The iPad has the superior, IMO, iBooks which has been updated to show pages with white on black 'nighttime' print which is wonderful on the eyes in the dark. They also seem to have adjusted their prices in line with amazon too.

Personally I prefer reading on the iPhone over the iPad, it's a bit of a pain when someone rings in the middle of a good bit though
Last edited by fifilapew : 22-12-2011 at 20:25

Really I've found sometimes when reading on the iPhone I get a headache where as the iPad no probs at all.

+1 Vote for iBooks and the night view, have recently converted to that for my night time reading and its very easy on the eye

I started off reading on the iPhone before getting the iPad, but only use the the phone now, when stood in long cues waiting to be served in shops.

The kindle is for reading books, and it does it very well, just bought a WiFi/3G touch for my wife, who is not really into tablets / laptops etc, but simply loves the Kindle.

I have a Galaxy 10.1 with the kindle app, and although easy to read in the tablet, I have to agree that the kindle is easier to read, longer battery life and very, very light and pocketable !

Not sure the Kindle Fire will work 100% in the UK though.

It will if/when they release a UK version.

I read it's looking like January for release of the Kindle Fire in the UK. It looks like many of the issues have been resolved now but I'd be surprised if the predictions of £125 cost prove true.
Downside of the Kindle Fire for me would be the 7" screen for internet use, the lack of a camera for video calls, the lack of e-ink for reading.

I agree with your earlier post about having both the Kindle reader and the iPad 2. I bought my wife both this year (on separate ocassions) and they have exceeded expectations. The iPad 2 16G Wi Fi has been very well received.

You could always get the HTC Flyer 16GB for £199.99 and use Google Books? Or download the Kindle app ;]

Might be a slight improvement but the backlight issue still remains, especially relating to the impact of sleeping behaviour that a backlight shining directly into your eyes causes

Never believe imagined prices, wait until it's actually released.

I can't say I've ever felt an urge to have a tablet though?.

£150 sounds about right.
Yet it has plenty of competition already .

Despite reports to the contrary I'm fairly confident they make a profit on it.

No issue for me at all, and certainly no impact on sleep behaviour

Think Amazon are using it like Sony/Microsoft do with consoles - selling it at a price that's enough to cover costs and marketing and then making money back on the games/apps/books etc

Me neither. I have an old laptop with Ubuntu for home internet use and it works just fine.

Having said that tablets have a place for those who just want a fast, glossy, good looking, no nonsense, no pithering, no fan noise, easy to use, easy to hold, compact package - like Mrs Q.

On price I'll bet the Fire comes out at £149.

If it does come out at £125 I'll be tempted to get one to play with. The Fire would be great for taking on holiday to.. I took the laptop last year and it proved to be surprisingly useful - but a bit bulky.

If you want to do anything other then read books then kindle is not for you.

Who cares what it looks like? If you want to read books, e-Ink is better than an LCD display. If you want colour, video, apps and games then an LCD display is better.

We're pretty much concluded that getting both is probably preferable, at least until someone releases a device that combines the two technologies (an e-ink layer over an LCD screen?) to get the best of both worlds.

Its called the Kyobo e-reader and has been available since November in Korea.
It is expensive technology again so just like OLED so they are not rushing it to the global market.

http://www.netbooknews.com/41402/kyo...ideo-playback/

I certainly think it will win out though, especially so for educational use.

The glossy screen would put me off for reading books.

I disagree. I have both and there are far more occasions where I struggle to read the e-ink display than the LCD.

I got a Kindle for Christmas and I absolutely adore it for reading. Can't comment on the iPad, but I imagine it must cause some kind of eye strain after long periods because of the screen (I know I can't read a book on my iPhone for more than 5 minutes)

A backlit screen is obviously easier to read when it's dark, but what's better on the eyes - a backlit screen or a newspaper? A Kindle is like a newspaper, and there's a case with integrated light for reading in the dark (e.g. in bed).

The iPad (and any tablet, so as not to sound anti-Apple) is very hard to use when it's very bright or there's glare from the sun. The Kindle is not impeded in any way whatsoever in the majority of places you'd likely want to read.

Just because you haven't acknowledged there is a problem doesn't mean there isn't.

There have been many studies on the impact of direct light shining into the eyes. As I said further up studies show it inhibits the production of melotone as the light tricks your brain into thinking its daytime. This can make it harder to get to sleep and when you do fall asleep you don't enter as deep a sleep. The Light from an LCD screen is especially bad.

People shouldn't really even be watching TV directly before bed . This is why a Kindles better for reading before bed as you require room lighting (or a reading light) that usually produces a softer light and won't be shining directly in your eyes

The E Ink Corporation lease their technology to most eReader suppliers afaik. The latest version 'Pearl' is used by:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Bookeen
Kobo
Onyx
Sony

The next version is 'Triton' but I don't know if there are any UK products using it.

Apparently someone came up with the best of both worlds, e-ink + LCD, but it went out of production.

There was a version of the Barnes & Noble Nook and another make with e-ink plus a small LCD screen. Interesting according to the review of the Nook, seeing LCD next to e-ink, the LCD seems too bright.