New iRex DR 800SG wireless book reader uses Barnes & Noble and Verizon, challenges Kindle

Today in NYC another book reader came to market just as you are starting your Christmas shopping list. At $399, the DR 800SG is still a hefty price tag, but it is cheaper than the Kindle, lets you use Barnes & Noble and sources through the Verizon network, which may let you buy a book while on vacation in some non-English speaking country when you have run out of reading material and are desperate—something that can’t be done on the Sprint-based Kindle. While we wait patiently for the rumored cheapo ASUS reader, we still need a backup plan with a Sony or this.

This reader has an 8.1 inch display, falling between the $299 six inch and the 9.7 inch $489 Kindle. It has 2GB of memory and has a card slot for more, uses a stylus, it reads in portrait or landscape, and you can increase or decrease the text size. Another huge feature versus the Kindle is that it supports Google’s ePub format which gives you 100s of thousands of free books in addition to PDF, Fictionwise, eReader and TXT. It has also partnered with NewspaperDirect, which serves up "1140 newspapers from 87 countries in 41 languages in their original layout." I’m thinking that alone is worth buying it for. Just think, you are on vacation in some God forsaken country, but still can instantly get the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Investor’s Business Daily as soon as they come out alerting you to fiascos in the office back home. Priceless. And something that can’t be done on a Kindle!

If you need to get your fuzzy paws on the device it will be sold in November at Best Buy along with Sony’s and whoever’s in the new eReader department. And given the lack of activity and the number of salesmen with nothing to do in the Best Buy store I was in yesterday, they should be happy to find a few new products to hawk. Of course if you don’t need all that wireless stuff, you can get a Sony PRS-300 for only $199 and still read the free Google books as well as buy them from Sony. But listen to unthinkable, and don’t pull the trigger until its closer to Christmas, when the ASUS may see the light of day.