Suggestions for a good E-book reader

Discussion in 'Smalltalk' started by naqshbandijamaati, Feb 13, 2012.

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  1. well, ipad 3 is out in a couple of weeks :)
    get ready for pre-order :D
     
  2. abu Hasan

    abu Hasan Administrator

    i have used all of them but there is nothing like an ipad...so far. (haven't seen the fire though).

    kindle was the ideal reader (the weight) but the memory and no-color fails my requirements.

    as you have said it yourself, if you buy a lot of ENGLISH books, kindle is good. but you can do that on an iPad as well (there is a kindle reader for iPad).

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    most arabic/urdu/persian books that we (on the forum) would be interested in are in scanned in pdfs.

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    the weight you complain might be true of iPad but iPad2 is a lot lighter and almost the same as samsung galaxy 10-inch version. galaxy tab 7-inch is practically useless.

    as a tablet, galaxy MAY have more to offer in the future, but here and now, it doesn't match an iPad2. (that coming from an open source enthusiast who secretly wishes android to be superior; but that is a few years from now)

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    apart from free access to thousands of ePubs not in copyright (which all tabs do), there are thousands of scanned classics on archive.org (if you know how to dig).

    while ePubs are convenient (and have a small file size) i still prefer a scanned copy (for the feeling of a printed book). take these classics: here and here, you should see it on an iPad to appreciate (both the iPad and the scan).

    for kids and grandmothers, an iPad is more intuitive (and has more apps) than other tabs (as of now). grandmothers can read the qur'an and listen to ghulam ghaus baghdadi's tafsir (which is highly recommended); and i am sure they will prefer to read books like madariju'n nubuwwah and kimya'a e sa'adat on an iPad as it is lighter than printed volumes and they can zoom where necessary.

    don't forget the UI. even a two year old can learn to use it.

    16g iPad2 is good enough unless you plan to store 60gbs of books on it.
     
  3. oh, if you want 'cheap and effective' forget the ipad and the samsung -- they are both 400 £ starting price! the kindle is £100!

    if i was in the USA i'd buy the Kindle Fire for sure.
    Sony also do specialist ebook readers...check them out too.
     
  4. if u just want an ebook reader then kindle is the best. if u live in the USA get a kindle fire.
     
  5. i agree. however i find the samsung galaxy tab 7.0 inch more like a real book due to its size and weight [ipad is quite heavy by comparison] and you can download the kindle app on it and get all the benefits of kindle on a colour screen. best of all the android has the ability to reflow the text for optimal
    viewing.

    i originally bought an amazon kindle and it was great especially whispersync which lets you buy books anywhere without wifi or 3G for free. if u buy a lot of books it is awesome. but it is black and white so all photos in books etc don't come out very well. then my brother brought the ipad and i was like 'wow'. but it is surprisingly heavy and if you are a heavy reader it can get tiring holding it up [although the ibooks store is good and userfriendly and it is good for pdfs too but if you want to put pdfs on there u have to sync them via iTunes...i find that a drag.] then i got the samsung galaxy tab and downloaded the Kindle App for Android on it and have not regretted it since.
    [ i think u can get the kindle app for ipad too]. overall the ipad is a much better tablet computer than the samsung in terms of quality of hardware and ease of use but apple are quite restrictive in what they let u do [unless u jailbreak it] and if u are going to mainly use it as an ebook reader than i would say samsung galaxy tab 7.0 inch is the one to go for.
    [there is also a 10.1 inch version if u prefer the bigger size.]
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2012
  6. chisti-raza

    chisti-raza Veteran

    yes, get an iPad. You will love the experience.

    true! :) I'm very impressed with the user experience.

    Visit an apple store (if you can) and read a few sample sample pages that are in ePub format. If you think that the pdf experience is great then this is something else.
     
  7. abu Hasan

    abu Hasan Administrator

    buy an iPad and you won't regret it.

    i have an entire library on the ipad (including deobandi works - just in case we need a snap munazarah ;)). the pdf reader is optimised and scrolling between pages is almost instant and faster than a pdf-reader on a four-core machine with 8gig ram (on 64-bit windows).

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    i have all 30 vols of fatawa ridawiyyah, and fath al-bari, ikmal al-mulim etc, on it; apart from the speed with which one can scroll between pages, the same PDF file looks far far superior on an iPad. this is on an iPad2. [will buy an iPad3 if it comes with a retina screen].

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    the best thing about books on an iPad is that i don't have to make a decision on which book to take with me while going out.
     
  8. Assalaamu 'Alaykum

    Can anyone suggest me A good ebook reader, which can be both cheap and effective? An acquaintance of mine suggested me Amazon Kindle. It has got E-Ink technology, but the problem is that I have many pdf files and book scans. And Kindle specialises in reading epub files.

    It will be great help.
     

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