iPad iPad as E-Reader

[luqtotheman]

Hello,

How many of you guys use your iPad air as a e-reader? Casual books or textbooks.

What are your thought?

For those that don't, why not?

 

[kristalsoldier]

My iPad4 is primarily used as an e-reader in an academic setting. It is excellent. For PDF documents, I use PDF Expert and for ePUB documents, I use iBooks, which also works very well. The aspect ratio is particularly suited to read books.

 

[Steeley]

I do. It's great inside, but utterly useless for reading outside. Some people have a problem with it being backlit, especially at night, but I'm not one of them.

I use it to read literature, and the odd PDF textbook.

I think Kindle is the master of this domain, but I just don't want another device in my life.

 

[luqtotheman]

I do. It's great inside, but utterly useless for reading outside. Some people have a problem with it being backlit, especially at night, but I'm not one of them.

I use it to read literature, and the odd PDF textbook.

I think Kindle is the master of this domain, but I just don't want another device in my life.

I think the Kindle of the best but iPad is still great. I don't want to buy another device to carry or to pay for...

 

[Wzrd0715]

Hello,

How many of you guys use your iPad air as a e-reader? Casual books or textbooks.

What are your thought?

For those that don't, why not?

I began purchasing all my textbooks on my iPad beginning in the Spring of 2012 using the Kno Textbook app. Being a university student, I loathe lugging the tremendous weight of textbooks around with me on a daily basis. Now all six of my textbooks weigh a total of one pound (still rocking my iPad 2) and I have the flexibility of carrying all of my textbooks with me wherever I go. Textbooks on Kno are seemingly cheaper as well, and offer options to purchase the textbook which gives you a license for life, or a renting option with a license for the duration of the semester (usually around 6 months). Once the semester is over your license on your rented books runs out and are "returned" to the Kno Textbook server. They also offer an option to extend your rented textbooks in the case that the semester is longer than the allotted renting period, and their customer service is very responsive to all questions you have in regards to your textbooks. Certain textbooks in Kno offer interactive diagrams, charts, models, etc. that allow you to get a "hands on feel" of in book material. Kno offers highlighting, writing on pages, bookmarks, sticky notes and an abundance of other features that are saved to your "journal" to allow you to keep all your important information saved in one spot. Also a new feature that is being developed by Kno is flashcards and tests. These flashcards test you on all the key terms within a chapter, and some books even have an option to fill in diagrams that are within the book, saving you the time and trouble of creating study aids on your own. If you're like me and require organization to be productive, and enjoy having everything you need in one consolidated spot, then I would strongly suggest using the iPad as a textbook e-reader.

 

[alphaod]

Casual? Yes. It works great.

For long reading I prefer a Kindle. Much easier to read and less eyestrain.

 

[maflynn]

The main reason I bought the Mini and now the rMini is for reading. The rMini is great for this, and I recommend it.

 

[S.B.G]

Hello,

How many of you guys use your iPad air as a e-reader? Casual books or textbooks.

What are your thought?

For those that don't, why not?

I use the rMini for reading and have actually quit using the Kindle Paperwhite for my reading.

The rMini screen is great, the size is great and so is the weight.

 

[WilliamLondon]

I use the rMini for reading and have actually quit using the Kindle Paperwhite for my reading.

The rMini screen is great, the size is great and so is the weight.

I've yet to replace my mini with an rMini (next paycheque I will<smile>), the reason I originally got the mini was to read (and annotate) PDFs, which it does brilliantly, I use it all the time for that and more (and I'm sure the rMini will be even better, can't wait!), but I still read plain old books on my Paperwhite - the battery life is so much better I find, and the weight of the device just makes it so much easier to read for longer periods of time, I can't imagine ever giving up my Kindle (whichever version) and having any iPad replace that functionality for me.

 

[EDH667]

I second that, I was doing all my reading on a Kindle Paperwhite, and now use my rMini. It is nice having everything on one device.

 

[donnaw]

I use my kindle HDX more than my iPad for reading. But on both I use the white text on black background. Much easier on the eyes. The text on the iPad is a bit whiter than the kindle. I prefer the kindle simply due to the size. But if I read a lot of textbooks/PDFs I would prefer the iPad.

 

[SpyderBite]

My primary use of my iPads is reading. iBooks, Kindle App, Newstand, ComicX, etc. Don't really use it much for anything else since I'm usually using it while in front if the television and/or computer anyways.

 

[HengenJL]

One of my main uses for my iPad is as an e-reader. I have read 88 books so far this year and all of them have been on my iPad. I primarily use iBooks for epub formatted books. As for PDF documents I primarily use GoodReader.

 

[caesarp]

Hello,

How many of you guys use your iPad air as a e-reader? Casual books or textbooks.

What are your thought?

For those that don't, why not?

e-reading is one of my primary uses for my iPad air. I have the kindle app installed and use that to constantly read e-books, downloaded from Amazon books/kindle. I use it for mainly non-fiction books (and some fiction). Long out of school, so no text books.

The Air is great for e-reading since it is so light.

----------

I use my kindle HDX more than my iPad for reading. But on both I use the white text on black background. Much easier on the eyes. The text on the iPad is a bit whiter than the kindle. I prefer the kindle simply due to the size. But if I read a lot of textbooks/PDFs I would prefer the iPad.

Use "sepia" background for reading on the iPad. Much nicer.

 

[MisakixMikasa]

I use the rMini for reading and have actually quit using the Kindle Paperwhite for my reading.

The rMini screen is great, the size is great and so is the weight.

Reading on rMini is absolute joy, however, I am still thinking Paperwhite is better for eye. E-Link is still better than LCD for most part... I still get eye strain for long period of reading...

 

[Fattytail]

Reading on rMini is absolute joy, however, I am still thinking Paperwhite is better for eye. E-Link is still better than LCD for most part... I still get eye strain for long period of reading...

I found I've been able to negate any eyestrain issues by adjusting backlight brightness and switching it white text on black in low light environments. To be honest, I think I get less eyestrain on iPads because of the higher contrast ratio. Kindles seem like dark gray on light gray.

 

[chilady1]

I am a direhard Kindle reader but always wanted to use my iPad for reading. Well I have since starting using Marvin as my ereader application and love this app. It is so customizable - does a lot of things that iBooks should do.

Since I started using Marvin - haven't picked up the Kindle is a while. Also reading glasses made a HUGE difference when using my iPad for reading. Like mentioned earlier, adjusting the light on the background helps keep the eye strain down also.

I liked reading on my iPad2 but with the Air, it is even better because the Air is really light and I can hold with one hand very comfortably. I still have my Kindles as back-ups but my iPad Air has now become my primary reading device.

 

[Ronnoco]

I do a lot of reading on my iPad Air (and my iPad 2 when I had it), and I have no problems with it. I've always been enamored with the Kindle Paper White though...incredible little device.

 

[nburwell]

Reading on rMini is absolute joy, however, I am still thinking Paperwhite is better for eye. E-Link is still better than LCD for most part... I still get eye strain for long period of reading...

I don't read for long periods of time (probably 45 minutes max), so reading on the rMini is a breeze for me. So much so that I don't even touch my Kindle anymore. Admittedly, if I read for longer periods of time, then I would probably reach for my Kindle more often than my rMini.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

Hello,

How many of you guys use your iPad air as a e-reader? Casual books or textbooks.

What are your thought?

For those that don't, why not?

I use mine for my textbooks. For one textbook I had to use CourseSmart, which I literally HATE. I'm going to try kindle next. It seems to work better and I can actually see the text, plus it doesn't crash every time I search for something.

 

[Krazy Bill]

When you say books... do you really mean "books" or reading in general (like pdf's).

I read all non-technical "books" on my iPhone. My entire library fits in my shirt pocket and it's with me wherever I go - always available. Text size is fine and reading one handed never wearies the hand/arm. The only thing one gains on a bigger display would be less thumb-flicks. Big deal.

The iPad is just too heavy and cumbersome for books IMO. Plus, you can't drag it with you everywhere.

 

[FiremanMike]

Hello,

How many of you guys use your iPad air as a e-reader? Casual books or textbooks.

What are your thought?

For those that don't, why not?

I use mine as a casual reader. I think if I was doing textbooks I'd want a full size iPad (I have the mini)..

 

[AllergyDoc]

My Air is my 3rd iPad. I've read eBooks, PDFs, etc., on all of them. Because of it's light weight, the Air has been the best. I use Marvin when possible but as Amazon is the leader most of my eBooks have to be read in the Kindle App. It's not a bad app, it's just not as good as Marvin. I don't read much outside anymore but if I did, I guess I'd have to get a Kindle.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Only if my kindle is not at hand (which is rare) or I want to hide the fact that I'm reading (in class etc). It's not bad but I prefer using my kindle. I do read comics and magazines on there though, although I prefer using my galaxy tab 2 because the screen is bigger.

 

[TomTomHatesCats]

I'm studying Korean and Japanese, and my main reason for purchasing the rMini was as an e-reader. iOS's built-in dictionaries allow me to quickly look up any words I don't know in iBooks or Safari (or any app that allows you to select text) without interrupting the flow of the reading, so it's a perfect study tool.