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Ask Slashdot: I Want To Read More. Should I Get an eBook Reader Or a Tablet?
gspec writes "I read less and less nowadays, but I realize I need to get back into my old reading habit. Would getting an ebook reader or a tablet help me to enjoy reading more? Would you recommend one over the other? A little relevant background about me: I probably can spare two hours a day to read. I do not travel a lot. I am not a fast reader; if I force myself, I could probably finish a standard length novel in a week. English is my second language, so a built-in dictionary would be nice. I enjoy Netflix, and I have bought many computer/technical eBooks from O'Reilly for reference. I have many technical reference PDFs. I have 300-400 bucks to spare for this. I'd like to hear opinions based on your knowledge and experience on reading using ebook readers/tablets."
I got an kindle dx which was terrible for pdfs, my main interest. Now I have an iPad and use goodreader and it is awesome.
If you get an iPad, and you're not disciplined, you'll find yourself doing everything else but reading books because it's really nice to use. Ebook readers with browsers or application support are still pretty limited.
Why not both? You can easily buy two tablets for $300-400. One e-ink device @ $100 and one tablet @$200-300
I prefer the Kindle because it doesn't have a backlight. I find it tires my eyes much less, like reading a regular book. Try one of each and see which one works out better for you.
The have a wide selection, great price, and 2 weeks to read it.
Personally I have both a tablet and an e-reader (iPad/Kindle3) and for $300-400, you could get both e-ink and LCD Kindles, for example. If reading detailed image-based PDFs is your thing I'd probably recommend 10" tablet at least. Reflow on text doesn't help there as much.
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Right now I have a Kindle Keyboard. The screen may be too small if you read books with a lot of diagrams or illustrations. The Kindle DX would be better in this regards, but it is a tad spendy.
Regardless of what you get, I'd recommend Calibre for managing your library, and I would strongly suggest checking out your local library system's ebook lending. It is extremely convenient to be able to borrow books at any hour of the day or night. If you have access to different library systems, check out the ebook lending offers at each - sometimes one system will have a wider selection.
I would recommend eInk. Less eye-strain. Less battery drain (weeks between charges). And seems to work great in strong sunlight or other adverse conditions.
/.?
Tablets are multi-media devices. They do it all. eInk based e-readers are just for books and they do it exceptionally.
PS - The text on this page is insanely small and CTRL+ won't fix it. What the hell
The answer depends on a few different things. One, how durable a device do you need? Most e-readers are a bit tougher. Two, where will you be reading? If you expect a lot of outdoors reading, definitely go with the e-reader...otherwise, it won't matter. Three, how much use do you have for a tablet's functions? Tablets can do more than e-readers. Battery life: the nod goes to e-readers. Versatilty: tablets win. Up to you...
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Do you want to read or have a media device?
My wife has a kindle that she just wants to read on. If you want to read, watch movies, listen to mp3s, and browse the web get a tablet. If you just want books for the airplane or car ride get an eReader.
Hold up, wait a minute, let me put some pimpin in it
If you're reading fiction, get a Kindle or other e-ink device, because these guys have the advantage of being lightweight, have long battery lives, and "disappear" when you're reading. You just read and read and can enjoy yourself.
If you're reading non-fiction, especially non-fiction with charts, graphs, and the like, get a tablet. They support more advanced features with ePub.
Finally, the device in many cases also ties you into a store. If you're just interested in loading up your own PDFs, you have free reign to select any tablet. If you want to read books from the iBookstore, you have to go with the iPad. If you like the Kindle store or the Nook store, you can choose most tablets OR their own tablet offering.
Like 75-100 books. Do you really need an e-reader just to read? Plus many e-books are overpriced, where used books only cost 1 penny plus shipping.
If it were me I'd buy the cheaper e-book available which is the Kindle for $79. I wouldn't go spending hundreds of dollars on a device.
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All depends on exactly what you want to do with it.
If you just want to read books then get an ebook reader - despite what everyone may say you cannot compare an tablet to an e-ink screen.
E-ink is so easy on the eyes, and feels like reading a book.
Plus they're light, and just the right size.
If you want to use any other feature that are tablet specific (and you can't do on your smartphone (if you have one)) - then a tablet all the way.
... but I do most of my reading on a Kindle Touch. It's always charged, as it can run for six weeks between charges and there are just less distractions -- plus it's so much easier to read when outside.
If you mostly need it for books, the iPad 2 (last gen) is really good, and they are just $400 now - I would say it's a better option than other ebook readers for you because of the Netflix support which is also very good. The minimum configuration of 16GB would be plenty for books and a few other apps.
Reading is really nice on the newer iPad with the higher res screen, if you could find one refurbished or used that would be ideal. Apple refurb prices are around $450 though, still slightly out of your budget.
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Ebooks definitely go with a kindle or equivalent. I find my iPad distracts me from actually doing any reading at all. But it is quite handy with PDFs, even the kindle app or iBooks handle them well. But if you want to read ebooks and not be distracted by other things I'd suggest a dedicated ebook reader. It's not useful for much else, so you'll actually get reading done on it.
I have long wanted to read more and have a large stack of books next to my desk. But the thing that really has held me back is lack of time. I always seem to have something else that is "more important" to do. I also have a problem in that I work as a programmer (sitting at a desk) and have a long commute (sitting in a car) so I've gotten out of shape.
The solution? I bought a treadmill. Now I get some exercise each day and I can read while exercising.
Of course, you don't necessarily need to get an exercise machine yourself, that is just an example and is something that has helped me. The important thing is to take the time to read. If you don't set aside time in your day for reading, then a tablet or e-reader is simply going to end up collecting dust.
I had this same problem. I *love* to read, but I was hardly reading anything.
Then my wife got me a Nook Color. And it's awesome
- Decent price
- B&N reader (very good!)
- on-line dictionary (English is my 3rd language)
- I can read ePubs and PDFs fine
- New Nook Color has Netflix
- Rooteable and good Nook Rooter community
- B&N has free ebooks every week
- If you root it, you can install Kindle Android App
- MicroSD slot
- Decent battery life
- Not awful reading outside
- I can read at night
- (...)
So in those last 2 years I've read a lot, a little bit during lunch and some week-end marathons when wife is at work.
All in all, I love it and give it my OpKool Seal of Approval.
--- Peace!
An e-paper reader can be used in full daylight, a tremendous advantage.
Plus they are not expensive.
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There's no guarantee that getting an electronic tool will make reading more interesting or fun for you. The main advantage of an ebook reader like Kindle is that you can read it outside in the sunlight, if that fits better with your lifestyle. A tablet provide its own light, so you can read in the dark and not bother roommates. I personally prefer the tablet (Nexus 7 for me), since I can do a great deal of other stuff on it when I'm not reading. I spend probably half my tablet time reading, and the other half web-surfing or writing. I plan to watch movies and read books on it the next time I fly. It's handy because I can copy and paste from what I'm reading into what I'm writing.
My wife has a Kindle and a Nexus 7 -- she no longer uses the Kindle. It'll be gifted to a niece, probably.
I've read far more books since getting my kindle (keyboard version) than in the past. I also strongly recommend e-ink. Even after being warned about battery (happens every 3-4 weeks), you still have about 2 hours until it actually dies.. more than enough to get to a good stopping point. It basically took away all of the excuses I had not to read. Only problem now is making myself read books for work instead of Game of Thrones...
Get both. A $70-$120 dollar e-reader and a $330 to $280 tablet. e-Readers are bad for surfing the web or any interactive work, they are also bad for any graphical reading. Tablets are bad for long-term reading, both in strain on the eyes and they tend to go to sleep before wordy pages can be read, not to mention who wants to recharge multiple times to finish a book, and are worthless in sunlight, and Tablets are heavy.
I have a Second-gen Kobo I got on sale as Borders was going out of business. And, I have a HP Touchpad I bought as HP discontinued the product line. Together they cost less than $350. Watch for a sale, the previous generation devices can always be found cheap.
Both the tablet and e-Reader grew on me and I reach for each at different times. I keep both with me almost all of the time. My certification/professional work all ends up on the Tablet for the graphics. O'Reilly publishes their e-books without DRM, so I can put books on both and use whichever works best in a given situation. I wasn't too sure about the e-Reader until I went on a trip without it, I was miserable in an 8-hour layover without it. The Tablet I liked immediately, and have it dual booting between WebOS and Android. The E-Reader ends up with most fiction and non-technical non-fiction, I have downloaded about as many Gutenberg Press books as for pay books off of O'reilly, Google, and Kobobooks. I spend about an hour with each device EACH day. I also have learned to build my own Android APPs and ePub books, not that difficult.
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If all you expect to do with this thing is to read books, the eBook reader is far better, especially if you can get one based on e-ink. The batteries typically last longer, and the screen won't strain your eyes to nearly the same degree.
If you need something more general-purpose, though, then go with a tablet. E-ink is awesome for reading books, but is very specialized toward that purpose: the low refresh rate makes it unsuitable for many other tasks.
A Kindle will allow you to read books using e-ink, which will be easier on your eyes. The Nexus 7 will provide you with PDF and ePub support, as well as more purchasing options.
Even together, they will both be cheaper than an iPad.
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My wife and I trashed three different eInk readers (Nook, Kobo, Kindle) by allowing sharp things to impact the screen, once even through a padded neoprene sleeve. Keys in a backpack = fatal. Get the eink reader for the screen, but then spend decent money on a case with a rigid, robust screen protector that flips shut whenever the device isn't being read.
Also: I was a big fan of our Kobo, if you can handle buying books via laptop and syncing via Calibri. A simple, focused, cheap device.
If you're serious about reading get an Ereader that uses Eink they are so much nicer for extended reading than a tablet, and they are also much cheaper than a tablet. I got my nook simple touch for 60 bucks on Ebay, it looked brand new and works perfectly.
I cannot stress enough how awesome Eink is, for reading it really does look just like a book, plus the battery life is so much longer with Eink, so long as you turn off the wireless while you're reading. My Nook has never been below 50% charge, I only charge it about once a month and I read like fiend.
I was in the same boat last winter and I jumped on the imaginary band waggon and bought a cheap $200 Blackberry Playbook that I thought was all the rage. I'm happy that I bought a tablet as it fits my reading demands quite nicely. The physical size isn't too large, like an Ipad. It's small enough I can carry it in my sweater pockets. Now that being said, don't get a playbook. The app scene is like a soviet warehouse: empty. I have yet to find a PDF reader that can do the same functions as my PDF reader on my Nexus S. So I'd bet on the Nexus 7 tablet. Good size, cheap at $200, and can do more than just read books if you ever feel the need to do more on a tablet. It can also leverage the whole Android market. I can say it will be my next tablet.
Because in an emergency can't roll joints with a Kindle.
Then pocket the other $200-300 while you watch how the 7"-8" tablet market shakes out. Oh, but spend another $30 to get an Octovo Solis light for your Kindle.
I like the utility of the iPad; but, for reading, my Kindle 3 (what's now called the Kindle Keyboard) beats the pants off it.
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You'll fart around and waste time on the internet with a tablet.
At least, that's what I'd probably do...
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I used to think I'd always use the Kindle (3) over my ipadRetina because of 2 things:
1) weight
2) backlit screen
since I got a nexus7, I've changed my mind.
i use the kindle app as well as collections (the google book app)
the weight problem is obviously solved,
and I think the "backlit screen" problem is mitigated by fewer pixel i guess.. i don't get eye fatigue when staring at the nexus (white text black background, lowest brightness setting).
it even comes with a $25 credit so you can get a few books from google. $250 is right in your range, you could buy a ton of books with the change.
i like jellybean more than i thought i would, the nexus is a solid offering and it can do a hell of a lot more (quite capably).
if you have amazon prime, there are a few perks available to kindle hardware owners... unless you really need/want a specific ereader characteristic (battery life, outdoor use, "free" networking) a tablet is the way to go (7" that is, at least for me)
I was in the same situation myself. I ended up buying a Nexus 7and now I'm typing this on my tablet in between finishing a book. I am the first book I've read in years, and actually. The functionality and portability of a tablet combined with the ease of reading pdfs or epubs or whatever can't be beat.
You can have an entire library in your hand. You can use find functions for words or phrases and can look up words on Google or a dictionary app and pop right back into the reader program.
Also, you can get free public domain books off project gutenberg. I love my tablet and I love finally sitting down and reading again.
Of course. The being able to play games and watch video on this is pretty nice.
I'd recommend a Nexus 7 but wait a few months... The first runs of the device have had some hardware problems.
That's not a good way of looking at it. ebook readers are much, much better for reading (easier to read off of is the main advantage, but not having to constantly re-charge is also a huge advantage, as is being able to fit it in a pocket). If you plan to read a lot, I just don't think a tablet is an acceptable substitute.
If you're not a heavy reader and but want to have the capability in case the mood ever strikes you, then reading a book on a tablet is fine.
It's almost a moot point, since a kindle is just $80.
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When I read for pleasure, I used a Sony 505, and, before that, a COOL-ER reader. Each had its flaws, but, for the simple act of displaying a page in an easy-on-the-eye manner, they were streets ahead of the iPad. They are different things, for sure — I'm happy with my iPad for annotating my reading, as I tend to read mostly academic works now, and, when I do read for pleasure, I use the iPad, simply because it's with me, and the best book is the one I have to hand. But if I were looking for something to read for pleasure, I'd go for eInk, whether a Kindle or something else.
Oh, and I'd make sure I had DeDRM and Calibre installed, to ensure that I can read any book I purchase on any software client I like :)
First, the hardware:
E-ink reader: Cheaper, lighter, better battery life, sunlight readable.
Tablet: Much more versatile, backlit, more expensive.
For travelling/commuting users, the hardware characteristics of the e-ink devices are pretty compelling. Sunlight readable, cheap enough that losing/breaking/having one stolen isn't the end of the world, and can last (literally) weeks on a charge.
For less mobile purposes, though, it matters rather less. Tablets aren't exactly laborious to carry, and they last long enough.
Given that your question is "I want to read more", I'd be concerned about the psychological and attention aspects of the device. A tablet, aside from the suckitude of a software keyboard, is a portal to the Internet, man's greatest corrupter and destroyer, It That Hungers For Free Time, devourer of souls. This definitely has its perks; but your odds of doing more serious reading are not among them.
E-ink devices, by contrast, frequently have wifi and may have some sort of rudimentary browser; but are largely too limited to muster any real distraction. You may put it down; but you won't just close the book and start tossing angry birds. That would make them my recommendation.
Unfortunately, there is a slight wrinkle: PDF support. PDFs tend to reflow/resize poorly(though this can vary by source, 'PDF' is a monstrously complex beast, and can mean almost anything from slightly overwrought plaintext to some seriously indigestable monstrosities that are virtually impossible to view in anything other than the intended size and layout), which makes them a bit tricky on e-ink screens(since the slower refresh rates discourage lots of zooming/scrolling). Tablets are often a better option there. Either category should support all reasonably common etext formats; but epubs and their ilk are much better behaved on more limited devices.
if you want the ability to surf the net, play games and use email. get a tablet. if you want to just read books get an ereader. my personal recommendation is the pocketbook pro series.
But really -- hear me out. I found myself in the same position, having once been a voracious reader to not reading books at all. And I found that when I did make a conscious effort to start reading books again, I would finish a book and then take some time to start another, up to a year - or worse, start reading a book I really did not like, *cough*Crytonomicon*cough* which would stop me from reading all together for a period because I felt obligated to finish something that I really, really hated reading and would never actually get around to finishing.
What did get me "reading" again on a regular basis was audio books. It seems that it wasn't so much my lack of interest in reading, but my lack of ability to make time for reading and that the pace of my life is much more condensed than it was in my early 20s. So audiobooks fit in with my schedule better, I can listen to them while driving, while eating or while working and have averaged about 4 books a month. And since it was much less effort of my time, I found that I could even make it through books I found I HATED such as Bleak House (sorry Dickens -- that was a long-winded turd), if only because it didn't take physical effort of actually reading the book and feeling I was wasting my time. Audiobooks are not dumbed down and while being read to you, they require your mind to provide the mental imagery and are every bit as cerebral as a paper or digital book. And often times they have well known actors such as Tim Curry, or even Samuel L Jackson doing the narration, which adds it's own element to the book.
So you might want to ask if it's rally a factor of being able to make time and how busy your schedule is, and if it is pretty busy to the point of being unable to keep a constant commitment to a couple hours a day for reading, you might want to head over to Audible and give audio books a go.
If you want to read more go get some dead tree books for free (library/friends) or cheap (swap meets, garage sales, used book stores) and save your money.
If you want something JUST to read go for an ebook reader for the longer life.
If you want a justification to get a tablet, just admit it to yourself that you want to play angry birds or use/try other apps and buy one.
Having myself both a tablet ( HP Touchpad) and an eBook Reader (Sony PRS1), there is absolutely no contest when it comes to textbooks. No matter how high the screen resolution of your tablet is, it can't beat e-ink for pure comfort. Additionally, ebook readers are generally a lot lighter and smaller than tablets. Techbooks are another matter. I have plenty of oreilly books on the reader (epub format), and whilst not bad from an handling and speed point of view, the small B/W screen is really a problem. Anyway, all this to say that Parent is clueless ...
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Would getting an ebook reader or a tablet help me to enjoy reading more?
No, they will make it easier to carry around a large bunch of books you might want to read, but they don't make reading any funner (it will be a word if you use it enough). Tablet vs eBook doesn't matter. If you truly want it for reading and not social media/videos, pick something with an e-ink display. If you're a slow reader, text-to-speech is a very nice feature. I use it all the time on my standard Kindle.
You want an e-ink display.
You want good battery life.
You don't need much storage (books are at most a few MBs each).
You want something that you don't notice while carrying.
You'll want to use the free open source Calibre to manage your eBooks. I hate it's slow and annoying interface, but it's by far the best at what it does.
However, eBook readers are poor for PDFs.
If you can't handle carrying around a small book and reading that, getting a tablet or eBook read won't make you read books. Getting a Kindle has made me listen to books. I listen to them while doing things around the apartment, traveling on a bus, and whenever I have +10m of nothing to do and don't want to simply relax. But I still don't read more.
The default display (for ebooks) is white characters on black background and that is easy to read. It is easily changed to black-on-white if you prefer, but the white-on-black has the advantage of saving quite a bit of battery life (feature of the AMOLED display compared to LCD).
I used to read a lot and then I quit because I didn't have time. I got a subscription to audible and I get more enjoyment out of it than I do television and movies, at 1/4th the cost. For one, you can listen to a good book while doing something else, like walking. You can also listen to one while driving. I get stuck driving a lot where I work, and it sure makes for a good use of time. Now if you are doing something that takes a lot of concentration, audiobooks don't work so well.
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Eh, this is a no-brainer. The Kindle (not Fire, the regular with the e-ink screen) has been the best think that has ever happened to my reading habits.
Both me and my wife read a lot. While I don't mind reading the odd pdf on my (portrait-mode) LCD screen, I prefer the actual books since they are both portable and mainly much more relaxing to the eye. My wife cannot read on an LCD for more than an hour or so, so her only choice was books. That is until I bought her a Kindle Keyboard to try out. Well, let's just say that after a couple of weeks I got one for myself as well. While we have built a decent "paper" book library over the years (well over 1000 books), I now prefer to read the ebook versions - easier to carry, as relaxing to read, easier to hold, better night light, built in dictionary. Ok, I cheat a little - if I already own the book I download the kindle version without buying it again, but overall Amazon makes it amazingly easy to buy books instantly no matter where you are in the world.
Overall, a tablet seems kind of useless to me for reading books. During the day, it is as tiring as a good monitor. Which for some people like me it is not that tiring, but it never compares to the relaxed reading that an e-ink screen offers you (and then there are people who get quickly tired with any LCD). During the night you would think that the LCD would have an advantage, but to me when the environment is dark that is exactly when the LCD becomes too tiring, probably because my iris is not closed enough due to the ambient darkness. A good light with the Kindle (e.g. the Kandle) is much more relaxing. Then we go to battery power - for a tablet it is measured in hours, for an e-ink reader it is measured in MONTHS (provided you don't leave your wireless on of course), if you can't imagine how important a difference that makes let me assure you it is a huge disadvantage of the tablet. One last thing is that a lot of people don't like the touch interface for their e-reader and that includes devices like Kindle Touch along with Tablets. The reason is that you don't want to accidentally switch a page while you are re-arranging your hold on the device and also it is tiring to do gestures when you do want to switch to the next page.
Anyway, if it is not clear I am trying to say that a modern e-ink reader will actually improve your reading experience compared to traditional books making your read more in the end (at least in my and my wife's case), when a tablet is a device that among other things can let your read books, but makes a rather awkward substitute of the traditional book. I talked mostly about Kindle because I usually buy from Amazon anyway, plus I am a huge fan of free worldwide 3G access - but the rest of the points apply to any current e-ink based device.
Obviously there are some limitations - pdfs don't work that well, you have to wait for the next generation if you expect color etc. But you asked about reading more.
Also I am sure a lot of people will be adamant that e.g. an Apple tablet is as relaxing to read as admiring the landscape in the countryside (I mean - it's like a RETINA screen man, it's made for your eyes by Steve himself), but, yeah, you could try reading a few hours on a Tablet and on an e-ink and judge by yourself.
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>>>I look at an eBook reader as a crippled tablet.
I look at a tablet as a pisspoor substitute for a book. Heavy and it has that annoying light shining in my eyes. I want my book reader to be a closer to paper as possible, and e-ink does that.
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Try online audio books if you commute.. Lots of free stuff online and at the library.. and Audible has tons of up to date new stuff. In case you want to try reading without the reading.
In a nutshell, each of them had some serious missing feature that drove me away.
All in all it seemed to me that each of the e-readers seemed primitive compared to my Nexus S.
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The fact is that there are a number of different formats. ipad and android tablets support most, if not all of the formats. The readers are limited to what that company wants.
If you want an inexpensive reader, pick up a google nexus 7 with 8 mb.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Reading from a tablet is like reading with someone shining a flashlight into your eyes. Particularly at night a tablet, with its backlight, keeps you awake. An eink reader does not have that problem.
In general they are lighter as well making them easier to hold.
For people who want to consume from the web a tablet is the right choice. For those of us who want to read the eink readers are the right choice.
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Regards, Chris
Having a nice large library is an impressive thing for women (or men if that's your inclination) to behold. It makes you look super-smart, and since you're trying to go for licensed e-crap, you're going to *NEED* to look smart, because you've gotta be lacking in brains to consider an electronic device that will fail versus a book.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
I'd mod this up, but I can't, so I'll add a note in the hope that it may catch someone's eye. Personally, paper is still ahead of e-readers, and there is the live social experience of going to a Library or bookshop, second-hand or otherwise. If I wanted an e-reader it would have to have a 10" screen, 'cause I find 7" screens too small.
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eInk is a billion times better than LCD for reading. If you want apps and web, get a tablet. One advantage of a general tablet like a straight android device or the ipad, you can load all of the stores: amazon, barnes and noble, kobo, google play, and buy books from whoever. If you get an ereader, you'll be stuck with the store that the ereader supports. Not sure if tablets support adobe digital editions, which you need to check out ebooks from most libraries.
Saying your "phone ran out of batteries" is like saying your "car ran out of gas tanks".
1. They're easier on the eyes.
2. They retain their resale value; trying to resell an ebook ranges from hard to impossible.
3. They never crash.
4. They work even when you're out of battery power.
5. If you drop them, the book (and 500 others) doesn't instantly become completely useless.
6. You're not beholden to any particular supplier.
7. Neither Apple nor Amazon can remove the book from your house if they decide that releasing it was a mistake.
8. They look great on shelves.
9. They provide insulation in the winter.
10. You don't have to turn the book off for takeoffs and landings.
Of course, I'm hardly a neutral observer. On the other hand, I do take my own advice.
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I use a tablet (Kindle Fire to be exact) for e-books and I like it just fine, but I only use it for free or low-price books. The problem I have with e-books is you lose all your rights with them. With real ink & paper books you can do what you want with them. They're yours forever until you decide to sell/trade/lend/donate/etc... them. With e-books, you don't have those options (yes yes, Amazon lets you "lend" a book...sometimes...with restrictions) and they're never really yours. They're only yours until that e-book provider shuts down, then your SOL. Just imagine what would have happened if Borders had their own e-book service like Amazon and Barns-n-Nobles when they went out of business. All those "books" you paid would have paid good money for (usually just as much as a real book) gone with no hope of return.
Personally I don't have any "physical" problems of reading books on a tablet, although I seems people always tell that is "worst" for the eyes or that it is a much worst experience. That having a light source is bad for the eyes, that the refresh rate makes you eyes tired, etc. I don't experience those problems. The only thing where tablets do suck is reading outside and where e-ink sucks is comics and PDF's.
What I even find more remarkable is that every study or articles that I have read about the subject even refute the claims. I sometimes have the feeling that is something more then a psychological effect then a fact and maybe "facts" spread by e-ink manufacturers.
A backlit or nonbacklit display doesn't make a difference, Hornfeld says. And if you're reading a bright screen in the dark, your eyes will adjust. Your pupil gets large in the dark, so when you turn on a brightly lit display, it may bother your eyes at first, but they'll compensate. It's like when you wake up in the morning, open the shades, and are blinded by the light at first. But then you get used to it. LCD vs. e-ink: The eyestrain debate
From another article
Still, as regular readers of Bits comments know, there is a lively debate among fans of e-readers and paper books about which type of reading experience is most friendly to the eyes.
It turns out the answer isn’t as black-and-white as we might assume.
Doctors and researchers note that in most instances, paper can offer more visual sophistication than a screen. But certain types of paper, including inexpensive newsprint and the paper in softcover books, can actually provide an inferior reading experience for our eyes than the electronic alternatives.
Professor Alan Hedge, director of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory at Cornell University, said that reducing eye fatigue is less a matter of choosing a specific display than of taking short breaks from looking at the screen. When we read, Dr. Hedge explained, a series of ocular muscles jump around and can cause strain, regardless of whether we are looking at pixels or paper. “While you’re reading, your eyes make about 10,000 movements an hour. It’s important to take a step back every 20 minutes and let your eyes rest,” he said.
Today’s screens are definitely less tiring to look at than older displays, which refreshed the image much less frequently, causing a flicker.
Do E-Readers Cause Eye Strain
So please don't let the tablet horror stories discourage you, I would ask friends if you can't lend a tablet or E-ink device for a couple of hours and try it out for yourself.
If yo read it, then your desire to read has come back. If you don't finish it then you're really just kidding yourself - so no amount of technology will re-kindle (groan, no pun intended) your earlier love of reading. Either you want to read, in which case yo will, or you don't. Simply buying a new toy won't kickstart it. But I reckon you already knew that.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
There's a lot of Pros to having an eReader, the most important is that you can carry your entire library everywhere you go in less than 2 lbs. Good luck toting your bookcase around. It's ultra portable and easy to read.
However, I found from using tablets and eReaders for reading that there is a lot of cons to them too. They may be personal pet-peeves, but they drove me to going back to printed books and papers.
Based on what you have posted in the main title, here's what I have to say. Do not get an eReader or a Tablet here's my experience with an iPad and a Kindle DX. Referencing pdfs is horrible. Here's my main beefs:
1. lack of quality indexing capabilities (ie, intuitive bookmarking), I never found anything that would let me easily go between pages without remembering the page numbers. When I did find it in the Kindle DX, it didn't let me name the pages anything meaningful, it was just like "Book title (page, #)".
2. Side-by-side comparison does not exist. You cannot have two pages open to compare different books.
3. 1 and 2 imply that it's very hard to reference 2 pages of the same book at once. You have to wait for it to either load, or scroll back, or spend a lot of time setting up the awful book marking scheme.
4. Kindle had horrible zoom features when using pdfs. It had these pre-determined zooms you could use. It would render full size pages too small to read, then if you zoomed in, it would shove some text off the side and you'd have to scroll over to see it. The horizontal view was your best bet a lot of times but still required you to scroll (which is an awful experience on the kindle).
5. iPad blasts your eyes with white light. This is very un-natural and after a while I started getting headaches. Even using the polarized view, it was still obnoxious. Because it's still back lit.
After 2 years of trying to get one of these things to suit my needs, I just quit and went back to killing trees. What I'll often do is print sections of the pdf I want to read and annotate.
For referencing with eReaders/tablets what we really need is a viewer that is more like a search engine, like if wolframalpha released a pdf reader or something. That we could ask it questions and based on the knowledge of the book, it could formulate an answer. Until then, it really sucks because the search functions are slow, the indexing is bad, the bookmarking is bad, the attempt at hyperlinking is ok but not great and overall, it doesn't satisfy what we really need for referencing material.
So, since you're just reading 2 hours a day, just use your laptop or a real book. There's no need to waste money on something like this. You can download the kindle client for free on your computer.
But if you want to get into novels, get a kindle, it's great for that.
If an iPad is on his radar at all, he might be well-advised to wait until at least September 12th, since that's when rumors are currently pointing to an Apple product announcement taking place, with an iPad mini being rumored.
I don't think so, especially given some of the things he likes to read (technical manuals). As an all-around reader, especially of content with diagrams the larger size screen would suit much better than the Nexus 7 or iPad mini size. The same holds true of viewing Netflix.
If he were just reading novels, or needed a lighter more compact e-reader for some reason, the mini (or Nexus7) might be a better choice.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I also have both, and my take is somewhat different.
People have different levels of tolerance for backlight. If I'm not outside (and I read indoors most of the time), I like the large screen and format of the "new iPad" (why the heck they didn't call it the iPad 3 is beyond me...). I prefer the true "black on white" appearance, and color is a big plus with some material. The iPad has plenty of battery life in general. Of course the other factor that's nice about the iPad is that it's useful for a whole lot of things beyond just reading - though its price reflects that as well.
I also like the Kindle Touch, and it is the clear winner for outdoor reading. The battery life is great. I really, really wish that the screen was much closer to looking like paper. I'm not a fan of the "black on gray" look at all. It's acceptable, but that's all. Other than that, the Kindle Touch is a great value and certainly works "well enough".
Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
Score: -1 100% Flamebait
I own a Kindle (and a Nook running cyanogenmod), but I still read most books on paper.
Not because I don't want to read them on the Kindle, but because a used book is often half (or less) the price of a used book including delivery. And I can still sell it for a buck or two when I'm done.
I read the occasional title from Baen or Smashwords, but I've bought only a handful of Kindle/Nook titles in the past 2 years.
As long as you don't care about reading new releases as soon as they are published, buying used is the way to go.
As an example, looking at a random book from a 2011 bestsellers list "The Tiger's Wife". Prices including delivery (assuming Amazon Prime free delivery):
New Hardcover: $10.50 (two day Amazon Prime delivery)
Used Hardcover: $6.57 (two day Amazon Prime delivery)
New Paperback: $10.20 (two day Amazon Prime delivery)
Used Paperback: $6.37 (standard shipping)
Kindle Edition: $11.99
Why pay more for the Kindle edition than it costs to buy and deliver a brand new book? About the only time I prefer an eBook is when I'm traveling and don't want to carry a heavy book(s) along with me.
Never had a Kindle, but I've been very satisfied with my Nook (although I'm surprised there's no cell-enabled simple touch..)
There have been some incredible improvements in both Nook and Kindle devices (and their prices) over the last few years, which I can only attribute to a price war between Amazon and B&N, although Amazon has a huge branding advantage because they also sell everything. Since we all benefit from the competition, I would would like to urge people to keep the competition going by considering buying a device from someone other than the #1 seller.
However, if the #1 seller really is the best choice for you.. it would be sub-optimal for you to buy anything else, so I only urge people to try to ignore the brand names when evaluating the various devices.
That said, I don't think we're ever going to see a Readius, though.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
I have Kindle Keyboard (with the e-Ink screen).
Pros:
- Good screen. Easy on eyes.
- Very light. Weight can be adjusted by picking a different case.
- Battery life is 2-3 weeks. (I read a lot; dictionaries also tax battery more.)
- Keyboard is quite useful browsing dictionaries when reading foreign language books.
- One purpose device. I'm not strayed away/annoyed by the pop-ups/blinkies/etc.
Cons:
- One purpose device. You can't do much anything else with it.
At the time I have paid (with case and whatnot) about $170 for it - and 1.5 years later I think this is the best purchase I ever made.
I also had several hours of iPad and while the device is certainly attractive, it weighs too much, it is relatively large, battery life is miserable and (just like with the e-Ink) you need a well lit environment to read or the back-light would strain one's eyes too fast.
In the end, if one really likes to read, I think this is at the moment no brainer: e-Ink readers are cheap, they are not an investment like the current generation of the tablets.
P.S. Oh, yeah, if you happen to buy a Kindle, do NOT throw away the box. You might need the serial number printed on it later.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
I've been pretty pleased with my Kindle Fire for the price point. It took a little finagling to get it to do all the things I wanted it to, but most anyone reading Slashdot can probably figure stuff out. The biggest disadvantage is the stripped/locked down version of Android it runs. It does streaming video ok. I've managed to get apps I like. It's integration with the Amazon Kindle store is flawless and it reads great for those. PDF's are kind of so-so. I've tried the native reader and Adobe's app, but neither is perfect. They're useable, it's just a little more awkward than I'd like. I use it for games. I use it to watch video in bed at night. I use it to read on the go and at home. There are tablets that can do a lot more, but you have to pay for it. I sadly just didn't have the money to drop on one of those.
I used an HP Ipaq for years, then switched to a Windows Smartphone, and now finally to an Android smartphone. A Kindle is great for battery life and daylight reading, but way too big to carry around all the time. The smartphone has drawbacks... bad battery life, small screen, but can be read in all but the brightest lighting conditions, and mainly, I have it on me ALL the time. I never know when I'm going to get a few minutes to read, and since I always have the phone with me it is very convenient. I have read hundreds of books this way in the last 10 years, in line at the store, in the bathroom, waiting for a pizza, waiting for updates to download on a client's computer, etc.
...I just came for the free beer.
...and spend the rest on actual content via the Kindle, Nook and Play Store apps, among others. I've been really happy with mine over the past two months: The bezel widths are just about perfect for reading with one hand if I make an "L" with my thumb and index finger and use the other three fingers to brace the back, very similar to how I'm accustomed to holding paperback books. It's light enough that my arm doesn't get tired. Battery life is good. In terms of bang for the buck, you could do far, far worse.
Posterity, my posterior.
Why do you think that a tablet/ebook-reader will be better than old-fashioned paper books? Especially if you don't travel much, I don't see any reason for having such a gadget (other, of course, than the joy of having a gadget). I also don't travel much (although definitely more than a lot of people) so I never had to carry more than one small paperback around to keep me company in the plane or the train (and I don't have to worry about it being charged, stolen, dropped down, sat on, having liquids spilled on it, etc).
Gadgets are good, but none is perfect in my opinion (paper books are also not perfect, by the way). I don't think that buying a gadget will somehow make you read more. Reading appetite comes from content not format. I have read great books in both paper and electronic form (even using a netbook, which is definitely not a good option). I have also dropped reading crappy books in both formats as well.
So the question should be: "I want to read more, What should I read?". If you insist on going electronic, as others pointed out above, the choice between a tablet and an ebook-reader can be better made based on what kind of books you will be reading (E-ink for black text on white background, i.e. novels, and tablet for graphic-rich colored books).
Read more. When your intention is to read more books, you should do it. eBook-readers do not help with that. They make it only easier to carry more than one book around. But normally that is not necessary. If you by an ebook reader you may consider the following points:
* Can I move the eBooks to a different reader?
* Does it cooperate with my system?
* How many book sellers work with the device?
I think this is a case that can be covered by Betteridge's Law of Headlines:
"Any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word 'no'".
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
I bought a Kindle.. And I now read a lot more than I used to, though it's especially in the train.. The e-ink display is really far ahead of the other technologies, and is really comfortable. Battery is never an issue, and the experimental browser is not too bad for news reading either.. The included dictionnary is really nice, as well as the nice wikipedia integration (especially while reading foreign litterature with local names and such..) ;)
Then, you have 2 cons mainly.. a) PDF.. already mentionned here, but even if there are workarounds, it's mainly terrible.. b) the format.. can't really be happy with the amazon ebook format, but well, it works ®..
I'm happy with my Kindle, and as it's not a smart-tab-computer-coffee-machine, it's actually a lot better to stay focused on what you're reading, which enabled me to actually... read faster
It doesn't matter what you get, but use what makes it easiest for you to sit and read, for however long you wish to read.
I have a tablet, and don't see the need to spend more money on an e-book reader, when my tablet works just fine for this purpose, as well as running other apps and accessing internet resources.
I also read slow, and used to find it a chore, until I found books that I enjoyed reading, and now I continue to find books that I enjoy, and prefer e-books over hard print.
So, as I said, regardless of what you put your money towards, find what works for you, and don't take other's opinions, what works for one person, might not be best for another. Make your own choice.
Had a Nook Simple Touch for a spell and enjoyed using it but when I saw the Samsung Tab II 7" I had to have it. It was $40 more than the Nook Tablet, at the time I bought it, but has so much more. I do still use Barnes & Noble for ebook purchases, though, as all the ebook sellers are mostly identical.
You could get an ereader or a tablet, depends on a few other factors like if you want to read outside in the bright sun or inside and even in bed. My suggestion would be to get a very inexpensive tablet, something in the $50 range with an older version of the Android OS. It will work great as an ereader. It will work minimally as a tablet; at that price you will not even have access to the Google Play app store (but can get access to some apps through third party app sources like GteJar and Slide). But it will do more than an ereader and will let you install alternative reading apps and some applications, as well as web browse and other things. You're experience with that inexpensive tablet will tell you if a more expensive tablet is right for you. If you decide it is not you will still have plenty left to buy an ereader, but I'm guessing you may want to upgrade to a much more capable Android device with Android 4.0 or 4.1. Your experience with the less expensive tablet will be well worth the cost in helping you make the right choice for a more expensive tablet, and you will still not spend your entire budget.
Of course, you could just buy a good tablet like the Galaxy 7 now, but it is hard to make an informed choice from the products out there with no previous background. You can get a Google Nexus 7 for about $200, but be aware that they left off the memory card slot, apparently to force you to store all of your media and music on "the cloud". If you have an ISP who charges you for overages beyond a monthly quota, or if you have concerns about your media being stored on some one else's hard drives and at their mercy, this may not be a good choice for you (it wasn't for me, I'm stuck with AT&T as an ISP). Also, there should be lots of 4.1 tablets coming out "real soon now", but until then the Google Nexus 7 is the only choice to get the current and greatly improved OS. So an inexpensive tablet (such as a Pandigital) will give you something for reading now and remove the urgency to buy something more expensive until more 4.1 devices are available (don't think that you will be able to upgrade later, that is the exception).
Of course, if you are an Apple Fanboy then plenty of people will tell you where your cash should go. I'm guessing that you would rather think it out, since you bothered to ask.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
I would strongly suggest checking out your local library system's ebook lending.
Second that. Check your library's website for info. Lots of good books available this way. In the state where I live (Oregon) all the local libraries have formed a consortium for making ebooks available to their patrons.
Even if your local library doesn't have this, check out libraries in neighboring communities. Residence requirements for library cards tend to be rather lax.
Public libraries have an impressive set of online resources. In particular, there's often access to the Oxford English Dictionary, which is simply the most comprehensive dictionary in existence.
Back ontopic: for reading library books, the Kindle is a little less desirable than other readers. Kindle is the only popular reader that doesn't open ePub/Adobe format. Usually a book is available in both formats, but with ePub you just have to download a file directly, whereas Kindle books require a couple of extra steps on Amazon.com.
Hey, Since you are trying to get back into reading - I suggest that you check out these Top 10 Reader Picks for Bill Gates. If Bill Gates will read these books, then I thoroughly recommend you do the same - after you figure out which device you go for. I personally like paper and ebooks. For traveling, ipad rocks Top 10 Summer Reading by Bill Gates http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Personal/More-Great-Summer-Reading Later,
It works for me. Carrying around both an e-ink reader and a cheaper larger Android tablet allows you to use the tablet to take notes without screen swapping. When used in combination with a Bluetooth keyboard & folio stands I find it far more productive than lugging around a laptop.
Disclaimer: I was the sort of kid that brought home two bags full of books from the library each week. I've always read a lot.
I bought a Kindle Keyboard as soon as they were available for the simple reason that a small apartment can only hold that many bookshelves chock full of small paperbacks. Last year I read over a 100 books on it, which rather surprised me as I haven't read that many paper books a year since before high school. The reason is that the kindle is so light and convenient that I now can read anywhere: waiting in line, while shopping, while walking, while in the tub (plastic ziplock baggie!), while on the bus, while on the plane, while whenever really.
I didn't buy all those books from Amazon. I've read ebooks from Baen since the late nineties, and there's Smashwords, Gutenberg, Mobileread, authors selling directly, and author coops like Bookview Cafe. With Calibre, it doesn't really matter where you get the books from. Unfortunately, since I would like a steady supply of books from well-nourished, creative authors, I do pay for my books. Even at an average of 5 dollars a pop, it adds up, especially when you've run out of your favorite authors and desperately need more to read and therefore start buying anything with a half way decent blurb and not too fawning reviews in hope of finding a new favorite author.
There are rumors going around that new Kindles will be announced in time for Christmas this year. I might just get one. Eink, mind, and it really needs the paging-buttons on the sides as that makes one-handed reading with any hand in any situation possible. With wifi off I only need to charge it every three weeks or so (unless I'm caught by a fat, impossible-to-take-a-break-from page turner, then I read with the power cable plugged in...). I was opposed to touch but now that I have a phone with touch I can see it would be nice for moving about menus. Not for the actual paging though.
I would also say, definitely eink if you're serious about reading. I've read books on VT220s, big CRTs, Sharp Zaurus, DS (homebrew), android, print outs, iPad (borrowed), projectors, glossy magazine paper, grey mass market paperback paper, extra cheap self-destructing school book paper, expensive non-acidic archive quality hardcover paper, yellowed copy paper, newspaper, toilet paper (I hope it was a gimmick), the lot: eink (pearl) beats them all. Much better in sunlight than paper since the background isn't bright white.
If you do get a tablet, read with the colors reversed: white on black. You won't feel like you've stared into the sun for hours after just.. one.. more.. page.. hey, is that the sunrise?
I have the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus with T-mo's "4G". Reading books works pretty well, the 7 inch size is good for portability, and it has access to Google Play, Kindle and Nook stores. (I've found Google Play has the best reader, it's unfortunate they haven't come up with a good ecosystem of third party apps). It's also good at news, PDFs, blogs, etc. Most ebook apps will put the UI into a hidden mode where you won't be distracted by notifications or the clock.
Biggest problem with the Galaxy Tab is it has a tendency to crash, and I had to send it in for repair (which took about 3 weeks) because the wifi stopped working. It turned out all it needed was firmware upgrade, something Samsung could have just told me...
If Apple comes out with an ~7" iPad I'll be buying that, my Galaxy Tab fits in my pocket.
Overall I'd say a tablet is better than an e-reader. Especially with mobile data, you can always find more books while you're on the road.
The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
I know I'm in the minority here--particularly on Slashdot, I'm sure--but I absolutely hate books.
Before getting my kindle, I read only while in high school and college, and only during class. After graduating, I read almost nothing. Since getting my kindle, I read on my commutes, and even take out time to read when I'm at home and could be on the Internet or playing a game.
Books are bulky. It's a pain to keep your place. The feel of the paper in paperback books gives me goosebumps. I find the smell of books unpleasant. You have to hold the books open, making reading one-handed challenging (a necessity on subways, and also helpful for reading in bed). Holding books open is particularly annoying at the start and end of the book, when the two halves are quite lopsided.
Like I said, I know I'm in the minority, but as far as I'm concerned books are almost singularly unsuitable as a medium for recreational reading.
I use my android unlocked gti5500 as an ebook reader and for audio books. I've been reading ebooks for close to 10 years on handhelds, started out with Palm. Only issue I have is locating non DRM ebooks and PDF,s . I picked up a $99 HP touchpad and it works ok for reading PDF , except the PDF reader kinda blows. I actually find it easier reading ebooks on a smaller screen as my eyes aren't scanning sideways as much. So I'd recommend a tablet for tech manuals and your phone/pmp for regular books.
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My take: Get the most basic Kindle. Only $80, or $110 if you want to spring for one with no ads. Spend the rest on books.
What's really nice about the eReader experience is the instant buying. See a book you like, click, pay $10 or whatever, and you're reading it 30 seconds later. That, and the ability to carry around dozens of books in a package that's smaller and weighs less than one paperback.
Why the Kindle over a tablet? I have one of both, and I find the tablet slightly unwieldy for reading. The extra weight means that some positions get uncomfortable after 10-20 minutes. The extra size means you may have to reach or hold it in a funny position to turn pages sometimes. Granted, mine is 10", and a 7" one might be more comfortable. Also, even the cheap tablets are twice as expensive, making it less of an easy impulse buy. I also find tablets a little more fiddly - more updates and settings and such to worry about. Kindle gives you text size and that's about it, generally no apps or updates to get in the way. And you gotta love the 1-month battery life.
I don't reply to ACs
I should start by saying I'm somewhat of a Google fanboy, so my opinion will be biased. However, I was somewhat skeptical of eReaders and the like for quite some time. I tested the waters by reading a few novels on my phone, which led me to believe that eReaders are great for people who love to read. I found that I could open up a book (eBook) at lunch, or on a bus, or wherever I had a spare minute, because my phone was always with me; likewise my library of books. Given that trial period, I decided to buy a Nexus 7, which is an especially great deal if you want a color reader. It's not as convenient as a phone to have with me all the time, but I take it to work, and to many other places. It's a huge improvement over the phone, however, for the reading experience in general. I can browse the web, read novels, RSS feeds, and even PDFs are pretty good on it. I can also watch netflix, or load my own movies, or whatever else I'd like. Long story short, I think you would be pleased with the convenience of an eReader, whatever brand you like. I'm partial to the Nexus 7 of course, but just being able to carry your library with you everywhere makes it a worthy purchase to me. Hope you find one you like!
In bed, the best is an AMOLED display: luminescent so you can read in the dark, and without the blacklight effect and too-strong light of regular LCDs. I love my Galaxy Note for that.
In transit, either a Kindle or, again, a Galaxy Note (nice for being pocketable if you're big enough), though mine got stolen that way; at least Kindles are cheap.
Outside in bright light, an eReader is your only solution, though, again, I can make do with AMOLED.
Inside, anything goes.
I find AMOLED vastly superior to LCD, whetever the resolution. An LCD is a lightbulb, way to bright inside but at the same time not bright enough outside; plus LCDs (and epaper) have so-so contrast; AMOLEDs have excellent contrast, at the cost of color fidelity . I set mine to green on a black background, which I find easier on the eyes. The main issue is lack of 10" AMOLED tablets, the biggest one is the pricey Samsung 7.7.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
If you're reading non-fiction, especially non-fiction with charts, graphs, and the like, get a tablet. They support more advanced features with ePub.
All the major e-ink readers support epub.
If you need to read charts and graphs and large tables, your best bet is an iPad because of the high resolution, color display. The Kindle DX is one of the few large-scale eInk devices and it suffers from issues with PDFs and hasn't been refreshed software-wise in quite some time. The other large eReaders are basically DoA or vaporware...the Illiad large eReader goes through its battery in a matter of hours (defacto lifetime in eReaders is a week or two, sometimes more.)
Other than that, I agree that books without charts/graphs/large tables are best read on a small eInk device. I love my Nook Simple Touch (do not get the lighted version unless you NEED to read in the dark. The screen doesn't take scrapes and bumps and bruises as well; they show up as lighted-up areas. The non-light-up version's screen is very strong and has stood up to a year+ of being in a compartment in my bag. You can also root the Simple Touch and run all sorts of Android apps on it...including the Kindle app, and several free eReader applications like Moon+.
Please help metamoderate.
A 7-inch Android based tablet that will handle all type of content and a reader app that has a up and down gesture on the left edge to control brightness and has night mode inverted color reading mode.
I prefer to read for entertainment on my phone since I always have it with me throughout the day and I have read hundreds of fiction books like this since my first smartphone.
A smaller tablet will be better for technical reading and complex diagrams and also allow you to access references online and do lookups but be small enough to carry. I find that a full size 10 inch tablet to be too large for reading unless you view 2 pages side by side so a smaller tablet would suffice at that point.
I have been using the newest Asus Infinity tablet for almost a month and while it is great for content consumption it seems overly powered for the submitted requirement of reading.
Try to play any games on those overpriced e-readers. Just get a 7 inch tablet. Make sure it's 1280 x 800. They are plenty comfortable to read. They're easy to hold with one hand. And for all those complaining about the back light, you know you can turn down the brightness of the thing. See? Now you have a reader and a DVR, with high def video no less. Be sure to get one with HDMI out.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
If you want to read then get an e-reader. I have a Kindle for reading, not surfing the web, not checking email, etc. If I want to do something else besides read I pull out my phone or use my laptop. When reading with a tablet you'll end up getting distracted by new emails, something that pops into your head and you want to quickly look it up, but in reality you end up doing everything else except reading. With an e-reader you can focus on the book your reading and keep the distractions to a minimum.
You stated reading as your primary goal so the only answer is an e-ink e-reader. Tablets are capable of providing reading apps but none of them provide anything like a "printed page" experience. An e-ink e-reader looks and reacts like a printed page; it is non-reflective, non-glossy, non-backlit. The lack of back lighting is a plus not a negative because the lights used to illuminate most tablet screens are in the spectrum that triggers your brain into the "wake up, wake up, dawn is here" state. That's not so good for reading at bedtime. Step outside with a tablet and it's unreadable; you end up looking at a mirror (with smeared fingerprints). Step outside with an e-ink e-reader and you can read naturally.
I've been careful not to push you to a particular brand of e-ink e-reader but I would push for one that supports as many formats as possible especially those that are DRM free. If you get tied down now to Amazon formatted material you may find you regret it in the long run; some of their practices have been Orwellian.
Moore's law is not a law. Theory, yes; Predictable trend, certainly; Law, no.
I've been an ebook reader for 10+ years now - ever since I needed to do a lot of travel for work and figured out it was a lot easier to carry a PDA with a few hundred books on it instead of a suitcase with half a dead tree inside. I went through 3 PDAs before I upgraded to my latest phone. If your screensize is 4" or larger then it makes a perfectly adequate ebook reader with the advantage that it's always with you.
I use FBReader on the Desire HD - mainly because it allows the use of the volume rocker for page-up / page-down. I have full control of font sizes and it supports open (epub) formats. Anything else there's an app for if needed. It's perfectly good for novels and works for me.
If I need to look at a technical manual then the chances are I'm on my main computer anyway (or not too far away from it).
Seriously - use your phone to start with. OK it may not be ideal in bright sunlight, but it works for me. Give the BAEN website a try - they have a load of SF / Fantasy novels made available for free by the authors in open formats and it's got me in to some great stuff and I've ended up buying the next books in the series as a result of reading the first from there.
I read a LOT. I have had a Nook Color since it came out. After a while, I saw there were ebooks cheaper on Amazon that I wanted to purchase through there and not B&N.. but I had a Nook . I also liked my phone (Galaxy Nexus) with Android, only I wanted a screen the size of my Nook Color. So, I got the Nexus 7 from Google. I can load Nook and Kindle Apps on it so I can read and buy from either B&N or Amazon, I received a $25 credit to Google Play from it, and I can also do more than I could do with my Nook Color. No regrets at all. If I had to do it over, I would buy a Nexus 7 again.
I use a free app called coolreader on my Android phone. No dictionary, but you can highlight text, so no biggie. Put the money in the bank or something.
One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces. - PF
Skim don't read then. Because this is what listening to audiobooks while driving, cooking, running on a threadmill or making love means. You're not paying as much attention as when you're reading with two eyes focused on the page or eInk screen. Granted nobody can concentrate with 100% focus, reading a book the normal way is still a more mentally intense activity than presumably "listening" WHILE doing something else. This is besides the fact that reading even without skimming is still faster than listening to an audibook at 2x speed.
I have nothing against audiobooks. But using audiobooks in the manner you describe is no different from playing music while you exercise or do some boring office work. It helps to distract you from the pain or drudgery of your other activity.
If you find it hard to read a book, I can only suggest reading in spurts THEN doing something else, reading a few pages at a time if a chapter is too long. Or you can reverse the focus, and take reading breaks the way some people take smoking or Facebook breaks.
I'll join the E-Ink choir... I read *a lot*, and a 6" E-Ink device really can't be beat for reading novels. I have a Sony reader, and it's just about perfect for its designed purpose, I hear good things about the later Kindle E-Ink models as well. No eye stress, ridiculous battery capacity, and it's very handy for carrying around. PDFs can be somewhat cumbersome on it if they're not designed for a relatively small screen reader, but it works great for reference PDFs if you mainly use it for lookup. PDFs often have substantial margins as they're primarily designed for printing, make sure that you crop yours for use on a reader (goes for tablets as well). Mind you, E-Ink readers are single-purpose devices, but for extended, continuous reading it really beats the pants off any backlit device. Some will advice you to just get a tablet and turn the brightness down, I personally disagree, the reading comfort is in no way comparable. A tablet with the brightness turned all the way up *can*, however, double as a reading light in a pinch :)
If you are determined to read mainly PDFs a tablet might be the way to go, although you're somewhat limiting yourself in that case. PDF is good for fixed layout, but it basically sucks for novels.
I would advice you to get the free library software Calibre, and deDRM all books you buy. I also convert everything to epub for guaranteed forward compatibility. DRM stripping is automatic and completely painless, google "apprentice alf" to obtain the necessary Calibre plugins. That way you're vendor-independent, and don't have to rely on drm-servers which will surely not exist indefinitely. There are also a great selection of classics and a few contemporary novels available for free, and not all classics are heavy. Look into Wodehouse or any number of turn-of-the-century mystery/crime authors for light, free reads. I buy a lot of books as well, and rarely pay more than about $8 for a book, often far less. I won't get into any piracy debate, I really don't care, but I personally find that legally obtained books are very affordable and painless to use when stripped of DRM.
As for rediscovering the delight of reading: focus on light, enjoyable novels for starters, and don't force yourself to read. I see that you plan to set aside a fixed amount of time for reading, but never do it as a "chore". Take a break if you get tired or don't feel like reading. I very rarely abandon a book, but don't be afraid to jump ship if you don't enjoy a particular work. Your reading speed will pick up fairly quickly, and you will probably find that you read even more as you get into the habit. If you travel, reading is a great way to while away the hours on each stretch. Digital reading also lends itself well to "reading of opportunity", I always carry my reader in my pocket and whip it out whenever I have five minutes of dead time.
Finally, good luck, there are innumerable tales, settings, and good times awaiting you :)
Are you a grammar Nazi? I'm trying to improve my English; please correct my errors!
A lot of people complain about reading being hard on LCD screens but I've been doing it for years and have no problems with it.
At first I read on an HP iPaq bought specifically for reading, but then once I got an Android phone I switched to that.
I read WAY more because I have my books with me at all times. Standing in a long line somewhere? Bust out the phone and read.
I also have a Kobo ebook reader which is great as well, but I find I end up reading on my phone still a lot.
The big problem is finding DRM-free ebooks for these platforms. The temptation to get a Kindle and buy into its ecosystem is huge, but I don't want to deal with that.
Ever since I started reading on my N-Gage (which I got because it was the cheapest smart phone back in those days) I have not looked back. The phone is nearly always with me, it fits in my hand, it can be used both day and night without the need for external lighting, it can contain half a library and has access to the other half over the 'net. I can read whenever I want, wherever I want - even if I only have a few minutes to spare as often happens, that is enough to read a page or 2.
Yes, the screen on the phone is small. It helps to have good eyes. Don't try to compare reading on these devices to reading a traditional paper book - the reading experience is completely different. You don't read so much 'by the page' since - especially on more limited phones like the aforementioned N-Gage - a screen does not fit that much text. On my current phone (a Motorola Defy+) I can actually fit more than one traditional paperback page on one screen but that is because I like small print. Using a program like coolreader I can minimize the amount of interface clutter and more or less ignore the original book style. Holding the phone in one hand, I can walk through the book by just touching the left or right (or top or bottom, or wherever - configure it to your liking) of the screen - easy.
My parents both have a dedicated Sony reader. My brother has all the iGadgets St. Steve ordained. Me? I read more than all of them combined.
So if you already have a phone, and that phone happens to have a nice screen, just give it a try. You might like it.
--frank[at]unternet.org
If you want to read BOOKS, then a Kindle is your best bet. Specifically get one without the touch screen. The touch screen is neat for highlighting words and such, but you rarely need to do that, and far more often I find myself accidentally skipping entire chapters by accidentally swiping in the wrong direction. You really just need a button to turn it on, and buttons to turn pages. That's it. Anything that doesn't have e-ink is not nearly as pleasurable to read. The screen on the kindle is incredible.
If you want to read PDFs, browse the internet, or doing anything that isn't reading books, then get a tablet. In my opinion, given current technology, you need different devices for reading than you do for other activities.
For straight through reading, I'd go with an e-ink display like a Kindle. Use the rest of the money for a tablet. A keyboard interface, even a touch one, will make searching your technical PDFs a lot easier. Keep the Kindle for straight through reading. Less eye strain and it's cheap enough to toss into your bag. Ditto for a $200 tablet like the Nexus 7 or a Kindle Fire.
Only the dead have seen the end of War. - Plato
I use an old kobo reader for novels and .epubs I read straight through. Its pretty useless for conference proceeding .[df's -- the type size is too small. For those I use a Transformer TF101 Android tablet.
Another question is whether you want to read in daylight on in the dark in bed, My wife uses her tablet to read in bed without waking me. But the tablet is pretty useless in bright sunlight.
The ebook reader weights less than the tablet, and is easier to carry around and read on the bus.
You want this to read, not to fuck around surfing the web, playing games or using other apps. A tablet will be nothing more than a distraction to you. An e-reader will also be a fraction of the money of a tablet and you can use the difference to buy books for quite some time. If you like to listen to music in the background while you read you might consider one of the readers which can play mp3s off an sd card.
You can get a new low end e-reader for about $75 bucks, hardly a backbreaking expense when they say the budget is $300-400. They can also download thousands of free ebooks that are off copyright so it probably all washes out in the end.
There is a third option you know, cheaper too.
Wife has a Kindle with e-ink, I have an Ipad Retina Display. If you are only reading ebooks from Amazon get the Kindle. If you read pdf's, ebooks and magazines get an Ipad with the retina display. I have a ton of technical documentation in pdf, plus ebooks from Amazon and a few magazine subscriptions on my Ipad. Sure you'll have distractions with the Ipad, but you'll have them regardless. I have zero regrets.
I think an e-reader is the go. I recently received a kindle as a present and think it is great. Battery lasts weeks, screen is easy to read, it's slim and light and it doesn't try to do a million things poorly. It serves one purpose and serves it well. I also don't have to worry about storing heaps of books and can take my entire library with me wherever I go.
Yes.
I picked up a Nexus 7 when it came out. We have iPads (specifically the iPad 2 at work) but I found them too heavy for extended use (both browsing and reading.)
I stopped reading books more than a decade ago, short of tech manuals. I hated dealing with the books themselves (like storing them and donating etc.)
So far I've read two books in the weeks after I got the tablet, going to start the third soon. This is more reading than I've done in the last ten years. I love it so far, no dealing with the physical books themselves.
I honestly didn't think I'd use it for reading books at all, just using it for browsing the web and typing responses like this one. Its not bad for reading at all.
My personal suggestion (and current setup) is a Nexus 7 and a Dodocase (http://www.dodocase.com/products/hardcover-for-nexus-7). The Nexus 7 is a great all-around device for just about anything and the DODOCase is essentially a hand-made hard cover book that when opened and held apart like a book makes for a comfortable, and very traditional feeling reading experience. When you want to use it as a tablet just fold the cover behind or use the included strap to prop it up for watching movies and so on. Also, the adhesive that many people questioned as a poor design decision holds the tablet in place very well and is unobtrusive, it really shouldn't concern anyone unless they're swinging the thing around their head by the cover... I had a rooted Nook Color prior to this that I also liked, but the extra horsepower of the Nexus makes a substantial difference for the non-reading activities you might use it for. The only thing I really liked more about the Nook was the very nice rubberized finish. The Nexus doesn't feel as rugged but it still a very solid device in its own right.
Screen size matters. Pick a font size you feel comfortable with, and then see how many words can fit on a page. It gets very annoying if you have to press a button to flip pages too many times. With a normal paperback, you only flip the page once every two pages, so that's the equivalent of one button press for 1000 words or so. An ereader increases the rate to at best two button presses for 1000 words, and often more.
For technical documents, e-ink devices fall over. There are two things that matter with technical docs: viewing images/equations/tables and easy searching.
For viewing images/equations/tables, you really want to see the full rendered page all at once, so any device that can't do it is a major problem. If you have to squint to decipher a full page, forget it. If you can't afford a big screen, you'll have to do a lot of zooming. That gets old very quickly, even with a tablet where zooming is responsive. You can try reading in landscape, but you'll only get 1/3rd of a page typically, so that means you'll be pressing the scroll button 3x for each page, ie 6x as often as a paperback.
The other major issue is searching. When you have lots of papers/textbooks, the most common thing you'll be doing is looking for a paragraph within, not actually reading anything from start to finish. For that, both tablets and e-ink devices suck major donkey balls, but tablets suck a little less, because flipping pages is much faster.
You might think that text searching capability would solve that problem, it doesn't. Searching for pictures, diagrams, or equations doesn't work. Searching for keywords tends to return too many hits in a textbook. With heavy hypertext linking, you can get lost very quickly. And the quality of indexes varies from book to book. Expect to be spending a lot of time flipping pages interactively, just like a real dead tree edition.
All that said, for technical reading I'm reasonably happy with a 10 inch tablet for now, although they are just not practical for carrying around everywhere, and can't be read in daylight.
For the articles. Honest.
Have gnu, will travel.
Here's a thought. Since you are wanting to get back into reading, instead of already being in a position where you read a lot. Just read an actual book. It's a lot cheaper to buy a book or two every month until you find out you are goingwhere to stick with it instead of shellingout $ for an electronic device. If you use the library, the books won't even cost you.
Once you become an avid reader, then buy the device that will best fit your style.
So do I. And I have an eReader.
There's nothing about owning an eReader that precludes reading paper books. But when I travel, I'd much rather take my light-as-a-feather collection of eBooks than haul around an entire bookshelf.
unless you can get the books at like 10% of the what the physical copy would cost... used. or maybe i'm mistaken and these digital goods have finally gotten all of their physical counterparts traits such as non-timetable-based lending to friends & the doctrine of first sale(and much, much cheaper as time goes on, for the most part). if none of that has happened, why bother with them? the convenience is minimal compared what you give up, and, yes, i do apply the same reasoning to music, movies, and games. unless they get cheap enough to reflect what consumers are losing, they should be nowhere near the same price.
...
I'll answer the way a man with two penises answers when his tailor asks him if he dresses to the right or to the left: yes.
Here we just sell small rectangular objects. They're called books. They require a little effort on your part, and make no bee-bee-bee-bee-beeps. On your way ...
-The Neverending Story
I have a kindle and a kindle fire. Christmas was good to me. I prefer the kindle for reading and the kindle fire for everything else. It hurts my eyes to read on the kindle fire.
That's the only sensible answer. If you read slashdot and even post a question on it you are smart enough to do some research yourself. If the poster had done some research (s)he would have found out that the choice between tablet and ereader depends on your personal preference. So why is this question on /. At all?
-- Cheers!
Both a tablet and an eBook reader are great for reading books. I've got a tablet, an early Nook and a cheap Kindle. For pure reading I find myself using the Kindle more these days and it's more because of the content than anything else. It seems that Amazon has cheaper prices on the books I'm looking to read. The tablet is good as a secondary reader but it's a bit on the heavy side compared to the Nook or Kindle which seem feather light in comparison. For me, the eInk has no eye strain. I can read comfortably with it for hours. The battery on the Kindle will last for weeks without recharging which is nice as well. The tablet is more versatile, the eReader is single purpose. If you are a serious reader and like to read a lot I'd probably recommend the Kindle. Honestly I couldn't make up my mind so I ended up getting all of them. But I do use them all. I load up books on both the Kindle and Nook and switch between them according to my tastes at the moment. One final big plus for the eReader...it fits in the cargo shorts pocket...let's see you do that with a tablet :-)
I bought an ebook reader with eINK display back in 2010. It was an iRiver Story. The specs were fantastic: mp3/ogg/flac reader, stunning looks, great battery life, about 1 week, no sync software only MASS STORAGE. I loved the specs and the design philosophy. No synching apps, no effing iTunes, no Windows synch-tool. I felt that it gave me a lot of freedom, just like it is supposed to. It had an eInk screen - You know, those displays that are really comfortable to read on and doesn't wear out your eyes, and that you can read in bright sunshine, like on the beach. It was a 7" device with. I thought it would revolutionize my reading, but it didn't and I'll tell you why. I mainly rely on PDF files for my books for various reasons. The main reason is my university's scholarly databases provide .pdf's not reflow formats. Therefore I was so
happy when I got a device that said on the box "supports PDF". Well it DID support PDF,
but the single most important function of a PDF reader, is the ZOOM. PDFs are mostly different
from each other, and one always has to ZOOM this way or that way. Zoom to fit screen, Zoom in, Zoom
out and so on. Well this eInk device and most eInk devices others I have perused after this first purchase, has this limitation:
They only allow for 3 levels of "static zoom", there is no way to zoom it to make it useable, like
for instant fill entire screen with half the document, or 1/4 of the document. No no, it required
the user to set static "start and end points" and then provide 3 levels of zoom "some zoom, more zoom, a lot of zoom".
In the end I had to give it up actually, and leave the gorgeous device in a cabinet. I occasionally
used it to play music, which it happily did for for ever.
Conclusion: The only real way to consume books is to bite the bullet and use a proper tablet.
I might fall into the hands of the empire and use "Good Reader" and DropBox to read my PDFs on an
iPad3 this fall, or I might get the Asus Transformer and download the "Cool Reader" app. Pinching and swiping gestures ARE very useful
when reading. For the ZOOM, I'm going with a fully fledged tablet. The eInk device I bought was a huge letdown. /end rant
Is not going to rest on the purchace of a device. If you want to read more you will find a way to read more. My preferance is books; the search function provided by my brain becomes more powerful with each use. Buy your device and read the fine manual. -off reading to the spousal unit from a book we read together nearly twenty years ago...
... if you plan on reading books for an extended period of time, you are better off getting an e-Reader. The E-Ink display technology is as close to paper that you can get and I find it much easier on my eyes than reading a laptop or tablet screen. The Kindle works well in all lighting conditions and the battery lasts a really long time (over 2 weeks without a charge). I would recommend getting the official Kindle lighted cover. It's a bit on the pricy side, but it's great having the built-in light for late night reading, over-night plane trips, camping, etc.
However, if you are looking for a device to read manuals, search for content, and with interactive capabilities, then you need a tablet.
I have both a Kindle and a tablet. I use the Kindle to read books (i.e. Game of Thrones) and the tablet for manuals (i.e. Kenwood stereo installation in my car). Each has their strengths and weaknesses.
Because right now he is doing what you demand: He's researching the topic. He had probably waded already through a bunch of specs and documentations and explaining the differences between LCD and eInk, and now he is here to collect reports of personal experience. If you don't want to share yours, so be it.
I prefer the eInk based eReaders right now. Setting them to landscape mode lets me read PDFs just fine, it's always two screens per page. And for normal eBooks they are marvellous, for the reasons stated above: You can read them at the pool or in bed, they are easy to read, and you can carry a whole bookshelf worth of books within 170 g of hardware. The battery stays longer than a whole vacation. As long as you use it solely as a book reader, the space limits of a few GBytes like the Kindle has, are no problem - one GByte of text equals to about 500,000 pages, and there are enough tools to manage an off-reader library of books if the need arises.
I don't. For anything but photo books, I can't find a compelling reason to use paper books. Less comfortable to flip, much heavier, harder to read at odd angles, can't be operated with just one hand, etc. Not only that, but I have to handle all my books: store, transport, clean, etc. If I can get rid of the bookshelves I have when I buy a flat, it will save me thousands of dollars in real estate (not kidding, literally thousands of dollars).
So do I. Not only that, I used to work as a science buyer for a book chain and I still run a blog reviewing science based books from SF to pop-sci and postgrad texts. When working for the bookshop I found the company was split around 50/50 into two camps, the "eBooks are a fad and we should ignore them, paper is the only way" side and the "eBooks are going to be big, we need to be involved in this" faction. I'm in the second camp - real paper books aren't going anywhere in a hurry, I find them to be far more pleasant to read than an eReader, I love the feel, the smell, everything about real books, but eReaders still have their place when it comes to portability. I've got a huge library at home, but you can't carry that number of books on a train, being able to carry the entire works of H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and all of the other classic SF writers is worth the cost of an eReader alone - I tend to use my eReader for free Gutenberg texts and buy new books in paper format.
eReaders and paper books aren't competing in my mind, they're complimentary.
Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
Libraries take too long and you don't get to keep the books, if you want to read a book again, you have to actually go down to the library and take it out again. I used to buy books from my local bookshop (Exclusive Books) but my bookcase is now overfull and book were starting to pile up on my desk and bedside table so I decided to give e-books a chance, I use my smartphone, at first it was hard to adapt, now that I am used to it though it has made reading easier. I do most of my reading during my dayly comute and not having to carry around a heavy book makes things a lot easier. Libraries are unfortunately an out dated model, having to go to a library to get a book I would have to take back just takes too long. I like being able to have a wide selection of books with me at all times so that I have something to read no matter what my mood is. Many authors also have books available for free download (William Gibson, Cory Doctorow etc.) and some books are no longer in print but can be downloaded. I don't think Libraries should be forgotten about, I just think they should be digitalised and archieved after say 10 years Online libraries should be allowed to add books to their archieves, with the option to be printed and delivered to your doorstep or downloaded. For my two cents however I recomend a tablet, they have a wider range of uses and can read multiple formats or convert useles formats to pdf's or whatever you choose.
Or, you know, that's just like my opinion.
Yes, I know, "phablet" is a stupid name, but the Samsung Galaxy Note (the smartphone, not the tablet) with the Kindle software makes an excellent e-book reader. You have to get used to the size, though. It is huge for a phone and maybe a little bit too small for a tablet, but in my view exactly right for an e-book.
Hi have an iPad and it runs all of the major eReader formats. I assume Android is the same. Those of you saying you can buy a cheap $75 eReader, did you multiply 75 by the number of eBook formats out there, since those cheap ones only play their proprietary format?
Seriously,
Get reading glasses!
Then renew your library card and hunt some fun books to get back in the habbit.
Samsung apparently has a new tablet so look for bargains ...
Should be a winner.
IPods screen resolution is good and makes a big difference. Eink is easier to read in daylight.
The key is content and presentation. Since type setting is absent on all electronic presentations go for application flexibility. I.e a tablet.
The bigger screens win.
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
How often do you answer and either-or question with a yes or a no?
The question was "Should I Get an eBook Reader Or a Tablet?"
The answer is "no."
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
Tablets offer too many distractions. Every time the e-mail dings, your attention is drawn away from reading. I have an iPad and love it, but my Kindle has become my primary reading device.
photosMy Photostream
Having tried both for long time, I can tell eBooks wins hands down, even better if you get one that can read (or made to read) both MOBI and EPUB formats,on the PDF side , if you read a lot of PDFs with a lot of graphics in it, I would agree that a tablet is better, but given software like Calibre you can convert the more 'textly' pdf to mobi or alike in a decent manner. I find e-ink display superlative compared to tablet-lcd/amoled and the likes, not to mention the incredible battery life difference...you can keep reading for weeks...etc. my2cnts
Novels = e-ink hands down, no debate
Tech manuals/comics/similar = tablet. ( At least until you can get an affordable color e-ink large format reader )
After struggling with 'e-books' since the mainframe days, there was no question in my mind that after the first time i saw e-ink in real life there was no comparison, and no going back.
I doubt ink will ever make it into the multimedia market, but really, it doesn't need to and should stick with what its best for. ( once we get color )
---- Booth was a patriot ----
That's all. Just "Yes." You should.
Get the one you like best.
Coming up on Ask Slashdot: "What movie should I go see?", "Which girl/boy should I ask out?", and "What should I major in?"
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
It's powerful, cheap and the battery lasts all day. The only place where e-ink has a clear edge is in broad daylight.
I pretty much only read 2nd hand paperbacks. You can pay a couple of $ per copy from a 2nd hand bookshop or charity shop, read them, then give them back. You support charity / the local economy, and its pretty much carbon neutral.
Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated up.
I heard the average kindle customer buys $300 worth of content a year. Thats a little over two ebooks a month. The convenience of buying instantly online may be what does it. They hook you with a free first chapter.
In the scheme of things, such content not more expensive than regular theater movies or a few bar beers a months. There is FREE content. But that tends to be classic books and old TV shows.
You say you'd like a dictionary, in which case a tablet is usually going to do that better.
But if you get distracted easily by things like having the ability to play Angry Birds, then a basic e-reader might be better.
If you read in bed at night, a front lit reader would be favorable (Nook has one and there's supposedly a front lit Kindle on the way soon) as backlit screens can be hard on the eyes or distracting if you have a partner who is trying to sleep while you read.
If you read in bright sunlight an e-ink reader would be best. Etc, etc....
My advice would be to get a $80 Kindle or the cheapest E-Reader you can find second hand or on clearance and give it a try for a month or so. If you end up not liking it, you'll at least have some practical use experience to determine why you don't like it and have a better idea of what you would like.
For me, I use a fairly old Sony PRS-505. I also have several other readers (Nook Glow, Kindle and a iPad) but the reason I keep it is because of my variables. The main one is that I read a lot of series books and I use Calibre to manage my book library and Sony's software allows me to group books in order by series very easily using Calibre. The Nook and Kindle don't allow outside programs that ability so you have to sort books one by one into Shelves or Collections on the reader itself which takes forever. The Sony doesn't also doesn't have a touch screen which is nice as I read in bed a lot and end up flipping pages or bringing up menus all the time whenever I shift with a touch screen. It also acts as an MP3 player which is great when traveling to block out distractions and allows me to play audiobooks as well. And it's much lighter than an iPad so it's easier to tote around or hold in one hand when I read at lunch and such.
Get a 4+" screen smart phone. The only negative here is it would be hard to handle textbooks on the smaller screen. Every kind of ebook distributor has an app that works on an android phone, and they all do seem to work okay for general reading. You can switch to white text on black screen for reading at night or to save on power. You'll adapt, it's definitely just good enough tech approach, and you read a lot less on the screen at one go, but it's a flick to get to the next page and you don't have to carry multiple devices. If you use your smart phone a lot, you are already set up to handle getting it recharged as you go (car charger, charger at work, by computer, in kitchen, etc, spare battery if you can remove yours, etc). Smart phones with 3G/4G access can go get new books. I've harvested tons of free books on the major 3 platforms, and Amazon also has free ebooks all the time. It's a new hook for authors with multi-book series, first book is free, second book is $1-2 and so on to newest book which is $4-5. I've done this multiple times, and I get all three books as fast as I can read them generally for $5-8, and for 3 full books I really enjoyed that's a good price. So I have tons of books, all of Frank Baum's Oz books are available free from Google Books for example, ready to be reread when the urge hits. Aldiko has a separate sync app that allows you to copy your Aldiko library to your dropbox and then to another smartphone/tablet/etc.
How about this, buy both. I read PDFs and color text books on a tablet (iPad) and I'll read linear content (novels) on the iPad if it's the only thing I have with me. But I far prefer linear content on an e-ink ereader. It's much nicer on the eyes and the battery lasts a really long time.
If the budget restricts, pick one - tablet is more flexible, but not as enjoyable to read on (in my opinion), or ereader if you like to read linear content like novels, linear non-fiction, etc.
I bought a cheap Kobo reader, and it's been a smooth transition from reading paperbacks - rarely - to reading ebooks regularly.
The availability of a store for instant gratification is nice, although it's still severely limited in range (maybe a Kobo thing).
The web browser is too crude to use daily, but I think shows that it would be quite nice to read web pages on an e-Ink device.
The Kobo has a nice looking UI, but everything else is a bit clumsy; PC software was clunky, store is clunky, performance is patchy. I just got it because I had some vouchers and it was cheap. And for plain reading, it's fine.
For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert. - Arthur C. Clarke
If you plan to do your reading outdoors or in really bright places, an e-ink screen will likely give you a superior experience.
If you plan to read in bed before sleeping, an e-ink reader may be less disruptive to your sleep patterns, but will require you to have a light, or get a Nook Touch with backlight.
If you plan to read mostly indoors, on the couch, at the table, or somewhere other than in bed at night, you might prefer the versatility of a color tablet like a Nook, a Kindle Fire, a Nexus 7, or an iPad.
If you like to hack stuff and want complete control over your content, I'd recommend a Nexus 7 or a Nook Color or Nook Tablet, but that's just my opinion.
Tablet. Typically eBook readers come with an app for reading Amazon, or B&N or ... With a tablet, you can get apps for these, plus public domain readers. Don't get a large format tablet, the Nexus 7 is a good size to hold. The Samsung 10.1 is too large.
I have a Kindle 3 and iPad 2. The Kindle is much easier to hold than the iPad. The Kindle is easier on my eyes, especially for longer periods of reading. However, even though I have bad eyes, and both devices can enlarge the print, I've found it easier to read books instead. Lots of books I want to read aren't available yet in ebook format. Also, many ebooks are more expensive than a used hardback or paperback. Plus, now that everyone is going to digital readers, used books are cheap and plentiful.
I would advice you to get the free library software Calibre, and deDRM all books you buy. I also convert everything to epub for guaranteed forward compatibility. DRM stripping is automatic and completely painless, google "apprentice alf" to obtain the necessary Calibre plugins. That way you're vendor-independent, and don't have to rely on drm-servers which will surely not exist indefinitely. There are also a great selection of classics and a few contemporary novels available for free, and not all classics are heavy. Look into Wodehouse or any number of turn-of-the-century mystery/crime authors for light, free reads. I buy a lot of books as well, and rarely pay more than about $8 for a book, often far less. I won't get into any piracy debate, I really don't care, but I personally find that legally obtained books are very affordable and painless to use when stripped of DRM.cheap nike nfl jerseys cheap nike nfl jerseys cheap nike nfl jerseys cheap nike nfl jerseys