Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - E-book reader... any recommendations?

Burninator · 07-20-2010, 01:06 PM

I've been using the iPad as an e-reader since it came out. So almost two months now. I like it a lot, and I use it all the time and not just for reading. I think it's pretty obvious what the iPad can do, but I will just talk about it as an e-reader.

Advantages:
It has the largest access to ebooks. You can buy books from the major sellers, Kindle, Kobo and iBooks. This is good for finding the lowest price, but I don't find a lot of difference between the Kindle and Kobo stores in terms of selection. But usually one is cheaper than the other. There are also other apps that focus on free books (project Gutenburg books) It's colour, can do video and audio and it's fast. It's very easy to use and the battery lasts for around 10 hours. You can read magazines on it, I haven't yet though.

Disadvantages:
The screen is an LCD and that can bother some peoples eyes. To be honest I don't think it's that bad. It's not as easy to read as paper (nothing is) and it hasn't been an issue for myself. I can't say how it compares to e-ink as I haven't used one of those. Worse than that is the glare. The thing has a piece of glass on it, it's reflective. This is not really an issue inside, unless you near a window, but it is an issue outside. It is unusable in bright, direct sun, even with the screen brightness turned all the way up.

I read on the train everyday, so I have some control over the lighting. I always sit on the side of the train opposite the sun, I did this with regular books as well as I found it hard to read because it's so bright. However there was still glare. I ended up buying an anti-glare film that help a lot. It did reduce the clarity a bit, but it was worth it. It also it kind of heavy. Not an issue for a long train ride, but you need two hands.

Overall I am quite happy with it. It would be nice if Apple sold one with a matte screen finish. Is it the best e-reader out there? I don't know, maybe not. But it does so much else that it's worth the price for me. But I would say if you are only interested in a stand alone e-reader I would go with the Kindle. The Kobo is slight cheaper, but it's so bare bones that it's totally worth the extra $40 for the Kindle which has much more functionality.

07-20-2010, 01:06 PM	#22
Burninator Franchise Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Exp:	I've been using the iPad as an e-reader since it came out. So almost two months now. I like it a lot, and I use it all the time and not just for reading. I think it's pretty obvious what the iPad can do, but I will just talk about it as an e-reader. Advantages: It has the largest access to ebooks. You can buy books from the major sellers, Kindle, Kobo and iBooks. This is good for finding the lowest price, but I don't find a lot of difference between the Kindle and Kobo stores in terms of selection. But usually one is cheaper than the other. There are also other apps that focus on free books (project Gutenburg books) It's colour, can do video and audio and it's fast. It's very easy to use and the battery lasts for around 10 hours. You can read magazines on it, I haven't yet though. Disadvantages: The screen is an LCD and that can bother some peoples eyes. To be honest I don't think it's that bad. It's not as easy to read as paper (nothing is) and it hasn't been an issue for myself. I can't say how it compares to e-ink as I haven't used one of those. Worse than that is the glare. The thing has a piece of glass on it, it's reflective. This is not really an issue inside, unless you near a window, but it is an issue outside. It is unusable in bright, direct sun, even with the screen brightness turned all the way up. I read on the train everyday, so I have some control over the lighting. I always sit on the side of the train opposite the sun, I did this with regular books as well as I found it hard to read because it's so bright. However there was still glare. I ended up buying an anti-glare film that help a lot. It did reduce the clarity a bit, but it was worth it. It also it kind of heavy. Not an issue for a long train ride, but you need two hands. Overall I am quite happy with it. It would be nice if Apple sold one with a matte screen finish. Is it the best e-reader out there? I don't know, maybe not. But it does so much else that it's worth the price for me. But I would say if you are only interested in a stand alone e-reader I would go with the Kindle. The Kobo is slight cheaper, but it's so bare bones that it's totally worth the extra $40 for the Kindle which has much more functionality.