Foxit Software, the developer of the lightweight PDF substitute for the Adobe Acrobat document format, has decided to offer an alternative to a hardware ebook reader as well.

Foxit's eSlick is available for preorder, and will ship in five to seven weeks for $229.99 direct ($259.99 suggested retail price). Unfortunately, that may be about the time that the popular Amazon Kindle eBook reader returns to the shelves.

While the eSlick offers a cheaper alternative to both the $359 Kindle and Sony's first-generation (albeit cheaper) ebook reader, the PRS-500, albeit slightly. (The newly introduced PRS-700 costs substantially more, about $399.) And you may have trouble finding Sony's older ebook reader; the PCMag.com reviews page linked above offers just two links to the Amazon Marketplace, and Google Shopping lists< a few across the Web, where the lowest price is about the $259 or so that Foxit will charge at retail.

From a technology standpoint, the Foxit eSlick seems remarkably similar to its rivals. It uses the same screen technology developed by E Ink as the other two, displayed on a 600 x 800 display. The ebook weighs 6.4 ounces (180 grams) and measures 7.4 inches x 4.7 inches x 0.4 inches, thinner and lighter than the Sony PRS-500 and the Kindle. The Kindle takes two hours to recharge, however, and the eSlick requires three or more.

The eSlick also lacks the wireless capablities of the Kindle, substituting the dedicated wireless connection with a prosaic USB port. Internally, the device contains 128 Mbytes of RAM, with an SD card slot that supports up to 4-Gbyte cards. It does include an MP3 player, however, so users will be able to take their ebooks, as well as their tunes, on the road.