e Reader advice

I bought my wife a Kindle (the new Kindle 4) late last year. Went for the plain vanilla wifi version and it works great. You really don't need 3G. If she wants to download / buy a new book she simply hooks up a wifi hotspot from her phone.

Also, you can email pdfs, word docs etc to your Kindle too.
 
Speedster said:
You really don't need 3G. If she wants to download / buy a new book she simply hooks up a wifi hotspot from her phone.
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The 3G is great as you are not always close to wifi, 3G will work almost anywhere. You pay a bit more though but worth it I reckon.
 
ITO Wifi or Wifi+3g:
If they don't charge double for the 3g capability ( a la Android tablets ) then go ahead and order it with the 3g,the price difference isn't insane and when you have it,you find uses ;)
 
PsyWulf said:
ITO Wifi or Wifi+3g:
If they don't charge double for the 3g capability ( a la Android tablets ) then go ahead and order it with the 3g,the price difference isn't insane and when you have it,you find uses ;)
Click to expand...

It's $109 for the wifi Kindle and $189 for one with 3G (either the Keyboard or Touch, but the latter isn't available in SA yet). That's quite a steep difference for "in case I maybe need 3G".
 
Speedster said:
It's $109 for the wifi Kindle and $189 for one with 3G (either the Keyboard or Touch, but the latter isn't available in SA yet). That's quite a steep difference for "in case I maybe need 3G".
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Correction:

Kindle Keyboard with Wifi: $139
Kindle Keyboard with Wifi/3g: $189.00

50bucks price point difference ( R338 )
or R1112
vs R1500

R300 for a lifetime of free 3g mobile browsing? Yeah totally a waste :)

*There are cheaper kindles but it isn't entirely fair to compare different generational models with dissimilar feature sets to determine value-add pricing
 
PsyWulf said:
Correction:

Kindle Keyboard with Wifi: $139
Kindle Keyboard with Wifi/3g: $189.00

50bucks price point difference ( R338 )
or R1112
vs R1500

R300 for a lifetime of free 3g mobile browsing? Yeah totally a waste :)

*There are cheaper kindles but it isn't entirely fair to compare different generational models with dissimilar feature sets to determine value-add pricing
Click to expand...

Why are you throwing away the new Kindle for $109? $80 on $109 is 73% more. Have you ever browsed on one of those Kindles? Not exactly smooth sailing.

EDIT: I just saw your explanation now. You have a point, but there is merit in comparing the cheapest Kindle with the cheapest 3G version. Besides, the Kindle 4 ($109) is a newer generation than the keyboard version.
 
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Speedster said:
Why are you throwing away the new Kindle for $109? $80 on $109 is 73% more. Have you ever browsed on one of those Kindles? Not exactly smooth sailing.
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The restrictive 3g on it makes it an invalid candicate for comparison on pricepoints for same features. As I mentioned there are cheaper kindles than the Keyboard Wifi so it wasn't entirely thrown away :)

As for the browsing,I actually use it daily on my Kindle Keyboard+3g. Most of the delays are more related to redrawing speeds than anything else,e-ink refresh rates aren't built for such redraws ideally :<
It actually runs better than my slackberry on vodacom haha

Last year when I purchased it the rand/dollar was stronger and the next gen cheapies weren't available so it was a pretty cut and dry choice to take 3g
 
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JayN said:
I have a Kindle 3G and an iPad. Apart from the backlight on the iPad, it is just impractical to read a full book using the iPad especially if you are an avid reader. After a while the iPad's weight becomes noticeable.

The Kindle is great as an e-reader. But that's what it is an e-reader and not a tablet that does other things well.

The iPad is a tablet and a part time reader doing a multitude of things and not specialising on one thing.

I would recommend a Kindle if you are a big reader.
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Agreed, I have an iPad, ultimately you don't want to be staring at any unnatural screen for long periods.

Pdf's work very well on the iPad though, using either iBooks or Adobe Reader.

I tried the same pdf's on the galaxy tab... wow what a fail... freeze & crash almost every page turn.
 
Have had a Kindle 3 for a few months now, and would highly recommend it. Have only used it to read, obviously, and a bit of surfing, but it's done that to my satisfaction. Re. the PDFs, it seems mixed, some people say it handles them great, others say it's rubbish, guess it depends on what's in the PDF you are reading.

B
 
You know I actually read a LOT on my iPad. It's the primary reason I got it. Personally I don't find the weight a problem, you just learn how to distribute it with a good case. The main advantage over a Kindle though is being able to read any kind of material easily. PDF's are rendered much better, smoother. Scrolling is beautiful and page turns feel better. You can have any number of ebook applications including non-standard formats like Isilo which I use - not to mention blog feeds via RSS, Instapaper or Flipboard. You can have children's books with full colour and audio, of which there are a growing number. And you can do OTHER stuff on it besides reading if you choose.

So... it's just a factor to consider.
 
cerebus said:
You know I actually read a LOT on my iPad. It's the primary reason I got it. Personally I don't find the weight a problem, you just learn how to distribute it with a good case. The main advantage over a Kindle though is being able to read any kind of material easily. PDF's are rendered much better, smoother. Scrolling is beautiful and page turns feel better. You can have any number of ebook applications including non-standard formats like Isilo which I use - not to mention blog feeds via RSS, Instapaper or Flipboard. You can have children's books with full colour and audio, of which there are a growing number. And you can do OTHER stuff on it besides reading if you choose.

So... it's just a factor to consider.
Click to expand...


Would you lie on the beach and read on your iPad? What is it like in sunlight? Also, another factor, is the insane battery life of the Kindle.
 
Speedster said:
Would you lie on the beach and read on your iPad? What is it like in sunlight? Also, another factor, is the insane battery life of the Kindle.
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I wouldn't lie on a beach with it. I don't go to the beach to read very often. In full sunlight I can still read quite well. Often I go out into the park over lunch and lie down and read in full glare. It handles it quite well. Although that is quite subjective of course; someone else might find it unusable.

And the battery life of the Kindle is unassailable I know - it's just an advantage of the technology. But I can get through 1-2 days of pretty intense use without any problem, and is it really that hard to put it in to charge overnight? I've tried to use phones for the same purpose and they can't last a working day.

But again the primary advantage of a full tablet is its flexibility, and the ability to read a MUCH wider range of content than a Kindle can handle. If you're purely a novel kind of reader, the Kindle is undoubtedly best though.
 
cerebus said:
You know I actually read a LOT on my iPad. It's the primary reason I got it. Personally I don't find the weight a problem, you just learn how to distribute it with a good case. The main advantage over a Kindle though is being able to read any kind of material easily. PDF's are rendered much better, smoother. Scrolling is beautiful and page turns feel better. You can have any number of ebook applications including non-standard formats like Isilo which I use - not to mention blog feeds via RSS, Instapaper or Flipboard. You can have children's books with full colour and audio, of which there are a growing number. And you can do OTHER stuff on it besides reading if you choose.

So... it's just a factor to consider.
Click to expand...

You've summarised exactly why the wife likes the iPad
 
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