My daughter usually likes to read hardcover books but will be traveling quite a bit over the next few months. She wants to purchase an eReader as she feels it will just make things easier. Does anyone have one they love or one they don’t. What are the pros and cons of the one you have? Any likes, dislikes, suggestions would be appreciated.
I use the Kindle app on my iPad mini. Love it.
Kindle Paperwhite. Can read in any light and unlike iPads the battery lasts for weeks.
Kindle Paperwhite. it is light, easy to read in any light and as mentioned battery charge last forever.
Another vote for Kindle Paperwhite. I travel a fair amount for work and always carry both the kindle and iPad. In a cramped plane seat the kindle is lighter, smaller, and more maneuverable to hold especially for long periods. When I go eat solo at a bar the kindle is much lower-stress to bring along. It’s $100 vs the $800 iPad, so less worry about spilling food and drink on it (or losing it), plus when eating a cheeseburger with both hands I can just tap the screen with the back of a knuckle to flip the page vs a swipe with the kindle app on iPad. And no battery-life anxiety since the kindle can run for days if you turn off the wifi.
^ You can tap to change pages on the iPad’s Kindle app.
^^ Is that a special setting somewhere? Just tried it again and when I tap all it does is shrink the page to that setting for fast scrolling through the book.
I often use the Kindle app on my phone. I have a Kindle but hate having to carry an extra charger and an extra device.
I would charge the iPad daily anyway, so charging it for the Kindle app is no extra work. I like having it set to black background and white text, but I suppose the Paperwhite can do that.
Tap on the far right of the page to turn the page on the iPad. If you tap closer to the center, it shows the scroll bar and time, etc.
@anomander I just checked and didn’t see a special setting for the Kindle app. I just tap in the margin to go either direction. Tapping in the middle or thereabouts brings up something else.
^ Ah, learn something every day! I guess I’m a “lazy tapper” with my kindle and just whack the screen anywhere to get it to scroll. Never realized I had to tap on the edge with the iPad app for scrolling. But then again I almost never read kindle books on my iPad either.
I think in addition to the points I made earlier, I also like to separate my reading time from my web surfing time. With the iPad there’s just too much temptation to swap back to a browser, or even bring up a game. I’m probably a little less focused than folks that like reading on a tablet.
I don’t have a Kindle and do most of my reading on an iPad/iPhone, but you’re right, there are a lot of temptations to do other things on those devices while reading.
If she will be doing a lot of reading out of doors, then a Kindle Paperwhite is the way to go. It is very easy to read and the e-ink is optimized to minimize eyestrain.
Otherwise, any tablet would be fine. I have a Kindle Fire, which I love. H has a Microsoft Surface. Samsung makes some great tablets. Tablets can do much more than an e-reader, but using them in full sun is next to impossible. This is why I’ve kept my first generation Kindle e-reader - if I’m sitting out at a cross country race or other full sun activity, I can easily read on it. I never thought I’d use an e-reader - but boy is it nice to not have to lug around books all the time!
I wouldn’t survive long reading books on my phone. Even short news articles are annoying as I hate having to scroll/tap so frequently.
Another Kindle Paperwhite vote. I do a lot of the kind of traveling where daily charging is simply not possible (camping, trekking, hiking, etc.). I recently took a 10-day trek in Patagonia and read my Kindle morning and evening. Finished the trip with battery to spare. Try that with a tablet or phone!
We have a kindle 8.9 inch and have found it to be very useful. Dd uses it to connect to the internet and check emails, watch youtube. She also downloads books to read on the train during her internship.
Also, outdoor travel is not the only kind of travel where daily charging is difficult.
Outlets are often in short supply in many hostels, and even if outlets are plentiful most backpackers don’t have more than one adapter. So the typical youth backpack across Europe trip would also benefit from an e-Ink reader.
We have a Kindle Fire HD and while it’s been good, feuds between Amazon and Google, and others have frozen us out of some sites such as Google Play Store and Flixter.
If I had to do it again, I would get a Samsun Galaxy tablet and download the Kindle app. Same functionality with a FULL android system (Kindle Fire uses a modified android OS).
Another vote for Kindle Paperwhite. Great battery and wonderfully adjustable screen.
DH and I both have Kindle Paperwhites and would highly recommend them.
One more vote for the Kindle Paperwhite. I love it when I travel and when I am at home. It is a lifesaver when I cannot sleep!