One Week with an iPad as eReader

[Klaatu]

The iPad excels at a lot of things. But, for me, being an eReader isn't one of them.

Regards,
Michael

[indianajones]

I have the ipad 2 32GB wifi since April. It is nice to read it in low light conditions- something I cannot do with the nook classic. I do not get those migraines either that most people talk about while reading on lcd's. I like both equally as an ereader. The ipad is also good for so many other things that I would never get rid of it. I was considering the nook color but they had just released ipad 2 in march and that was it- I had to have one.

[bryanalaspa]

My brother loves his iPad as a ereader. I have been told by many a friend that I should just chuck the ereaders and get an iPad. I haven't been convinced. Then again, I like having an ereader and just using it as an ereader, so I may be a bit strange.

[bryanalaspa]

I also think I would have trouble reading from a screen like that for too long. Although I use my Nook app on my PC, which is the same thing, I realize, I can only read on it for short spurts. I do like the e-ink from the ereaders.

[Klaatu]

I'm a little surprised that I have not gotten much eye strain reading for long periods on the iPad. Although I think I spent about 4 hours reading the other day and ended with my eyes very tired. That result may have happened if I had been reading a DTB that long, though. Don't know.

The iPad is not a terrible eReader, iBooks just doesn't have many of the features I've gotten used to with my Sony PRS 505 and 950 and as I pointed out in my original post iTunes is absolutely not suited for cataloging and storing eBooks like Calibre is.

Regards,
Michael

[ChrisHoward]

I have an old Sony PRS 500 and a Kindle 2, and loved them when I used them. I've been reading on my iPad for over a year now, and I'll probably never use the Sony or Kindle I have again. There are things I love about them. I was an eInk fan from the moment I bought the Sony. There are always trade offs with devices, but for me I think it comes down to always having my iPad with me and the ability to have books from multiple channels (Nook, Kindle, iBooks, etc). The iPad 1 is heavier than the 2, but even that doesn't stop me from reading hours at a time on it. The Nook and Kindle reader apps are fine, but I do find myself using iBooks more and more (I also read a lot in PDF for work and it's great for this).

[joeru]

My husband has used iTunes to put books on his iPad. I just attach the book file to an e-mail to myself, then use iBooks (or Bluefire Reader for library books) to open the attachment - easier for me. I don't put a bunch of books on at a time, have really only read parts of one book in iBooks (at bedtime in night mode). I like it in landscape mode with the two-page look - thought two pages would be distracting, but a full page is just too much text all at once for me. I never thought I'd like reading on the iPad at all, but once I gave it a chance, the actually reading wasn't bad at all.

Unfortunately you can't just put iBooks into night setting, you have to put the entire iPad into night mode, which makes everything else look a bit...odd. Many of the other reading apps (including Nook, Kindle, Stanza and others) have a night setting.

I agree though - I'd never want to try to dump a bunch of books onto the iPad like I sometimes do with my other readers. And I'd never want it to be my primary reader.

iBooks now has a night mode as of version 1.5.