Why have you not chosen to use a tablet for reading?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I like to read outdoors, there are fewer distractions, and I don't like fussing over batteries.

Incidentally, I do use a 10.1" tablet for reading. I've never had much of an issue with weight. Then again, it isn't as heavy as the iPad (which seems to be what most people mean when they say tablet).

I think my Nexus 7 is too heavy to read on for an extended time period. I like to be able to read using only one hand and I change position often so the tablet cannot rest on a table or similar.

[Blossom]

I use to read on a tablet till I got my Kindle Paperwhite. I agree with a tablet being heavier than a eInk Kindle. I don't have problems reading on the screen as some. I use to read on mine for hours.

My main issue is my Kindle Fire Gen 1 is not made for a large library of ebooks. As my Archive grows close to 5000 I find the Kindle app database corrupting and losing books. I have to rebuild it weekly and this can take up to 4 tries before it syncs correctly. The covers still don't show on non Amazon books sent to the Kindle Fire unless I rebuild the database. It's just too much a hassle and there is still no collections and font choices are limited. I have only three background colors to choose from: white/black/sepia.

My Kindle Paperwhite has features that the Kindle Fire doesn't and it's stable and adapts to any lighting situation. It's really lightweight and I can use whatever font I want on it. I have zero cover issues which is my main peeve about my Kindle Fire.

[Andrew H.]

My eyes like e-ink better.

But I do read work PDFs on my tablet; that wouldn't work well on my Kindle, particularly as I have to discuss the documents (which have page and line numbers) with people who have a paper copy or who may be reading them online.

[SteveEisenberg]

I need a single book and news reading device which I can take anywhere. Being a text-oriented person, my K3 fully meets the need.

I do generally carry an employer-supplied, locked down, cell phone as well. Three devices would be at least one too many.

Also, given some of the places I travel through, I'd be a little worried about an Apple device, or any flashy color tablet, being stolen.*

Years ago, I used the monochrome Palm IIIxe, and then the color LCD Palm Z22, for what I now use the K3. So I'm not totally wedded to eInk. But being able to read in bright sunlight is a plus.

_____________________
* See:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57...tick-in-crime/

[DiapDealer]

I read big-ass, long novels for hours on end on my Kindle Fire HD (in all the dark, quiet locations I prefer to do my reading) with no eyestrain (and quite often one-handed even). I never read for more than 11 hours straight, and there's always electricity in the vicinity to charge it back up (usually when I'm sleeping and don't really require the device's services). I feel very little weight difference between it and my Kindle 2. Did I miss anything?

I thought the thread needed a little balance.

I too thought my eInk Kindle was vastly superior to any tablet for reading purposes (not to mention being completely averse to Touch technology). I thought that right up until the time time I started reading on a tablet. Took me all of about two hours to commit to the switch.

Clearly I'm in the minority here on MobileRead, but hey!... to each their own.

[HansTWN]

A 10" device is too big and heavy to be a book reader and a 6-7" device is too small to be useful as a tablet. If I want to read and don't have my reader with me I use my phone, not my tablet.

Besides, I still prefer e-ink screens over even the best LCD screens for reading text. And yes, battery life is a major concern since I travel a lot.

[DiapDealer]

Do you travel away from electricity a lot?

[theinfamousj]

Tablets are an awkward size and weight to hold. Plus, sunlight renders them hard to see if not impossible.

I read on my phone, my handlet (Samsung Galaxy Player 3.6), and my Kobo WiFi. Each has its place. Outdoors is the realm of the Kobo.

[AlbertaCowboy]

I've tried to read on my Galaxy Tab, even going so far as to try to adjust settings and colours. I still get a headache after about twenty minutes of reading text on my tablet.
E-ink is definitely the way for me.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Do you travel away from electricity a lot?

You can easily be on the road for 20+ hours before you arrive at your destination. And to have to frantically search for an outlet at every opportunity, to lug the cable and adapter in the carry-on luggage (quite often you need another adapter for different outlets in different countries) is quite a pain. And then you get to your destination and instead of resting you have to search for the charger? No thank you.

And try to find a place to charge in the country side in South East Asia. Not to mention that "charge once and then forget about it for weeks" is wonderful.

[BeccaPrice]

I'm so tempted to get one of these. Not that I travel that much, and not that I'd be anywhere that a solar charger would be useful, but... come the zombie apocalypse it would be nice to know that my kindle would still be useful.

[DiapDealer]

I concede that a battery that lasts for weeks might indeed be a must-have feature for a busy, world-traveling, avid reader who often visits rural areas where electricity could be scarce.

[BeccaPrice]

I had to make a business trip - a long weekend- a month or so ago, and it was a royal pain finding outlets in airports to plug in my iPad so I could use it. and the hotel I was in, although it had recently been remodeled, only had one outlet that wasn't being used for in-room lights, tv, fridge, microwave... and those other outlets were hidden behind heavy furniture. I usually travel with a powerstrip, but didn't this trip, and had to decide whether to charge my phone or my ipad over night.

Over Christmas, my family went to visit my folks. We had a nice hotel room, but with four people having to charge phones, ipads, hand-held game systems. and all, I was glad that my kindle didn't need recharging over that trip!

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I concede that a battery that lasts for weeks might indeed be a must-have feature for a busy, world-traveling, avid reader who often visits rural areas where electricity could be scarce.

And by the time they have the elusive all-in-one, a phone with a fast color screen that unfolds or unrolls into a 10" or larger full featured tablet, weighs less than 300g, with a battery that lasts at least a week I will be first in line to get one, no matter what the cost.

And coming back to your above comment. Even though they may have electricity that doesn't mean you have access to an outlet until you get to a hotel or something. And then you would be reading with a cable attached -- no fun either.

[glnnjnsn]

I use my tablet (7") and e-ink reader pretty interchangeably for reading. They each have their own strengths in specific areas, but these aren't significant enough for me to seek one out over the other.