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ipad good choice for eReader?

What killed reading on the iPad for me was the glare, when used in the location where I had the most time to read.

For me, that was work (where I have a lot of technical books to read). The overhead florescent lights required holding the iPad in an almost straight up-and-down position to avoid reflecting a mirror image of my face (and everything in my cube behind me). As lightweight as the iPad is for a tablet computer, I didn't find holding it in that position for more than a few minutes to be comfortable. With my Kindle, I just lay it flat on my desk and read great with no glare.

So as long as you're not reading in environments like that, .. I totally recommend it. I liked the interface so much more than the Kindle.
 
Piggie said:
Well in 15+ years she's never been able to play a video tape, or in more recent years even change the TV channel to play a DVD.

Unless you personally know someone totally techno phobic, it's hard to understand.
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Then perhaps the iPad would be less intimidating? Seems like a factor you should consider in her case. Can you have her try your iPad? Can you take her to Best Buy to try a Kindle?
 
as an iPad owner who has been trying out a borrowed Kindle for a while, I'd add:

the Kindle 3 is so light and comfortable to hold in one hand for extended periods of time, it makes a perfect sized reader (I couldn't say the same about earlier generations of Kindles, which I had also tried). I do read in bed with my iPad each night, but it gets heavy pretty quick lying down. but I would never trade my iPad for a Kindle - there's just too many other things it can do well - and I still can read books in iBooks or the Kindle app.

but for someone else who only cares about reading (and reads a lot), I often recommend getting a Kindle.

p.s. re glare on iPad - I use and antiglare protector so that's not a problem for me
 
Night Spring said:
Then perhaps the iPad would be less intimidating?
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x2

I'd think the iPad's touch UI would be a lot easier for a technophobe to get used to vs. the Kindle's home/menu/back buttons (and that d-square thing for navigating).

Sucks about her dropping books when she gets tired, though. You'd have to get her an Otterbox for her iPad. ;)
 
aristobrat said:
x2

I'd think the iPad's touch UI would be a lot easier for a technophobe to get used to vs. the Kindle's home/menu/back buttons (and that d-square thing for navigating).

Sucks about her dropping books when she gets tired, though. You'd have to get her an Otterbox for her iPad. ;)
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Have Belkin's Grip Vue case on my iPad, with a screen protector. Have dropped it a few times from tabletop to floor with no damage. Should be ok for drops from bed to floor.
 
I used to read full books on an old Palm IIIe back about a decade ago so maybe I just have "well trained eyes". BUT... I read 200-300 pages a day on the iPad all the time. I have all of the apps and there isn't a book you can't find. Love it.

But yes the Kindle does look even better. E-Ink is an amazing thing. And they're dirt cheap now. BUT... It's only an eReader.

The Nook Color doesn't do much for me at all. Pricey and the screen on the iPad is better. And it's only an eReader.
 
I think the Kindle is a great device. Very small and lightweight, and the screen is unique and quite cool in terms of displaying text. Battery life is crazy good as well. And the price is a huge advantage.

The iPad is a bit more cumbersome as an ereader due to its size and weight. However, it can do so many more things than an ereader, and the battery life is also quite good. Not as good, but iBooks with the brightness turned down can last more than long enough in between charges.

Ultimately I'd say if what you really want is an ereader, get the Kindle. If you want something more multipurpose (even if its just checking news and weather and things), the iPad is a great choice and will also perform well as an ereader.
 
frocco said:
Hello,

Compared to Kindle and Nook Color, would the ipad be a better choice?
Would I be able to buy the same books?

Thanks
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If you are looking strictly for an ereader then, no. The iPad would NOT be better choice. I have an iPad and a nook classic. Both are great devices but they serve different purposes.

While it is true that you can use the iPad as an ereader, it doesn't do it as well as the nook. The nook is smaller, lighter. The screen is crisper for text and can be used in a variety of lighting conditions. Page turning is as simple as a bezel click... much easier to read with one hand. Trying to hold and swipe the iPad screen is a bit of a challenge.

The nook is geared towards sequential reading... reading page by page. It isn't so good at bouncing around and directly accessing specific sections of a book.

I think that the nook is superior to the Kindle and I appreciate the extra in-store perks of using a nook in a Barnes & Noble store.
 
sracer said:
If you are looking strictly for an ereader then, no. The iPad would NOT be better choice. I have an iPad and a nook classic. Both are great devices but they serve different purposes.

While it is true that you can use the iPad as an ereader, it doesn't do it as well as the nook. The nook is smaller, lighter. The screen is crisper for text and can be used in a variety of lighting conditions. Page turning is as simple as a bezel click... much easier to read with one hand. Trying to hold and swipe the iPad screen is a bit of a challenge.

The nook is geared towards sequential reading... reading page by page. It isn't so good at bouncing around and directly accessing specific sections of a book.

I think that the nook is superior to the Kindle and I appreciate the extra in-store perks of using a nook in a Barnes & Noble store.
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I beg to differ. I have a kindle 2 and wouldnt touch a nook. Color screen on an ereader is just a gimmic.
 
As the topic is asking, I don't feel the iPad is a good choice for an eReader if that's really the sole purpose. I have both a Kindle 3 and my iPad and clearly, for reading, that purpose is filled best with my Kindle. That's not to say that I won't read on my iPad but all things being equal with book selections, I much prefer the Kindle.

The weight, ease of reading and battery life are all better with the Kindle. If I had to choose and only own one... strictly for reading... I'd have to pick the Kindle. I've owned a Sony eReader and a Nook and while the Nook was nice, I couldn't stand the sluggish UI via the touch screen and the book selection wasn't as nice (as of about 4 months ago at least).

Having said all this... I could never go without my iPad now. There's simply too many other things it does that I enjoy too much. If I plan on a good couple hours reading, the Kindle will be the device. If I'm lounging around and want to read for 30mins or so, my iPad is perfectly fine (with my Kindle app).
 
steel magnolia said:
@piggie I think your mother will LOVE the Kindle, just make sure you get her the one with 3G since she doesn't do a lot with computers ( unless she lives with you and you control the wifi)
I love my Ipad but after a while I realized that after reading at night before going to bed, I was having difficulty going to sleep. Went back to reading on the Kindle and that problem went away. Maybe I am just one of those weird people who has sleeping issues after looking at a backlit screen but I can't read or be online before trying to sleep!
May I also suggest that you get her the lighted case for the Kindle, I really like it and no more batteries to buy is a plus!

Patty
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I love my iPad reading. Screen lights up at night while my wife is sleeping. Excellent. Font increase allows me to read without glasses. The only downside is the heft of the iPad when it smacks me in the face as I fall asleep. Seriously, it's happens three times.
 
I've been enjoying the iPad reading experience. But I really hope they up the resolution a little bit for the next iPad. It doesn't have to be a "retina" display, but a little upgrade would be wonderful.

Other than that, I do prefer e-ink. However, the iPad can do so much more than a regular eReader. Those advantages are currently outweighing my preference for a non-backlit display.
 
If you are primarily looking for a device as an ereader then the Nook Color is the way to go. First, its screen blows the iPad away. And it is way more user friendly in getting around books and magazines. The magazines on the Nook all subscribe to one interface and method of working whereas on the iPad each magazine has a different format and you have to learn a different set of controls to read it. Same with books. The iBooks app is neat, but the store has a very limited selection. So you wind up installing apps from the Kindle Store, B&N, Kobo and Google just to buy books. And you have to read them through their on proprietary apps and learn their controls. With the Nook Color you can buy from all these stores, plus borrow books from the digital library, and load them into the Nook from your computer. And when you read them you use the Nook's standardized control system.

The Kindle is not in the same class as either the iPad or Nook Color. First, its screen is horrible - it has a dark gray background which becomes distracting over time. The front is cluttered with buttons that remind you of using an old rotary telephone. And then there is the fact that it uses a proprietary format, which means you are married to the Amazon store and can only buy books from there. You also can't borrow books from the digital libraries since they only use the universal epub format, that the Nook, Sony and iPad use.

Go to a local Best Buy or B&N store and just take a look at the Nook Color's screen. It looks just like paper and the text is so sharp and crisp, unlike the iPad's which causes eye strain.
 
Alvi said:
It's better than the nook color, but it's a tablet with reader apps, not an e-reader because it has no e-ink, you can't read a lot without bleeding eyes
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You might not be able to, but I can read a lot with it with no trouble at all.
 
stockscalper said:
So you wind up installing apps from the Kindle Store, B&N, Kobo and Google just to buy books. And you have to read them through their on proprietary apps and learn their controls. With the Nook Color you can buy from all these stores, plus borrow books from the digital library, and load them into the Nook from your computer. And when you read them you use the Nook's standardized control system.
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Where did you hear this? I mean, it would be great if this is true, but I just took a look around B&N's Nooks info, and didn't see any info about buying and reading ebooks from stores other than B&N.
 
stockscalper said:
If you are primarily looking for a device as an ereader then the Nook Color is the way to go. First, its screen blows the iPad away. And it is way more user friendly in getting around books and magazines. The magazines on the Nook all subscribe to one interface and method of working whereas on the iPad each magazine has a different format and you have to learn a different set of controls to read it. Same with books. The iBooks app is neat, but the store has a very limited selection. So you wind up installing apps from the Kindle Store, B&N, Kobo and Google just to buy books. And you have to read them through their on proprietary apps and learn their controls. With the Nook Color you can buy from all these stores, plus borrow books from the digital library, and load them into the Nook from your computer. And when you read them you use the Nook's standardized control system.

The Kindle is not in the same class as either the iPad or Nook Color. First, its screen is horrible - it has a dark gray background which becomes distracting over time. The front is cluttered with buttons that remind you of using an old rotary telephone. And then there is the fact that it uses a proprietary format, which means you are married to the Amazon store and can only buy books from there. You also can't borrow books from the digital libraries since they only use the universal epub format, that the Nook, Sony and iPad use.

Go to a local Best Buy or B&N store and just take a look at the Nook Color's screen. It looks just like paper and the text is so sharp and crisp, unlike the iPad's which causes eye strain.
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Totally false. Kindle is not limited to the amazon store. People should at least learn about a product before making such blatently false statements. And the screen on the kindle is great for reading. Color screens on an ereader is just a gimmick.
 
It won't be long before we look at today's version of the Kindle and shake our heads at how we ever used those things. Color is the future and it's coming quickly. And yes, it matters.

As for the iPad, as someone who has now read around 100 novels on it, it's by far the best device for reading I've ever experienced. I cannot get over how much I enjoy reading on an iPad.

But dedicated ereaders are fine too if that's all you are looking for.
 
NebulaClash said:
It won't be long before we look at today's version of the Kindle and shake our heads at how we ever used those things. Color is the future and it's coming quickly. And yes, it matters.

As for the iPad, as someone who has now read around 100 novels on it, it's by far the best device for reading I've ever experienced. I cannot get over how much I enjoy reading on an iPad.

But dedicated ereaders are fine too if that's all you are looking for.
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Yeah, because 1000s of years of books being black and white on paper has got to be a fluke. Color is useless in reading.
 
Dragoro said:
Yeah, because 1000s of years of books being black and white on paper has got to be a fluke. Color is useless in reading.
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A lot of paper in printed books is not completely white. Slightly brownish "parchment" color and other off-white shades can be easier on the eyes than pure white.

Plus, color is great for illustrated books. I love the free copy of Winnie-the-Pooh that comes with iBooks.

Dragoro said:
Totally false. Kindle is not limited to the amazon store.
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I recall hearing that you can put PDF and HTML onto the Kindle. Is that what you are referring to, or are there other ways to get non-Amazon purchased contents onto the Kindle?
 
If you're looking for a dedicated eReader, I would say that the Kindle is definitely the way to go. I bought my iPad for ebook reading (in addition to all the other amazing stuff that it does), but I've been somewhat disappointed in it as far as its eReader capabilities. For me, the screen wore on my eyes (as opposed to the e-ink in the Kindle) and it was somewhat heavy to hold for an extended period of time. Just my two cents...
 
Dragoro said:
Yeah, because 1000s of years of books being black and white on paper has got to be a fluke. Color is useless in reading.
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Uh, have you noticed how many books use color? Even if it's just in photographs or drawings inside the book, or the beautiful cover, it's in there in paper form.

Have you ever used a yellow highlighter to annotate a book? You used color.

I couldn't care less what has been done for 1000s of years. What I'm interested is in what's possible now. If technology gives us a better tool, I'm using it. And the iPad is a superior reading experience over paper books. I hate reading paper books now. They're old and limited.
 
NebulaClash said:
Uh, have you noticed how many books use color? Even if it's just in photographs or drawings inside the book, or the beautiful cover, it's in there in paper form.

Have you ever used a yellow highlighter to annotate a book? You used color.

I couldn't care less what has been done for 1000s of years. What I'm interested is in what's possible now. If technology gives us a better tool, I'm using it. And the iPad is a superior reading experience over paper books. I hate reading paper books now. They're old and limited.
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Considering i read several books a week, I can truthfully say that very few books use color.
 
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