15 Feb 2022

I don’t want an iPad, so what do I want?

A lot of the reading I do is of PDFs. I have no desire to print them out, nor do I want to always be sitting at my desk when I could be sprawled on the couch. In the past I have occasionally sent a PDF to my Kindle Paperwhite, but only under duress because the experience is generally horrible. I have also managed to send PDFs to a 1^st generation iPad, and that was marginally better than the Kindle. Now, after upgrading to Big Sur, I no longer seem able to send anything to the iPad, and I am annoyed.

I have no great interest in a newer iPad, because I really only want to be able to read on it and make the occasional note. Mobile computing is already taken care of with an iPhone and an Air. I looked at various tablets, and they all boast of their immense computing power. I don't care about that; I want a very readable screen and a way of getting PDFs in and out.

Online searches have not so far proved very helpful. Can you offer a suggestion?

Filed under | Geeky |

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@jeremycherfas I use a BOOX e-ink device. They have several models, all Android based, some also in color. There are others like Remarkable etc. Maybe something like that works for you (I'm pleased w my Nova 2 but still need to smoothen out my workflows for reading/writing on it, so can't give you any advice w.r.t. suitability to your PDF reading.)

@ton @jeremycherfas but my Nova-2 is likely a bit too small to your liking, re your remark about Kindle. There are bigger ones.

@ton The BOOX get good reviews, but having done some more research, maybe an iPad IS what I want. I was looking at the top end. But the plain and simple wifi only model, at under €400 (without pencil) might be the best value for money.

@jeremycherfas I had a low-end iPad about 3 years ago and found it excellent except for one thing: the screen wasn’t laminated so sounded hollow and a bit noisy when I tapped on it. A less noticeable effect of the absence of lamination was that the items onscreen didn’t seem to be directly under my finger. I don’t know whether they’ve improved the screens since. The screen certainly wasn’t a deal-breaker for me.

@jeremycherfas yes, my wife opted for a wifi only ipad (wiht pencil though) which she uses to read a lot on.

@artkavanagh Tapping with a finger, or a pencil?

@jeremycherfas Finger: I didn’t bother with a pencil.

@artkavanagh Thanks. I probably won't do pencil either, if I go that route. But never say never ...

@jeremycherfas The other day I read about supernote.com but I don't have any experience with it. I'm 100% in the Apple eco system.

@metbril Yes, that looks a bit like the Remarkable tablet and although they are interesting I don’t think it would work for me.

@jeremycherfas From what I've read their price range is lower than Remarkable. Although I wouldn't buy one myself, I would like to hold one for some time.

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