MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - iPad Mini user -- Help me choose an e-ink reader?

malarkey · 01-02-2013, 07:55 PM

Hi all. I'm a current iPad Mini user, and while I'm fairly comfortable with the Mini, I suppose that I don't like holding an LCD screen as closely to my eyes as I do when I read -- however, I've had a run of bad luck choosing an e-ink reader with a screen that satisfies me.

I've looked at three e-ink readers: the non-touch Kindle from 2011, the Kobo Touch and the Kobo Mini.

- The Kindle has been my favourite by far, but I found the buttons cumbersome and found that it was too light -- it seemed fragile in my (rather large) hands.

- The Kobo Touch was almost on-par with screen quality, and I greatly preferred the concept of a touch-screen, but I had too many issues with the screen being unresponsive and the firmware in general being bloated, slow and ineffective.

- The Kobo Mini was terrible. I used it for two hours, stuffed it back in its box, and began lamenting that the store I purchased it from doesn't allow change-of-mind refunds. It's far too small, I couldn't make the text clear and sharp no matter how I adjusted it -- it's too small, the text is too grainy, and frankly it seems more like a toy than good technology.

Considering the Kindle was my favourite, I'm thinking of getting another Kindle. I'm leaning towards the Kindle Paperwhite (it's not available in my country, but American relatives may ship it to me) as the thing I've loved the best about the iPad Mini (and, before that, the iPad 2) has been the ability to read in the dark without an external light source. I also feel as though the added weight when compared to the Kindle that I had will make the device feel "sturdier".

I'm concerned about the responsiveness of the touch interface, though. I did not like the way that the Kobo Touch handled it, and I'm honestly a bit worried that all of those extra layers between my eyes and the e-ink on the Kindle Paperwhite will cause degradation of text quality. I don't want another device with the screen of the Kobo Mini. What particularly confuses me is that Kindle and Kobo use the same e-ink technology.

01-02-2013, 07:55 PM	#1
malarkey Nameless Being	iPad Mini user -- Help me choose an e-ink reader? Hi all. I'm a current iPad Mini user, and while I'm fairly comfortable with the Mini, I suppose that I don't like holding an LCD screen as closely to my eyes as I do when I read -- however, I've had a run of bad luck choosing an e-ink reader with a screen that satisfies me. I've looked at three e-ink readers: the non-touch Kindle from 2011, the Kobo Touch and the Kobo Mini. - The Kindle has been my favourite by far, but I found the buttons cumbersome and found that it was too light -- it seemed fragile in my (rather large) hands. - The Kobo Touch was almost on-par with screen quality, and I greatly preferred the concept of a touch-screen, but I had too many issues with the screen being unresponsive and the firmware in general being bloated, slow and ineffective. - The Kobo Mini was terrible. I used it for two hours, stuffed it back in its box, and began lamenting that the store I purchased it from doesn't allow change-of-mind refunds. It's far too small, I couldn't make the text clear and sharp no matter how I adjusted it -- it's too small, the text is too grainy, and frankly it seems more like a toy than good technology. Considering the Kindle was my favourite, I'm thinking of getting another Kindle. I'm leaning towards the Kindle Paperwhite (it's not available in my country, but American relatives may ship it to me) as the thing I've loved the best about the iPad Mini (and, before that, the iPad 2) has been the ability to read in the dark without an external light source. I also feel as though the added weight when compared to the Kindle that I had will make the device feel "sturdier". I'm concerned about the responsiveness of the touch interface, though. I did not like the way that the Kobo Touch handled it, and I'm honestly a bit worried that all of those extra layers between my eyes and the e-ink on the Kindle Paperwhite will cause degradation of text quality. I don't want another device with the screen of the Kobo Mini. What particularly confuses me is that Kindle and Kobo use the same e-ink technology.