Quote:
Originally Posted by watchbot
I prefer the widescreen in portrait mode for comic reading, especially for american comics. American comics are very tall compared to manga and others. The 4:3 aspect ratio of the iPad makes the comic too short on the screen to comfortably read smaller text. This is when viewed too fit height, it also loses many pixels to either side to letterbox the page. At the width of 768 in portrait minus the letter boxing, it does not leave enough resolution to see small text easily. I get annoyed with scrolling so the fit width on the iPad does not work for me. On the Xoom when view in portrait the width is 800 pixels. And because it is widescreen the height of an american comic fits almost perfectly, only cutting off page numbers and such. If I find out a way to minimize the system bar the pages will fit great on the 16:9 screen.
[Edit] I should also add that small text (such as the footnotes in spawn) show up clearly on the Xoom when the iPad would require some zooming and panning.
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My main problem with the Xoom is that it is not comfortable to hold in portrait mode. I wanted to buy one, but it just seemed like it was meant for landscape, and I like to hold my tablets in portrait the majority of the time. Also, the colors are nowhere near as vibrant as they are on the ipad. Lastly, I wasn't too impressed with Perfect Viewer or ACV (although I did use them on a rooted nook color). I find that Stanza and Bookman on the Ipad work seamlessly.
You are correct though, that 16:9 is probably closer to the original aspect ratio, and the higher resolution is great too. Still, so far every comic that I've thrown at the ipad 2 has been a pleasure to read.