Advice Needed: Kindle Paperwhite or N7? Here are my needs...

[androidairlinepilot]

Hi all,

I am a big Android fan. I currently have a new Note 2 that I replaced my iPhone 5 and iPad mini with (had an S3 and Tab 2 before that). I bought this in the hopes of using the "phablet" as an all-in-one device instead of having both a tablet and a phone. So far its been awesome. Here is my dilemma....

I have just become an avid e-book reader. I gave up paper books when I got the iPad mini. I am finding that the Note 2 is just a little too small to read e-books on. Plus I feel kind of stupid trying to read a book on a phone.

I went out and bought a basic kindle. A button was broken out of the box, and my house doesn't have good enough lighting to see the screen well, so I exchanged it for a kindle paperwhite. I love the paperwhite, and it is insanely easy to read on, especially at night, but I am a little miffed that I spent $120 on something that does one task only, and berates me with advertisements. For $80 more I could have a N7.

That being said, I bought an N7 when it first came out, and wasn't too impressed. The device itself is awesome, but I noticed I kept going back to my laptop to get any real work done. I only used it to check emails occasionally or watch netflix in bed. It was too small to read PDFs on for class, or do any intense internet browsing/research. Essentially it was a $200 toy, so I got rid of it. I thought it was stupid to have a smartphone, tiny tablet, and macbook air. Now I am seriously considering getting rid of the paperwhite and picking up an N7 instead.

Budget is a real issue here, as I am a student. I have read on here and other forums that people felt having a note 2 and N7 was pointless as the devices are pretty redundant, and the difference in screen size is negligible. Does anyone here have both? If so, how do you feel you use the two devices? Do you regret purchasing them together?

Also, how much bigger is the N7's actual, usable screen space? With the nav buttons at the bottom and the status bar at the top, they seem to take up a pretty big chunk of an already small tablet screen.

Mainly though, how is the N7 as an e-reader? No one can seem to agree on whether or not there is an eyestrain problem with LCDs and whether they cause insomnia when compared to e-ink, so its hard to really make that determination. Is it really worth the extra $80 to get the N7 over the kindle paperwhite, or would I be wasting money as the size is essentially the same as my note 2?

 

[rjack22]

I have the Paperwhite and the N7. I read on the paperwhite. I prefer it for reading.

 

[androidairlinepilot]

Do you read mainly inside? I don't read outside, so that wouldn't be a major issue.

The paperwhite is definitely a pleasure to read on, but its just hard to justify paying $120 when all it does is let you read books. The basic kindle was nice, but you really need a lot of light to make it comfortable to read on, so that really isn't an option for me.

 

[ohmslaw]

I have an N7 and a basic Kindle. I never read on the N7. I like the Kindle much better for reading which I do every day. The latest basic Kindle, black, has a great screen. I'd rather turn on a light for reading inside an still have a reader that is great for outside reading. It's Kindle for me, but I love my N7 for the rest.

 

[bigtroutz]

I prefer reading on kindles (not Fire). I convert all my PDFs to mobi, txt, or prc and that solves the universal-PDF-pain-in-butt Use Hamster or something, it's not rocket science. Only the most convoluted PDF files convert poorly but you can always midwife the conversion to make those work if you need to. I just NEVER use PDF anymore on my eReaders.

 

[rjack22]

I read indoors. Love the backlight on the Paperwhite. I have read on the N7, but not for any great length of time. I would say that if you do a lot of reading then stick with the Paperwhite.

 

[androidairlinepilot]

I prefer reading on kindles (not Fire). I convert all my PDFs to mobi, txt, or prc and that solves the universal-PDF-pain-in-butt Use Hamster or something, it's not rocket science. Only the most convoluted PDF files convert poorly but you can always midwife the conversion to make those work if you need to. I just NEVER use PDF anymore on my eReaders.

Most of the PDFs I am working with are pretty poor scans of books, so there is no way they would properly convert. I agree that PDFs really suck, but unfortunately thats the only format that will work in this case.

I don't use the kindle for PDFs though. I just use my laptop if I need to. That being said, is the Kindle THAT much better than the N7 for reading to justify its price? I know its technically cheaper, but its $120, full of ads, and does only one thing. I haven't really had it long enough to decide, but I need to make a decision before the return period ends.

 

[ohmslaw]

I must comment on your full of ads comments. They only appear on the sleep screen and home page. Never in books. If you are in a book and shutdown, then turn on, you will never see an ad. Just want to make that clear to others. I think you have made your decision. Do what's best for yourself.

 

[ultravisitor]

I have a Nook Simple Touch and a Nexus 7. For extended periods of reading, the Nook is better because of the battery life. That's the only advantage of an ereader, though, that I can think of over the Nexus 7.

Hell, I hardly touch my Nook anymore except to read the New Yorker, and that's because I can't read that subscription on the Nook due to the publisher's restrictions.

 

[hoosiermama2799]

I have a Kindle Touch and the N7. These days I find myself reading on the N7 and hardly using the Touch. I'm keeping the Touch for outside reading, which I do a lot of in the summer. Our house is dark and I find the backlighting more comfortable on the N7 even with my old (55) eyes. I probably read 70-75 books a year.

Even though the Kindle is a one function device, it is an excellent device for reading, especially outside.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[bigtroutz]

is the Kindle THAT much better than the N7 for reading to justify its price? I know its technically cheaper, but its $120, full of ads, and does only one thing. I haven't really had it long enough to decide, but I need to make a decision before the return period ends.

if you have already purchased the paper white, then you know the reasons why one would consider it: MUCH better battery life, easier on the eyes, lighter, thinner, more polished interface. I use a kindle 3 and don't find the need for light any more trouble than reading any paper book - not much; the paper white doesn't even have that issue. You can buy out the ads if you like but i only look at the "off screen" in passing and the book pages themselves for hours. Frankly, the built in pix on the K3 get boring, so even tho it doesn't have ads, they would provide some interest to ignore lol.

Battery life is non-trivial - my N7 needs a charge at least once a day with alot of use, or MORE, while the kindle lasts for over a week of heavy use. No rushing around looking for a plug in the airport etc.

I use the kindle for reading books, the N7 for movies, tv shows, color books, and as a couch computer. My desktop is my production machine and I would never consider the N7 adequate for that job either. It works for me, find what works for you...good luck

 

[jmiked]

Mainly though, how is the N7 as an e-reader? No one can seem to agree on whether or not there is an eyestrain problem with LCDs and whether they cause insomnia when compared to e-ink, so its hard to really make that determination.

I have a Kindle 3 (Keyboard) and a Nexus 7. I much prefer reading on the Kindle, even though the reading software is pretty bare-bones compared to 3rd party ePub readers for Android. The reason people can't agree on whether or not the backlit screen on the Nexus and others causes eye-strain and insomnia is that people are different and some people are affected and some aren't. Many on each side assume they are right and that people with the opposing opinion are just being difficult. It also depends on how the backlight is set up. I keep mine all the way down and use a tinted background and have no noticeable problem reading for several hours on the Nexus 7 before I go to bed. I just find the eInk screen to be more pleasant on which to read. Not to mention that I find it hard to pick up the Nexus without inadvertently turning a page or two. Or three. I like the physical buttons on the side of my Kindle 3 (which is why I haven't gotten a Kindle Paperwhite... yet). I find that the 3rd part reader software on the Android platform (and IOS) is much more customizable than Amazon has seen fit to allow on the Kindle.

Which device to choose may also depend on how serious a reader you are. That may be an elitist statement. I read 80-100 books a year, mostly fiction. I'm serious about it. I saved my pennies and paid $360 for my first-generation Kindle back in 2008 and thought it was worth every penny. I still do.

 

[Quelch]

I use the Aldiko eReader app in my Nexus 7, set the background colour to a darkish orangey colour, similar to the sepia background colour in 'Kindle for PC' on the computer
No trouble reading for hours, mostly indoors, sci-fi addict and have over twenty eBooks on the Nexus 7
Have FBreader and Moon+ eReader apps on the Nexus 7 Too but prefer Aldiko, like having my eBooks in the bookcase, looks neat and the Nexus 7 shows the eBook covers in colour

The little woman has a Kobo Touch eReader and I have a Nook ST eReader but the Nook gets a bit neglected now as I prefer the Nexus 7 for reading
If you only want one device then I recommend the Nexus 7 as you can read everything on it, magazines, comics, text books including colour pictures and diagrams
I got lots of information about eReaders from the Mobileread forum

Post back here to tell us what you choose, none of us will be miffed if you don't choose what we recommend !

 

[rkeenan]

I am an avid ebook reader and I read almost all my books on my 4th generation Kindle (paperwhite is 5th gen). I prefer the Kindle for long term reading. Reading short articles or reading a little bit of a Kindle book while waiting for an appointment is ok for a phone or a tablet, but I don't find it to be as enjoyable as my Kindle. My favorite thing about my Kindle is that I leave my phone in my briefcase or in my desk and I am gone from world for the time being. No notifications or distractions, just unplugged from the world. I keep my Note 2 on silent so I am not a slave to my notifications but it is distracting when I am reading a book and I get bombarded with emails and texts.

So for me, a tablet would not work. I could shut off the wifi signal but the backlight hurts my eyes from the 40 hours per week at work and even more time doing homework or surfing the web. This is what I have learned from mine. I wish Google would come out with a paperwhite so I could read Google Reader and Google Books on a e ink or paperwhite device. I hope this helped.

 

[dave1nyc]

I have both an N7 and a Paperwhite, and while I really like both very much, there's no way for me that the N7 can replace the PW for extended reading. I had a Kindle keyboard and I might have said in that case that maybe just the N7 would do. But the way the PW does the lighting is terrific. And there's the advantage of basically forgetting about charging it most of the time because the battery lasts so long.

The one caveat I have about the PW (or any eInk device) is for reaching technical material: When I first got my kindle kb I thought that it would be a workable format for reading technical books on the subway without the weight. And I was wrong. The problem is best illustrated by Friedl's Mastering Regular Expressions: He uses a very subtle shades-of-gray way of delineating his examples and it just doesn't work on eInk. It works better on the PW than the older one, just because of the higher resolution on the PW, but it's still not really good enough. However, I think it would work on the N7.

 

[AFM1204]

If you like the versatility of an Android tablet but think the Nexus 7 is too small for serious reading or web research, maybe you should consider a Nexus 10?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[smartiekins]

if you have already purchased the paper white, then you know the reasons why one would consider it: MUCH better battery life, easier on the eyes, lighter, thinner, more polished interface. I use a kindle 3 and don't find the need for light any more trouble than reading any paper book - not much; the paper white doesn't even have that issue. You can buy out the ads if you like but i only look at the "off screen" in passing and the book pages themselves for hours. Frankly, the built in pix on the K3 get boring, so even tho it doesn't have ads, they would provide some interest to ignore lol.

Battery life is non-trivial - my N7 needs a charge at least once a day with alot of use, or MORE, while the kindle lasts for over a week of heavy use. No rushing around looking for a plug in the airport etc.

I use the kindle for reading books, the N7 for movies, tv shows, color books, and as a couch computer. My desktop is my production machine and I would never consider the N7 adequate for that job either. It works for me, find what works for you...good luck

This is pretty much the set up I have. My eyes struggle with backlit screens at times, so the kindle is great. I use the nexus for reading the odd PDF and magazine, but the kindle for everything else!


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[eyeCandyx]

I have a 3rd gen Kindle & N7, my Kindle has since gathered dust since I got the N7 - but thats due to me preferring to read at night without disturbing my partner trying to sleep by keeping the light on. I use a PDF reader for my eBooks on the N7 & I find it brilliant. The only downfall other people have also pointed out is the battery life - even plugged in, it doesn't keep its battery well whilst trying to read.

I would think the exact same as you - its too much to ask for that much money for something that literally just lets you read books which is why I would justifyingly advise the N7 or maybe even a larger tablet to suit your personal needs. Even with the battery problem, and some people's strained eyes problems (which can be easily fixed if you know how to) - I personally believe the N7 outweighs Kindles by a fair bit.

 

[majorpayne]

In our house we have

Kindle Touch
N7 16gb
Kindle Fire HD
Touchpad 32
My wife will be getting the Note II in the next few days (as soon as I sell her phone). She used to use the Touch for reading but handed it to me once I bought her the Kindle Fire HD. We were looking at the paperwhite but because it has no audio out and she has audio books for days her eyes bother her. We decided to move to the Fire HD for her to read at night in bed. We of course have Amazon Prime also. I recieved the N7 16 gb for a Work prize on the 16th of Dec.

She would not be reading on the note II as the Kindle Fire HD works great for her. I actually read also on my N7 vs the Kindle Touch. It lets me do so much more when i need it too. As I normally don't read outside so that isn't a issue

sorry if it's jumbled that how my mind is today

 

[redback]

The advantage offered by the Nexus7 that I enjoy is the ability to read remotely. For much of my reading, for example in my lounge room, I set it on a coffee table in its stand-case and park myself in a comfortable chair with a glass of red wine in one hand and a mini-mouse under the other hand and click my way through the pages without touching the tablet.

I don't mind the backlit screen which I've adjusted to a comfortable level and I like having the night setting (white print on black background) availabel in certain circumstances. I think the versatility of the Nexus is of more benefit to me than any advantage than the Paperwhite screen might have.