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Entourage Pocket Edge voted "Best Cancelled E-reader of 2011"

The September issue of Consumer Reports arrived on my door step today, and guess what the cover article was? Actually the lead article covered the human heart and related topics, but one of the cover articles was CR's review of ebook readers.

You might recall a few months back when everyone was talking about how the new Nook Touch was the first ebook reader to dethrone the Kindle. That report, and the ratings it contained, was just published in the September issue.

As you can see, the Entourage Pocket Edge ranked behind all the current gen ereaders. But it also managed to beat the Sony 650, which is something of a surprise. I would have thought that the weight and battery life would have taken it down another notch or 2.

BTW,  think I know why the Nook Touch shipped so fast. Look at the list and note which ebook reader isn’t on it. According to CR, the Kobo Touch wasn’t included because it shipped just a few days too late.

That’s a stupid reason, IMO. They should have pushed the article back a month; that would have given them the time they needed. I think a delayed report would be better than an incomplete one, don’t you?

As it stands, the chart is not complete and thus I’m not sure it’s valid. We don’t know where the Kobo touch would have ranked, and that throws all claims about device superiority into doubt.  We don’t really know which is best because they weren’t all tested.

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Comments


Timothy Wilhoit August 1, 2011 um 11:17 pm

Your point is well taken. CR includes a reader on their list that’s no longer sold and omits a good reader that "missed the deadline by a few days." The K3 3G/Wi-Fi with special offers was not included either, of course. An ereader buying guide that’s a snapshot in time from two months ago isn’t worth very much.


anonymous August 2, 2011 um 2:11 pm

Can’t believe CR:

Product Press announcements:
Kobo Touch May 23rd .
Nook Touch May 24th.

People take so much stock in what that intern says about these eReaders 🙂

Nate Hoffelder August 2, 2011 um 2:30 pm

Yes, but the Nook touch shipped first. That is the important detail here.


Fbone August 2, 2011 um 10:24 pm

CR’s website has the Kobo Touch listed. It didn’t make the print edition but was included in their online rankings.

Nate Hoffelder August 2, 2011 um 10:30 pm

That might be true, but the website is behind a paywall, which means more people will see the paper copy (at their library, probably). CR still should have held the article so the Kobo Touch could be included.


LCNR August 4, 2011 um 2:28 am

I wholly agree with you. I (and probably a lot of other people) was looking forward to seeing the Nook and the Kobo compared by Consumer Reports in order to make an informed choice, and this is rather a disappointment. Now maybe they have their (valid) reasons, but when all is said and done, it still is a bit stupid as these are the two hot products of the summer that deserved comparing.


Rockin' August 4, 2011 um 12:11 pm

Okay, they left an excuse why they left out the Kobo Touch, but why was Kobo Wifi not included? They included other readers that were old.

Nate Hoffelder August 4, 2011 um 6:04 pm

It was included. It’s way down the list at #15.


Jimmy September 9, 2011 um 5:38 pm

The Kobo Touch? Really? An AWESOME eReader? From a bankrupt company. Might as well by an HP Touchpad while you’re at it. They make great paper weights.

Nate Hoffelder September 9, 2011 um 6:09 pm

The Kobo Touch is made by Kobo, not Borders. And Kobo are doing just fine.


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