Which is really better for reading in daylight and artificial light?
Nothing to compare. The iPad has a kindle app. I've been using the app on my iPod touch and iPhone since it first came out. Otherwise I'd have ten times more bookshelves in my living room. ;o)
I have both. Kindle is good if all you wanna do is read books! If you want to do other things then iPad is the way to go. I just got my iPad 2 yesterday and it's awesome!
Daylight? kindle
I had a Kindle first, then got an iPad. I vastly prefer my iPad and am in the process of selling my Kindle to a friend, BUT the answer to your question depends on your needs.
The Kindle is definitely best if you're planning to do a lot of reading outdoors in sunlight. It's also smaller and lighter, not to mention much cheaper, so if all you're looking for is a dedicated ebook reader, the Kindle is probably a good choice.
Both Kindle and iPad are equally good for reading in artificial light. Some people like the e-ink display better (on the Kindle). I have a bit of a bone to pick with some ebook reader apps on the iPad, because the app developer has written the app with a rather glaring white background (I'm thinking of GoodReader at the moment) which can be hard on the eyes for long reading, rather than the softer gray of the Kindle, which is kinder to the eyes. BUT the tradeoff is a larger reading surface on the iPad and a much easier, friendlier page-turning and nagivation interface.
The iPad is definitely more versatile and all-purpose, obviously. It has more memory and a larger screen, which is nice for me as I'm visually impaired, and is backlit, which I prefer. It's NOT good for reading in the sun, which I never do. I would say I use my iPad about 60% for reading. I like the versatility of other uses, I like the larger memory, I like the ability to see color on the iPad, but the outstanding feature for me is that via various ebook reader apps, I can literally read any ebook format out there, including my own Word documents and including my entire previous library from my Kindle. I can check out .epub books from my library. The Kindle only supports a limited set of ebook formats, so you either have to be careful where you get your ebooks, or you have to get all your ebooks from Amazon, or you have to be careful to buy only non-DRM'ed ebooks that can be converted using a program like Mobipocket Publisher or Calibre.
One downer. The Kindle app for iPad (or Kindle for PC, etc.) does NOT support collections, so your Kindle library is only organized by author or title. I think this is deliberate on Amazon's part, to make it more desirable to buy a Kindle. It's extremely annoying if you have a large library of ebooks, as I have.
Thanks so much for very good info. I want to play games, too, so iPad would be great. AND I have a LOT of apps already for iPhone 4 which will work on iPad.
-----This very same question came up on another list, and the best reply I have seen is the following which I will quote without asking permission from John Kessler:
"The Kindle's advantage is in the display technology it uses, called digital paper. The digital paper display looks like a sheet of blank white paper but it can be written to (black only) electronically. Once written, a black pixel will remain on the "paper" even with the power off. It must be electronically cleared to erase it. That means the Kindle writes a page, then powers down. This results in excellent battery life and like a printed piece of paper, it is easier to read in bright light but harder to read in dim light. It can not do fast graphic updates so it can't do motion graphics.
This makes the Kindle ideal for displaying Black and White text and static black and white images. In short it is an excellent way to store and read books. It does that one thing very well.
If reading books is all you plan to use an iPad for, then the Kindle is for you. If you intend to spend a lot of time at the beach reading books, the kindle is for you.
If you intend to mainly read books in the comfort of your home, and want to be able to do more than that, the iPad can do what the Kindle does and much more.
At the price of the Kindle, it may be worth having both if the advantages of digital paper seem useful to you."
I do not have an iPad, but I know that trying to read an iPhone in bright daylight can be difficult. If you want to do anything more than just read text, then the iPad is your choice.
The times I've seen an actual Kindle, it didn't look all that bright-white to me; more like that slightly-dingy-grey that the laundry detergent ads bemoan. The contrast just wasn't there. I've seen this in Best Buy, for example, which is pretty brightly lit, & found myself peering-squinting. (maybe it's my aging eyes :-))
Since I'm rarely trying to e-read in bright light (& for dead-tree reading, I like *lots* of watts in my lightbulbs) -- I'm mostly indoors & I *do* know how to turn off the lights! -- I really really like the well-backlit iPad; I also read on my iPhone or iTouch at times. Even if I'm in a bright-ish place (standing in line somewhere, waiting for a bus, etc.) I can turn myself well enough to see for the time being, since it's only a short while.
Much of my iPad reading is on the exercycle, where I don't want the room lights up bright anyway. Nice to turn the lights down low & escape into my little corner with only the iPad for company as I pedal away. A Kindle would not only have the lighting problem, it's small enough that I'd have to hold on to it (rather than prop up on the rack) unless I turned up the print size big enough that there'd only be about 5 words on a page. Page turning speed on iPad is great, too.
I'd get a Kindle & load it up if I were going on a longish trip with iffy recharging availability. Otherwise, I'll stick with my iPad & its kin.
Very good information. I rarely sit in the sun; I am very fair, so I burn easily. I am an air conditioner person!!! I believe the iPad is for me. Now I just have to break down and spend the money! î•. I really like my iPhone 4!!!
-----I have the kindle app on both my iPhone 4 & on my iPod touch (3rd gen) and my laptop. Don't need to wait for the iPad. You can register up to 5 devices with the kindle app. You can sync all of them when reading so you can pick up where you left off on each.
I have a Sony 650 and a Nook Color. I rejected Kindle because (at the time) it didn't support free books like Gutenberg Project, Google, and public library. I didn't like that you were tied to Amazon. The other 2 take PDF. Like you, I felt the Kindle screen looked rather dull grey and not at all appealing.
I love my Nook Color, which is easy to read in any light. It also has some apps and is wi-fi enabled. Both Sony and Nook can hold tons of books, but the Sony is lighter and easier to carry. Prices of books seem to be more or less the same now. Kindle used to be cheaper. IPad would definitely be an excellent choice if price isn't a major factor. Nook Color has some of the features but only costs about $250.
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