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New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

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Re: New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

#41

Post by duck »

mlinsey wrote: post #30
pg wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is a Kindle better than an iPad?

E-ink is still a much better screen for reading text than the iPad's LCD. Not only does it perform much better in sunlight, but the lack of a backlight reduces eyestrain substantially (the Kindle iPad app has an option to use white text on a black background, which helps a little but nto completely). Back when I wasn't working on a startup I would often spend several hours at a time reading books on my Kindle, but th…

So if you read more technical/reference type books than fiction, would everyone recommend the iPad?

Re: New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

#42

Post by rdl »

minouye wrote: post #18

I love my Kindle and this is awesome news. For all of you on the fence, here's why I recommend everyone buy a Kindle (haven't used a Nook, but I think most of these points apply): 1. You will read more. 2. The reading experience will be better than you think--there was a 1-2 day adjustment period for me. After that, I didn't even notice I wasn't reading paper and ink. 3. You can highlight and make notes in books that…

For me, the personal benefits of reading more and better books (vs. whatever magazines or mediocre books are lying around) more than cover the costs.

I wouldn't consider the Kindle an iPad replacement at all (I have both, and sometimes read books on the iPad in the Kindle App, but only when I want to use backlighting to avoid disturbing anyone nearby in a dark room)

If I were Amazon, I'd bundle the Kindle with books, maybe in the form of a rebate -- if a user buys ~10 books in a year, he gets a $100 credit on a Kindle he has already bought.

Re: New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

#43

Post by mlinsey »

duck wrote: post #41
mlinsey wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

E-ink is still a much better screen for reading text than the iPad's LCD. Not only does it perform much better in sunlight, but the lack of a backlight reduces eyestrain substantially (the Kindle iPad app has an option to use white text on a black background, which helps a little but nto completely). Back when I wasn't working on a startup I would often spend several hours at a time reading books on my Kindle, but th…

So if you read more technical/reference type books than fiction, would everyone recommend the iPad?

I would, yes. Especially over the vanilla Kindle. At least the Kindle DX would support full-size PDF's without panning. But I still think the delay in page-turn times on e-ink would give iPad the edge.

Re: New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

#44

Post by lg »

moultano wrote: post #40
minouye wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't tried that but I'll give it a shot.

I also found that it really helped to have a serif font, and relatively small type, say 15 lines per page in landscape mode.

That's my issue with phone reading. I can't just pick up any arbitrary pdf and read it comfortably, it has to be specially-formatted, or else you have to side-scroll and all that annoying stuff. And the pdf's I want to read are rarely formatted right.

Re: New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

#45

Post by soundsop »

minouye wrote: post #18

I love my Kindle and this is awesome news. For all of you on the fence, here's why I recommend everyone buy a Kindle (haven't used a Nook, but I think most of these points apply): 1. You will read more. 2. The reading experience will be better than you think--there was a 1-2 day adjustment period for me. After that, I didn't even notice I wasn't reading paper and ink. 3. You can highlight and make notes in books that…

I can't tolerate the jarring flash to black (pixel reset) that occurs when changing pages on e-ink devices. Has this limitation been overcome?

Re: New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

#46

Post by sliverstorm »

someperson wrote: post #37
jakarta wrote: post #22

Can anyone give me their take on viewing PDFs with the non-DX Kindle? I've been seriously thinking about getting one. I read through reports and ebooks pretty heavily and my chief concern is that if I bought a Kindle I'd end up reading mangled PDFs where the formatting gets distorted to accomodate the smaller screen size.

Formatting is fine. PDF was designed for that very purpose anyway. Zooming and generally navigating a PDF is a huge pain. Screen refreshes are slow. Much like navigating through a plot on a graphics calculator. PDF reading is a good extra, don't expect too much. I convert all text heavy, non-technical books using "calibre" to the PRC format. Works well enough for reading for pleasure. (PS. I have a Kindle 2. Received…

In short, it is 100% functional but if you plan on reading a lot of PDF's, look to the DX.

Re: New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

#47

Post by moultano »

lg wrote: post #44
moultano wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also found that it really helped to have a serif font, and relatively small type, say 15 lines per page in landscape mode.

That's my issue with phone reading. I can't just pick up any arbitrary pdf and read it comfortably, it has to be specially-formatted, or else you have to side-scroll and all that annoying stuff. And the pdf's I want to read are rarely formatted right.

You'll find that to be a big problem with any ebook reader except perhaps the kindle DX. I feel your pain though. I looked for months for an ideal ebook reader for academic papers, and concluded that such a product didn't yet exist.

Re: New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

#49

Post by jonknee »

moultano wrote: post #26
pg wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is a Kindle better than an iPad?

Beyond that, why is a kindle better than my phone? * I'm not going to take a kindle to the bathroom at work, I am taking my phone. * The page turning is instant and effortless on my phone, not so on the kindle. * With white text on a black background on the phone, I can read in more situations more easily than on the kindle, and with less eye-strain.

The battery life is nutty, you don't even need to pack the charger when you go on vacation. Having my phone go dark because I was reading a book on it earlier is a bum out.

Re: New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only, $189 3G, available August 27th

#50

Post by wzdd »

minouye wrote: post #31
pg wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is a Kindle better than an iPad?

The longest I've read in one session on the Kindle was about 2-3 hours (typical for me if I'm reading fiction). After reading for that long, my eyes are a little sore, but the strain isn't signifcantly different from reading a paper and ink novel. I haven't read a complete book on the iPad, but from what I've seen of the screen, I think there would be significantly more eyestrain. Maybe someone who has read a couple…

I've read a couple of books on an iPad (most recently Shogun, which is >1000 pages, and several smaller novels). I've also had an extended play with a Kindle. The Kindle is kinder on the eyes, but not to the point where it makes a practical difference to me.

I think people might look at a laptop display and from there decide that LCDs are awful for reading from (this was my opinion). But the iPad is a significantly better reading device than, say, a laptop, because you get much more control over where the display goes in relation to your face. This sounds like an obvious thing to say but it does seem to make a big difference.

To relate back to your reading experience: I was reading Shogun in 2-hour sessions (or longer) and didn't notice any eyestrain.

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