Ars: E-reader wars: iPad Retina vs E-ink

[Bateluer]

http://arstechnica.com/apple/review...lay-loses-the-battle-in-the-e-reader-wars.ars

If you love reading and are looking to invest a chunk of money into a device as a dedicated e-reader, then the iPad is not your best bet. The value you can get from devices like the Kindle (or several other competitors like the Sony Reader or Kobo), will allow you to save money to spend on what is presumably your main passion: books. The iPad's retina display is sharp and bright, but the display is unlikely to be the sole deciding factor for spending more time with the books you love.

The trouble comes when you start to think of your e-reader as more than an e-reader. E-ink Kindles are abysmal at Web browsing, for example, and they don't run popular apps and games like the iPad and other tablets on the market today.

Things won't always be this way, though, because color e-ink and other technologies are still on the horizon. There are other types of reading, like webpages and magazines, that matter just as much as books to many readers, too. For those needs, an iPad's retina display will display images and text like a champ. But if your focus is on reading many books for many hours, e-ink still provides readers with the best support.

Got to say, I'm not surprised by the results. For reading books, composed of text, e-ink is king. Plain and simple, not a single LCD, SAMOLED, MVA, TN, or SLCD screen will beat e-ink in text readability. But, as they point out, tablet devices have a MUCH wider range of capability. E-ink readers do not. They have a single use, to read books. Thats it.

Of course, with e-ink readers easily in the impulse purchase range for most people, and decent tablets available for under 300 often, there's little stopping users from having both.

 

[Mopetar]

Would be nice if some clever bloke found out how to combine an LCD and e-ink display so that we could get the best of both worlds. Reading outside could be done with the e-ink display and night reading or anything that really needs color could be done with the LCD.

 

[frostedflakes]

It's funny you mention that, because Pixel Qi have developed LCDs that can switch between transmissive and reflective modes, in theory offering the best of both worlds.

http://www.pixelqi.com/products

No idea why it hasn't caught on yet in e-readers and tablets, they must be cost prohibitive or have some other issues.

 

[Bateluer]

Wasn't the Adam tablet supposed to have something like that?

 

[WelshBloke]

E-ink is always going to win for pure reading, thing is its nice to carry around one device that does everything ok rather than a ton that are the best at individual tasks.

I find white text on a black background on a SAMOLED works pretty well.

 

[Dulanic]

I don't even see why they did this. I don't care what resolution a screen is the whole LCD vs e-ink viewing for reading things has been compared before. The batter life and paper like viewing of a e-ink can't be beat for books.

 

[glen]

Would be nice if some clever bloke found out how to combine an LCD and e-ink display so that we could get the best of both worlds. Reading outside could be done with the e-ink display and night reading or anything that really needs color could be done with the LCD.

Next Gen of Kindle is supposed to have some sort of light built in for night reading:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/06/next-generation-of-e-ink-kindle-to-sport-new-front-lit-screen/

 

[gorcorps]

Next Gen of Kindle is supposed to have some sort of light built in for night reading:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/06/next-generation-of-e-ink-kindle-to-sport-new-front-lit-screen/

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2238971

The next nook is out in May and will have it. About time if you ask me.

 

[zerogear]

iPad is ok for reading on the go, and you just want one device with you. But if I was going to be sitting down just to read for a extended period of time, e-ink all the way.

 

[WelshBloke]

iPad is ok for reading on the go, and you just want one device with you. But if I was going to be sitting down just to read for a extended period of time, e-ink all the way.

Ipad's a bit big for a decent ebook. It's probably ok on the couch but otherwise it's too big.

 

[glen]

Ok, when can we expect a review that compares the lit E-Ink Kindle and Nook?

 

[gorcorps]

Ok, when can we expect a review that compares the lit E-Ink Kindle and Nook?

Down the road when they're released. B&N has theirs coming out next month and as of yet Amazon's has just been a rumor... no announcement yet. Amazon's usually a couple months behind the Nook anymore anyway. The Nook beat the Kindle to the market with the tablet/e-reader, the touch ereaders, and now the lit e-reader. The competition is usually right around the corner.

 

[zerocool84]

The size plus the screen make a Kindle or Nook better. It's easier for someone to lug a smaller eInk device and they are so much lighter than an iPad.

 

[PrayForDeath]

I have an ipad 3 and i read alot of books on it, but i am planning to get a cheap kindle because you can read in sunlight/outdoors, its very light, and i can take it pretty much anywhere (beach, bus, etc.) without worrying too much about it. Afterall its not a $800 device, so even if i lose it thats not a big deal.

 

[DaWhim]

there was never a contest when it comes to hardcore reading for e-ink vs other screens.

battery life alone will blow out everything else. I see a lot of people carry an ipad to read on subway in nyc. imagine you don't get a seat and you have to use an ipad standing up? just awkward.

I have a sony ebook reader. no problem holding it with just 1 hand. it weight nothing and can easily fit into the pocket of any jacket i wear.