you should do is to ascertain which COUNTRY the user is in. That's the primary determining factor in choice of reader, and everything else is dependent upon it. I'm sure your site is useful to the 5% of the world's population who live in the United States, but most of us do not .

Yes the country and availability of ereaders in various countries is a big issue. I still haven't found a way how to solve this in an elegant and straightforward manner. I don't want to restrict ereaders by a country, because nowadays it's easy to order something online internationally or ask a friend overseas to send you a device. Maybe something like "Primary countries" for an ereader would make sense. I don't know. Still thinking about how to make this work so that it's both useful and convenient.

Same kind of challenges I'm having with trying to capture battery life. Should it be in hours/days or number of page turns? Should I just display the battery capacity? How can I get my hands on actual battery life data? Again, suggestions in this area are welcome.

Great site but how often are you checking the links to retailer sites? It would be better if your site told us the item was currently unavailable than clicking through to a retailer site, where we are told the item is unavailable - iRex Dr 800 for example.

Currently this is a manual process, but I want to automate it in the future, so that the prices/availability are always up-to-date. Yes, this is definitely another thing that can be improved.

Other search parameters might be weight (some want a light Reader), text-to-speech feature, possibility of connecting external devices (speakers, keyboard etc).

I concur with earlier poster, it is a great site.

I noticed that you had USB devices listed. That sort of covers what i meant by external devices, but the device also needs to support it. Some have USB ports only for charging it.

I will add all existing parameters to the search form shortly, so that it's possible to search by weight, etc. Planning to add dimensions as well.

As for USB devices, it is very difficult to find some detailed info. For now, if I see that a reader can function as a USB master or supports external devices I just specify the "USB peripherals" parameter as "Yes".

I filtered on formats, selected epub and pdf and it showed Kindles as an option. They're pdf compatible but not epub.

Thank you for the tip. I've noticed that Kindle Fire had epub specified and I removed that format from it's list.

Why do you include readers that were never make. Such as the one from Plastic Logic

This is a good question. Actually with Plastic Logic, I found out that the reader is not released only after I did my research and entered the info into the database . I guess it won't hurt to have readers that were a prototype or a to-be-released model, as people might still be looking for info on those. This is similar to old ereaders that are already out of production and cannot be found in stores.

Please keep your comments coming!

I am really delighted that people like the site, but I'm also trying to find out what's missing from it or how to make it more useful.

[carpetmojo]

Linked to the geographic point, a currency converter would be a useful convenience....

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

Linked to the geographic point, a currency converter would be a useful convenience....

Ideally, the site should display the actual price of a reader in different countries. This can sometimes vary considerably, and is not just a matter of currency conversion. Eg, the Sony PRS-T1 is significantly more expensive in the UK than it is in the US, but the Amazon Kindle is not.

[Gardenman]

It would be nice when the Manufacturer does not sell the device to have a list of places that do sell it.

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Ideally, the site should display the actual price of a reader in different countries. This can sometimes vary considerably, and is not just a matter of currency conversion. Eg, the Sony PRS-T1 is significantly more expensive in the UK than it is in the US, but the Amazon Kindle is not.

Good point - but I suspect most would-be buyers will be more concerned with the bottom line from their pocket, rather than how cheaper it might be elsewhere.
Might even annoy some enough to stop them getting anything !
Perhaps both could be accommodated ?

Although I know a converter is but a couple of clicks away - probably just lazy tendencies, to be truthful.

[Joykins]

I tried to get the Kindle wifi and Kindle wifi touch to appear on the opening screen by adjusting the dials and they did not appear. I'm not sure what that's supposed to do if it only works on the 4-5 "featured" e-readers.