Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

A very pricey eReader...

GravityEyes

GravityEyes

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 14, 2007
170
0
Nashville, TN
So I went to Best Buy and purchased a second iPad for my wife after she expressed her jealousy in mine Saturday morning. We found a buyer for her Kindle, so it made sense...

Well, since Saturday I'm certain she has ONLY read books on the thing!!! Hell, I have been wireframing web sites at work... gaming, etc.

Am I the only one that believes that her iPad is being 'underutilized'?
 
GravityEyes said:
So I went to Best Buy and purchased a second iPad for my wife after she expressed her jealousy in mine Saturday morning. We found a buyer for her Kindle, so it made sense...

Well, since Saturday I'm certain she has ONLY read books on the thing!!! Hell, I have been wireframing web sites at work... gaming, etc.

Am I the only one that believes that her iPad is being 'underutilized'?
Click to expand...

No. A Kindle DX with a similar sized screen is the same price as the iPad. Eventually she will check her email, browse a website, and download an app. All of those are just bonus features over the similarly priced Kindle DX.
 
I still maintain that if all you want is an e-Reader, nothing beats the Kindle currently. So if all she's doing is reading on the iPad, all she's achieved is more eye strain, a heavier book, and worse battery life (despite the iPad's excellent battery life - the Kindle's is better for book-reading).

As a disclaimer: I have both the iPad and a Kindle 2.
 
WilliamG said:
I still maintain that if all you want is an e-Reader, nothing beats the Kindle currently. So if all she's doing is reading on the iPad, all she's achieved is more eye strain, a heavier book, and worse battery life (despite the iPad's excellent battery life - the Kindle's is better for book-reading).

As a disclaimer: I have both the iPad and a Kindle 2.
Click to expand...

While I don't own a Kindle I have used one; I like the iPad screen better. No eye strain (I don't know how this widely believed 'fact' got accepted... People stare at LCD monitors for 8, 10 hours a day every day and there isn't some epidemic of eyes falling out) and the page change doesn't fade everything to black between each update, which completely ruins the reading for me.

True you do have to charge your iPad nightly rather than weekly or even monthly, though.
 
mrgreen4242 said:
While I don't own a Kindle I have used one; I like the iPad screen better. No eye strain (I don't know how this widely believed 'fact' got accepted... People stare at LCD monitors for 8, 10 hours a day every day and there isn't some epidemic of eyes falling out) and the page change doesn't fade everything to black between each update, which completely ruins the reading for me.

True you do have to charge your iPad nightly rather than weekly or even monthly, though.
Click to expand...

The eye-strain is a fact, to me, my wife, lots of friends etc. It's the same reason I can handle a 100" diagonal projected image from my projector, but can't handle my 46" LCD TV without some ambient light. Why? Because of where the SOURCE of the light comes from. With the iPad, your eyes are looking directly at the light source. With a projected image or with a Kindle, the light source comes from "elsewhere." Not looking directly at a light source is much easier on your eyes.

Again, of course - this may be subjective, but I don't know anyone who's looked at my iPad and my Kindle and disagreed. The iPad has more of a wow factor, and the Kindle is much more comfortable for actual reading of books.
 
Eyestrain: an individual thing but definitely happens. No point pretending it doesn't. If you are immune, consider yourself lucky, 'cause it sucks. It's not something that is easy to ignore once it starts.
 
Adjust the brightness to the lowest setting.


If it's still not enough.


Buy a $5 dark anti-glare screen protector.


If it's still not enough buy 2-3.


Problem solved.
 
Kindle > iPad. (via Ars Technica iPad review).
 

Attachments

  • kindle-versus-ipad-close.jpg
    kindle-versus-ipad-close.jpg
    54.6 KB · Views: 194
Good points CJS7070 mrgreen4242 !!

As for the eye strain - it does happen for me, however not for her. Guess it is personal tolerance.
 
I'll tell you what it can't do. Properly preserve images and flow them correctly in PDF's. The DX is better then the standard Kindle but still not perfect. It also does not allow you to view periodicals in color...
I bet this months maxim looks great on the kindle (I did own one and this was my reason for replacing it with my ipad as my main reader). I admit though, I typically don't read novel's, I listen to novels and read tech manuals/magazines.
 
ctt1wbw said:
What else can the Kindle do? I've never even seen one in person, so I have no idea.
Click to expand...
It comes with a 3G connection as part of the price (no monthly fee). In the Experimental section there is a basic web browser (best on mobile sites), A Play MP3 option, and Text to speech option. The browser allows bookmarking pages, and if you're clever you can bookmark online email accounts for quick access, as well as any other reference site. Some included are WikiPedia, Google, BBC news, CNET, MSN Money, AllRecipes, National Weather Service, Fandango, Yelp, and Lonely Planet. I added my gmail and AOL inboxes.

You also get a simple Winmine game. The Kindle has a chicklet keyboard which works reasonably well for entering URLs and email text, etc..

The screen is NOT a touchscreen, and your "cursor" control is a crude joystick with a back button. MP3 playback is random, and memory space is limited.
 
WilliamG said:
from my projector, but can't handle my 46" LCD TV without some ambient light. Why? Because of where the SOURCE of the light comes from.
Click to expand...

This is a classic case of mismatch between source/environment brightness.

The projector is dimmer and cover a wider area, so you don't get that mismatch.

I have my LCD TV backlight at ZERO. I have no issue watching it at all.

I went to my friends house and he has his set fairly high and uses the dynamic backlight setting so dark scenes are very dark and brights are very bright all in a dark room.

The bright scenes literally hurt my eyes, because the transition is like walking outside on a sunny winter day when in a dark room.

My desktop monitor I turn up on sunny days, and turn down at night. Being mismatched is a strain.

From what I hear iBooks has it's own brightness control that goes even dimmer than the iPad in general, so this shouldn't be a problem for the vast majority.

Does the iPad Kindle app have the same level of brightness control as the iBook app?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back