Buying an e-reader

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Scott 2
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Scott 2 »

@macg, that's accurate. I also found with ads disabled, pushing the on button immediately raises my currently open book. With ads, after turning the device on, a swipe up was required to make the ad go away. Minor annoyances, but IMO worth $20 to prevent the disruption of my train of thought. I generally pay to go ad free - netflix over hulu, pandora plus, paid weather app on my phone, etc.

My wife has a paperwhite from 2014. I was comparing to it last night. The screen looks just as good as the modern version. It does lack text to speech, which makes for a robotic but viable e-book listening option. I did not see the option for audible books. I'm not sure it has bluetooth, which my model requires to connect headphones and hear the audio. The 2014 model is also twice as heavy.

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Alphaville
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Alphaville »

well well well

i am a little disappointed on the paperwhite, and i think i’ll return it.

more “pencilgray” than paperwhite, judging by the fixed, low-constrast ratio.

battery drains pretty fast too. this stuff about “weeks” is nonsense even with wifi turned off.

low light is indeed lower but... i don’t like reading in too-low light

the kindle app on the ipad looks feels and works better: much bigger page, more comfortable, higher contrast, choice of background colors. apple really has the aesthetics advantage... by far.

overall the features do not justify a separate device. it’s more clutter! and i think it strained my eyes a bit?

i think if you read on your phone already, and your phone is big enough, the phone is better. this is like a low-tech overpriced phone. i could buy a samsung burner for less?

i’ll get my refund and save my money for a future ipad... kindle fail.

Scott 2
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Scott 2 »

hahaha, low-tech is what you are paying for - e-ink screen, super light, infrequent charging. The point is to disconnect.

the big battery drains are wifi, bluetooth and the backlight - turn all those off (low tech!) and the weeks of battery life appears

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Alphaville
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Alphaville »

no backlight... you mean to read all day in dark mode? it’s visually horrible :D

it’s not black, it’s a muddy grey. the “ink” is pencil-like.

the ipad is double the size...

but yeah i’ll read the manual and do more tests. not looking favorable yet. $100 is $100 & should make a significant improvement.

macg
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by macg »

@alphaville, maybe you got a dud. Mine is ~6 years old, I use backlight set at a constant 8, keep wi-fi off except to download books, read 2-3 hours a day, and get minimum 2 months reading time between charges.

For me, it's similar to having a book, with its own reading lamp, plus hundreds of books to choose from.... I personally avoided any tablet or Kindle fire choice so as to eliminate distractions.

To me, there's been 2 "entertainment" purchases in my life that drastically improved my life. The first ipod video I bought - because it gave me my whole collection of music at my fingertips - and this Kindle, because I don't have to lug around books lol.

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Alphaville
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Alphaville »

@macg

my paperwhite brightness goes from 0 to 24. do you mean 8/24?

i already have a book with its own reading lamp in the ipad. true it’s a bit bright at night, but does warm color temp well, it has beautiful clarity and color, it’s big, it display pictures very well.

my tangents are generated by the text itself, e.g. the need to look something up beyond the dictionary, find alternative sources, etc. not so much distractions as actual research.

i was expecting to improve the reading experience with the kindle, but coming from the ipad it feels like i paid for a downgrade.

i’ll keep testing the experience since i have some time to observe things. i’ll run some battery tests too.

macg
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by macg »

@alphaville, yes 8/24 for brightness. For me, I found 8 was a comfortable level for reading in a dark (no lights on whatsoever) room. I usually read in a bright room, where I probably don't even need the back light, but I just leave it on 8 all the time.

The ability to select the word and get a dictionary definition automatically (even offline) solves most of my lookups - and mimics what my parents always taught me to do when I was young, go to the dictionary and look up a word if you don't know it (yes, an actual book dictionary. I'm old lol). There are some times that I need to do further research, at which point I do need to go to a different device. Which is fine for me - it still is far simpler than the "old days" pre-internet, when I had to go to a library hahaha. Plus I like the separation of "book" vs "online stuff" - it fits my mentality.

I have never owned an iPad, but have had some various android tablets. I like the Kindle because it is the size / weight of a paperback book. The last tablet I had (and still have) has a bigger screen, sure, but is very heavy compared to the kindle. Granted, that's probably 7-8 years old also .... So for me, I love the kindle, the portability (fits in a pocket) and similarity to an actual book is great for me.

I am not trying to change your mind - I am just relaying my mindset in choosing / using it. And pointing out that if your battery is really that bad, it might be a dud - with wi-fi off alone, it should last weeks...
Last edited by macg on Sat Oct 24, 2020 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

macg
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by macg »

I will say as a caveat, and I think others have mentioned it - for me, the kindle is tough for technical books, ones with drawings/code/blueprints/formulas. While you can zoom in and move around and eventually see what you need to see, I personally find it cumbersome, and it turns me off from reading that book on the kindle. There have been times I have borrowed e-books from the library, only to return it and borrow the "real" book. I even bought ERE on Kindle first, then bought the actual book because of this reason - it's just easier (for me) to have those types of things on paper in front of me.

I don't know if this type of content on a tablet would be any better...I basically have the two choices of kindle (primary), real book (if I can't handle it on the kindle).

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Alphaville
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Alphaville »

oh i appreciate you comments, i know you’re not trying to sell me anything. dialogue brings other people’s perspectives in view and helps one work out ideas. so i thank you.

i think the “paperback size” is part of my problem. kindle app on the ipad reads more like a nice hardcover—it’s a good page size i can scan rather than just move forward from line to line. it also takes up a greater part of my field of vision which helps my eyes relax rather than strain themselves. and the contrast between text and background is... unparalleled. besides color, more font sizes, etc.

weight is irrelevant, i can hold either with one hand... though if i fell asleep and dropped the ipad on my face it could... hurt a bit :D

so yeah im reading mostly ebooks these days and was just looking for the optimal device. my ere book is a kindle version as well. but ipad ftw, i think...though i will try 8 setting on the paperwhite tonight.

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Alphaville
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Alphaville »

i read a few hours on the kindle late last night and it was... ok? darker than the darkest ipad setting although the size a bit of a bother, and in the end my eyes hurt a bit (they never hurt in the ipad, but ipad can have a reflection). kindle im experiencing as more of an accessory for night reading than a standalone reader—ipad is standalone because i use library apps that don’t offer kindle books, i have access to web sources, i can research in other screen etc. i might keep the kindle perhaps, but the jury still out. took me a long time to decide to try it, should take a long while to decide to keep or not, ha ha ha.

white belt
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by white belt »

I have a Kindle (not sure what model, it's a year old but I think the cheaper model without the bells and whistles). I like using it for travel and reading fiction, especially because Overdrive has a lot of fiction books. I don't like it as much for non-fiction because of issues with looking at pictures/charts/graphs that others have pointed out. I also think it's just more annoying to go back and reference something on a Kindle compared to a regular book, but that might be because I'm not very skilled with using the Kindle.

I've recently resorted to buying some used non-fiction books on Amazon because the urban agriculture texts I wanted weren't available at my local library. I opted for the used paper version over the Kindle version (they were about the same price). Hopefully I can re-sell them later to break even, or more likely they will sit on my shelf as references for years to come. I think somewhere Jacob pointed out that the expense of money on a book might be worth the knowledge in it, especially if it saves you a lot of time/effort of fumbling along on your own in a new field. I'm finding that I haven't been reading enough because my local library doesn't have a lot of the books I'm looking for.

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Alphaville
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Alphaville »

white belt wrote:
Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:35 pm
I I also think it's just more annoying to go back and reference something on a Kindle compared to a regular book, but that might be because I'm not very skilled with using the Kindle.
nah, the kindle is a pain in the ass as a research device and terrible at illustrations. ok maybe to read a detective novel but skills can't polish a turd.

the kindle app on a tablet, otoh, is sheer gold. full size full color and full connectivity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_ ... ex_concept

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Sclass
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Sclass »

E ink was originally designed to be as contrasty as a paperback book. Theyve gotten better since the Gen 1 back in 2008. I thought e ink was the greatest product at the time. It seemed smart.

I like my e ink kindle over paper books because the books are searchable. Also the 2000 books in my library take up little space. I do sometimes have to listen to some douche saying I don’t read much because my bookshelf is so sparse. But I guess that doesn’t matter in the big picture.

I must say it is fun to look at other people’s books and ask questions about them. So there is something missing there.

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Alphaville
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by Alphaville »

i expected the e-ink to be some sort of revolutionary thing but it looked to me like a texas instrument scientific calculator from the 80s with the lcd screens.or the.., what was the name, the palm pilot.

it's just like an old lcd screen and the contrast blows chunks. maybe i have bad eyes but it was hard for me to read in it. it's also slow. i was soooo disappointed in the end. after many frustrations i returned mine and banked the money for the next ipad.

ipad! i can read the newspaper, i can read a book, i can read a magazine in full color, i can watch a documentary, i can listen to an audio book, i can consult wikipedia, i can search library catalogs and request interlibrary loans, i can watch an instructional youtube, i can take notes and save files and access my archives, all from one screen. while listening to "focus" music with noise cancelling headphones.

i am not a big fan of the android os but if you're comfortable with it an android tablet should perform the same duties as an ipad. or a surface go, if you're into ms ecosystem and use one note for your personal archive.

the kindle e-ink highlights grey, the kindle app highlights in red, blue, orange and yellow, plus you can dictate the annotations or write them with a pencil etc, etc etc, too much glory to pass up. like a sweet hardcover connected to all. like all the libraries, connected. light years ahead.

sky
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Re: Buying an e-reader

Post by sky »

Well thats good to know. I am glad I didn't waste any money on a Kindle when an android does a better job.

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