My wife is interested in purchasing an e-reader. We are only beginning the research process. Any recommendations?
Right now the front runners are the Kindle Fire or Kindle Keyboard.
Use would be primarily for reading ... duh.
There would be some occasional web surfing and e-mail checking, nothing heavy though.
Interested in ....
ease of navigation
battery life
storage capacity
overall do-it-all-ness
The plain old Kindle (the grey screen model) is amazing for reading. If the primary purpose is reading, that is what it does better than anything else out there. It stinks for anything else.
As soon as you want to do anything else, you move from the e-Ink screen to an LCD, which makes reading much harder. Why? Because you are, for all intents and purposes, staring into a lightbulb.
My personal suggestion is to get a Kindle as a dedicated e-reader, and use a phone or a cheap tablet for the "light usage" of other stuff. Is it more expensive? Yes. Does it require two different devices? Yet. Will it save your wife's eyes a ton of strain and pain? YES.
The problem with things like the iPad and most tablets is that their screens are glossy, which means that any ambient light in the room will be glare... which increases the problem. For example, looking at a glossy screen with the sun coming through a window... well, you are basically staring at the sun. Great way to hurt your eyes and give yourself a massive headache in the process.
If you decide to get a "single device", get the iPad and get one of the screen covers that makes it matte. The colors won't "pop" quite so much (that is, by the way, why they do it, to make the color saturation look better), but the strain on the eyes will be greatly reduced.
I have had astigmatism since the age of 18 (despite being 20/13 in one eye and 20/15 in the other) thanks to spending my youth staring into cheap screens for a long time, this is something that has dramatically impacted my life for the worse. Your wife's eyes are not worth saving a few hundred bucks to get a cheap product or just get one cheap device.
J.Ja
Owner/President of Titanium Crowbar, LLC
All the good points have been made.
+1 for the plain jane Kindle.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Originally Posted by SouthNarc
I like the plain Kindle a lot. We have two or three of them amongst the household. Can't beat them for reading outside during the day, etc. My wife bought me a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I didn't think I'd use it for much but now use it for everything but reading outside.
However:
If you like to read at night and don't want to have a light on the Fire is the way to go (although I do wish it would dim more than it does).
You (or in my case kids) want to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. the Fire is great.
The alarm clock on the Fire is what I use at home or on the road.
Email, Fire works great.
Surfing the web, works great.
It isn't an iPad or a desktop but it works well for me. I don't have any complaints with the Fire and it has pushed my regular Kindle to outside only duty.
Another vote for the plain-jane Kindle.
I have a Gen 2 iPad and a plain Kindle and prefer the Kindle for reading. The near to nothing weight is a great plus too.
Good info on the reading outside vs inside and reading at night without a light. That's HUGE for me. She likes to read in bed so it would be great to have something she could use to read without keeping me awake.
Anyone use a Kindle Keyboard? Someone on her FB page recommended it. Looks like it has a ridiculous battery life .... like running an Aimpoint vs EoTech.
For reading at night, I use the kindle case with built in LED light. Works great and my wife doesn't even notice it. Since its LED, the effect on battery life is minimal.
I love the plain Kindle for outdoor or bright light reading. Nothing even comes close.
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For my Kindle, I have a little clip-on light with a gooseneck. I aim it so it is facing away from my wife. The battery life is awesome... it went nearly a year without a battery change, and even though it's like a full blown lamp for me, with it aimed away from her it doesn't get any light in her face at all.
An LCD screen, on the other hand, will range from a "gentle glow" to "lightbulb" depending on the screen and settings, and you won't really have too many options on its direction.
J.Ja
Owner/President of Titanium Crowbar, LLC
My wife currently reads paper books with either a lamp or one of the gooseneck LED lights you mentioned. It doesn't bother me like the lamp does.
I guess I need to probe more to see exactly what she wants to do with the device. If it's just for reading and she wants it for all lighting conditions then the plain Jane might be the best bet.
You really need to decide if you want an e-reader or a tablet. The kindle is a fantastic reader but that's it. Tablets are great for web/email but they suck for reading. I haven't seen one that does both great. I say try the kindle since they are cheap and read great. Then go out and buy a tablet for the web stuff.
ETA: I have the kindle keyboard and my wife has the kindle touch. The keyboards battery lasts about a month with the wireless off.
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