[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

The big advantage of eInk or even reflective LCD screens is how long you can read on a charge. With my Jetbook, I could get 15-20 hours of reading on a single charge when the unit was new. On a Sony PRS-505 I can literally go weeks between recharge (Depending on how much I am reading... but even steady reading will get well more than a week on a charge). So, if I have a long plane trip ahead, (say a 15 hour one), an eInk reader is a better choice than an iPad that will run out of batteries half way through the flight.

And that's the major reason I bought my Mini. About two months before I got it, we were on a camping trip, by bike. So, no way to charge our PDA's. Which meant that after 5 days, they were running low, even though we tried not to use it too much (problem was, it was raining most of the evenings, and we only had our tent, so not a lot to do...)

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

I'm not a fan of LCD technology. I use them, of course - my secondary display is a 23.6" Viewsonic LCD - but I'm not a fan at all.

With my computer, I prefer the CRT over any LCD. Though, I'm contemplating buying a LED monitor.

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

To me, the ipad is too heavy and bulky. And I hate the thing with a passion - it's a giant ipod touch. I have one of those already And definitely not a fan of LCDs for e-reading - too reflective, no good in bright light, too power hungry. Heck I could have just read on my HP TX2 tablet convertible...but an e-reader is miles better.

I do wish e-readers came with a built in sidelight - until this thread I didn't know the Sony 700 had one! I might look into that!

Technically, e-ink should induce less eyestrain than an LCD by far. But there is also a lot of variance between people's eyes. Just like with CRTs - some people get eyestrain from 60hz that vanishes at higher hz rates. Others get more eyestrain from LCDs at 60hz than a good very-hi-refresh CRT - some of this is partially due to the fact that they are often simply too bright, even at 0 brightness. Depends on the eyes.

And that's the major problem with LCD: brightness. It's not so much the backlight as the amount of backlight. Which is why I'm so thrilled with the backlight of my JE100. It practically turns itself off (but not quite..). Which means I can't even see my hands in a really dark bedroom, even though the device is on.

Originally Posted by leebase

Do not presume that reading on the iPad is the same as reading on your computer. It just isn't. I can't read a book on my computer, but I've read over 20 on my iPad so far.

There's another problem a lot of people seem to forget. If you're reading behind a monitor, you're sitting up straight, and you can't deviate too much as the monitor is "fixed". If you're reading on a device, you'll most likely won't be sitting up straight on a desk chair, but rather lounging on the couch or easy chair. And that does make a huge difference in perception! I can't read from my monitor, except small texts (such as forums). Entire books, I don't even want to think about it!