iPad air 1st impressions (Mobileread user's experience)

[Faterson]

Autoscroll ain't for me: I can't command my brain to understand the text I'm reading at the speed determined by a machine. Page 7 may be more diffficult to understand than page 8; book A easier to comprehend than book B.

I think what both of us are really waiting for, Sue, is controlling the page flips and/or autoscroll speed with our eyes! Like, wink at Marvin with your right eye, and Marvin flips a page forward! (Or speeds up the autoscroll.) Wink with your left eye, and Marvin flips a page back, or slows down the autoscroll. Wasn't Samsung boasting of already being able to do something like that (detect the user's eye movements) on the newest Galaxy phones?

[MeSue]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Autoscroll ain't for me: I can't command my brain to understand the text I'm reading at the speed determined by a machine. Page 7 may be more diffficult to understand than page 8; book A easier to comprehend than book B.

It does take some getting used to, but generally it averages out once you find the right average speed for you. Occasionally you do have to adjust the speed, or reposition the text in the screen, but it is much less screen tapping than turning static pages.

Originally Posted by Faterson

I think what both of us are really waiting for, Sue, is controlling the page flips and/or autoscroll speed with our eyes! Like, wink at Marvin with your right eye, and Marvin flips a page forward! (Or speeds up the autoscroll.) Wink with your left eye, and Marvin flips a page back, or slows down the autoscroll. Wasn't Samsung boasting of already being able to do something like that (detect the user's eye movements) on the newest Galaxy phones?

You bet! And, of course, it would detect when you fall asleep and turn the device off automatically. I quoted a few passages from Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land when I wrote about autoscroll on my blog.

“In front of him his morning newspaper…moved past his eyes at his optimum reading speed in a feedback executive scanner, custom-built by Sperry. The words would flow on as long as he looked in that direction; if he turned his head, the machine would note it and stop instantly.”

Seriously, he wrote about this in 1961 and we don't have it yet???

[tomsem]

Some of you may remember iFlow Reader for iOS. Its autoscroll rate was controlled by tilting the screen slightly to increase/decrease speed (after selecting default rate). That method worked pretty well, at least on iPhone/iPod Touch (never had the opportunity to try it on iPad).

[MeSue]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Some of you may remember iFlow Reader for iOS. Its autoscroll rate was controlled by tilting the screen slightly to increase/decrease speed (after selecting default rate). That method worked pretty well, at least on iPhone/iPad (never had the opportunity to try it on iPad).

Yes, I mentioned it in my blog post linked above. I used it even though it was a pain to get books into. Oddly enough, I never could get the hang of the tilt method of adjusting scroll speed so I just adjusted it by tapping.

[tubemonkey]

iPad Air fails bullet test

I think I'll probably upgrade from my iPad3 to the iPad Mini2 sometime early next year. I don't buy into Faterson's BS rant about needing a bigger screen to read on nor his BS about iOS7 being horrible. Heck, I read hundreds of books on PDAs which had 3" squared LCDs with only 320 x 320 pixels for 151 ppi! Granted my eyes were a decade younger then. But the Mini2 will have more real estate than 7" tablets and it will have 324 ppi. That is more than enough to comfortably read on. I'll wait a while to make sure the hardware doesn't have any issues, but I don't think it will as the iPad Air seems to be okay.

[kyrilson]

I ordered the iPad Air (32gb Space Gray) a couple of days ago. It should arrive today. Looking forward to checking it out and comparing it to my current iPad 2.

I went with the iPad Air over the Mini because I read a lot of comics on my iPad, so the larger size is better for me.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I think I'll probably upgrade from my iPad3 to the iPad Mini2 sometime early next year. I don't buy into Faterson's BS rant about needing a bigger screen to read on nor his BS about iOS7 being horrible. Heck, I read hundreds of books on PDAs which had 3" squared LCDs with only 320 x 320 pixels for 151 ppi! Granted my eyes were a decade younger then. But the Mini2 will have more real estate than 7" tablets and it will have 324 ppi. That is more than enough to comfortably read on. I'll wait a while to make sure the hardware doesn't have any issues, but I don't think it will as the iPad Air seems to be okay.

Totally agree.

And again, the Mini (like any other tablet, even 10 inches iPad) can be used on landscape mode, which makes fonts even bigger.

Having said that, I may keep my 1st gen. Mini and keep the 10 inches iPad air as well.

My initial plan was selling my Mini , which is wifi+4G, and get the new one. However, after using the 10 inches iPad air and hold it for hours and hours at home , I may keep the 10 inches iPad air instead and forget about the 2nd generation Mini this year.

The price of the 1st gen Mini dropped so much, that I think it's better for me to keep it than sell it. I do not have a 10 inches iPad though, so that's a different story. I will continue using the Mini at work, for my meetings, lunch break, etc, and keep the iPad air at home only.

Last but not least,I compared weight and the differences between iPad Mini retina display (in terms of weight) vs iPad air wifi is just a few grams. So what I am losing in portability I am gaining in display and CPU power.

Any of them will be a good choice though. The new Mini has a fantastic resolution. And the 10 inches iPad air is finally light enough to use it as a PDF reader or to hold it comfortable for longer period of time.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by jocampo

...the differences between iPad Mini retina display (in terms of weight) vs iPad air wifi is just a few grams. So what I am losing in portability I am gaining in display and CPU power.

They have the same CPU.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by afv011

They have the same CPU.

No, I mean , old Mini vs Air

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by jocampo

And again, the Mini (like any other tablet, even 10 inches iPad) can be used on landscape mode, which makes fonts even bigger.

Huh? Not true. Switching between portrait and landscape will neither enlarge nor shrink the fonts.

It's a physical fact: the larger a screen is, the physically larger you can make the fonts in the books you read, without having to flip the page more frequently. That is natural law -- it's like saying 2 + 2 = 4. It's one reason why I've always preferred Kindle DX over the classic Kindle e-ink reader.

By all means, if you don't mind physically smaller fonts or having to flip pages more frequently, get the mini Retina instead of iPad Air. For me, for texts to be easy on the eyes is my first priority, so that a 10-inch tablet will always remain my primary tablet, although I also enjoy owning and using smaller tablets for "mobile occasions".

(For the same reason, my main working monitor on my desktop PC is a 30-inch monitor, not the more usual 24-inch screen.)

[new]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I think I'll probably upgrade from my iPad3 to the iPad Mini2 sometime early next year. I don't buy into Faterson's BS rant about needing a bigger screen to read on nor his BS about iOS7 being horrible. Heck, I read hundreds of books on PDAs which had 3" squared LCDs with only 320 x 320 pixels for 151 ppi! Granted my eyes were a decade younger then. But the Mini2 will have more real estate than 7" tablets and it will have 324 ppi. That is more than enough to comfortably read on. I'll wait a while to make sure the hardware doesn't have any issues, but I don't think it will as the iPad Air seems to be okay.

Ipad Air compared to the Kindle Fire HDX: HDX was much nicer to read on than the Ipad Air. I looked at both yesterday and the HDX you could easily change size and fonts and the pixels were wonderful to read on, nice and dark (Helvetica font). The Ipad Air was not so good. It was okay don't get me wrong, but not like the HDX. I did see the blue edging around the border (HDX), but it didn't bother me. I tried to change the amount of light, but the floor model wouldn't let me so may not be a good test. The other thing is a rude Best Buy employee changed what I was looking at! So couldn't try changing fonts or anything on the Ipad Air.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by new

I looked at both yesterday and the HDX you could easily change size and fonts and the pixels were wonderful to read on, nice and dark (Helvetica font). The Ipad Air was not so good.

Of course you can easily change sizes and fonts on iPad Air in any way you like. That depends on the software you use on iPad Air. Of course Apple's default software is worthless, but everyone knows that. It's completely off-base to judge iPad Air on the basis of Apple's default software.

I wouldn't buy HDX because if iOS is a walled garden and a locked-down OS, then Amazon's reduction of Android is a super-high-walled garden and a super-locked-down OS. I purposely bought the Nexus 7 because it offers the "pure" Android experience -- no Samsung or HTC overlays or anything of the sort, let alone a complete overhaul and reduction of Android as on Kindle Fires.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Huh? Not true. Switching between portrait and landscape will neither enlarge nor shrink the fonts.

It's a physical fact: the larger a screen is, the physically larger you can make the fonts in the books you read, without having to flip the page more frequently. That is natural law -- it's like saying 2 + 2 = 4. It's one reason why I've always preferred Kindle DX over the classic Kindle e-ink reader.

By all means, if you don't mind physically smaller fonts or having to flip pages more frequently, get the mini Retina instead of iPad Air. For me, for texts to be easy on the eyes is my first priority, so that a 10-inch tablet will always remain my primary tablet, although I also enjoy owning and using smaller tablets for "mobile occasions".

(For the same reason, my main working monitor on my desktop PC is a 30-inch monitor, not the more usual 24-inch screen.)

What do you mean with not true????

If I turn my Mini on landscape mode, the fonts on my PDF become larger than when is on portrait mode. I do that every day sir, all the time.

I do not understand your intention of forcing your opinion and personal views on others. It's actually annoying and do not add to the discussion.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Apple's default software is worthless, but everyone knows that.

Again, that's your opinion!

Stop making general assumptions like, "everyone knows", because there are thousands of people who actually disagree, including me.

Not because you don't like it the software is worthless.