A series of novel aromatic poly(ether imides) with inherent viscosities of 0.48-0.70 dL/g and weight-average molecular weights of 1.8,800-40,500 g/mol were successfully prepared from two dianhydride and two diamine monomers containing pyridine moiety via both two-step method and one-step method. Comparison of the one-step and the two-step methods for the preparation of poly(ether imides) was carried out and shown that poly (ether imides) obtained via one-step method exhibited higher molecular weights than the similar polymers prepared through two-step process. Poly(ether imide) resins obtained via both one-step and two-step methods with subsequent chemical dehydration showed good solubility not only in high boiling point solvents but also in low boiling point solvents. High-quality poly(ether imide) films could be obtained via the two-step method with subsequent thermal imidization, which exhibited excellent thermal properties with glass transition temperatures of 239-278 degrees C, initial decomposition temperatures of 540-574 degrees C, residual weight percent at 800 degrees C of 64.5-69.3% under nitrogen, good thermo-oxidative stability with initial decomposition temperatures of 521-544 degrees C, residual weight percent at 800 degrees C of 33.6-51.1% under air atmosphere, outstanding mechanical properties with tensile strengths in the range of 104.6-109.4 MPa, tensile modulus in the range of 1.92-2.58 GPa, and elongation at break from 6.9 to 8.0%, as well as good transparency with cutoff wavelengths of 386-392 nm and low dielectric constants of 2.80-2.92 at 1 MHz. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 113: 1438-1447, 2009