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Mindy60

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 24, 2011
124
0
Houston, TX USA
...would you buy a kindle? Or do you think the iPad Kindle app is sufficient enough to handle it? Thoughts, suggestions?
 
I bought a Kindle Fire for that because it's easy to hold and read from a 7" Tablet. The Kindle App is fine and the text looks awesome on an iPad 3. That's where the Retina screen shines.

But even so I still prefer the Kindle Fire for reading books, again only because of the size of the device.
 
I don't like the Kindle iPad app, so I buy from Amazon, de-drm the books, and convert them to epub. Then I can read them in any ebooks reading app of choice. For now, it's iBooks.
 
The Kindle screen is not really that good compared to the iPad3. I use the Kindle app on an iPad3 and it seems fine to me. It's big enough and bright enough and has good contrast.
 
I found the Kindle Fire to be surprisingly heavy for the size
It seemed clunky to use as well

We both have iPads so we gave the Kindle Fire away
 
I bought a Kindle Fire for that because it's easy to hold and read from a 7" Tablet. The Kindle App is fine and the text looks awesome on an iPad 3. That's where the Retina screen shines.

But even so I still prefer the Kindle Fire for reading books, again only because of the size of the device.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I'm thinking of getting the Kindle fire. I'm a techie type and love my toys. Granted it would never replace my iPad of course. But I really love and depend on amazon so I think I will get a fire. I will use it mostly for reading. I need color because I am at present reading photography books which require color.

I'm envious you have the iPad 3. I opted not to wait and really I am still okay I didn't wait for it. I'm good for now.

Cheers,
Mindy :)
 
Thanks for the thoughtful response. I'm thinking of getting the Kindle fire. I'm a techie type and love my toys. Granted it would never replace my iPad of course. But I really love and depend on amazon so I think I will get a fire. I will use it mostly for reading. I need color because I am at present reading photography books which require color.

I'm envious you have the iPad 3. I opted not to wait and really I am still okay I didn't wait for it. I'm good for now.

Cheers,
Mindy :)

Just an FYI, if your not in a hurry i'd wait for the supposed Kindle Fire 2 announcement. I purchased the Kindle Fire at Launch when it was released in October 2011.

http://www.mobilenapps.com/articles/2920/20120702/amazon-kindle-fire-2-rumor-specs-price.htm

"Latest media reports have suggested that Amazon will unveil the second-generation Kindle Fire this summer and it is targeting a launch this month itself. Citing anonymous sources, CNET reported last week that Amazon's Kindle Fire 2 will be announced on July 31.

The device will be priced at $199, but the reports have not confirmed, whether the price tag mentioned is for the 7-inch version or 10-inch version. However it's logical to assume that the price point is for the 7-inch device.

Industry watchers had speculated in the past that Amazon was planning to launch the 7-inch tablet at the beginning of the third quarter and the company is also expected to reduce the price of the existing Kindle Fire to $149."
 
I'm currently trying to decide which Kindle I want to get :p

I love reading on my iPad, but I'm really not entirely comfortable using it when I'm traveling around the city. Also I kind of want a dedicated e-reader when I go abroad next month.
 
I use the Kindle app from Amazon, works perfectly, what's not to like:cool:

Well right now I am having probs that started after d/l 3 books off amazon (discussed in separate thread). Might not be related, but still, I think I'd rather have a tablet dedicated to reading if I am going to be buying as many kindle books as I have been.
 
If you decide to buy a Kindle Fire consider getting an Amazon Prime membership $79 a year.

It comes with free reading from the Kindle Book Library and free movies and shows. That's my favorite part of owing a Fire.
 
I have about 20 amazon kindle books on my iPad. I also have 10 iBooks on the same iPad. Can't decide which I prefer. I guess basically do the same thing relatively efficiently. I like to price compare between the two though. So I will always use both. But I'll never buy an e-reader as I enjoy the convenience of having all my books on the mobile device I use the most. :)
 
If you're looking at the Fire just for reading, why not get the Nexus 7? Same price, better features and a much better, unlocked OS...
 
I have the base model Kindle for my books and love it. I hate reading books on my iPad. Don't really know why but I'm just more at home reading books on my Kindle.
 
I have the base model Kindle for my books and love it. I hate reading books on my iPad. Don't really know why but I'm just more at home reading books on my Kindle.

Probably because the size of the Fire is similar to the size of a paperback book. ;)
 
I read kindle books on my iPad, iPhone and (occasionally) Mac or PC. Can't see any point in owning a Kindle per se.
 
I would not consider a Kindle Fire, the screen is low resolution like the old iPad screens were, so there's a grid over everything, which I found to be the main reason I was getting eyestrain from reading on LCDs all day.

Getting an iPad 2 is what got me started buying books from Amazon, and I then bought the Kindle 4 as soon as it was released, because I found that I couldn’t read on the iPad for as long as I’d like without getting eyestrain. The Kindle 4 is the model I would recommend—the touch is less portable, more expensive, and physical buttons are preferable on e-ink in my opinion. (The screen doesn’t update quickly enough)

I was never entirely happy with it. Yes, it was nice and small & light, but I was constantly searching for bright light sources to read under. E-ink is much lower contrast than paper—even when compared to the cheapest paperbacks the page is much darker, it’s like cheap newsprint. I didn’t like reading with the lighted cover, so I basically had to be under a bright lamp or be outdoors when reading for it to be comfortable. That said, there was far less eyestrain reading on it for long periods of time compared to the iPad 2, as long as there was good light.


Since upgrading to the new iPad, I have been able to read books for hours comfortably without eyestrain due to the retina display eliminating the grid over the screen. Just recently, I decided to sell my Kindle. Most of my reading is done at home, and I use the iPad so much already that the size & weight is not a concern, but not having to go hunting for a good light source to read under has been a much better experience. If I had to be reading outside or had a bus/train commute, I’d probably still have the Kindle, but it just wasn’t seeing any use since I bought the new iPad. Text looks a lot nicer on the iPad too—the Kindle is not a high resolution device.

Perhaps once they release a Kindle with a built-in light like the Nook has, I’d consider one again, but I don’t really like reading under LED lighting, and it would still be low resolution.

While I prefer to use the Kindle ecosystem for buying my books, I agree with the poster that suggested to strip the DRM and read them in iBooks. It only takes a minute when you first but the book, and you have a much better reading experience. (Good margins, left-aligned text rather than fully justified, much better font choices)

One thing the Kindle does have going for it though, is that the screen is very slow, and it’s a low power device. That might sound like a bad thing, but it means that all you can do is read books on it. With the iPad, you’re two taps away from playing a game, watching a film, listening to music, checking Twitter/Facebook, you get email notifications coming in etc. With the Kindle, you’re focused on reading.
 
I have a touch and I would read in bed with my iphone. I just got a new ipad today so I am testing that. The touch has it's problems. slow connection to wireless and really slow to 3g. it tends to sync once and get stuc k. say I read at night on my iphone then in the morning it will want to sync from the night and not in the morning and you have to do it manually. page turning is not consistent and more of a pain then the buttons ever were.
 
I have an iPad 3gen and a Kindle Touch and read on both. I prefer the Kindle for proper reading sessions, because of the e-ink and the size/weight. It's so easy to sync across devices when you use the kindle app on the iPad, so it's fine switching between the two.
 
I buy a lot of books on Kindle and I read them across all my devices.
If I'm in the sun or heading out for a quick journey, the Kindle goes with me. If I'm around the house, I'll read on the Kindle iPad app. When I'm stuck I'll dip in for a few pages on my iPhone. I think it's awesome.
 
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