Kindle vs Nook vs.....?

[Josquin des Prez]

Kindle screen vs. iPad, including a newspaper, a book and a magazine, all under the microscope: http://www.bit-101.com/blog/?p=2722. Enlightening comparison.

I would think the iPad would be hard to read outdoors, since it uses a backlit LCD monitor.

[Ataraxia]

I'm getting a Kindle in the mail this week and am very excited.

[Gurn Blanston]

I'm getting a Kindle in the mail this week and am very excited.

Which model did you get, Dave?  I've been pondering this for quite a while. Actually, I am nearly sold on a Nook....

[Ataraxia]

I went for the $79 version. All I want to do is read e-books and perhaps PDF files if that's possible.

[Gurn Blanston]

I went for the $79 version. All I want to do is read e-books and perhaps PDF files if that's possible.

If I had access to WiFi that's the way I'd go too. Their older model with a cellmodem would be what I need. I note that price hasn't come down, and in fact they are abandoning it. So it goes.   It does read PDF's, according to the blurb.

[Ataraxia]

If I had access to WiFi that's the way I'd go too. Their older model with a cellmodem would be what I need. I note that price hasn't come down, and in fact they are abandoning it. So it goes.   It does read PDF's, according to the blurb.

AT&T has set up locations where you can download using WiFi for free. Otherwise, you just use USB.

Yeah, it reads PDF's but how are they formatted? I've tried reading files on my iPhone using various different  apps and did not like it.

[petrarch]

Yeah, it reads PDF's but how are they formatted?

On the Kindle DX, they are rendered exactly like they are on a computer, except that the zoom in/out capability is coarse and gives you only a couple of magnification values. The pages are resized to fit the screen, which in some cases means the text is quite small. In those cases I put the device in landscape mode, which will fit the width of the page to the height of the device, resulting in bigger text. In landscape mode you can move up and down in the same page using the page up/down keys.

[Ataraxia]

On the Kindle DX, they are rendered exactly like they are on a computer, except that the zoom in/out capability is coarse and gives you only a couple of magnification values. The pages are resized to fit the screen, which in some cases means the text is quite small. In those cases I put the device in landscape mode, which will fit the width of the page to the height of the device, resulting in bigger text. In landscape mode you can move up and down in the same page using the page up/down keys.

Hey, thanks!

[Bogey]

My wife is considering the Fire, an upgrade from her other Kindle.  She likes the color for the magazines.  My basic Kindle is still all I need.  I do not care for the back lit screen.  I get enough of that typing here.

[Ataraxia]

Yeah, why buy a Kindle with a backlit screen?

[Daverz]

Yeah, why buy a Kindle with a backlit screen?

For reading in the dark?

I'd also like to have something that was good for reading PDFs, particularly ones dense with mathematics.  I often seem complaints about the rendering of mathematics in the Kindle edition of books.  Whether that's a limitation of the file format or of the hardware, I don't know.

[Ataraxia]

For reading in the dark?

Yeah, but then it's not really a "Kindle," to me...

[Ataraxia]

I'd also like to have something that was good for reading PDFs, particularly ones dense with mathematics.  I often seem complaints about the rendering of mathematics in the Kindle edition of books.  Whether that's a limitation of the file format or of the hardware, I don't know.

Yeah, there just doesn't seem to be a good way to read PDF's unless it's on your computer screen.

[Daverz]

Yeah, there just doesn't seem to be a good way to read PDF's unless it's on your computer screen.

I think an iPad would work well for PDFs, but I don't like the form factor. 

Here's a Kindle Fire review where the author suggests that some people will be happier with a "Honeycomb Android" tablet:

http://www.itworld.com/personal-tech/226153/kindle-fire-my-turn-weigh-opinion

Maybe I can find one with a paperback-like form factor.

Another interesting comparison between the Fire and a Samsung tablet:

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Kindle-Fire-Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-70-Plus-7inch-Android-Tablets-Face-Off-235898/

[Bogey]

Yeah, but then it's not really a "Kindle," to me...

Agreed.  However, any photos are pretty cruddy on the basic models.  I tend to try to stay with novels on mine.  Any books with decent photos I still buy a hard copy.

As far as reading in the dark, our covers have a booklight built in.  I still prefer it to the shiny screen, but just my preference.

[petrarch]

I still prefer it to the shiny screen, but just my preference.

Same here; e-ink is so much more 'natural' and like a printed page.

[Ataraxia]

Same here; e-ink is so much more 'natural' and like a printed page.

Which is why you buy a Kindle.

[Bogey]

Which is why you buy a Kindle.

BINGO!

Unless you do not want to drop big bucks on a PAD....then with the FIRE you get a bit of the PAD stuff and your reader.  That is the way my wife sees it.  Also, she likes her professionalism teacher books in color....sooooooo. 

[Ataraxia]

BINGO!

Unless you do not want to drop big bucks on a PAD....then with the FIRE you get a bit of the PAD stuff and your reader.  That is the way my wife sees it.  Also, she likes her professionalism teacher books in color....sooooooo.

I admit, I know nothing about the Fire.

[Karl Henning]

Gosh, should I get a Kindle?