CALGUNS Brain Trust: School me on E readers.

[Citadelgrad87]

Might not matter to a kid but the backlighting on a kindle is WAY better if you are reading before bed. The lighting on an ipad, phone, laptop or tv is tricking your eyes into thinking its daylight or some such.

The kindle paperwhite is different and will give you no trouble if you're wanting to go to sleep after.

[reverser]

The Kindle Paperwhite is front lit, so the light is not shining directly into your eyes. Between that and the zero refresh rate of e-ink it sure is a lot better for your eyes. E-ink is basically like reading an actual book.

Might not matter to a kid but the backlighting on a kindle is WAY better if you are reading before bed. The lighting on an ipad, phone, laptop or tv is tricking your eyes into thinking its daylight or some such.

The kindle paperwhite is different and will give you no trouble if you're wanting to go to sleep after.

[olhunter]

As mentioned....

The Kindle Paperwhite with the backlighting and no-glare screen is the way to go.

I've had several and they all either had no lighting, screens with reflections and glare or batteries that did not last.

Paperwhite. FTW.

[Iknownot]

If he is in the Apple ecosystem(iPhone, iPad, Laptop etc.) the Books app is great and sinks(Library, boomarks, Highlights etc.) with all the apple devices.

Best of luck.

Yeah but reading on an LCD screen for extended periods of time is far inferior to e-ink screens. I can read e-ink as long as I can real paper. LCD, not so much.

For reading reading, I’d take a kindle over iPad every time. Mixed media, color pages, video, iPad obviously then.

[borderguy]

iPad with the Kindle app for the win.
It's very versatile and allows for web surfing, emailing, TV, movies, facetime etc.
Tried a kindle on a recent vacation and it didn't perform nearly as good as the iPad.

[elSquid]

Kindle devices are great, but suck for pictures/magazines. Great for plain text. Kindle is tops when reading outside or when/where reflections may be an issue. Superb battery life.

Kindle Fire is an inexpensive tablet that handles books, magazines, video, etc.
$150 and storage is easily expandible using SD slot:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K1RZWMC?ref=ods_ucc_tab_mk_rc_nd_ucc

For the money, it's hard to beat the Kindle tablets.

Skipping discussion of iPads, Android tablets, etc which can have more capability in terms of app selection, but generally cost more.

{ For reading I use Kindle on

- a five year old iPad ( my main tablet )
- a recent version of the 10 inch Kindle tablet ( main video device, huge storage space for TV/movies, but I also read on it. )
- my Samsung phone ( used when waiting for someone/something ),
- and I own a bunch of kindle devices. ( I've been buying Kindles since they started coming out. I upgrade and get a new one every couple-a years) }



-- Michael

[SailorDan]

Recreational reading or school books?

I just finished some grad school and my iPad (get the large one) was invaluable. I was often able to find free copies of text books online (http://gen.lib.rus.ec was great) or buy/rent copies. The apple pencil allowed note taking and highlighting of key passages/concepts and depending on the app, can create a separate document with highlights. Much easier than lugging books around and I had every book I used with me all the time.

Recreational reading... get the Paperwhite. Amazon has a great collection of books and many others can be found for free online or digitally borrowed from you local library. The reading experience is much more enjoyable on the paperwhite/e-paper readers. iPads and other backlit screens are better getting work done.

[bigger hammer]

I put the kindle app on my phone and tablet. Now I don't touch my Kindle devices at all. I don't see a reason to carry an extra device.

As far as the color of light causing sleep issues, I've turned on the "blue light filter." I'm no expert, but "they say" that it handles the problems.

[SnWnMe]

Might not matter to a kid but the backlighting on a kindle is WAY better if you are reading before bed. The lighting on an ipad, phone, laptop or tv is tricking your eyes into thinking its daylight or some such.

The kindle paperwhite is different and will give you no trouble if you're wanting to go to sleep after.

This is the key difference between a tablet and a dedicated E Reader. No eye strain with e ink displays, and it really feels like you're reading a book.

[mossy]

Kindle Paperwhite. convert free e-books to MOBI files using Calibre and sideload them to the kindle.

[C.G.]

Kindle is good in its enviroment, which I personally don't care for, but lacks many formats. I prefer Kobo as it offers more formats.

[LavaTech]

Electronic environment makes a difference. In my case I use my laptop for an ebook server (728 authors, about 5600 titles) with Calibre E-book manager. At home I use my iPad with Calibre Companion and on the go an early kindle paperwhite usually running Doukan... sometimes kindle OS. If I need/want a particular format I use Calibre to convert what I have to what I need.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DesertDave100]

I was given a Kindle Fire years ago, at first I wondered WTF and then as I used it, I became addicted to the thing. Worked well for me as I didn't use a smartphone or own a laptop at the time.

Later was given the paperwhite, and it works great for books, nothing else. But I now have a smart phone if I must see e-mails or texts, and laptop for my regular travels back to CA for the home sale and friend visits. So the paperwhite is just the ticket.

I get a daily e-mail from Bookbub, where I get links to obtain kindle books, based on my previously input preferences. Each day there are 1 - 5 free books among the offerings. I rarely buy books anymore, except for when I get a free one and then I 'must' buy the rest of the series. Between my backlog of 100's free titles and the various public library offerings, I don't see reading as a very expensive hobby.

This is one case where new technology and being a cheap old fart mix quite well.

[the86d]

I just use my android tablet and buy books at google play store

I am with you on a single device that does everything, and I usually stick with 8" Android tablets for <$150 for "last-year's model", as they fit in the back pocket in my jeans (7" tablets were perfect when I had to wear slacks for work for front pocket carry).

The drawback to this is sun glare, and some of the dedicated readers can be seem perfectly in full-sun, as I understand, but are people really reading in full, direct-sun?
THAT seems silly.

I got a few that were rated 802.11N, but didn't support 5GHz WiFi (for tether when traveling inside Hotels), so I started using that as my search criteria.

[gorn5150]

Kindle is good in its enviroment, which I personally don't care for, but lacks many formats. I prefer Kobo as it offers more formats.

Calibre fixes the format problem in seconds and can make books you buy from amazon safe from an amazon account ban nuke.