Tough world traveler, 6-8 inch: Quick thoughts?

[gponym]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

... for fiction reading, nothing beats an e-ink reader. I love my tablet for reading comics, browsing and email. But it's worth it to me to also carry an e-reader just for reading books.

I have a Timbuk2 satchel and carry both devices with me everywhere, every day.

Glad to know that carting 2 devices can work well. Getting an ereader I will do whether or not I buy a tablet for tech topic PDFs and larger format articles. Not only as fallback, but ereader battery life is a compelling feature, not to mention they're more restful to use in their sweet spot (books, news, simpler stuff). Maybe if EPUB 3 comes to dominate scientific publishing, I'll be able to do away with the tablet....

Ease of discovering/downloading content will always be a factor, and for content acquisition any tablet beats any ereader I'm likely to own. Though not a big factor on a trip without a fixed abode such as I'm planning for now.

[radius]

Originally Posted by stumped

For what it is worth, amazon claim that fire tablets are toughterthan ipad, do better in drop tests etc. Not sure how much they cherry pick results. They are much cheaper to replace. The one they sell as a kids tablet with 2 year no quibble you break it we replace it is a possible, as a cheap back up for your main device.

Dunno if carry weight is a factor for you, the nvidia shield is heavier then average.

This is the right answer. If you want something rugged, a kids' tablet is useful because most of them have a rubberized coating that helps absorb shock. And tablets are not as susceptible to torsion as ereaders so case rigidity can be relaxed in comparison. This does increase travelling weight of course.