Tablet computer for reading eBooks
Jul 28, 2013 13:32:51 #
I have a Kindle e-reader and I really like it, however I would like to be able to read other formats without having to convert them, the conversions don't always work as well as they should.
I believe that you can read many different formats like Kindle and epub with a tablet computer. Does anyone have any experience reading e-books with a tablet?
If so do you have any suggestions on which tablet would be good for reading books?
and how do you go about reading the different formats on a tablet.
Thank you for any input.
I believe that you can read many different formats like Kindle and epub with a tablet computer. Does anyone have any experience reading e-books with a tablet?
If so do you have any suggestions on which tablet would be good for reading books?
and how do you go about reading the different formats on a tablet.
Thank you for any input.
Jul 28, 2013 14:28:27 #
Jul 28, 2013 17:02:49 #
PATMAHONEY wrote:
Loving the iPad mini
Thanks PATMAHONY, I am only starting my learning process with this endeavor.
Jul 28, 2013 18:09:58 #
I have a Kobo, which is OK for reading, but needs a light for reading in the dark (more recent models have a backlit screen). My wife has an Ipad mini, which is great for reading as well as the other things it does. The pages turn much better for one thing, the screen is brighter and the print crisper. The full-sized Ipad is a bit large for reading while holding it in your hands; the mini can be held in one hand though. This is important for reading in bed especially. You can get specially shaped supports though for using the full Ipad in bed. In Android devices, the Nexus 7 tablet is highly rated, and should do more or less the same as the Ipad mini at a significantly lower price; plus there's a new version due out now. I would be tempted to go for that. Battery life is much longer on the Kobo though; I can go all week long on that, whereas the Ipad runs out after about 9 hours.
Jul 28, 2013 19:45:32 #
Straight Shooter wrote:
I have a Kobo, which is OK for reading, but needs ... (show quote)
Thank you, I appreciate your input. :thumbup:
Jul 28, 2013 20:45:29 #
phcaan; You didn't mention WHICH kindle you have ? BIG difference !
About tablets;
( I'm fully protected by my suit of armor now, so you may throw rocks at me at will ) iPads; two sizes; for what I do, bigger is mandatory; for reading books, the mini is great; the only bad thing about iPads is, they aren't cheap; for JUST reading books.......the NEW Kindle Fire is just as GOOD as the mini, and it's cheaper. My wife is now on her second Kindle Fire; (she read more than 500 books on the first one, so it more than paid for it's self before it "died"; The new one is even MUCH better, and when I bought it on sale, it was quite a bit cheaper than the first one.
One aspect about e readers that it seems no one ever thinks about......the company BEHIND the "gadget"; sure, android devices "work"; but Kindles are marketed by Amazon; regardless of whether YOU "love" Amazon, or whether you "hate" Amazon, the fact remains, Amazon IS the 8,000,000 lb. Gorilla in this "fight"! I make no effort to keep up with all of this, but living with a woman who reads 4 or 5 books a week, (and often reading a couple a week myself), you just tend to see "what works". And if you can't find what you want on Amazon, it probably doesn't exist!
There are COUNTLESS apps made for iPads; if you're into doing "countless" things, I'm sure that's a big advantage; if you only do a few things, I guess it's somewhat less so. I have no idea how many books are written for either platform, but I do know Amazon has more books than all the people in large cities can read in a couple of life times; My wife is a HUGE "gadget freak! She's from Chicago.....she LOVES Chicago! So much so, she has DOZENS of "apps", each of which allows one to do something different; (most of them were free, while most of the other were 99 cents. One of he favorites........she loves to sit and listen to the cops talking to each other in Chicago; (for free!) when you add up all the things the Kindle allows you to do, I can't think of a single product that give as much "bang for the buck"!
(If you buy a Kindle Fire, make SURE it's the newest one; it's much better than the first one, even though she thought it was great.
As far as the quality of the LCD display is concerned, I can tell you that the one on the new Kindle fire is second to none; this thing just WORKS !
The other thing to consider about tablets is......just what else can you DO with the thing; a lot of that depends on the speed and quality of the connection you have; my wife no longer drags her laptop with her when she flies; all she needs can easily be handled by the Kindle Fire; email, playing games, and most importantly, having access to *****airline's reservations computer, to keep track of which flights have how many empty seats; ( when you fly non-rev, there MUST be empty seats available, or you WAIT for the next flight! ) The little Fire handles all of this just as well as either iPad will, for a lot less $$$. I think I only paid like $150 for the second Fire, when it was on sale; it's a real bargain at twice that price.
But that's all just what one person needs the tablet for; my needs are quite different; I do digital artwork and graphic design; so I need the big iPad; as soon as it reaches the top of my priority list, I'll buy one; I also need to carry a library of photographs; with photographs, bigger is better, every time; the newer iPads displays are many times better for displaying photographs than are any laptop display I've seen. ( here comes more rocks !)
At the end of the day, which tablet depends on many things
Just one more thing; what to set you tablet on while looking at it;
I have a gadget sitting in front of me that I like better than anything I've seen yet; I go to the Apple Store in Indianapolis a lot; it's in a VERY "swanky" mall, sand directly across the hall from the Apple Store is a "Brookstone Store"; (a big chain, that sells great, (mostly vastly over-priced) "gadgets"; this particular gadget definitely isn't over-priced; it's a little metal "easel", made by "Griffin"; I think it was only $20; not only does it WORK great, it LOOKS great ! Even though it's all metal, when you sit it on a nice table, nothing touches the table except VERY NICE rubber "feet"; when you place your brand new, $600 iPad inn it, the iPad touches nothing but......rubber; this thing should get the "Design of the year" award, it looks so good ! Every time the wife is sitting in a Panera Bread, store, a Starbucks, a "Books -a-Million Store, it's a safe bet 6 people will stop and brag about the Griffin easel. I should also mention.......you don't want to drag your new tablet around without a sleeve to protect it's LCD screen; you ALSO don't want to pay $50 for a dinky little bag! =I was in a big WalMart a few weeks ago, saw this GREAT little "Case Logic" sleeve, for like $20; She LOVES it ! It exactly fits the Fire, the charger, and the "stick" (as she calls it.
About tablets;
( I'm fully protected by my suit of armor now, so you may throw rocks at me at will ) iPads; two sizes; for what I do, bigger is mandatory; for reading books, the mini is great; the only bad thing about iPads is, they aren't cheap; for JUST reading books.......the NEW Kindle Fire is just as GOOD as the mini, and it's cheaper. My wife is now on her second Kindle Fire; (she read more than 500 books on the first one, so it more than paid for it's self before it "died"; The new one is even MUCH better, and when I bought it on sale, it was quite a bit cheaper than the first one.
One aspect about e readers that it seems no one ever thinks about......the company BEHIND the "gadget"; sure, android devices "work"; but Kindles are marketed by Amazon; regardless of whether YOU "love" Amazon, or whether you "hate" Amazon, the fact remains, Amazon IS the 8,000,000 lb. Gorilla in this "fight"! I make no effort to keep up with all of this, but living with a woman who reads 4 or 5 books a week, (and often reading a couple a week myself), you just tend to see "what works". And if you can't find what you want on Amazon, it probably doesn't exist!
There are COUNTLESS apps made for iPads; if you're into doing "countless" things, I'm sure that's a big advantage; if you only do a few things, I guess it's somewhat less so. I have no idea how many books are written for either platform, but I do know Amazon has more books than all the people in large cities can read in a couple of life times; My wife is a HUGE "gadget freak! She's from Chicago.....she LOVES Chicago! So much so, she has DOZENS of "apps", each of which allows one to do something different; (most of them were free, while most of the other were 99 cents. One of he favorites........she loves to sit and listen to the cops talking to each other in Chicago; (for free!) when you add up all the things the Kindle allows you to do, I can't think of a single product that give as much "bang for the buck"!
(If you buy a Kindle Fire, make SURE it's the newest one; it's much better than the first one, even though she thought it was great.
As far as the quality of the LCD display is concerned, I can tell you that the one on the new Kindle fire is second to none; this thing just WORKS !
The other thing to consider about tablets is......just what else can you DO with the thing; a lot of that depends on the speed and quality of the connection you have; my wife no longer drags her laptop with her when she flies; all she needs can easily be handled by the Kindle Fire; email, playing games, and most importantly, having access to *****airline's reservations computer, to keep track of which flights have how many empty seats; ( when you fly non-rev, there MUST be empty seats available, or you WAIT for the next flight! ) The little Fire handles all of this just as well as either iPad will, for a lot less $$$. I think I only paid like $150 for the second Fire, when it was on sale; it's a real bargain at twice that price.
But that's all just what one person needs the tablet for; my needs are quite different; I do digital artwork and graphic design; so I need the big iPad; as soon as it reaches the top of my priority list, I'll buy one; I also need to carry a library of photographs; with photographs, bigger is better, every time; the newer iPads displays are many times better for displaying photographs than are any laptop display I've seen. ( here comes more rocks !)
At the end of the day, which tablet depends on many things
Just one more thing; what to set you tablet on while looking at it;
I have a gadget sitting in front of me that I like better than anything I've seen yet; I go to the Apple Store in Indianapolis a lot; it's in a VERY "swanky" mall, sand directly across the hall from the Apple Store is a "Brookstone Store"; (a big chain, that sells great, (mostly vastly over-priced) "gadgets"; this particular gadget definitely isn't over-priced; it's a little metal "easel", made by "Griffin"; I think it was only $20; not only does it WORK great, it LOOKS great ! Even though it's all metal, when you sit it on a nice table, nothing touches the table except VERY NICE rubber "feet"; when you place your brand new, $600 iPad inn it, the iPad touches nothing but......rubber; this thing should get the "Design of the year" award, it looks so good ! Every time the wife is sitting in a Panera Bread, store, a Starbucks, a "Books -a-Million Store, it's a safe bet 6 people will stop and brag about the Griffin easel. I should also mention.......you don't want to drag your new tablet around without a sleeve to protect it's LCD screen; you ALSO don't want to pay $50 for a dinky little bag! =I was in a big WalMart a few weeks ago, saw this GREAT little "Case Logic" sleeve, for like $20; She LOVES it ! It exactly fits the Fire, the charger, and the "stick" (as she calls it.
Jul 28, 2013 21:04:18 #
Gitzo UH wrote:
phcaan; You didn't mention WHICH kindle you have ... (show quote)
WOW, that is a lot of information!
I now have a kindle touch, it is just great but I want something that I can get apps to read both mobi(Kindle) and (epub) Nook.
Thank you so much for taking the time to help me.
Basically all I want to do is read both epub and mobi books.
Jul 28, 2013 21:07:08 #
phcaan wrote:
I have a Kindle e-reader and I really like it, ho... (show quote)
I've used an inexpensive tablet with the ereader software Calibre with a lot of success. I even have it on my desktop and laptop and can convert from one format to another to load onto my Nook. Oh, and its free.
Jul 28, 2013 21:18:21 #
larrywilk wrote:
I've used an inexpensive tablet with the ereader software Calibre with a lot of success. I even have it on my desktop and laptop and can convert from one format to another to load onto my Nook. Oh, and its free.
I have Calibre and it is great, however sometimes the conversion mixes things up and runs words together, it is quite readable I just thought that if I had the apps the different systems mobi, epub, would be easier to read.
What kind of a tablet do you use?
Jul 28, 2013 23:44:37 #
I have an android samsung tab2 10.1 in tablet. It has the kindle app on it and I use that to read books. I download them from amazon just like the kindle. I think it also has the nook reader, but have found no reason to use it yet. In addition the screen brightness level can be adjusted to suit the environment you are located. The number of apps available are astounding and most are free. You do however get a small advert at the bottom of the screen barely noticeable on some of the apps. I was cautious about which one to get but finally made the decision to get the Android tablet. It syncs with my computer PC Desktop and laptop and my android phone.
The androids come in two different sizes a 7in screen and a 10.1in screen. In addition to the cell phone which is android.
I think you will find the Ipad just as capable, but not more so than the android. the cost of the Ipad is higher than the android, by about 25% in my area.
Which ever you get I think you will be happy with it. Good luck on your choice.
The androids come in two different sizes a 7in screen and a 10.1in screen. In addition to the cell phone which is android.
I think you will find the Ipad just as capable, but not more so than the android. the cost of the Ipad is higher than the android, by about 25% in my area.
Which ever you get I think you will be happy with it. Good luck on your choice.
Jul 29, 2013 06:33:22 #
I bought my wife a Samsung 10" tablet for Christmas - she hasn't spoken to me since (not really) - she is that absorbed with it! She reads books that she downloads and browses the internet and uses it for e-mail. I don't think she is restricted to specific formats on the books - there are a lot of Aps. She absolutely loves it. She is not a computer wiz but found it easy to learn to use. (She actually thinks I'm amazing for getting her this gift!)
Jul 29, 2013 06:35:23 #
phcaan wrote:
I have Calibre and it is great, however sometimes the conversion mixes things up and runs words together, it is quite readable I just thought that if I had the apps the different systems mobi, epub, would be easier to read.
What kind of a tablet do you use?
What kind of a tablet do you use?
As you have seen you will get a lot of sales talk from the Apple fan boys on this subject. What you are looking for is really not available. A single program that converts all of the various digital book formats correctly and allows them to be read on a computer just doesn't exist.
The problem is that many eBooks are self-published. The experience level of most self-publishing people means that the process will sometimes be flawed and therefore any conversion will also be flawed. The most popular program for making your own eBook is Calibre and it is the best for converting the various formats.
Another problem with your plan is that tablet viewing screens are optimized for video and images. While eBook readers are optimized for reading.
As for which tablet is best; that is up to your wallet and personal preference. You can test any of them by spending some time at Staples or OfficeMax. I use a Lenovo Twist with Windows 8 and would not trade it for anything. However I do my reading on a Kindle Fire.
Jul 29, 2013 07:23:18 #
phcaan wrote:
I have a Kindle e-reader and I really like it, ho... (show quote)
iPad will read Kindle and Nook formats, and possibly more.
Jul 29, 2013 08:00:09 #
The most prolific format is EPub, and unfortunately Kindle will not read it, you have to purchase your books through Amazon. our local library can loan us all types of books to read, but cannot give us Kindle as Amazon will not grant a licence I personally use a Samsung Galaxy 3 it is a 10" one, and uses Google Apps. And will read most formats
Jul 29, 2013 08:06:27 #
My wife loves her Kindle Fire. I love my iPad Retina Display.
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