Kindle or tablety thing?

[BlackRat]

As we "Are not getting each other presents this year!"..... C and knowing full well Mrs BR will present me with a suprise on Chrimbo day I am off to get her something festive.

 

She reads prodigiously so thought about a Kindle, or maybe a tablet she can download books to but use for a few other things as well.

 

No idea what to do...........any suitable suggestions please?

 

Ta!

[Oldddudders]

Deb found her Kindle very restful for reading - it really has been designed for that, while one feels that other screens are intended to be able show a gazillion colours etc.

[trisonic]

We have two Kindles and one Ipad in our family. I use the Kindle Fire exclusively, smaller than the Ipad but the screen is more legible.

 

Useful for Web but I also have "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" and Proust's "A la recherche du temps perdu" actually in its memory plus a motley collection "Oxford English Dictionary" to Cricket books via Railway titles.

 

Very happy with it.

 

Best, Pete.

[Gruffalo]

The Kindle white screen is very good at being unaffected by sunlight so you can easily use it whilst sitting in the sun - no references to global warming here! Tablets have their place if you want to game and do very simple tasks but lack the sophistication of a computer. Decide what you need to do - e-mail, web browsing, photos and storage, music playlists will push you towards a tablet whilst simply reading and escaping from the pressures of e-Mail, Facebook, Twitter et al and the web pushes you to a Kindle. SWMBO has both since last Christmas and now rarely uses the Kindle but that is just her preference.

[Ron Ron Ron]

If it's just for reading books, a Kindle or similar e-reader has many advantages over a tablet.

 

They use e-ink rather than LCD panels meaning....

 

They can be read in bright daylight just like a printed book, unlike LCD screens that suffer from reflections.

Very low power consumption, so only have to re-charged every few weeks, or every month or more.

Can be smaller than tablets, as a small tablet is compromised by being too small for some uses.

 

Disadvantages include....

 

Really only useful for reading books.

Magazines are limited in available titles and the screens are really too small and not optimised for this.

Useless for web browsing and poor built-in browsers don't help.

Monochrome only - early colour versions exist, but are not generally available in the west yet.

Like reading a book, they need a light source to read in low light or the dark.

e-readers with built-in backlights are available (e.g. Kindle Paperwhite), but switching on the backlight reduces the battery time.

 

Kindle is Amazons brand name for electronic devices.

Be careful not to mix up a Kindle e-reader with the Kindle tablets, which are named Kindle Fire. Those are completely different types of devices i.e. tablets.

IMHO, the Paperwhite is the only Kindle branded e-reader to consider right now. It has a whiter background (higher contrast) and a selectable built-in backlight.

 

Other brands of e-reader such as the Nook and Kobo ranges are growing in availability and popularity, but just like the Kindle, most of these devices are locked into the brand's own bookstore, which limits where you can purchase e-books from.

There are one or two exceptions to this.

 

 

A tablet would be far more versatile, has full colour, can be used for reading magazines, web surfing and using apps, but......

has a shorter battery life before a charge is needed,

are difficult to see in bright sunlight,

can be too bright in a darkened room (brightness has to be turned right down),

can induce eye strain if reading for long periods of time, particularly in low ambient light,

unless using a small 7" category model, are much bigger and can be much heavier,

being heavier, can be tiring to hold for longer periods in the normal reading position.

 

 

 

.

[PGC]

I have neither, so can't offer advice based on experience. However, although I don't have one, I have to set them up and support them for people at work who do have them, so if I were to get one, it would be the Kindle as that's designed for reading. A tablet is a small laptop and I, personally, find the size of tablet screens to be infuriating, they seem to be a halfway house between a smart phone and a proper laptop. Also, the tablet will generally come with a fairly low spec processor (Intel Atom, for example) and may well seem very slow if you're used to a decent spec computer in your life.

 

The other thing is that a tablet requires an internet connection to be used for email, web browsing etc. and if you're sitting on a beach you most likely won't have the connection so you can only use the tablet for reading, and the screen will suffer glare etc. that a Kindle won't.

 

As one of the earlier posts said, decide what the equipment is mainly going to be used for and buy appropriately based on that.

 

Hope that helps in some small way.

 

Phil

[Ian Hargrave]

I have an Apple I-pad 2. Expensive but a good all-rounder. Useful in easy communication with son/nieces who have I-phones. Helped me keep in touch with the world when recently spending a week's'child care' on Tyneside.Amazingly versatile. Prices probably set to drop as Apple bring out new versions.Does all I need it to do.

[PGC]

A tablet would be far more versatile, has full colour, can be used for reading magazines, web surfing and using apps, but......

has a shorter battery life before a charge is needed,

are difficult to see in bright sunlight,

 

can be too bright in a darkened room (brightness has to be turned right down),

 

unless using a small 7" category model, are much bigger,

and can be much heavier.

 

 

For anyone using a computer of any sort, a very useful piece of software is f.lux http://justgetflux.com/. It works in accordance with the clock on the computer and adjusts the colour temperature of the screen depending on time of day so that at night, the screen is far less contrasty than in day time.

 

I used to have problems sleeping if I used the computer to near the time of going to bed, but since installing f.lux I can use the computer while in bed and I have no trouble sleeping.

 

As a rider, I am only writing this as a satisfied user and have no connection with the company at all.

 

Phil

[BlackRat]

I thought perhaps a kindle fire, as it offers a bit more flexibility?

 

Spoilt for choice aren't we!

 

All good advice tho so thank you all very much.

[The Stationmaster]

Mrs Stationmaster has a Kindle and loves it - masses of free books so she has read a lot of Dickens and other less than fashionable authors.

[Ron Ron Ron]

A tablet is a small laptop....

 

Sorry Phil. A tablet is not a "small laptop".

More accurately it's a small computer and a constitutes a completely different category of computing device compared with a laptop.

 

 

Also, the tablet will generally come with a fairly low spec processor (Intel Atom, for example) and may well seem very slow if you're used to a decent spec computer in your life.

Although nowhere near as powerful or fast as the current day desktop and laptop computers, good quality top of the line tablets are lightning fast at what they do.

They are also much quicker to boot up and switch off and in many cases more practical and useable than desktops or laptops.

There are cheap and cheerful and cheap and nasty tablets out there though, which will be slower.

 

 

The other thing is that a tablet requires an internet connection to be used for email, web browsing etc. and if you're sitting on a beach you most likely won't have the connection

This is very true, however there are models available with 3G (and now 4G) built-in ......subject to a contract and mobile (cellphone) coverage.

There's the tethering and mobile (cellphone) Dongle options too, for those that can use them.

Having said that, I personally wouldn't want to take a tablet on the beach anyway, but it does mean some tablets can be connected online when away from a WiFi signal.

 

 

As one of the earlier posts said, decide what the equipment is mainly going to be used for and buy appropriately based on that.

I agree.

 

.

[Happy Hippo]

I have what is now quite an old Kindle for reading purposes only.

 

Brilliant to take away on holiday as it stores a small library on board.

 

It also has variable text size, so if you have gammy eyes like i do, you can adjust the print to suit.

 

If I were getting another, I'd opt for the paper white version.

 

I'll just keep taking tablets!

 

Regards

 

Richard

[melmerby]

Sorry Phil. A tablet is not a "small laptop".

More accurately it's a small computer and a constitutes a completely different category of computing device compared with a laptop.

 

.

How would you class a laptop with a removable touchscreen?

 

Keith

[Ron Ron Ron]

How would you class a laptop with a removable touchscreen?

 

Keith

 

A gimic !

 

The PC industry is flailing around in desperation trying to rescue their nosediving and catastrophic sales figures.

At first many of the traditional PC manufacturers completely misread what a tablet was and what it was intended for. 

Now they have a better handle on it, they are still struggling with all sorts of "hybrid" PC devices, sporting detachable or swivelling screens etc.

 

 

.

[Joseph_Pestell]

For reading books, buy her a Kindle.

 

But if you might want to borrow it to access RMWeb when on holiday, then a tablet would be better.

[Ron Ron Ron]

I thought perhaps a kindle fire, as it offers a bit more flexibility?

 

Spoilt for choice aren't we!

 

All good advice tho so thank you all very much.

 

If you want the flexibility of a tablet, be cautious about buying a Kindle Fire.

 

a. It's not an e-reader like the Kindle.

 

b. It's restricted in many ways to Amazon only "content". [edit: You can only or mostly access their own on-line stores for apps, games, music and movies etc.]

 

c. Is plagued with constant Amazon and other adverts, unless you pay for an ad-free subscription.

 

d. Is specifically designed to be a portal to Amazon content (books, videos, music downloads, apps etc).

 

Personally I'd look elsewhere for a tablet., if that's what you want; or stick to an e-reader like the Kindle.

 

 

.

[Robert]

I agree with Ron - The Kindle fire is an Android device, but it is more restricted than a standard Android device.  You are very much tied into Amazon content.  That is fine, if that's what you want - but not everything that is available through the Android market, is available from Amazon.

 

If you are just looking for an e-book reader, then you can't go far wrong with the bog-standard Kindle.  If you are looking for full tablet functionality, then you probably have a better choice than the Kindle Fire.

 

Laptops with removable touch-screens are neither one thing, nor the other.  A colleague of mine bought one, and is very unhappy with it.  It is too slow to use as a Laptop, and more cumbersome than a tablet.

[Rivercider]

Mrs R, who reads a lot of paperback fiction, was sceptical about such things.

Her sister got her a Kindle Fire for her birthday a couple of months ago,

she says she has enjoyed using it much more than she thought she would.

She also checks her e-mails on it, and does some web browsing

 

cheers

[trisonic]

It's cobblers to say you can only contact Amazon with a Kindle Fire - you can contact anywhere on the web.

You can even access videos on the BBC site for instance as they have a beta version of a viddy reader - which so far as I know the Ipad does not.

 

Another "for example" - I can contact the "regular" version of RMWeb and read it easily on the Kindle Fire.

 

The only advantage of a strict Kindle reader (my Wife uses one) over the Kindle Fire is that the readers are somewhat easier to read in blazing sunlight - frankly I cannot read a regular paper book in sunlight comfortably!!!

 

Best, Pete.

[Kenton]

My wife has both a Kindle Fire and a HP Slate (yet another one of those tablet thingys). The Kindle gets used for reading ebooks and not much else the Slate for email and web browsing. Both have limitations and the biggest with the Slate is the lock in with Google (bad news as it insists on an account and then tracks your every move)

 

She has had a kindle since early release and will not be seen without it - she is an avid book reader.

 

There are some cheaper ME2 variants on the Kindle - cheaper may mean shorter battery life or poorer screen. The Kinde is the iphone of eReaders.

[ColinK]

I have an iPad which I use for all sorts of things, including reading ebooks.  There is a free Kindle app which works well.  I also download electronic magazines e.g. Railway Herald.  

 

One of my relatives bought a Kindle, but now having seen what an iPad can do, wished they had an ipad instead.

[Adams442T]

Though I use a Kindle HD Fire that I'm entirely happy with, and which as Trisonic says above you can connect via WiFi to anywhere, if I were going to buy an e-reader I would seriously consider the Kobo Aura. 

 

It had a 5 star review in Computer Active a couple of weeks ago and has features which are the equal of the Kindle Paperwhite.  It has the advantage of an adjustable brightness slider and a backlight diffuser that casts light evenly across the screen day and night.

 

It's £10 more than the Kindle Paperwhite, but for that you have freedom to buy books from any source and not just the dreaded Amazon!

[jjb1970]

If you want to read books then buy a Kindle, it is superb as an e-reader, buying books is simplicity itself and the battery lasts for ages. I have one and love it. If you want a multi-function device and fancy using it for the Internet, e-mail, games etc then get a tablet, the two things have some crossover as a tablet can be used as an E-Reader but a pure E-Reader is both cheaper and better if you just want to read books.

[TheQ]

You don't say what your budget is, but If Limited and you decide to buy a tablet then the Tesco Hudl Is worth a look, I've got one and it works very well, and is not tied in as much as other competeing "shop brand tablets"

 Most  reviews are very impressed with it  for the price.

I also use mine for E reading ( Including BRM) and find it very good. It's probably not as good as a paper white but it is in colour!

 

The Q

 

 If you wish to risk prizing the Tesco points off of SWMBO, then you can double the points at Tesco to get a Hudl, so mine cost 45 pounds in points and 20 pounds-ish in cash.

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

I have had a Kindle standard for about two years and bought the leather holder for it. It is a joy and has been used a lot for reading books almost every day. It has re-kindled ( there is a pun here I think or is it a truism?) my interest in reading and I have delved into some very worthy tomes that I would never have considered reading before due to cost and storage afterwards.

 

I have found that the battery lasts for ages if you turn the device on aeroplane mode as it uses a lot of juice seeking a WiFi connection if none are available and extra juice even if it has a connection close by.

 

I wouldn't be without it now.