Originally Posted by Orri:
“I do a lot of my reading in less than ideal lighting conditions. I've been toying with the idea of moving to an eInk device for a while now. However having seen them I'm not sure I could stand the black flash, or that as I'll probably use an active light source they are the ideal device for me.
The reason I mentioned OLED is that active light only where required might lead to a longer battery life, especially if I go old school and use white/green on a black background.”
If you're reading in "less than ideal lighting conditions" you're doing your eyes no good (he says, sounding like a dad.) Put a light on, or use a torch, or get a Kindle with a cover featuring a light.
The "black flash" is barely noticeable. I've got a Kindle 3G and when I first got it I found the "flash" a bit off-putting... for about three page turns. After that you realise it is just like turning the page in a book and ignore it, or some people blink, or some look up. Believe me, I hated the idea of e-books but now I think they're great. Incidentally, Amazon updated the Kindle software some time after I got mine and it sped the page turns up, so the "flash" is even less noticeable. The new model only "flashes" once every six pages, so you'd notice it even less still.
If you got a backlit device like a tablet the battery would last nowhere near as long as a Kindle, and it would be less comfortable to read for long periods of time, especially in your "less than ideal lighting conditions", plus if you tried to read it outside on a sunny day you would find it difficult, unlike the Kindle.
I suggest you actually try a Kindle, ideally one that someone owns rather than a demo model in a shop. Believe me - the "flash" seems to disappear after a while as you stop noticing it.