I see myriad of ads for new e-readers, and I wonder why would anyone buy an e-reader nowadays, when there are so many cheap Android tablets available, and there are various apps for reading books and magazines too? What is your opinion on this?
Why would anyone buy e-Readers
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e-Ink displays are still better for reading.
I have both a Kindle Keyboard and a Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 has various eReader apps on there but whenever i want to read something i still reach for the Kindle.
I have both a Kindle Keyboard and a Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 has various eReader apps on there but whenever i want to read something i still reach for the Kindle.
There's a difference how e-ink and LCD displays behave, e-ink being better suited for reading during long periods of time and in sunlight, etc. It basicaly behaves like a page in a book. Some may find it acceptable to read off an LCD screen, I am not that person, I'd take a dedicated e-Ink reader that can only do one thing over a universal purpose tablet anytime.
Also, tablets are much heavier and so less comfortable to hold for long periods and contain a myriad distractions other that settling down just to read.
E-readers are cheap, long battery life, easier on the eye displays, lighter and less of a trauma if stolen or damaged.
I bought a Kindle several years ago and an iPad 4 months ago. My Kindle use has declined a lot since then. The iPad is better for things like magazines.
But I still use my kindle when I want to read in sunlight or read text for an extended period of time (like a book). It's light, it's cheap and more durable than a tablet with much better battery life.
When one can now get an e-reader for £29, they are a really great device to have.
But I still use my kindle when I want to read in sunlight or read text for an extended period of time (like a book). It's light, it's cheap and more durable than a tablet with much better battery life.
When one can now get an e-reader for £29, they are a really great device to have.
I have a kindle paperwhite, a nook simple touch, an iPad and a galaxy tab. I read magazines on my tablets but rarely read books on them. e-ink screens are much better for reading for long periods of time, are generally more comfortable to hold and the battery life is a lot better. I got my first e-ink device in 2010 and have used an e reader as my primary device for reading books ever since. I never read magazines on them because they don't do colour and the refresh rate isn't good enough. Magazines are much better on LCD displays, hence the reason why I use my tablets. I got my first tablet in 2012, but I have carried on using my kindle for reading books. I don't think I would ever switch to a LCD based tablet for reading novels.
Tablets are obviously better for reading anything 'visual' such as magazines but reading an LCD for long periods is not good on the eyes so reading something like a book where you may very well spend over an hour reading isn't really suitable.
Additionally tablets are backlit which makes them very poor devices to use to read before bed. Anything with a backlight that's shining into your eyes (computers and TV's are as bad) as it increases your alertness and suppresses the production of melatonin which is a sleep inducing hormone. This is why 'lit' eink devices front light the screen so its not shining directly into your eyes so is less of a problem (and its why on a Paperwhite the settings hint tell you to set it lower in the dark than in bright light as it should be just bright enough to read without strain not so bright that its 'white' in look)
Additionally tablets are backlit which makes them very poor devices to use to read before bed. Anything with a backlight that's shining into your eyes (computers and TV's are as bad) as it increases your alertness and suppresses the production of melatonin which is a sleep inducing hormone. This is why 'lit' eink devices front light the screen so its not shining directly into your eyes so is less of a problem (and its why on a Paperwhite the settings hint tell you to set it lower in the dark than in bright light as it should be just bright enough to read without strain not so bright that its 'white' in look)
Originally Posted by ironjade:
“E-readers are cheap, long battery life, easier on the eye displays, lighter and less of a trauma if stolen or damaged.”
“E-readers are cheap, long battery life, easier on the eye displays, lighter and less of a trauma if stolen or damaged.”
^^^^^ In a nutshell. Wouldn't read a book on anything else having recently got a basic Kindle
I'm a big tech geek but I don't see the appeal of e-readers. It's not the same as reading a paper book. With good old paper books you can scribble in it, highlight stuff in it (in the case of things like university textbooks) and give it away or lend it to a friend when you're finished with it. You don't have that with an e-reader. Sorry if it makes me sound old-fashioned 
I also prefer paper magazines and newspapers to tablets/e-readers. At least with a newspaper you can hide behind it if you have to
I also prefer paper magazines and newspapers to tablets/e-readers. At least with a newspaper you can hide behind it if you have to
Biggest thing is most likely battery life. My ereader gets about 200 hours of reading from a single charge. No tablet can even come close to those times. I suppose if you travel a lot and carry a laptop/tablet for work it could be another option, but they are not very good at the job. You can read comics from your PC, but it just doesnt sit right with me, different strokes for different folks.
Unless of course you have an iPad, then your just reading nothing but positive reviews of your iPad, to dull the ache that you may have paid over the odds for something you really didnt need to spend as much on (what do people really need in a tablet)
Unless of course you have an iPad, then your just reading nothing but positive reviews of your iPad, to dull the ache that you may have paid over the odds for something you really didnt need to spend as much on (what do people really need in a tablet)
Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher:
“I'm a big tech geek but I don't see the appeal of e-readers. It's not the same as reading a paper book. With good old paper books you can scribble in it, highlight stuff in it (in the case of things like university textbooks) and give it away or lend it to a friend when you're finished with it. You don't have that with an e-reader. Sorry if it makes me sound old-fashioned I also prefer paper magazines and newspapers to tablets/e-readers. At least with a newspaper you can hide behind it if you have to ”
“I'm a big tech geek but I don't see the appeal of e-readers. It's not the same as reading a paper book. With good old paper books you can scribble in it, highlight stuff in it (in the case of things like university textbooks) and give it away or lend it to a friend when you're finished with it. You don't have that with an e-reader. Sorry if it makes me sound old-fashioned
I also prefer paper magazines and newspapers to tablets/e-readers. At least with a newspaper you can hide behind it if you have to ”
You can add notes to passages and highlight passages. Admittedly unless its a Keyboard ereaders or has a touch screen its a bit cumbersome to do but its something most can do. If anything this works better on an ereaders as its easier to find the particular highlighted section or note.
Its only really the lending thing which isn't possible
Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher:
“I'm a big tech geek but I don't see the appeal of e-readers. It's not the same as reading a paper book. With good old paper books you can scribble in it, highlight stuff in it (in the case of things like university textbooks) and give it away or lend it to a friend when you're finished with it. You don't have that with an e-reader. Sorry if it makes me sound old-fashioned I also prefer paper magazines and newspapers to tablets/e-readers. At least with a newspaper you can hide behind it if you have to ”
“I'm a big tech geek but I don't see the appeal of e-readers. It's not the same as reading a paper book. With good old paper books you can scribble in it, highlight stuff in it (in the case of things like university textbooks) and give it away or lend it to a friend when you're finished with it. You don't have that with an e-reader. Sorry if it makes me sound old-fashioned
I also prefer paper magazines and newspapers to tablets/e-readers. At least with a newspaper you can hide behind it if you have to ”
I wouldn't use a Kindle for reference works or anything heavily dependent on pictures such as newspapers or magazines.
I don't deface books and I never lend books to anyone so it's not a problem.
Originally Posted by wakey:
“You can add notes to passages and highlight passages. Admittedly unless its a Keyboard ereaders or has a touch screen its a bit cumbersome to do but its something most can do. If anything this works better on an ereaders as its easier to find the particular highlighted section or note.
Its only really the lending thing which isn't possible”
“You can add notes to passages and highlight passages. Admittedly unless its a Keyboard ereaders or has a touch screen its a bit cumbersome to do but its something most can do. If anything this works better on an ereaders as its easier to find the particular highlighted section or note.
Its only really the lending thing which isn't possible”
You can lend in the US, but for some reason haven't brought this feature here yet. No technical reason why not.
Or if you're feeling naughty, use Calibre.
Originally Posted by !!11oneone:
“You can lend in the US, but for some reason haven't brought this feature here yet. No technical reason why not.
Or if you're feeling naughty, use Calibre.”
“You can lend in the US, but for some reason haven't brought this feature here yet. No technical reason why not.
Or if you're feeling naughty, use Calibre.”
Suspect its a legal/copyright reason. After all lending someone an actual book you bought isn't really 100% legal even though everyone does so to introduce lending they have to find a way to do it inside each countries framework and ensure that they have the publishers on board who will want to be compensated for books being lent
Originally Posted by ironjade:
“I wouldn't use a Kindle for reference works or anything heavily dependent on pictures such as newspapers or magazines.
I don't deface books and I never lend books to anyone so it's not a problem.”
“I wouldn't use a Kindle for reference works or anything heavily dependent on pictures such as newspapers or magazines.
I don't deface books and I never lend books to anyone so it's not a problem.”
Newspapers are really best read in paper form. At least you can hide behind a newspaper when you don't want to be seen
When I talk about scribbling in books I'm talking more of making notes along the side of things like textbooks or reference books rather than just random nonsense. I used to do it at school. Sometimes I give books away to a charity shop or to a friend when I'm finished with them or I no longer want them.
Originally Posted by !!11oneone:
“You can lend in the US, but for some reason haven't brought this feature here yet. No technical reason why not.
Or if you're feeling naughty, use Calibre.”
“You can lend in the US, but for some reason haven't brought this feature here yet. No technical reason why not.
Or if you're feeling naughty, use Calibre.”
You can lend books on the Nook.
Originally Posted by Esot-eric:
“e-Ink displays are still better for reading.”
“e-Ink displays are still better for reading.”
Only under bright light conditions. Under normal lighting it's a matter of preference. In dim lighting or the dark then the advantage clearly swings in favor or LCD/OLED.
E-ink readers have a clear advantage if you want long battery life without charging.
Originally Posted by Tal'shiar:
“Biggest thing is most likely battery life. My ereader gets about 200 hours of reading from a single charge. No tablet can even come close to those times. I suppose if you travel a lot and carry a laptop/tablet for work it could be another option, but they are not very good at the job. You can read comics from your PC, but it just doesnt sit right with me, different strokes for different folks.
Unless of course you have an iPad, then your just reading nothing but positive reviews of your iPad, to dull the ache that you may have paid over the odds for something you really didnt need to spend as much on (what do people really need in a tablet)”
“Biggest thing is most likely battery life. My ereader gets about 200 hours of reading from a single charge. No tablet can even come close to those times. I suppose if you travel a lot and carry a laptop/tablet for work it could be another option, but they are not very good at the job. You can read comics from your PC, but it just doesnt sit right with me, different strokes for different folks.
Unless of course you have an iPad, then your just reading nothing but positive reviews of your iPad, to dull the ache that you may have paid over the odds for something you really didnt need to spend as much on (what do people really need in a tablet)”
Surely if you can see value in the limited capabilities of e-ink based readers then you should be also to see the value in the much more capable iPad.
Originally Posted by wakey:
“Tablets are obviously better for reading anything 'visual' such as magazines but reading an LCD for long periods is not good on the eyes so reading something like a book where you may very well spend over an hour reading isn't really suitable.)”
“Tablets are obviously better for reading anything 'visual' such as magazines but reading an LCD for long periods is not good on the eyes so reading something like a book where you may very well spend over an hour reading isn't really suitable.)”
That's a myth. Any source of writing that is difficult to read is a strain on the eyes.
Originally Posted by wakey:
“Additionally tablets are backlit which makes them very poor devices to use to read before bed. Anything with a backlight that's shining into your eyes (computers and TV's are as bad) as it increases your alertness and suppresses the production of melatonin which is a sleep inducing hormone.”
“Additionally tablets are backlit which makes them very poor devices to use to read before bed. Anything with a backlight that's shining into your eyes (computers and TV's are as bad) as it increases your alertness and suppresses the production of melatonin which is a sleep inducing hormone.”
Turn down the brightness.
OLED displays are not backlit, only LCDs are. In either case it doesn't matter as you can obviously adjust brightness.
Originally Posted by wakey:
“This is why 'lit' eink devices front light the screen so its not shining directly into your eyes so is less of a problem (and its why on a Paperwhite the settings hint tell you to set it lower in the dark than in bright light as it should be just bright enough to read without strain not so bright that its 'white' in look)”
“This is why 'lit' eink devices front light the screen so its not shining directly into your eyes so is less of a problem (and its why on a Paperwhite the settings hint tell you to set it lower in the dark than in bright light as it should be just bright enough to read without strain not so bright that its 'white' in look)”
An equally bright diffused light source affects your eyes the same wherever it originates.
As I said, you can adjust brightness on OLED and LCD displays. The brightness, resolution and size of text on whatever display you use, in addition to your vision, determines whether it will be easy or hard to read and whether it will be a strain to your eyes.
Originally Posted by PPhilster:
“Only under bright light conditions. Under normal lighting it's a matter of preference. In dim lighting or the dark then the advantage clearly swings in favor or LCD/OLED.
E-ink readers have a clear advantage if you want long battery life without charging.”
“Only under bright light conditions. Under normal lighting it's a matter of preference. In dim lighting or the dark then the advantage clearly swings in favor or LCD/OLED.
E-ink readers have a clear advantage if you want long battery life without charging.”
I noticed LCD is not good for my eyes, e-ink (with an external light in dark) is much better.
Originally Posted by IvanIV:
“I noticed LCD is not good for my eyes, e-ink (with an external light in dark) is much better.”
“I noticed LCD is not good for my eyes, e-ink (with an external light in dark) is much better.”
Adjust the brightness of your LCD. Maybe your LCD is also of a low resolution.
Originally Posted by PPhilster:
“Adjust the brightness of your LCD. Maybe your LCD is also of a low resolution.”
“Adjust the brightness of your LCD. Maybe your LCD is also of a low resolution.”
I think it's my eyes. At work I can look at an LCD screen for 8 hours, but I am not looking at it constantly. If I have to stare at it like when reading, my eyes start to feel it after a while. A higher resolution might be a solution, but e-ink is cheaper
Originally Posted by PPhilster:
“Only under bright light conditions. Under normal lighting it's a matter of preference. In dim lighting or the dark then the advantage clearly swings in favor or LCD/OLED.
E-ink readers have a clear advantage if you want long battery life without charging.”
“Only under bright light conditions. Under normal lighting it's a matter of preference. In dim lighting or the dark then the advantage clearly swings in favor or LCD/OLED.
E-ink readers have a clear advantage if you want long battery life without charging.”
Not anymore as many eink readers have built in lights.
Originally Posted by Anika Hanson:
“Not anymore as many eink readers have built in lights.”
“Not anymore as many eink readers have built in lights.”
But you don't have to use them. if you are outside in daylight or in a lit room then there is no need to use the built in light.
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