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

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Blossom

That's why I use this with my Android tablet. The developer is a member here and made it for his wife's Kindle Fire. It's available at the Amazon app store as well.

I use it on all my Android devices.

Cool. I wonder if we will see a "choose your color"-feature on newer e-readers, with multi-colored LED's or something, so you can mix up your own front light color. I'd really love to put a faint yellow in there (One reason I don't like to read in complete darkness is because the Kindle is then pure white. At least it is to my eyes.)

[DiapDealer]

If, if, if if, if.

The point is: the battery life on a lot of newer tablets is perfectly adequate for a large (and getting larger) subset of the reading public. The subset of readers that the battery life is NOT sufficient for is getting smaller (and a lot more "iffy"). It's not exactly the dealbreaker it used to be in choosing a reader.

But... 'nuff said. Reading is the important part.

[evanft]

The screen. I can't even use a front-lit reader without getting some eye strain, so you can imagine what it's like to try and read on a tablet.

[calvin-c]

Battery life isn't an issue-if you're smart enough to buy a tablet with replaceable batteries. For me, software is the deal killer. Or rather the inability to manage the software. Some day I might take a look at the Windows Surface tablets-but from what I've read I don't expect them to be much more user-friendly than Android. At least not the RT version. Probably better than iPad though.

[BeccaPrice]

Maybe a better question than the OP is "why *have* you chosen a tablet for ereading?"

[Sydney's Mom]

Too many distractions.

[purple_fishy]

I have both, an ereader (NOOK STR) and a tablet. I use my tablet for reading PDFs for work and downloading documents, articles, etc. I also have it so that my daughter can watch movies while traveling or play games.

I use the ereader for reading because 1) backlit screens give me headaches and as a person who gets migraines, anything that might increase the likelihood of a headache is a no-no 2) the e-ink reader doesn't have distractions like email, web browsing, etc 3) I can hold the ereader in one hand for much longer than the tablet 4)I can forget the charge it for quite some time and it is still usable, the tablet needs to be charged nightly if I use it every day.

[jbcohen]

Your last one purple, I read a real long time each work day, on the bus and the subway to the office, lunch time and the bus and the subway home. If I used my Kindle first generation for that the battery would never last.

[danskmacabre]

for me.

1: Battery life
2: the tablet screen is irritating for my eyes after a while.
3: It's too heavy to carry around or read in bed.


however I DO use it to read PDFs of game books (for tabletop Roleplaying games). But that's to use for reference in the middle of a game, rather than read from cover to cover.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by 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!

When my wife and I go away and bring out gadgets, we also bring a small power strip that has 3 plugs and two USB. The USB are fine for iPhones and my 650, but not iPads. And, the plug on the small strip can be rotated for best placement. It means we have two extra plugs at the least and maybe more if we are using the USB to charge our phones or my 650.

[JaneD]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

Too many distractions.

This is the #1 reason I haven't purchased a tablet yet. Why would I read when there's the internet at my fingertips? (Rhetorical question - I would read sometimes, but the temptation to surf, email, game, etc would cut into my reading time.)

Secondarily is the weight. They're all so much heavier than my kindle & not as comfortable to hold.

[idraw22]

hi,


A tablet... hmmm, it's just too bright for me, like reading on my computer for a long time. I have tried it, and a Pandigital, but I just didn't like it. Plus the hours were shorter. So I don't see my myself ever getting a Kindle Fire or anything like that... unless they can fix it!

[fratermus]

I have read books on LCD (laptop, smartphone) but prefer eInk. Placebo effect or not, it feels much easier on my eyes.

[Teknikal]

I've been giving tablet reading a go last few weeks since I got my first tablet a 32gb Nexus 7 now I have read happily on LCD devices before even going back as far as reading on the PSP and even an iPod Touch but truthfully I can't find reliable software on the Nexus and it's pretty frustrating to have to keep checking you haven't skipped a page.

I've given up with Moon + reader completely which seemed to be the most popular of the reader programs on Android I've found it pretty terrible and just can't trust it, compared to what I used to use on my old iPod (i2reader) Moon+ is a complete mess and believe me I'm no fan of Apple.

So I'm back to my Sony for now which I'm not particularly happy with either lately but at least I know it will forward a single page at a time and not randomly skip one or go backwards every few swipes, I do believe good reading is possible on a tablet but most of the software seems to be overly complicated junk.

[crich70]

1. Can't read outside on LCD screen, 2. Tablet batteries would drain too quickly, 3. most important I can't afford to buy one at moment.