why I bought an ipad to use a an e-reader

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Barlo

The only two main points against it for me now are the lower battery life (though 10hrs is probably all I really need per charge)

Turn WiFi and 3G off and you should get a lot more than 10h usage from it for reading.

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Turn WiFi and 3G off and you should get a lot more than 10h usage from it for reading.

agreed i can hit nearly ten hours at 75% brightness and WiFi on.

[HarryT]

I recently took mine on a flight and forgot to turn "airplane mode" off afterwards for a couple of days. I was surprised just how much longer the battery did last with WiFi and 3G off. I'd estimate that it at least double the battery life.

[mjhudston]

Originally Posted by GERGE

When I said mountain I didn't mean something like Hood. Think about 15000+ ft, over snow line. No matter what I do temperature is a killer. There is also no 3G up there But you can find power sources at the base camps sometimes.

But I don't think an iPad would do. I will have a mohair willow jacket and hard leather case made for my Nook. I hope that would be enough.

The issue there is not that its an iPad. Its simply because Battery technology has not come up with a real solution to extremely low temperature issues.

Battery Technology, is the biggest factor holding back development of real portable devices as well as electric vehicles. We are still very dependent on Lithium based battery technology, which is now well over a decade old, in the public domain, and has been in military use for longer.

[mores]

Originally Posted by Bookem

The thing that put me off was the price. I am sure that in a few months the price will drop.

Apple generally doesn't do that. They launch with competitive low prices.
What you can hope for is that there will be a new iPad with more pixels and gyro and front-facing camera etc. that will be as expensive as the iPad is now, and the "old" device being sold for less. (That's what they're doing with the iPhone 3GS, and that's also what they did with the iPhone 3G)

Which, now that I write it, is probably exactly what you're waiting for

[sagiquarion]

Originally Posted by mores

Apple generally doesn't do that. They launch with competitive low prices.

They launch with "competitive prices" ha. I don't really like the fact that the ipad is basically an iphone smashed by a steam roller but I did use one in the store and was impressed with the screen and the way things just seem to flow. As an ereader, it has much potential save the the locked down and limited OS not to mention ZERO options for expandability. I really want to use the ipad for reading as I was impressed by the experience but two things need to happen: I need to be able to control the margins as I prefer as much text on screen as possible; 2) I need to get over the limitations I mentioned which I don't think will happen. There is a reason I ditched my iphone and it makes little sense to get an ipad. The only thing the Ipad has going for it now in the tablet market is that it is the only tablet of it's kind on sale right now. That will change. I'm having a hard time settling on a device for this reason: More are coming very soon and I've got plenty of other reading material to cover that time and then some.

I've yet to settle on a reading device (nook came close) as I'm extraordinarily picky about my devices. I've always wanted that "perject" tablet device so I might as well just wait for the best of both worlds if possible. Ipad is real damn near close but I can't justify the price with the aforementioned limitations.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by MrDrWatson

I'm glad to know I can use the epubs I have in my Sony prs 505 with the Ipad, can I do the same with the comics I have? Cbr and Cbz files? Which app allows it? I've read about comic apps but it seems I can only read the ones I buy from them. And has any one tried a comic on the Ipad? How easy is it to read in landscape mode with 2 pages at a time? (like if it was a paper comic).

There are several CBR/CBZ readers. My preference is for ComicZeal, due to its ability to organise comics into collections, although it does not offer a two-page view. Bookman offers a two-page landscape view, and CloudReaders offers a continuous landscape view, although you have to tap twice to change two pages at once. Neither of these have the organisation options that ComicZeal does though.
I find that for standard western comics, a single-page (portrait) view is completely readable. A two-page (landscape) view is on the edge of readability, ok for most comics, but small text will be an issue.

[murraypaul]

Uncanny X-Men #487 is available for free from the Marvel Comics app, so I hope posting a single page for comparison is acceptable fair use.

The same page in portrait and landscape views:

[madman]

Originally Posted by sagiquarion

As an ereader, it has much potential save the the locked down and limited OS not to mention ZERO options for expandability. I really want to use the ipad for reading as I was impressed by the experience but two things need to happen: I need to be able to control the margins as I prefer as much text on screen as possible; 2) I need to get over the limitations I mentioned which I don't think will happen.

I don't know if you'll ever find an e-reader with an "unlocked" or open OS - e-readers are fairly single-purposed, and you can always apply hacks to certain e-readers or jailbreak your ipad if you're that concerned about it. I totally agree with you regarding the expandability, I'm sure the ipad 2.0 will have some sort of usb/sd slot. I have a 32gb ipad, and I'm only using about 2 gb for books/pdfs which is *a lot* of reading material .

As far as margin control goes, if you're reading pdf's, GoodReader gives you complete control over margins plus allowing you to zoom in to ridiculous levels of magnification (i.e. you can have a couple of letters take up the whole screen, with no margins ). In iBooks, I have about a 3/4" margin around the page with a standard epub book.

[HarryT]

For book reading, even the smallest (16GB) iPad has more memory than you're ever going to want; the typical eBook is a few hundred kb in size, so 16GB will give you space for perhaps 50,000 books or so - certainly way, way more than you could possibly manage with the iBooks bookshelf.

[Dellaster]

Originally Posted by HarryT

For book reading, even the smallest (16GB) iPad has more memory than you're ever going to want; the typical eBook is a few hundred kb in size, so 16GB will give you space for perhaps 50,000 books or so - certainly way, way more than you could possibly manage with the iBooks bookshelf.

Precisely. I have a 8 GB SD card for my DR800SG with all my TBR (over a hundred and, alas, climbing) and reference ebooks. 7.2 GB free space left. The iPad versions with more memory are for those who want five seasons of a TV series on hand or something.

Since even with videos I only load up what I'm going to view in the immediate future, the 16 GB model seemed the best choice. I could afford another $100 (?!) for 16 GB more memory but I know from past experience with netbooks (my Eee PC only had 4 GB internal + an 8 GB SD card) and e-readers that I'll never need it.

[sagiquarion]

Originally Posted by madman

I don't know if you'll ever find an e-reader with an "unlocked" or open OS - e-readers are fairly single-purposed.

True but I admit to some mild resentment towards not being able to just connect the ipad/phone/pod to my puter and dragndrop stuff to folders. There are various android tablets coming out within the next 3 months that offer more traditional OS functions whereas idevice OS doesn't. Yes, 4.0 may change somethings but if I can't just slap stuff into the device without having to use itunes then no go. I don't appreciate proprietary nonsense like that.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by sagiquarion

True but I admit to some mild resentment towards not being able to just connect the ipad/phone/pod to my puter and dragndrop stuff to folders. There are various android tablets coming out within the next 3 months that offer more traditional OS functions whereas idevice OS doesn't. Yes, 4.0 may change somethings but if I can't just slap stuff into the device without having to use itunes then no go. I don't appreciate proprietary nonsense like that.

Yes, I can relate to that ....

[HarryT]

Really, loading content with iTunes is no harder than loading with, say, Windows Explorer. It's still "drag and drop", but drag and drop into iTunes rather than another explorer window. Plus you have the benefit of iTunes excellent search facilities, too.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Really, loading content with iTunes is no harder than loading with, say, Windows Explorer. It's still "drag and drop", but drag and drop into iTunes rather than another explorer window. Plus you have the benefit of iTunes excellent search facilities, too.

One assumes you are well pleased with your purchase !

Is it your best, or is it a case of each of your devices suiting the reading material ....