Tablet: iPad, Kindle, Nook, oh my!

I am considering putting myself into the market for a tablet. I have been considering an e-reader for a long time, especially for the abundance of .pdf articles I need to read for school. Many of my classmates got iPads for Xmas, and they use them constantly for taking notes and playing games between classes. My dilemma is which way I want to go!

1. I love the e-ink of the Kindle and Nook. I tend to get headaches easily from reading white-paged textbooks or articles online, so the newsprint look is a welcome break for my eyes and can be used anywhere if there is enough light. This fact has me leaning toward the Kindle.
2. I would prefer to have something I can take some notes with and sync to my computer (a MacBook Pro). I *think* the Kindle allows you to highlight portions of text that then gets put into an outline, but I'm not sure if it syncs well and/or is editable.
3. Camera/video is not a big deal for me. Both are available on my phone, and I still do own a dedicated digital camera.
4. Ease of typing/note-taking is a big deal for me. I like to be able to highlight and write-in extra information as my professors go over it. This is why I'm thinking a tablet may not work out for me period - I enjoy having things on paper so I can use arrows and symbols and underlines without having to make a lot of extra clicks. I know that there are a few handwriting options with a stylus for iPad, but so far my classmates' results are pretty ugly looking with it. It doesn't seem like the screen is sensitive enough for that?

Am I just a lost cause at this point?

 

I'm also considering them due to cost. I think I might end up with the Kindle Fire.. a lot of the functionality of the iPad, at about 1/3 of the cost, and a friend has already told me that she can turn down the brightness on her Fire and it's very similar to the regular e-ink Kindle. The Fire also syncs with Google accounts, making editing Google docs that much easier.

I do have questions regarding the e-reader highlight/note-taking features, that no one has been able to quite answer yet. The Kindle takes your highlights and notes and puts it into a sort of outline file - what I want to know is what type of file that creates if you sync with the computer, and whether it is editable. An editable file that's created largely from highlights rather than me having to type a lot would be AWESOME for my studying!

 

I have an iPad. As a multi-purpose device it is great. I use it more as a handheld PC for web surfing amd email than anything else. Some apps. Not so much as an ereader. The glare on the screen can be troublesome when reading books on it. My son has both a Nook and an iPad for that reason.

 

I just bought an iPad 2 three weeks ago, and I love it. I got a refurbished one from Apple for $350. They replace the battery in their refurbs, which is what sold it for me. The thing didn't have a single scratch, and it runs like a champ.

 

I purchased an iPad2 about a year ago. It has become a permanent attachment to my arm. I use it for surfing, gaming, reading, and watching movies. I even use it for work. I'm an IT guy. Found a Apple to Serial cable and I use an app called Get Console to jack into Cisco routers.

I've always been a big Mac user, so the iPad was the first option I looked at. Some of my family and friends have Nooks and Kindles and I have to say, there is no comparison in screen color and pixel depth, design and usability. But maybe I'm a little biased.

 

1. I have a Kindle. I can read that for hours with no eye strain. After a few hours with a computer screen, my eyes get achy.
2. You can take notes on the Kindle. I have no idea if you can sync with other devices as I only use it for recreational reading.
3. Good. People taking pics with iPads look silly.
4. The keyboard is tiny and I hear the letters rub off somewhat easily. They are just painted on, no paint filled grooves. Though I imagine a light coat of clear nail polish would make them last longer, you'd probably have to be real careful not to slop it around. I wouldn't want to have to take notes on it. Pen/paper would be easier.

 

My wife just won a Galaxy tablet running Android. I haven't spent much time on it, but it appears to be a pretty decent.

 

Ok, looks like I've established today that I need more functionality (ability to type/take notes easily) than just the Kindle. I am leaning away from the Fire, only because it doesn't have an external keyboard option that would help me a lot with writing notes/papers/working on assignments for class. I am still more interested in the smaller size, though.

So, looks like iPad or possibly even the Asus Transformer Prime TF300. My big hang up is price, honestly. Le sigh.

I just can't handle taking my laptop to/from class every day as well as my textbooks. It's too much weight and hassle.

 

Macbook Air. You might be able to find a refurbished one for a decent price.

 

A good point that I have already taken into consideration, Charlatan.. but since I want this largely for reading for class, a tablet is still what I'm looking for. If I could afford both a MacBook Air and an e-ink Kindle, I'd be made.

 

You'll probably be out of school by the time it's mainstream, but I really think the tablet market, and the iPad specifically are going to change the face of college textbooks. If I could have traded in my 120 lbs of out of date text books for an iPad, I would have done it in a second.

 

The Kindle app offers conversion for pdfs (email them to your kindle with "convert" in the subject). One of my friends is trying it out tonight and will report back whether it makes the PDF easier to read or not.

 

I had a plain old kindle and now I have an ipad 2. The ipad wins. I used it to take notes in all my classes last semester via a notetaking app ( which also had audio recording capabilities) and stylus. I also use it for reading books pretty much every day. I blew through the Hunger Games trilogy in three days with no eye strain(dark theme and dimmed brightness help). If you've got the money, get an ipad. Then jailbreak it.

 

I was up in Kamloops last weekend and my Dad says to me: "Do you want an iPad 2?" ..... FUCK YES. He bought it, hated it, went out and got a Galaxy tab. The iPad had been sitting there untouched. Super sweet. I'm using it to catch up on comics and play/study Go. I feel like I'm in the future when I play with it.

 

Which note taking app?

 

Weird, I think I might have a virus. I didn't add that link to the iPad 2 on ebay in my last post. WTF is VigLink? [edit] Nevermind, it looks like a forum thing. It is in Bodkin's post too