Luxury Electronics: The pioneering company of the technology turns out to be the top of the list in Consumer Reports' first full rating of e-book readers. Amazon's Kindle topped the charts for delivering more readable type and for being more compact and lightweight than the other nine models put through CR's batter of lab tests. The Kindle and the super-sized Kindle DX model also were among the fastest at turning pages and screen refreshes.

The unit with the clarity close to the Kindle was Apple's iPad. However, while Consumer Reports rated its e-book capability, it excluded the unit because it is a computer with e-book-reading capability and not as a dedicated e-book reader like the other models rated.

Two e-readers from Sony, the Daily Edition PRS900BC and the Touch Edition PRS600SC, fared well in lab tests but were cited for being pricey and inconvenient, respectively, by comparison. The entire report is available in the July issue of Consumer Reports.