Quote:
Originally Posted by SleepyBob
If you are buying a tablet specifically because you want to read full-page PDFs, sure it isn't the best choice of size. But it is hardly terrible.
Documents typically have 1" margins on every side, so the text you want to read isn't A4, it's more like 6.5x9". An iPad can display that with only a 15% reduction in size, 10% for the new iPad. And if you are willing to flip sideways and just see the top or bottom half, it can display it at full size, margins and all.
And getting caught up in 10" screens isn't a "big mistake for everyone", since only a small percentage of iPad users are spending significant time on them reading PDFs. The best size for a tablet for consumers is a very different proposition than the best size tablet to read PDFs on.
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Personally, I find 9.7" perfectly usable for PDFs even with margins. That's around 50% area reduction compared to A4/letter size but the high 2048*1536 resolution on iPad keeps things perfectly legible for me without needing to zoom. The 9.7" is more than a 20% reduction even taking out margins, though.
For ePubs, I just read in 2-column landscape which is roughly the size of 2x 6" readers side by side.
I have a 12.9" iPad but that's too big and heavy to lug around all the time. Also have the 7.9" iPad mini but find it a bit too small now. The 10-11" class iPads is a nice medium-size compromise and fits nicely in my purse.