Which Technology you prefer for reading novels

[jocampo]

For pure text books, like novels, which technology do you prefer? There are several pros and cons and plenty of arguments and threads about which one is the favorite or which one is not.

Let's put some numbers on those preferences ...

EDIT: if we can put brands aside, would be awesome ... Was looking for an independent and not brand related poll. After all, those three are the main technologies for screens. Regardless of the brand, chances are yours will be using any of those.

Thanks for sharing!!!

[tubemonkey]

Definitely my Kindle. Easy on the eyes and very lightweight.

[elcreative]

Definitely one of my Sonys... portable library allows choice of reading wherever I am from the bus to train, armchair to coffee shop, whatever... Paper if not obtainable as eBook or unsuitable for eBook...

[petermillard]

E-ink in the garden/on holiday/out and about, LCD everywhere else. For me it isn't an either/or decision, it's whatever's best for where I am/where I expect to be. Voted LCD as that's by far my most used.

[dwig]

I voted "ebook" in the poll, but its somewhat inaccurate as the poll's 3 options don't fit my decision tree well.

I much prefer reading high quality well typeset and printed hardback books over any other option. I find my K3 a match to, and too often better than, run-of-the-mill hardbacks and trade paperbacks and decidedly preferable to mass-market paperbacks.

Where LCD fits into my preference tree is hard to say. It depends massively on implimentation. Reflective mono screens are low on the list, around the same as mass-market paperbacks.

[Quexos]

I must say that so far I'm very happy with e-ink technology. Looks nice and batteries last long. So I'm all for it (But I wonder how OLED would fare for ereaders)

[CazMar]

The Kobo wins out because it is so much easier to read on buses, in bed or "lounging". I'd read all my textbooks on it as well but so often they only come in paper or PDF and conversions don't always work well. I am thinking of buying a cheap Android tablet just for colour PDFs - might have to wait another 6 months for these to come down in price. This will be an LCD screen, but at least allows reading one-handed!

[cfrizz]

I will read from either an eink or a lcd screen. That should also be an option.

[MrPLD]

eInk really took me by surprise... when I first got the K3 I though there was a printed 'fake screen' sticker covering the real screen (good thing I didn't try peel it off).

[Marseille]

I do much of my recreational reading at night, just before bed, as such I like LCDs and backlighting.

People complain about backlights and eyestrain, but in my 8 years of experience, that really has more to do with the amount and color of the light. I learned my current color scheme (green text on black background with backlight on minimum) from my now ancient m500. It had a monochrome LCD with no permanent backlight for day time use, but a switchable backlight that made dark colors (incl text) glow green when switched on. When I switched my night reading exclusively to that device, I went from getting a moderate increases in my eyeglass prescription every 2 years to getting a teeny increase in one eye once in the past 8 years. Reading with book lights and even lamps at night caused me more eyestrain than my current method. To say nothing of the increased ergonomic comfort of not having to balance a separate light while laying down or having to lean towards a fixed light source.

I'm very eager for advanced LCD techs like mirasol and pixel qi to appear in mainstream products, so there is less compromise in my choice. I'm happy to sacrifice daylight reading and battery life for better nighttime reading, but I'd be thrilled to have to sacrifice less of both.

[Lemurion]

If I'm going to sit and read for a long period of time I prefer EInk - especially since the battery life means I'm not likely to run out of power just as I'm reaching the end of the book. (A pet peeve.)

In low light I prefer LCD - backlighting works better for me than the light wedge on my Sony.

For graphic novels I prefer oversized hardcovers with high production values.

It's horses for courses. I don't always read in the same circumstances, so no one solution is best in all situations.

[SensualPoet]

I "fell in love" with e-ink at first sight; 15 months later I am still enthralled and reading far more than I have since I was a teenager.

[hgwlackey]

I'm good with eInk or LCD, which wasn't an option, so I didn't vote.

I'll take either over a pbook.

[theducks]

E-Ink
My arm gets tired holding a DT book that has grown to the the thickness of a L.A. phone directory

[sabredog]

No eyestrain with e-ink. Not any at all.