aPad as e-book reader??

[shredder]

I was looking to buy an e-book reader, or rather, a device which will enable me to read e-books. So had a look-see at the Amazon Kindles and the Nooks of this world. Then by chance I started looking at tablet PCs.
I realised that tablet PCs can serve the same function as e-book readers and in addition offer additional functionality in the form of media playability. And the best thing is that the Chinese A-pads, as they are called, are much cheaper than even the basic Amazon Kindle model.
Now the question I want to ask is to those of you who own A-pads, (not iPad), as to whether the device can pass duty as a good e-book reader.

 

[madhavk8]

Cheap Chinese tablets are not very recommended. Their build quality, battery life, specs etc are not that gr8 and most of them have a resistive screen.

Specifically for ebook reading it has very low battery life and the screen is washed out with bad viewing angles.

You would be better off buying a low end kindle available for around 100$ and works as a gr8 ebook reader with amazing batter life as it has e-ink screen.

 

[shredder]

Thanks for replying. Just out of curiosity, can the A-Pad players handle .mkv and .flv files?

 

[madhavk8]

Thanks for replying. Just out of curiosity, can the A-Pad players handle .mkv and .flv files?

These Apad tablets run on android. So its just a matter of downloading an app for playing mkv etc

 

[shredder]

just came across this iBerry BT07 tablet, apparently manufactured by a Hong Kong based company. Anyone have any feedback about the performance of this tablet?? The USP of this device appears to be its ability to play back Full HD videos.
From the point of view of its use as an e-book reader, it has a longer battery life (longer as opposed to Chi-Pads) as well as a TFT LED (though I don't know if this LED instead of LCD is an advantage here).
Drawback appears to be a not-very-responsive touchscreen which is resistive.
Anyone with any inputs?

 

[iaudio]

Shredder, madhavk8 Many of these chinese a pads have had issues with Android Market. Also resistive screen is quite a pain to use now that one is used to good capacitive touch screens.

 

[raj]

You can try ordering refurbished nook color from ebay.com. Once in a while it goes for 130$. It can be hacked into an android tablet easily. ereader software can be downloaded from the android market. This may be a better option than buying el-cheapo chinese tablets.

 

[madhavk8]

The USP of this device appears to be its ability to play back Full HD videos.

Why anyone would want to watch full hd videos on a 7inch or 10 inch screen Even connecting by hdmi is useless as full hd video will drain battery very very soon in these kinda devices.

 

[ranjeetrain]

whether the device can pass duty as a good e-book reader.

With flying colors. Just be sure to buy one that runs Android. There is a lot they can do besides letting you read ebooks.

 

[ranjeetrain]

can the A-Pad players handle .mkv and .flv files?

Most of them will play .flv natively. For .mkv you will need to install apps which are aplenty on the market, a large number of them being free.

 

[thatguy]

...whether the device can pass duty as a good e-book reader.

If you intend to read for long hours, stay away from LCD screens. Get a device with an e-ink display. Saving your eyes should be more important than a few thousand rupees.