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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."
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
The have a wide selection, great price, and 2 weeks to read it.
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.
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.
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.
Here's to losing my Karma Bonus again....
You'll fart around and waste time on the internet with a tablet.
At least, that's what I'd probably do...
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
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 :)
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.
Agreed. If you're actually going to be using the thing for reading in a serious way, then eReader without a doubt. Ridiculously long battery life, pleasant to read on, no reflections and usable in direct sunlight, and far cheaper. In fact, for something that can do everything, you can buy a netbook and eReader for less than a tablet, and you get superior reading and superior computing. Tablets are for when you want the reading experience of a netbook and the typing/input interface of an eReader.
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I don't agree. I use a Toshiba Thrive 10" Android tablet with an SD card full of textbooks in PDF. Makes it really easy to transfer them to my notebook if need. By reading them with EzPDF I can highlight, annotate, draw on them and save them. I can add bookmarks and quickly do searches too. I also find the extra length of the screen in portrait mode (due to the widescreen setup on Android tablets) is beneficial as it allows menus and toolbars along the top and bottom of the screen which don't overlay on the page. Overall, I can't think of a better solution, except for possibly a matte screen to reduce reflections.
Ebook readers aren't great for PDFs, but they are leagues ahead of tablets for reading textbooks. I'd leave it another couple of years until ebooks really get all the wrinkles ironed out, then get an ebook reader. I have a nook and I can store tens of thousands of quality books in there at less than the weight of a paperback.
Ebook readers aren't great for PDFs, but they are leagues ahead of tablets for reading textbooks. I'd leave it another couple of years until ebooks really get all the wrinkles ironed out, then get an ebook reader. I have a nook and I can store tens of thousands of quality books in there at less than the weight of a paperback.
I have a Kindle and an iPad. Both have their strong points. The remarks about reading PF files are valid. However there is one other thing to consider, environment. The iPad is 100% useless outside in bright light. I use mine for reading in bed. The Kindle needs ambient light for the display so it is perfect outside, even in bright sunlight.
Since when is "public safety" the root password to the Constitution?
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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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
I hate being in bright sunlight so that isn't an issue for me. I have a basic kindle and Nexus 7, and I've read books on both.
Both are a handy size for reading and both can be held in one hand comfortably, though the kindle is lighter. I haven't read so long with the Nexus that I've drained the battery, but if you are going to be away from power for days, the kindle is better because it will have juice.
However, for reading PDFs, particularly PDFs with color, the kindle is very weak compared to the tablet. For example, I have the fishing regs for my state uploaded to my kindle and to the kindle app on the Nexus 7, and it's a real pain to use on the kindle. On the tablet, it's a snap to zoom in on a picture of a fish for example, or on some small print for a particular marine area. It's so clunky to do the same thing on the Kindle that I don't even bother trying.
However, reading in the dark with the kindle app on the Nexus 7 can be blinding. The Kindle app doesn't respect the brightness settings you set for the tablet, at least not once you're in your book. Fortunately, you can choose to adjust the display in the kindle app once you are on a page of the book by clicking on the font size icon -- then you can choose black on white, sepia, or white on black. You can also adjust brightness. I can't figure out why that is in the font size setting area, rather than in the preferences area, and I found it only accidentally. Anyway, for me, white text on black at the minimum brightness is tolerable enough for reading till I doze off. It isn't as good as ambient light on e-ink, but tolerable.
The nexus will play netflix vids fine, though I rigged up a bit of stand by bending up a coat hanger so I can just set it on a side table rather than hold it if I want to fall asleep watching a show. Obviously the kindle won't do video at all. The tablet is a lot closer to having a real computer too and can do interesting things like marine charts, games, etc. etc.
Anyway, if I didn't already have the kindle, I wouldn't buy one now that I have a 7" tablet. It will do what the kindle does best reasonably well, plus a million things the kindle won't do at all, and excels at a few things the Kindle does poorly (like full color PDFs).
I don't have a 10" tablet, but I don't think I'd want one either. At that size a laptop is more compelling to me, but a 7" tablet can be used with one hand quite handily. So anyway, I'd get a 7" tablet and use the $100 a kindle costs for buying books rather than buying both devices.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
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.