iPad owners: How good is the iPad as e-reader?

I've read some reviews, now I would like to hear from owners:
-How good is the iPad as e-reader?
-Do you experience any strain on your eyes?

Thanks in advance.

 

To be honest I haven't read a full book on it yet. I can tell you that I read a lot of articles though and will base my response on that. The iPad is just fine as a reader. I've spent several hours a day on my iPad with zero eye strain. I usually keep the brightness on the lowest setting in the house. My only wish is that they would let me lower it more like the settings in the iBook app. Even at the lowest brightness the iPad makes a good flashlight at night when surfing the web.

 

I find that it is fine for reading long articles. I haven't purchased or put any books on it yet.

Yes, it does make a good flashlight for walking around in the dark.

 

it's okay. like all backlit devices, it's still not good in a dark room. then again, even with a real book, you're not going to read without a light source somewhere in the room. in the same way, you'll want to turn on a light to avoid eye strain or the insomnia effects that backlights have on the eyes.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Very interesting.

Do you have more info on that? I'm Googling now but haven't found the best info yet.

Is it the same for CCFL lit monitors?

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36828043/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

 

I've been reading with it for some time using the Kindle app, to be honest with you, it's pretty good. I use the lowest possible brightness setting.

I never read an e-ink device... so I don't have any comparable references.. heh.

 

I had some experience with iPad (both at apple store, and at a friend's place), and personally own a Kindle DX.

Like all back-lit devices, I feel some eye strains reading the text, not to mention that it is actually a glass surface, so you should position the device in a way that does not show too much reflections. Long story short, I would not trade my Kindle DX for iPad. iPad is great for web browsing, mapping, and etc, but I stick to my Kindle when it comes to reading a book.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

 

it's wonderful for comic books and magazines. almost like it was made just for them. fyi.

 

After being a great fan of the Kindle for several years and literally reading hundreds of books on it, I am transitioning to an iPad.

The Kindle is great for reading pocketbooks in long reading sessions in any lighting you could read a normal book. But it is not very good for technical books or textbooks or anything with a lot off pictures, illustrations, graphics or colors.

While the iPad is harder on the eyes (careful reading for more than a few hours at a time), is not very usable outdoors or in strong lighting, and has much shorter battery life, it's great for reading in dim lighting where would would need a light to read a regular book, and is very good with colors, illustrations, diagrams etc.

I tend to have shorter reading sessions and in poorly lit environments (planes and hotels) so I find the backlighting more of an advantage than a disadvantage. I read a lot of technical stuff with diagrams and illustrations and read a lot of magazines too so the iPad allows me to transition to digital now from print where the Kindle was only good for pocketbooks for me.

I still prefer the Kindle business model so I'll use the Kindle app much more than iBook but iBook is a very good reader. Neither Amazon not Apple has a good magazine selection yet so I prefer Zino at this point.

But over all the iPad is a very good reader and does much, much more as well.

 

Thanks. Found some more interesting info:
Nighttime Computer Users May Lose Sleep

 

I am really on the fence between the sony pocket reader and the ipad. I love magazines, and instructional pictures books. However for full blown novel reading I would want to steer clear of that screen. Its really a quality product though. In the end I will probably purchase the sony pocket reader (much cheaper) and save magazines for OSX/iphone.

 

ha. I don't even need to click the link to know it's true. I can be sleepy as ever...but let me walk over to my computer screen and sit down. I'm good until the sun comes up.

it's bad.

 

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if they are text only documents such as paperbacks etc. the best I have found is a Kobo reader unit and use a program called calibre to convert them to epub format.

the sony readers and kindles are great as well but if you need color support I still find a tablet PC and old acrobat reader or foxit to work nicer

 

Any suggestions for converting PDF with color and pictures to epub? I haven't found the right settings to convert them in calibre yet. It keeps splitting the pictures out which is a bit annoying. All the pdf readers I've tried want me to scroll up and down instead of side to side. Its annoying but works in a pinch.

 

Not yet Jervis but im still working on it, and I know the developers for calibre are working their butts off on it as well.

but since I just got ALL my MSDN and Cisco manuals electronically and want to convert them ... I willl try to keep you posted.

for now I am still using my clunky CF-19 as a PDF book reader

 

Yeah, I have a bunch of training manuals and monthly magazine PDFs I'd like to convert as well.