MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Reading A4 pdfs: Kindle DX versus Android tablets?

paravantis · 03-18-2012, 08:59 AM

I have been using my Amazon Kindle DX for a couple of years. It is a great ebook reader and I have gotten much enjoyment out of it.

Yet, I have thought about the very same question you pose for quite a while now, and bought an inexpensive Android 2.2, 10 inch, tablet for around 150 euros; you can find even cheaper tablets on ebay.com.

Result? No way I can go back to the DX now. I have been spoiled by my color tablet with the Repligo Reader for Android (cost around 3 euros). First of all, Android is much FASTER than the DX. Also, now I can annotate PDFs and move them back and forth my tablet and my laptop, via the USB port of my tablet.

I would also advise you to stay away from iPad: it is ridiculously overpriced for what it offers. My tablet came equipped with a full size USB port (that accepts USB flash drives and USB keyboards), a mini USB port, a mini Ethernet port (so I can hook it up to my home broadband Internet) and an HDMI port (which I have never used). And I listen to Sky.FM while I read, either with earphones (to enjoy sound of fantastic quality) or the supplied stereo speakers (tiny and of mediocre quality)! iPad excels in one sector: it has, hands down, much better touch screen response. My tablet has a resistive screen that requires careful pressing with a pointed stylus (a finger will not register), while the iPad is a delight to navigate with very light touching.

There is one annoying problem: Amazon Kindle on Android is a really bad piece of software, crashing and closing all the time, to the point of being unusable. So I use Kindle for PC to read my Amazon Kindle ebooks. The Amazon Cloud Reader is great BUT it has not been implemented for Android browsers yet.

ALL IN ALL: my Amazon DX has been replaced by a generic ($100+ on ebay) Android 10 inch tablet, on which I read all my ScienceDirect papers and academic PDF ebooks.

Happy deciding!

John A. Paravantis
University of Piraeus
Greece

03-18-2012, 08:59 AM	#18
paravantis Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: many	I have been using my Amazon Kindle DX for a couple of years. It is a great ebook reader and I have gotten much enjoyment out of it. Yet, I have thought about the very same question you pose for quite a while now, and bought an inexpensive Android 2.2, 10 inch, tablet for around 150 euros; you can find even cheaper tablets on ebay.com. Result? No way I can go back to the DX now. I have been spoiled by my color tablet with the Repligo Reader for Android (cost around 3 euros). First of all, Android is much FASTER than the DX. Also, now I can annotate PDFs and move them back and forth my tablet and my laptop, via the USB port of my tablet. I would also advise you to stay away from iPad: it is ridiculously overpriced for what it offers. My tablet came equipped with a full size USB port (that accepts USB flash drives and USB keyboards), a mini USB port, a mini Ethernet port (so I can hook it up to my home broadband Internet) and an HDMI port (which I have never used). And I listen to Sky.FM while I read, either with earphones (to enjoy sound of fantastic quality) or the supplied stereo speakers (tiny and of mediocre quality)! iPad excels in one sector: it has, hands down, much better touch screen response. My tablet has a resistive screen that requires careful pressing with a pointed stylus (a finger will not register), while the iPad is a delight to navigate with very light touching. There is one annoying problem: Amazon Kindle on Android is a really bad piece of software, crashing and closing all the time, to the point of being unusable. So I use Kindle for PC to read my Amazon Kindle ebooks. The Amazon Cloud Reader is great BUT it has not been implemented for Android browsers yet. ALL IN ALL: my Amazon DX has been replaced by a generic ($100+ on ebay) Android 10 inch tablet, on which I read all my ScienceDirect papers and academic PDF ebooks. Happy deciding! John A. Paravantis University of Piraeus Greece Last edited by paravantis; 03-18-2012 at 09:35 AM.