In relating all the details of my Apple vs PC series, I almost forgot to tell you all about the result of my e-reader search. I actually bought several, and brought them back, as well as tried a few more that I never bought.
In the end I decided on the iPad. This device was so superior and had so many more features than anything else, it became a very easy decision.
One of the most important deciding factors was the size. I like to read a variety of things and when it came to magazines and newspapers, the other e-readers just made the experience too unpleasant. Maybe this would not be an issue for someone with younger eyes, but for me there was no question.
Another very important factor was the LCD screen. I do a great deal of my reading at night and I liked the idea of being able to read without adding any extra light to the situation. This brings up another thing that has turned out to be fantastic for me.
I tend to come up with most of my creative ideas at night; usually while sleeping. I’ll wake up at 3am with this great idea that needs to be written down or it will be gone from my mind in a matter of seconds.
In the past, I either didn’t bother writing it down, or rudely woke up my wife by turning on a light so I could jot down my idea. Now I can just reach over to the night stand, tap one button and the iPad is instantly ready for input. Tap the “Notes” icon and up comes an electronic version of a yellow legal pad. Tap anywhere on the pad and up comes an extremely easy to use keyboard to quickly enter the idea.
I have the iPad housed in a thin case that opens up like a book. Since you can rotate the iPad in any direction and the screen will stay upright, I can position the cover of the case so the light does not bother my wife. Also, the iPad screen can be dimmed down quite low.
I also chose the iPad because of it’s functionality in other areas. In this high-tech age we live in, you can really get carried away carrying around lots of gadgets. The iPad combines so many of them that not much else is needed.
It has an amazing calendar, email, notes, calculator, and the Safari web browser. Then there’s the GPS with extremely fast response time and very detailed, high-resolution maps. And finally there’s iTunes, a headphone jack, decent sounding speaker, apps for Nook and Kindle books, it’s own iBook reader, and apps for just about anything else you could want. I have Sudoku, Scrabble, and Chess and they all look and work great.
Combine all that with 10 hours of battery life (for continuous use) and you have a really nice device. 10 hours may not seem like much compared to the days and weeks of e-ink readers, but I find that I only need to charge it about once a week.
Even though I leave it on all the time, when the screen turns off the battery life is greatly extended. So if you’re using it like a Daytimer and organizer and not using it constantly all day long, I suspect one charge could last 3 or 4 weeks.
There are some additional technical reason I chose the iPad but I’ll get into those in a later post.
So now it’s your turn! If you’ve got an e-reader already, which one did you get? If not, which one do YOU think is the best? Please leave a comment and also click the “Like” button in the Facebook box in the left margin if you enjoyed the article.
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Robert I just barely noticed the date on the top of this article so maybe things have gotten even better. I really want to say go buy an android powered tablet if you really want ease and freedom. Pretend though that I haven’t said that to you yet because actually I am really more resilient than this nose in the air holier than thou Apple devise user I am going to hang in here until I can make this thing useable and update the apps I have grown to depend upon on the isern friendly open source android platform. I can’t for the life of me get the previous users to read my emails and help me through and I believe I might as well throw this away rather than ask Apple for help. It is by the way an I pod mini 2 with cellular capability and Inreally want to use it to give it a proper test
T
Hi T, thanks for your comment. I generally have found that Apple stuff has gotten better, and if you’re experiencing problems, it’s probably not something common to everyone. I have since purchased more ipads since this post was written and and loved all of them. Most have cellular capability and that usually works flawlessly too. I would not say that I’m an Apple snob. I use whatever works best and am competent on most platforms. I will admit though, that I have not used an Android tablet for a long time. When Samsung decided to leave off the pen from theirs is when I quite trying to find a non-Apple one that I liked. But I have been tempted to try one again. I hope you get your issued worked out though, and thanks again for your comment.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Bob! I’ve had my iPad for almost a year now, and I absolutely love it. I use for everything from reading The Economist and the New York Times to watching YouTube and Netflix, paying bills through my bank’s online banking app, reading books, cruising iTunes, playing Scrabble online….the list goes on and on. My wife was skeptical when I first bought my iPad, but now she uses it almost as much as I do! Maybe we’ll have to become a “2 iPad family” in the future.
Hey Tim,
Nice to see you here. It’s been a while! It took me a while to warm up to Apple, but their stuff is amazing…and I especially enjoy the iPad!
Got an iPad2 for Mother’s Day and I already don’t know how I lived without it. Not only has it become my planner, but it’s so much easier to carry around than a laptop with so many of the same functions. Being able to customize the system with the apps, games, and music that I want or need makes this technology something so different from just an e-reader.
I’ve been considering an e-reader and wondered about the iPad–thanks for your critique!
Great article Robert! When the time comes, I know it will be an IPad. I love Apple, anyway!
I don’t have an e-reader yet, but have been looking at them and leaning towards the iPad. You just helped me make up my mind. Thank you!
Great information. So much technology – hard to justify it all lol! I love my kindle for reading – wouldn’t trade it. I think I will eventually purchase an ipad for different uses.
Hi Robert as always i look forward to your posts with lots of easy to understand tech savvy details. I already have a kindle and the Ipad2 was on my ‘birthday wish list’ until my ‘reliable PC’ broke down a few weeks ago. Oh well, a girl can continue to dream big dreams right? Great article and thanks again looking forward to learning more about tech savvy products designed to make the lives of busy people a whole less complicated!
I am not a techie, and am usually not drawn to whatever the new and improved computer type thing that is out there. But when you mentioned writing down notes in bed, that got my attention. I am often thinking of good ideas at night and don’t want to turn the light on to write them down and bother my husband. Of course if I don’t write them down, the idea is gone by morning. I just might have think think about getting one of these.
Hey Robert – I just won an iPad, so I am very much in love with it. I love your tip about having it by the bed to put all your notes on.
I am with Lori about the Kindle as well. For reading my books it is really great. But, Kindle’s are not great for reading pdf documents – I think my iPad will be great for that.
Thanks Robert, as always a great deatiled message from you!
Thanks Robert, I think I need one of those!
I love this! Thank you for the evaluation. I would like to get this on my list and Im a big Apple fan, so this is good to know. Next purchase after I upgrade my Mac.
Robert – I just bought an iPad 2 weeks ago and I love it. The Kindle app on my iPad has opened up a whole new world of cookbooks to me. These types of books don’t show to great advantage on the Kindle. I’ve had a Kindle for years and the iPad is definitely not a replacement in my eyes.
I’m on a computer for more than 8 hours a day so if I want to read for pleasure or business I prefer the kindle screen to give my eyes a break.
Hey Lori, thanks for your comment. I agree with you that the iPad screen is not as easy on the eyes as a Kindle. A person’s choice depends a lot on what they’re going to use it for. Someday I’ll probably get a Kindle too, but I was kind of waiting for them to introduce a color e-paper version. Color e-paper has been invented, it just hasn’t been used for any significant retail commercial purpose yet.