With tablet PC’s having become a hot commodity over the last few months, it is indeed difficult for a consumer to decide whether he should go for a conventional e-book reader like Kindle or choose the swanky new tablets. Let’s find out how they stack up against each other when it comes to reading books:
1. Display
Most variants of Kindle come with a 6-inch display (except Kindle DX which has 9.7-inch screen) and nearly all tablets sport a 10.1-inch display screen. This means that Kindle is fairly portable, convenient to carry around and easy to fit in your pocket while this may not be valid for tablets. A tablet would neither fit into your pocket nor be as convenient to carry around, especially if you intend to read books on it.
The second distinction is that while Kindle uses custom-styled E-ink technology with no backlight, all tablets feature a LCD display and backlight, thereby causing strain on the eye if you read books for extended periods of time on them. Another point that goes in favour of Kindle is that since it doesn’t have any backlight, you can read books on it in bright sunlight just as you would read a physical book. However if it is dark, you will need a light source to read anything on Kindle whereas thanks to the backlight, you’d have no problem in reading books on tablets even if it dark. The only downside with Kindle’s display is that it is monochrome while tablets have color display, so if you plan to read magazines with lots of color illustrations and pictures, a tablet would be better suited.
2. Size
As I mentioned above, Kindle is fairly compact and portable and you can conveniently carry it with you anywhere you go. Also it weighs less than 6 ounces (basic Kindle) which is lighter than a paperback! On the other hand, tablets are nowhere close to it when it comes to size & weight. Most tablets weigh around 16-20 ounces making them almost thrice as heavy as Kindle!
3. Battery Life
Kindle is simply a killer when it comes to battery life. Except for the basic version of Kindle that has 1 month of battery life, all the other versions have a battery life of 2 months whereas all tablets, including the much famed iPad only have about 10 hours of battery life at best. While this won’t be an issue if you read books occasionally, an avid reader would certainly be much better off with a long battery life since he’d be able to read for extended periods of time without the need to charge the device often.
4. Storage
This is one area where Kindle might lag a bit behind tablet PC’s. Nearly all versions of Kindle come with 4GB storage capacity(except for basic Kindle that has 2GB storage) that allows you to store over 3500 books whereas most of the tablets come with at least 16GB internal memory (which can be further expanded via microSD card). Since we are comparing the two devices in terms of reading books, the 4GB storage of Kindle should be more than enough for storing books. What’s the need for 16GB or 32GB storage when you can store over 3500 books on 4GB!
5. Price
There’s a huge difference in price between Kindle and most tablets (branded tablets). While most versions of Kindle will cost you anything between $79-$199 depending on the version you choose (3G, Touch, Non-Sponsored etc.), a tablet PC is sure to set you back by $400 or more. If you compare it with the most bought tablet, iPad, there’s a difference of around $350-400 in price!
The Final Word
As you can see from the comparison between Kindle and tablets on a number of aspects, Kindle emerges as the winner in most of them. Since reading books is our primary focus, there’s absolutely no need to shell out extra bucks when you can get a terrific e-book reader like Kindle at such an economical price. Our word? Go for the Kindle!