Why buy a amazon kindle when..

[555]

Why buy an amazon kindle when you can just buy an old tablet laptop pc and turn it into a e-book reader? plus ebooks would be free and in full color.. i was looking at the kindles and they are like 300$ or so? for the same price why not just buy an old tablet pc and you can download unlimited ebooks, put in windows xp with minimum specs for reading and have alot more powerful e-reader? I seen this in popular science magazine, maybe Hak5 can make a video on this :) the amazon kindle costs money for every ebook and is only grey scale, no color, not to mention all the other cool things the tablet can do like draw on it, internet, ect..

[VaKo]

A few things:

E-Ink is far more like paper+ink than a LCD screen, and is easier on the keys.

A Kindle weighs 540g and is 9.7mm thick, tablets are around 1.5-2kg and usually 3-4cm thick.

A Kindle has a battery life that is measured in days and weeks, a tablet (especially old ones) has a battery that lasts an hour or so.

A Kindle is solid state, a tablet has fans and a mechanical disk, an old tablet gets hot.

With a old tablet, I'm faced with a large, noisy, heavy device with poor battery life and a horrible screen I can't just boot around in my bag or read in bed, with a Kindle I can do way more. I don't want a laptop or I'd take my Dell Mini 9 with me, and if I want internet I'd use my HTC Hero or my Blackberry. I want to read. A physical book is nice because it is portable, robust, doesn't need power and tbh a kindle is only better because it can store lots of books.

[555]

I prefer paper books as well. Is the Kindle easy to see in different lights? Like say can i take it to the beach and it wont over heat and the screen will be easy to read? How much do the kindle ebooks cost? Can you transfer your own .pdf books onto it?

A tablet with 4 to 5 hours of battery life is still sounding good instead of a kindle, I dont really read books longer then 4 hours in a row anyways without some kind of break atleast and full color display rocks

[VaKo]

E-Ink is designed to be used in sunlight, and you don't really need full color unless your reading comics or guides of some sort. Kindle books cost about 10$ a pop, but it can read books from a variety of different sources so you don't need to buy them. It can also read formats you upload, although I hear PDF support is a bit hit & miss.

As for 4-5 hours from a tablet PC, I doubt it. Your tablet is far more likely to overheat and be hard to read at the beach, plus there is loads of opportunity for sand to get in those fans.

Its a nice idea, but a Kindle is just better. It may be more expensive but this really is a case of you getting more bang for your buck with an e-book reader that has electronic paper.

[dr0p]

Kindles are nice because of size, battery life, and the screen for reading. I have been tempted to buy just to read manga, whitepapers, etc. on a screen that doesn't give me headaches but since I don't have a job I can't afford one right now.

[h3%5kr3w]

Kindle > Tablet !

[H@L0_F00]

Post content > number of posts...

[VaKo]

However nice the hardware is though, I would still never buy one. You don't own the books, you license them. Brilliant bit of kit, ruined by the business model.

[Rkiver]

I myself have a Sony E-reader that my wife got me for my birthday. Comparing it to a kindle a mate got in the states, I prefer the Sony.

[shonen]

I was looking at these e-readers a month or so ago and as handy as they are and as much as I want one $300 is a lil pricey. Then again 3 books can set you back just as much now days and to be honest for doing LAB stuff from a book I rather the paper copy.

[555]

Thanks for a thorough answer Vako..

I think I will stay with paper books for now. I have never had to worry about sand getting into the fans, battery life, ect yet with one. Plus for the price 10$ for an ebook I can buy a paper book for the same or less on Ebay.

[VaKo]

Plus, reading books is nicer than reading devices. As much as I love technology, there is something quite nice about paper when it comes to fiction.

[Razor512]

for the price of a kindle, buy a netbook for a little less money then download audio books and listen to them while browsing 4chan while sitting next to the person with a kindle with a black and while e ink screen.

or get a $20 2-4GB mp3 player and load it with audio books and listen to them

a kindle is good but the only place you can use one is at home or in a airport or a police station or other similar higher security areas because if you take a kindle out in public, it wont be your kindle for long. someone will steal it from you while you are using it, then the person who stole it from you will also get ribbed for it and this will go on until the device breaks, especially if you are in any city like new york.

you want something that can be turned on and function with out you having to take it out in a way in which people can see the device

[VaKo]

This is why no one uses a cell phone or iPod unless they are at home, in the office or some other high security area... wait that's crap.

[Razor512]

I see this happen a couple times a year while on the bus, someone is busy on their iphone, or sidekick or ipod and they are holding it out in the open and when the bus stops, someone runs past and grabs their overpriced device then runs away, it is funny to see but if it happens to you, you will really hate it.

[barry99705]

I see this happen a couple times a year while on the bus, someone is busy on their iphone, or sidekick or ipod and they are holding it out in the open and when the bus stops, someone runs past and grabs their overpriced device then runs away, it is funny to see but if it happens to you, you will really hate it.

People should arm themselves then. Or other people in the area should step up and stop the moron.

[Rkiver]

Well as I said I've a sony e-reader, one of the older ones, not the newer touchscreen ones. I love it. Loads and loads of books on it and it doesn't take up any space. Also it can natively read almost all ebook formats, and pdfs to boot.

Sure it doesn't have netaccess on it, but I don't need it to.