Kit of the Year E-book viewers prompted plenty of Register Hardware reader interest during 2009, a year in which market stalwarts Sony and Amazon finally saw some notable rivals, iRiver in particular. In response, perhaps, Amazon started offering the US-centric Kindle to overseas buyers - will ours arrive in time to change the selection here? But Brits will have to wait longer for Sony's US-only wireless Reader Daily Edition.

iRiver Story

With its speedy menus, decent built-in music player, strong battery life and handy ancillary features, the Story looks a winner - provided you're running the latest firmware. If you want Santa to stick an e-book reader under the Christmas tree this year, then the iRiver Story is a sound choice - literally.

Read the full review [1]
Reg Rating 80%
Price £229

Bookeen Cybook Opus

We found the Bookeen Cybook Opus very easy to use and it's certainly one of the best devices in its class. It's not cheap: we haven't seen the Opus available for less than £210 and more often than not as much as £250, the same price Sony is asking for its 6in, eight-greyscale, audio-enabled PRS-600. Sony also offers the £180 PRS-300, which, like the Opus, has a 5in screen - but no Jpeg support and no memory card slot. Of the two, we'd rather have the Opus.

Read the full review [2]
Reg Rating 80%
Price £250

Sony Reader PRS-600 Touch Edition

The Touch Edition Reader carries across all the strengths of the original but combines them with a touchscreen UI that makes navigation much easier. It also brings some handy new functionality to the party, including an excellent built-in dictionary, and the ability to make and save notes and memos.

A welcome if rather expensive update of the original.

Read the full review [3]
Reg Rating 80%
Price £250

Best of the Rest

[4]	Sony Reader PRS-300 Pocket Edition The e-book reader for everyone?
[5]	Interead Cool-er Work in progress.
[6]	iRex Digital Reader DR1000S Paper tiger?

Links

1. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/11/25/review_e_book_reader_iriver_story/
2. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/11/04/review_e_book_reader_bookeen_cybook_opus/
3. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/11/06/review_e_book_reader_sony_prs_600_touch/
4. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/11/17/review_e_book_reader_sony_prs_300_pocket/
5. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/10/19/review_electronic_book_interead_cool_er/
6. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/07/23/review_electronic_book_irex_digtal_reader_dr1000s/

Kit of the Year

• iRex Technologies heading titsup (11 June 2010)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/11/irex_titsup/

• Newspaper e-reader launched (5 January 2010)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/05/skiff_launch/

• Sony plots death of Amazon Kindle (17 December 2009)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/17/sony_on_readers/

• 2009's Top Nas boxes (10 December 2009)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/10/koy_2009_nas/

• 2009's Top Win Mo Smartphones (9 December 2009)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/09/koy_2009_wm_smartphones/

• 2009's Top Set-top Media Players (8 December 2009)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/08/koy_2009_network_media_players/

• 2009's Top Netbooks (7 December 2009)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/07/koy_2009_netbooks/

• 2009's Top Personal Media Players (4 December 2009)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/04/koy_2009_pmps/

• 2009's Top Solid-State Drives (3 December 2009)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/03/koy_2009_ssds/

• 2009's Top Android Smartphones (2 December 2009)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/02/koy_2009_android/