

Ask HN: Kindle v/s ipod touch - digamber_kamat

For someone who likes to read books from Gutenberg the free books site and one who spends 24 hrs a week in a train journey (long distance) which one is preferable to buy?<p>Touch is good option given that I can occasionally play games and watch a movie on the go.
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pw
After getting one for Christmas, I've started doing almost all of my reading
on an iPod Touch.

I think the form factor is perfect--you can read in any position (I've always
struggled to read books while lying in bed on my side), and the short lines of
text make for easy reading (notice that the screen is almost exactly as wide
as a newspaper column). I'm sure e-ink is nice, but reading from an LCD all
day has never bothered me and still doesn't (probably because I still have
young eyes).

Along with Kindle books, I read online materials using the ReaditLater app
after saving links to ReaditLater when I find them (often on a desktop). The
app will both format pages nicely for the Touch as well as download them for
offline reading.

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rsaarelm
The Kindle is almost the size of a small netbook, pretty big to carry around
when all you can do with it is read books. I tried a Kindle, and am going to
stick with using a smartphone as it's easy to carry everywhere without
additional hassle. A dedicated reader would be useful for pdf documents which
you can't read easily on mobile devices, but the screen of the standard Kindle
is too small for reading many types of pdf comfortably.

Pluses for the Kindle are massive battery life and good readability in bright
sunshine.

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walkon
If reading is what you want do the most of, I'd go with the Kindle because its
display is going to be much easier on your eyes because of the e-ink and size.

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digamber_kamat
Does Kindle show colors?

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andymism
No, the Kindle is just black and white. I owned a Kindle for about 4 months
before I bought an iPhone, and I rarely pick up my Kindle anymore.

I like my Kindle when I'm at home on the couch, but my iPhone is my main
reading device, winning out because the form factor makes it so convenient to
carry around. Web access is a bonus too.

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walkon
The Kindle displays 16 shades of gray.

When you read on your iPhone, are you able to read novels for extended,
contiguous periods of time (more than an hour)? Just wondering how comfortable
that would be on such a small screen for a long period of time.

~~~
andymism
I read just fine for long periods on my iPhone, especially in apps like
Instapaper, Stanza, or the Kindle app. It's hit or miss with web content,
however, but is overall a good experience.

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digamber_kamat
I finally got Lenovo Idea Pad a netbook that has 7 hours battery backup. i am
happy.

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alnayyir
I can't speak for the Kindle, but I've been doing okay reading on the Touch
with Goodreader.

I might try an ereader soon, but the pocket-portability of the touch has been
nice.

