Tablet take over

[RDaneel54]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Interestingly, when I went to the U.S. last week (after having been gone for one year), I went to Best Buy and saw quite a few tablets prominently displayed. This disply (along with ebook Readers) was NOT apparent one year ago, and I was startled by their presence.
Don

Don,

I don't think the two displays were there a month ago. I was also surprised when I took a friend to Best Buy and saw two separate and rather large display areas. One was for the tablets and one was for the ebook readers. It seemed there were about 7 or 8 each.

I tried to explain the pros and cons of each of the 15 or so to my friend but was frankly stumped by one of the ebook readers and one of the tablets. These things are breeding like rabbits!

Dean

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

The two technologies will coexist very nicely for a very long time.

Nonsense. Everyone knows that as soon as motorcycles came out, you couldn't give away a bicycle. There can be only one./sarcasm

[gastan]

I'm hoping for a windows tablet (so I can actually create and consume content) with a mirasol type screen and the weight and battery life of an e-reader.

Hope I don't have to wait very long.

[Barty]

I think tablets will eventually subsume ereaders, just as smartphones are subsuming mp3 players. There will still be dedicated ereaders, just as there are still mp3 players and pocket calculators, but reading function will be included in more general purpose devices whose screen will evolve for long reading.

Remember those "word processors", sort of a typewriter with a bit of memory and two, three line display? They're called laptops now.

[elcreative]

We keep having this tablets will takeover the ereader discussion which ignores the way things usually work... as an example, I have a tablet and I never use it for reading novels, I use an eInk ereader - it is smaller and far more comfortable to relax with... I use the tablet for lots of things including tech pdfs, magazines and comics because the form factor and reproduction is better on a 10" device but, as I said, for novels the tablet is larger than needed even though the reading function is already included on the tablet. Different devices do meet different needs.

It's like the joys of the family multi-media computer to replace the TV or the computer enabled TV to replace a dedicated computer... nice idea but families gave up on family TV viewing around the time we got more than 3 channnels, the real choice now comes down to a device for each family member so that everyone can watch/do what they each choose...

[Ken Maltby]

I read ebooks on my dedicated ereader a battery powered device that fits in my pocket,
and has a 5" screen. The screen is a TFT LCD reflective non-backlit display (not e-ink)
that draws little power and gives the device a long (~30hrs of reading time) battery
life.

I also have a fancy new 10.1" Honeycomb 3.1 Tablet. I do not use the tablet to read
ebooks. I don't expect I ever will.

Luck;
Ken

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

I read ebooks on my dedicated ereader a battery powered device that fits in my pocket,
and has a 5" screen. The screen is a TFT LCD reflective non-backlit display (not e-ink)
that draws little power and gives the device a long (~30hrs of reading time) battery
life.

I also have a fancy new 10.1" Honeycomb 3.1 Tablet. I do not use the tablet to read
ebooks. I don't expect I ever will.

Luck;
Ken

I also have a 10" tablet. It's too large to read ebooks on. It's too heavy to hold in one hand. But it's great for comics.

[thinkpad]

A tablet will never get the battery life of an e-reader. So it comes down to if you want to charge your device once a day or after a couple of weeks

That being said tablets have there uses, but for me, not as dedicated readers.

[HappyMartin]

Had dinner with a group of friends on Saturday. Of the 7 people around the table 4 of us own ipads and a kindle and 2 use just a kindle. And this the a**e end of Africa.

I would give up my ipad before I give up my kindle.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by thinkpad

A tablet will never get the battery life of an e-reader. So it comes down to if you want to charge your device once a day or after a couple of weeks

That being said tablets have there uses, but for me, not as dedicated readers.

And an e-ink ereader will never have the same ease to read in darkness as a tablet (I find those attachable lamps highly annoying).

That being said, e-ink readers have their uses, but for me, not for all circumstances.

But, as soon as there would be a tablet with the great battery life of an e-ink (or reflective LCD) device and the backlight when needed... Those PixelQi screens looked like a solution, but, while not really vaporware, they might as well be for the amount of devices available...

[MikeB1972]

Garmin make handheld sat navs with a full coulour transflective display and a side light, never understood why the transflective screens were only on the jetbook.

[pixiestyx]

Meh. I don't even see it as an LCD vs. e-ink thing. I've been following Android tablet news because I've thought that in a couple of years, when it's time to replace my NookColor, that would be the purchasing direction I'd go in. However, the tech department at my work brought in a demo Motorola Xoom that I was able to try out. After 3 days with it, I found that it was only "ok", and that I very much prefer my NC.

Sure, the Xoom was more stable than my SD card Android boot on NC, but other than that...prefer size of NC, typically use the stock software for reading & really only use NC as an Android tablet when I don't have access to my 14" laptop. Also, the 3G on the Xoom was painfully slow for me and this demo experience also made me glad that I've kept my "old" texting phone and not upgraded to a smartphone w/ expensive data plan.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Garmin make handheld sat navs with a full coulour transflective display and a side light, never understood why the transflective screens were only on the jetbook.

Because transflective screens aren't used on the jetbook. Those are reflective screens. Side-lights screens are ancient and transparent. Our garmin sat nav has an awesome backlit transflective screen.

Reflective = light gets reflected on some kind of 'mirror' and thus need a lighted surroundings.

Transparent = light goes right through and thus there needs to be a built-in light source. Earlier screens used some kind of side-light, but today's use a backlight.

Transflective = Transparent + Reflective. In short, the 'mirror' is partly reflective. So, some light gets reflected back, but it will also let light pass through. So, while your contrast will never be as high as with a pure reflective screen, you can read it perfectly with the light turned off, especially if there is more light (ideal for sat navs, as they are often used in sunny conditions, I hope!), you can also turn on the backlight in case there isn't enough surrounding light.

Originally Posted by pixiestyx

Meh. I don't even see it as an LCD vs. e-ink thing. I've been following Android tablet news because I've thought that in a couple of years, when it's time to replace my NookColor, that would be the purchasing direction I'd go in. However, the tech department at my work brought in a demo Motorola Xoom that I was able to try out. After 3 days with it, I found that it was only "ok", and that I very much prefer my NC.

Sure, the Xoom was more stable than my SD card Android boot on NC, but other than that...prefer size of NC, typically use the stock software for reading & really only use NC as an Android tablet when I don't have access to my 14" laptop. Also, the 3G on the Xoom was painfully slow for me and this demo experience also made me glad that I've kept my "old" texting phone and not upgraded to a smartphone w/ expensive data plan.

For me it's not so much an e-ink vs LCD thing. It's more a question about functionality. I simply want the best of both worlds! For me, that would be a 6" or 7" transflective tablet, with at least touch capabilities and maybe WiFi (and if wifi is present, I would also want an "open" OS, so I can install applications). Naturally, with the battery life of a "classic" e-ink!

[wodin]

Originally Posted by thinkpad

A tablet will never get the battery life of an e-reader. So it comes down to if you want to charge your device once a day or after a couple of weeks

That being said tablets have there uses, but for me, not as dedicated readers.

My nightly ritual is to plug in my cell phone, plug in my tab, use the intrusion alarm app on the tab to arm my burglar alarm, set my alarm clock app on the tab, and then either read a chapter or two on my tab or go to sleep.

In this way I insure that both my phone and my tab have a full battery in the morning, and I'm ready for a new day.

If either the phone or the tab had insufficient battery life to last the day, it would be a deal breaker; but neither of them does.

[warrend405]

In time, yes but I think the time frame will be years. Tablets have to be come far more common and come way down in price first.