e-reader, tablet, nothing, or both? :)

e-reader or tablet?

A girlfriend of mine recently thought about purchasing something, either a tablet or an e-reader. So we did a bit of a research. For now, she has a laptop and a smartphone.

I used to be the same, but since a few years ago, when I purchased a cheap Android tablet, I am sure that this thing made me read more, consume more know-how, and in general was beneficial to me. Currently, I’m also writing this article on Sri Lanka on an Asus Transformer which is a full-featured Windows 10 tablet, meaning that I have full Windows with all the programs (including Office suite, Eclipse, etc.) on it, but when I detach the keyboard it’s like an iPad.

There is one thing I must say: I use tablet probably the most (outside my professional life, and in the professional life when I’m on the go) of all the devices, but if I had to give away one device, that would be the tablet. Because essentially, you can do everything with the smartphone and a computer. Tablet doesn’t “give you” any new “ability”. It just makes some abilities (like reading and consuming some media) much more comfortable, so you do more of that – instead of sitting in front of the TV, I prefer to consume some stuff that teaches me about how to get to the goals I have in my life. So I believe it’s very benefitial.

My girlfriend, on the other hand, has a problem watching in the lit screen a lot. It’s not healthy on the other side, because of the light in the back. On the other hand, she loves to read books, articles, and so on. So we thought that for her, an e-reader is perfect. For the professional life, she uses laptop to do the stuff. For chatting, checking e-mails and social media, her smartphone is more than adequate. But she wants to read more stuff on the digital medium, so for that, the ebook reader is just the best thing.

E-readers have a screen which works perfectly on the sun – it’s like a paper. No glare, you can read it anywhere. Some of them now offer even the back-lit screen that you may light in the darkness, so you can read e-books both on the sun or in the darkness, without an additional light, and without issues. E-reader also have a considerably longer battery life, they usually last days or weeks of usage. And that IS a big thing! 🙂

Can I use Internet on e-book reader?

Yes, on some. And it’s not going to work as well as on tablet, because e-readers are not made for Internet surfing. Their display is made for showing text, not for showing videos and colorful graphics – that’s why the Web looks worse. Also the browser may not support everything, so pages may look wierd. Furthermore, the resolution is worse, so you can see “less of a page” at the same time on an e-reader, than you can on a tablet. If you want to use Internet with all of the applications, including Web, a lot, then consider a tablet instead of an e-reader.

Where do e-reader and tablet differ?

They differ in support for formats. You probably want to be able to read most of the e-book formats including PDF. Support for webpages in HTML is also a good thing. Some have a back-lit screen, some don’t. If you plan to read in the dark, a back-lit screen is a smart thing. Some have WiFi support, some not. If you want to be able to access the Internet, get one which has WiFi support. Some offer direct integration with a book store. Like Amazon. So you can get books directly from the store to your e-book reader. They have different speed, amount of memory (the more is the better), battery life (the more is the better!), screen resolution, and so on. The software which runs on the ebook readers differs, as well as the build quality. I’ve put it last, but it’s actually very important.

Now we did a bit of a research about those e-readers and found out that probably the best bet is to get Amazon Kindle Paperwhite E-reader, 6″. It’s somewhat a “standard e-reader” whit good support for everything you want to do on the e-book reader, including an Internet browser so you can read stuff on the webpages.

For the tablet, I would recommend something as cost-effective as Samsung Galaxy Tab E 9.6, or if you want a full-featured experience of a PC on the go (which is perfect for digital nomads), I suggest you get yourself something similar as ASUS T100HA 10.1 inch Convertible Notebook which I use.

What do you use, e-reader, tablet or both? Let us know in the comment below.

Author: Matic

Matic is tech startup guy who loves to spend time outside. In his free time he is an true outdoor freak – he tends to surf, run and ride a mountain bike, and in the winter time just loves powder skiing and snowboarding. Matic also loves to travel, often has to because of work, and even more often because he wants to 🙂

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