nexus 7 / kindle fire hd comparison as an e-reader

been doing a bit of googling and as i see it, the nexus is better as a tablet, the fire hd better as a reader, would this be about right?

wife does a lot of reading, has a normal kindle, and says she’d like a fire hd as it does tablet stuff (facebook, gmail, internet) as well as reading.
but if the nexus does all that and more besides, would that be better?

do either (or both) of them do the ‘non-glare paper’ effect of the normal kindle thats easy on the eye? thats probably more important. or a light to read in the dark rather than a backlight which may make the screen glare?

oh, and i see the kindle only has a proper charger available seperately for going on £20 which changes he price comparison a bit if everything else is equal.

thanks

do either (or both) of them do the ‘non-glare paper’ effect of the normal kindle thats easy on the eye?

No, they have ‘normal’ screens like laptops and phones etc.

..get a Nexus 7 and download the free kindle app.

IMO both are terrible if you just want to read books. For reading PDFs/tech documents then they are great.

I don’t know about this expensive ‘proper’ charger, either. They’re both microUSB, chargers are interchangeable.

(See the earlier thread where we discussed ‘fast’ chargers)

FYI

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/kindle-fire-do-i-need-a-high-speed-charger

IMO both are terrible if you just want to read books. For reading PDFs/tech documents then they are great.

hmmm thats thrown a spanner in the works then. maybe shes better off keeping the bog standard kindle for reading after all, and revisiting whether she actually wants a tablet then :-/

if so then i assume the nexus would be better?

has the fire hd got no benefit over the original as a reader then? seems strange that theyve taken a backwards step if theyre marketing it as ‘a kindle’.

thanks

both are horrible to read on … i also throw into that pot the ipad and iphone…..

i read alot , i like books but travel alot and do fancy a paperwhite.

Until i get frustrated with carrying books around though ill continue as i was :D.

The Nexus 7 charges insanely slowly from either the laptop or the supplied charger. I can get a full charge on my macbook faster.

Back to the OP, I’d avoid using one as an e-reader, the screen would give me eyestrain eventually. I mostly use the nexus for browsing, games and watching TV/films when I travel.

Both devices struggle to be charged by normal chargers so no difference there. Although the twenty quid charger is silly, buy a 3 quid one direct from Amazon which outputs enough for both.

Which one is better? My fire HD is great for reading books, it’s also great for watching films on and the HDMI output is great for porting to the TV.

No idea about the Nexus I had, it didn’t last long enough for me to do anything with it.

seems strange that theyve taken a backwards step if theyre marketing it as ‘a kindle’

It’s not a backwards step, it’s just a different device. The e-ink thing on normal kindles is great for reading but it updates really slowly, far too slow for tablet usage, so that’s why they made a normal TFT one.

Different devices, different usages.

Maybe shes better off keeping the bog standard kindle for reading after all

The above is 100% correct.

The Fire is supposed to be better to read from as Amazon have done something to address the amount of glare you get from these screen.

I have had an ereader for years – a Sony – and am exceptionally susceptible to screen glare.

However I have now switched to using a tablet to read from, having put a Cover-up anti-glare screen cover on my HP Touchpad.

It is now very similar a normal ereader in the amount of light reflected (and therefore the amount of glare), and obviously it is color which is much better for what I read.

I prefer reading from the tablet, especially as it is ‘backlit’ for reading in bed.

The main drawback being that the battery life is obviously much less than a normal ereader.

Cover-up do a Fire screen cover as well – it was very easy to put on without bubbles:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cover-Up-Amazon-Kindle-Anti-Glare-Protector/dp/B007194I0G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355490538&sr=8-1

I use Mantano reader as my reader, which seems very polished to justify its 8.99 price.

So if she can take the battery life I would get a Fire or Nexus, probably the nexus.

I use my Nexus everyday to read ebooks on,you do get glare if your sat under normal lighting but not enoungh IMO to be distracting.

Used to have a Ipad and find the Nexus infinetly better as a eReader.
It comes with the Google Books reader built in but that will only let you read books bought from the Google Book store which is a pain.

So I’m using the Kobo reader app and a New eReader app called Fabrik,bothe seem very good and the big plus point for me is they both link to Dropbox so I can store my ebooks on there and read them without using up internal storage.

both are horrible to read on … i also throw into that pot the ipad and iphone…..

Why? I read a lot on my iPad and iPhone, and I mean a lot!
I estimate I’ve got at least 250 books in four different ereader apps, and I can happily spend several hours reading on either device. I make sure that screen brightness is around 50%, and adjust text size to about 12pt, approx what I would find comfortable in a paper book.
I’ve had serious problems with glare from a regular book trying to read outdoors, so I truly can’t understand people complaining about glare from an ereader or tablet, when it’s really easy to adjust it.
My choice, every time, would be a tablet, purely because you’re not tied to Amazon for books, you can use eReaderMobi, Bluefire, Kindle, and, in my case, iBooks as well. I have books in all of them, because some ebook versions of old SF novels come with Adobe DRM, and only work in Bluefire, while others are more easily obtained through eBookMobi, and iBooks have more complete sets of books from some authors than Kindle and are cheaper.
Example; just recently looked for some books by Barbara Hambly, which are no longer in print. iBooks had everything she’s written, mostly for £6.99, whereas Kindle had about half of her books, at £8.49.
And vice versa.

My choice, every time, would be a tablet, purely because you’re not tied to Amazon for books

Why do you keep saying that? It’s simply not true

You can use mobi or pdf books by either transferring them to the Kindle via a comp or by emailing them to it
All other formats are simply converted and loaded via Calibre

I’ve had serious problems with glare from a regular book trying to read outdoors, so I truly can’t understand people complaining about glare from an ereader or tablet, when it’s really easy to adjust it.

glare from a regular book ??? What were the pages made from?

the only way to adjust glare from a tablet is to put an anti-glare cover on it – surely?

Would applying one of those Matt effect protective films help to stop glare when you’re reading?

Would applying one of those Matt effect protective films help to stop glare when you’re reading?

the level of reflections from my HP Touchpad is similar to those I get on my Sony ereader, a PRS505 which was the one before the one with the more reflective touch screen.

The screen looks a little grainier than before – but it is a bit like comparing a matt surface LCD monitor to one with a glossy surface.

I have seen people on the trains with ones on their iPads, which is why I considered it as an option and bought the touchpad – with which I am very happy.

I can only vouch for the Cover-up one I bought as others might not be as good, but it was only a couple of quid.

o-kaay…..thanks all. looks like wife can keep the kindle for reading purposes, but im sure shed still like a tablet. shed use it most for facebook, internet purposes rather than apps, so now the consideration may be ‘ease of typing’. are they both the same in that respect? im sure shed be doing a fair bit of emailing and chatting etc, msn too, so a keyboard thats not intuitive or hard to use may be a booboo.

thanks

The iDevice on-screen keyboard is very good.

On Android, you’ve a broad choice of different keyboards so as long as the screen is physically responsive then you can choose something you like.

Why do you keep saying that? It’s simply not true

I’m starting to think that CountZero has an If This Then That filter set up on STW, so that whenever someone dares to suggest that an Apple device is in some way nominally inferior to another product in some sort of ephemeral way, he can come swooping in like iBatman and put the record wrong.

definitely dont want an i-anything, i dont like apple at all.

as for android, the fire hd and nexus are both android arent they? so i spose youre saying both keyboards will be exactly the same? and both will be fine for reading with minimal glare if she DID decide to use it as a reader.
does one handle internet / email / msn better than the other?

is it going to come down to which one looks prettiest? 😀

The fire has a very heavily skinned version of android which is designed to get you into the amazon store and spending asap.

Before I bought my nexus I had a play with the fire and although it was very nice – good screen, responsive etc etc. The “buy!, buy!, buy!” feel of the whole environment was enough to put me off very quickly.

Another consideration is the weight – if holding it as an ereader. Fwiw the iPad mini is the lightest of the bunch.

no apple! 🙂

hmmmm….. really struggling to split the two. i keep googling and changing my mind 🙂

my old thread, might help

…..and I bought a Nexus 7

thanks, will have a read of that later, just on my way out. just been looking, cant seem to find the nexus for the price i thought…..

wheres the best place to get it for best price if thats what i decide?

thanks

either direct from google, or Curry’s

glare from a regular book ??? What were the pages made from?

Sunlight on pure white paper? Try it sometime. Of course, it may be my eyes are more sensitive to bright light, but I have problems with glare from white book pages in daylight, whereas on my tablet and phone I turn the backlight down to about 50%, partly to save the battery, but mainly so that the screen colour more closely matches a regular book page under indirect daylight or electric light. If I’m outside reading a real book, I have to wear sunglasses to enable me to read the book.

I’m starting to think that CountZero has an If This Then That filter set up on STW, so that whenever someone dares to suggest that an Apple device is in some way nominally inferior to another product in some sort of ephemeral way, he can come swooping in like iBatman and put the record wrong.

My choice, every time, would be a tablet, purely because you’re not tied to Amazon for books, you can use eReaderMobi, Bluefire, Kindle, and, in my case, iBooks as well.

There you are, for clarification, as you obviously didn’t actually read what I wrote; I said tablet, deliberately being platform agnostic, as the OP had stated a preference for the Nexus, which I have no issues with, and only mentioned my preference for the iPad to indicate how alternatives to Amazon can be cheaper. I’m sure it’s possible to get other ebook formats onto a Kindle, provided you’re prepared to fanny around with converting stuff, but I’ve always been lead to believe that the Kindle doesn’t make things at all easy, and as far as Calibre is concerned, I don’t find it easy to use, and I’ve no idea at all as to whether it can strip Adobe’s DRM out of ebooks. If it can, and there’s a simple way to do it, allowing me to get my books out of Bluefire, and into eBookMobi or Kindle, I’d be perfectly happy.

Be perfectly happy, then. There’s third party plugins for Calibre which strip DRM. It’s a bit of work to set up, but once done it’s simple to use.

But anyway, that’s not what we’re saying is incorrect. You suggested that the Kindle is tied to Amazon; it isn’t, at all, and never has been. You have it backwards; Amazon content is tied to the Kindle, but as per the previous paragraph, there’s ways round that.

A Kindle Fire isn’t really Android its a system based on Android. As I understand it you get the apps that Amazon want you to have not the full Play store.

This review might help

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/laptops/1295740/amazon-kindle-fire-hd

The main benefit of the fire is the HDMI output so you can stream rented content to a larger screen

I’m rure I could read of a nexus 7 like I can read off my phone. Its just easier for me to read of e paper

Its really quite alarming how much easier i find e-paper to read off compared to anything else. I’m dyxlexic but read alot and don’t find reading hard. But on a kindle I find it easier to get into that state where your not reading just pouring the story into your head. A slightly odd but delicious sensation

So its a Paper White as my first Kindle from Santa for me, rather than borrowing off the rest of the family

As above , yes you CAN read from a tablet or a kindle fire ..

My statement was that neither are good at it and i get tired eyes quickly doing it, theres no doubt it strains them.

I know they are being strained as my left eye starts to cross 😉

I (oddly) enjoy the fact my kindle paper just does reading. It would be nice if you could sync up media from other sources – as slickly as the Amazon content though.

I find a lot of the Amazon content is just too expensive. To me; it always feels like I am in fact renting when in digital format. Content pricing I feel should reflect a different aspect of ownership or service [Amazon prime borrowing service may be a start on this?]. The vat issue also exposes the dichotomy between content or service [how could it be acceptable to tax a generation who may only consume literature this way!¿)

I buy some and also get over half from other sources. Calibre is a friend and very useful but it is a bit of a faff – I only tend to use it to fill up for a holiday.

I do have tablets, but in summary I always reach for Kindle for dedicated relax and read time. For comfort (display feel, handling, weight) I haven’t found my tablet replacing it – and possibly not in the next 5 yrs or more.

B&w Kindle transcended gadget status for me quite quickly and got me reading again. I like to have multiple books and projects on the go, which is made possible on Kindle.

either direct from google, or Curry’s

hmmmm….. not having much luck. ive decided to go for nexus cos im put off by the lack of mains charger, and paying extra to have ads removed on the kindle.

but….. google play are sold out, currys are only selling the 32Gb at close to £200.

could anyone point me in the direction of one for sale at a decent price please?

thanks

carphonewarehouse might have some in. Try PC World.

Try your local Tesco

Amazon couldn’t do me a kindle before christmas. Tesco had one on the shelf and most other tablet options as well

currys, pc world, carphone warehouse and tesco all visited this afternoon. no 16Gb versions anywhere. gulp! have i left it too late???

Tesco Direct are showing stock

http://www.tesco.com/direct/asus-google-nexus-7-inch-16gb-android-41-black-tablet/478-1521.prd?

nice one mate, thanks. problem with that one is its £190 which is only a tenner less than the 32Gb elsewhere. i was thinking the usual suspects sold em at same price as the fire HD, is it £159 usually?

http://m.hotukdeals.com/deals/asus-google-nexus-1gb-32gb-7-inch-tablet-very-co-uk-169-new-customer-plus-3-95-p-1408883