Ars Tecnica tests the 5 best e-readers for every budget 20190523

[Lparsons21]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

As an aside, I don't think the article is saying the iPad mini is the absolute best for ereading. Rather that it's the best option if one wants a multipurpose device.





My last use of Android tablets was around 4-5 years ago. My impression back then was majority of the apps were very much phone-centric. Given even pro-Android tech blogs have given up on Android tablets as a lost cause, I reckon that situation hasn't really improved much.

That’s the way I read it, the iPad Mini is the best if you need a versatile tablet with ebook reading.

I’ve noted over the years that if you look at the same app on iOS and Android the iOS version is better, often more fully featured and the presentation of the books much better. That is in comparison to FireHD 8, Asus ZenPad and a slew of other Android devices.
That isn’t meant to say there aren’t some better ebook readers on each of the mobile os’s.
Of course that is my subjective opinion.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Lparsons21

That’s the way I read it, the iPad Mini is the best if you need a versatile tablet with ebook reading.

Yeah, the article very clearly says the iPad is best if you want a tablet as opposed to an e-ink device.

It does not say the iPad is the single best device for e-reading overall.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Yeah, the article very clearly says the iPad is best if you want a tablet as opposed to an e-ink device.

It does not say the iPad is the single best device for e-reading overall.

And could there BE a “best device”? I will say it’s far and away the best small tablet. But....that’s because Android developers have never really embraced making native tablet apps (with some wonderful exceptions like the Msft Office suite].

But “for value”? Then it depends on your use cases.

[crane3]

Originally Posted by leebase

And could there BE a “best device”? I will say it’s far and away the best small tablet. But....that’s because Android developers have never really embraced making native tablet apps (with some wonderful exceptions like the Msft Office suite].

But “for value”? Then it depends on your use cases.

I got an ipad 6th gen a few weeks back for $120 w/128 gig as an isp retention thingy & will be paying for it in interest free installments for 2 yrs; I believe the price is a bit overpriced for the ipad but livable. "value"???

The article is supposed to be about e-readers so why did the author claimed that the ipad is the best tablet?? the ipad is not an e-reader nor is it even close to a decent tablet regarding value or usefulness. Considering the restrictions on the user, the ipad sucks; the ipad does not allow a user to even look at what is on the ipad with its "file manager".

Last night, I was reading a manga for about 3 hrs & the damned ipad kept changing to a blank screen at about the 2 1/2 hrs time each time I did a 'page turn'/next page. Gave up & went back to the asus s3 10.

The ipad sandboxing does not allow file sharing so that the Calibre Companion must send a copy of the book to the reader app. On top of which reader apps is not as capable or useful as the reader apps for android.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by crane3

The article is supposed to be about e-readers so why did the author claimed that the ipad is the best tablet?? the ipad is not an e-reader nor is it even close to a decent tablet regarding value or usefulness.

I could not disagree with you more strongly. My 10.5" iPad Pro allows me to do virtually all the work I previously used a laptop for (the notable exception being photo editing). I use it for hours every day and regard it as one of the best things I've ever spent my money on. It's a serious computer for serious work, and I find most of the apps to be of a high professional standard and excellent value for money.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by crane3

I got an ipad 6th gen a few weeks back for $120 w/128 gig as an isp retention thingy & will be paying for it in interest free installments for 2 yrs; I believe the price is a bit overpriced for the ipad but livable. "value"???

The article is supposed to be about e-readers so why did the author claimed that the ipad is the best tablet?? the ipad is not an e-reader nor is it even close to a decent tablet regarding value or usefulness. Considering the restrictions on the user, the ipad sucks; the ipad does not allow a user to even look at what is on the ipad with its "file manager".

Last night, I was reading a manga for about 3 hrs & the damned ipad kept changing to a blank screen at about the 2 1/2 hrs time each time I did a 'page turn'/next page. Gave up & went back to the asus s3 10.

The ipad sandboxing does not allow file sharing so that the Calibre Companion must send a copy of the book to the reader app. On top of which reader apps is not as capable or useful as the reader apps for android.

Far more people read on tablets and phones than e-reader devices. Always a matter of taste, but the is ebook apps, as in most things, are better than what's available for Android.

File sharing is accomplished differently and more securely on an iPad. But no doubt, if you want access to the email file system like a regular computer, then Android is better.

For READING, the things that make one choose an iPad or an Android tablet.....it is mostly going to be about price

[leebase]

I picked up the Walmart tablet after all and am putting it through it's paces. I can say that typing on it is far better than the Kindle tablets. Might actually remove one of the reasons I fall back to my iPad so often.

[HarryT]

Having used both iPad and Android tablets, my experience has been that iOS apps are very often of a higher standard than those available on Android. I don’t know of any PDF reader for Android, for example, which is in the same ballpark as the “GoodReader” iPad app.

[Lparsons21]

I love the idea of ereaders but other than the dedicated ones like Kindle, Kobo and others, am always disappointed in the performance of the e-ink Android tablets. Laggy is the best word to describe all of them and that description also exists for the cheap Android based tablets.
The more upscale Android tablets are competitive in performance to iPads, but their prices are also much closer to the iPad price structure. IMO, I use an iPad because I’m entrenched with Apple’s ecosystem and sharing between the various devices. But I could use a good Android tablet just as easily though I would be missing some features of iOS. The features that are there in Android and not in iOS hold no allure for my usage.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[crane3]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I could not disagree with you more strongly. My 10.5" iPad Pro allows me to do virtually all the work I previously used a laptop for (the notable exception being photo editing). I use it for hours every day and regard it as one of the best things I've ever spent my money on. It's a serious computer for serious work, and I find most of the apps to be of a high professional standard and excellent value for money.

Is ios for the ipad pro different from the 'regular' ipad? Can you create a folder/directory for books & have the folder to store all the books of various books?

I paid for file explorer & created a folder for books. Then I downloaded the ios 12 user guide from apple; read a few pages. then moved the ios 12 ug to the books folder; ios states that the format of the ios 12 user guide is not understandable or recognized; was not able to use either 'fb', marvin, maplereader or even 'ibooks'(?) to read the ios 12 user guide. Moved the ios ug back to the main screen(?); the ios 12 ug was readable????!!!!!

There were docs that I wanted to save on the ipad; ios files would not allow saving of docs on the ipad as it is only for use for the icloud; a money maker for apple.

A serious computer? The ipad cannot even do normal stuff that the mac os can. I want MY computer to group apps the way I want it, not what apple says I must do nor do I want my computer to just be a terminal for access to the icloud/mainframe.

There is no "one size fits all". I want to use my laptop/desktop to do what I want. Apple's restrictions make a good marketing scheme in that I read many claims how easy it was to update ios or mac stuff; of course ios is really "standardized" as only 1 company dictatorally run ios.

Apple even bans apps from doing stuff like banning manga reader from displaying "food wars"; a response from someone on the forum claims that apple sells the manga was the reason. But there are other mangs on the apple website that are sold by apple on the apple store & the fan translations of the mangas are accessible by the manga readers!!??

[leebase]

There are workflows with an iPad that make more sense than the one you are describing. If you don't want to use iCloud, use Google Drive, OneDrive or any of a plethora of others.

But yes, iOS does not present a file system along the lines computer users are used to. That is not the same thing as one can't get something done. For security reasons, each app has its own doc space. You don't put a file in some directory and then just open it up from any app. iOS has many fine pdf readers. You would "open in" the app of your choice.

[HarryT]

You’ll inevitably run into problems if you don’t understand the way that iOS handles information. It’s not like a PC with a file system. Data is owned (and stored) by apps.

[John F]

Originally Posted by leebase

...

But yes, iOS does not present a file system along the lines computer users are used to. That is not the same thing as one can't get something done. For security reasons, each app has its own doc space. You don't put a file in some directory and then just open it up from any app. iOS has many fine pdf readers. You would "open in" the app of your choice.

Unless you are special, like music and photos.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by crane3

The article is supposed to be about e-readers so why did the author claimed that the ipad is the best tablet?? the ipad is not an e-reader...

I agree tablets aren't ereaders, but that's just something you'll have to accept in ereader round-ups. Tablets are always included since far more people read on tablets than they do on dedicated e-ink readers.

And always, iPad is proclaimed to be the best (though the 'whys' are always skimped on), which is what I was getting at earlier.

Apple even bans apps from doing stuff like banning manga reader from displaying "food wars"; a response from someone on the forum claims that apple sells the manga was the reason. But there are other manga on the apple website that are sold by apple on the apple store & the fan translations of the mangas are accessible by the manga readers!!??

Those fan translations aren't legal. They are posting copyrighted material that they have no legal claim to. I strongly suspect that is why apps which access them are banned.

[Apache]

An eReader is anything that can read Digital Books i.e. Ebooks. It does not refer to just eInk devices. Tablets and phones are included in this definition.
Apache