iPad Mini: Do You Believe?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by schulzmc

I spent some time reading on a friends Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 today - which has a ppi of 169. I found the text to be absolutely fine for reading and did not experience any eye strain issues. I'm not worried about the 163 ppi of the iPad mini.

Then hopefully, Apple will reduce the resolution of the iPad 4 to 169 ppi.

[BeeTee-Ess]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Yes, retina makes a big different on iPhone 4 which you hold much closer to your face but what does retina mean? It is high resolution usually 4x what you get on the older screen. 4x is used to avoid dithering the pixels to achieve the higher resolution you just dup the bits resulting in 2x height and 2x width. When you have only 134 ppi at the ipad 1 and 2 then it makes sense but when you start with over 160 ppi it makes much less sense particularly when you have to have a huge battery drain and screen draw time to achieve it and you aren't likely to hold an 8" screen close to your face anyway. YMMV

Dale

YMMV - indeed it does.

The only time I hold my iPhone close to my face is when I am talking on it. Then the screen becomes irrelevant.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by BeeTee-Ess

YMMV - indeed it does.

The only time I hold my iPhone close to my face is when I am talking on it. Then the screen becomes irrelevant.

I hold my iPad at nearly arms link with only a slight bend at the elbow. Do you hold your phone that far away? If so you have very good eyes. I hold my phone with my arm bent at 90 degrees as I see most other people around me doing.

Dale

[schulzmc]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Then hopefully, Apple will reduce the resolution of the iPad 4 to 169 ppi.

I'm not saying I wouldn't prefer a higher resolution - just that the resolution of the iPad Mini does not make it unfit for use as an e-reader, IMHO.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by schulzmc

I'm not saying I wouldn't prefer a higher resolution - just that the resolution of the iPad Mini does not make it unfit for use as an e-reader, IMHO.

Fair enough

[jswinden]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Fair enough

@tubemonkey, looks like you still have an iPod touch 4. Does the Kindle app on the iPod touch 4 allow you to select from several fonts? The iPad version does, but not sure about the iPod/iPhone version.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by schulzmc

I'm not saying I wouldn't prefer a higher resolution - just that the resolution of the iPad Mini does not make it unfit for use as an e-reader, IMHO.

Really depends on the person, doesn't it? I have a Nook Color which is probably around the same as the iPad Mini's pixel density and it's still a bit pixelated for me for use as a reader.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jswinden

@tubemonkey, looks like you still have an iPod touch 4. Does the Kindle app on the iPod touch 4 allow you to select from several fonts? The iPad version does, but not sure about the iPod/iPhone version.

I checked it out and yes, it has 6 fonts in 12 sizes:

• Baskerville
• Caecilia
• Georgia
• Helvetica
• Palatino
• Publisher Font

For the record, my iPod stays at home in a speaker dock. It's used for audiobooks and internet radio (Pandora, TuneIn, etc); and that's about it. I find it too small and limiting to be used for anything else.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

For the record, my iPod stays at home in a speaker dock. It's used for audiobooks and internet radio (Pandora, TuneIn, etc); and that's about it. I find it too small and limiting to be used for anything else.

Size isn't the problem. Battery life is. The iPod Touch is great if all you need it for is audio output. If you need the display on, then battery life becomes abysmal. I think I only get around 4~5 hours reading time at dimmest setting with auto-brightness off.

[Zoshka]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I checked it out and yes, it has 6 fonts in 12 sizes:

• Baskerville
• Caecilia
• Georgia
• Helvetica
• Palatino
• Publisher Font

For the record, my iPod stays at home in a speaker dock. It's used for audiobooks and internet radio (Pandora, TuneIn, etc); and that's about it. I find it too small and limiting to be used for anything else.

I got the new ipod touch, with the extra half-inch of screen space, and it finally makes it usable for me as an e-reader, especially for low-light situations when I'm out and about (before a movie starts, on a bus, etc.). The Kindle app has settings that fill up the screen space decently and that are legible, and the device feels nicer in the hand. Having a very usable camera makes it additionally valuable to me for taking with me wherever I go.

I was never happy with the pixel density for the first two ipads for reading, so I can't get myself to bite on the ipad mini, but then I know that my dreams of extended deep reading on it would be constantly broken by the need to check email, surf the web, or play games, as I do on my ipad 3.

[techiegirl]

Has anybody here received the iPad mini yet? I'm curious as to how it is for reading? I would only use it to read and light browsing.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by techiegirl

Has anybody here received the iPad mini yet? I'm curious as to how it is for reading? I would only use it to read and light browsing.

My iPad mini arrived an hour ago. I also ordered the full sized iPad with retina screen for my husband and so I could compare the screens. I can't say that I notice much difference screenwise so far, but I wear glasses so maybe someone with better eyes would. The mini is amazingly light, weighs less than my Kindle Keyboard and its lighted case. I find the mini much easier to type on, this post was typed with two thumbs in landscape mode.

I'm not sure how much ebook reading I'll do with the mini, I got it for surfing and email and messaging and portability. I'll give it a try with the kindle app for an hour tonight and report back.

[seajewel]

Originally Posted by Synamon

My iPad mini arrived an hour ago. I also ordered the full sized iPad with retina screen for my husband and so I could compare the screens. I can't say that I notice much difference screenwise so far, but I wear glasses so maybe someone with better eyes would. The mini is amazingly light, weighs less than my Kindle Keyboard and its lighted case. I find the mini much easier to type on, this post was typed with two thumbs in landscape mode.

I'm not sure how much ebook reading I'll do with the mini, I got it for surfing and email and messaging and portability. I'll give it a try with the kindle app for an hour tonight and report back.

if you don't notice the difference I probably shouldn't disillusion you, but retina really shines at rendering font. Look at app names on the home screen, or books iBooks, web browsing on Safari. The iPad 4 should have noticeably sharp/crisp/uniformly dark font. I find it very obvious myself, and I'm trying to decide whether I should keep the mini. It will be my PERFECT device when it gets retina, but as it is.. I'm pretty sensitive to non-retina when trying to read, it really helps especially with reading small fonts and the like, PDFs, etc. and to the poster above.. well, it's fine for reading if you're okay with some pixellation and less crisp font than on high resolution devices like iPhone 4-5, etc. It's VERY thin and light.

[schulzmc]

Just spent about two hours reading on my iPad mini - love it as an e-reader. I may never buy a Kindle again.

[Synamon]

I read for an hour with the Kindle app, no eye strain and I didn't notice an pixelation. I need a skin for the slippery sucker though, so I can hold on and so it won't slide when I prop it up on my leg or a pillow.