Need the best 10' tablet for eBooks.

Ilnez

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Jun 20, 2012
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My university recently started with a run of ebook textboooks that cost considerably less than their paper and ink counterparts. Enough to where even an iPad 3 would be an 'I'm in the money' investment. That being said I want to know that it's actually the best before I spend the money on it.

Does anyone have a comparaison or, better yet, first hand experience on what it's like to read a textbook on a 10' tablet? iPad or otherwise.
 
Solution
I use an IPad 3 for my text books and they are fairly easy to read and the functionality is superb. Most seem to have chapters you can quickly flip to and you can always zoom for fine print. I still prefer to read from a text book but the cost savings has been a huge benefit for me. All that being said there is a bit of speculation that the microsoft branded surface tablet that is soon to hit the market could have a price tag as low as $199. Its pretty hard for me to believe they would sell it at that big of a loss but I suppose it could be a possibility for them trying to push Windows 8. The benefit would be the full keyboard and inclusion of Microsoft Office with the tablet.

jollycyborg

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Aug 14, 2012
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I use an IPad 3 for my text books and they are fairly easy to read and the functionality is superb. Most seem to have chapters you can quickly flip to and you can always zoom for fine print. I still prefer to read from a text book but the cost savings has been a huge benefit for me. All that being said there is a bit of speculation that the microsoft branded surface tablet that is soon to hit the market could have a price tag as low as $199. Its pretty hard for me to believe they would sell it at that big of a loss but I suppose it could be a possibility for them trying to push Windows 8. The benefit would be the full keyboard and inclusion of Microsoft Office with the tablet.
 
Solution

Ilnez

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Jun 20, 2012
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Yeah, I wouldn't buy a new product like that though to be honest meaning I'd wait at least 6 months meaning I'd waste 1 year of savings at which point it might no longer be worth it to me.

I think I'm gonna go with an iPad.

Especially with the 50$s to spend on books.

Only problem seems to be that they do not have a particularly large repertoire of engineering textbooks in their library.
 

airanp

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Aug 8, 2012
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If you can get a good price on an older IPad you could go that way, or if you want to go the route of android there are many out there that work well as just an e-reader.

I would recommend taking a look at the transformer prime tf300. It offers quad core cpu, they advertise I think it is 12 core gpu, great battery life, stellar battery life if you get the keyboard dock/battery down the road which turns it into a netbook type device with around 14+ hours of battery life. It has 32Gb internal memory as well as an expansion slot for up to another 32Gb. Mini HDMI out to connect it to the TV if you wanted to. The tablet itself will run you $399.99, the keyboard dock $149.99. But if you are already considering an IPad2 or IPad3, 399.99 for the tf300 is a better price for a whole lot more.

If you were looking for something smaller, like a 7" the best deal out there is the Nexus 7 for $199(8Gb) and 249(16Gb). but that is only if you consider under the hood. Devices like the galaxy tab 7 have better expansion and memory options but weaker in the processing department.

Any android device will be able to access both barnes and noble as well as amazon for text books just like the IPad can.

There are cheaper options if you decide on android, but there are only 2 options if you go apple, expensive, and more expensive, comparitively speaking versus android tablets. It's really just a matter of what you want versus what you absolutely need combined with your budget.
 

cl-scott

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Jul 5, 2012
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You could also consider something like the Kindle DX. Much better as an ebook reader than any tablet IMO. Battery life would be measured in weeks or months instead of hours, and you could probably get 2-3 of them for the cost of a single iPad. The tradeoff is that it's somewhat more limited in function.
 

Ilnez

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Jun 20, 2012
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Hmm, I see. I'll have to look into it. To be honest 399.99 for the tablet you suggest or 499.99 for the iPad with the 50$ store credit is pretty much the same price in my mind. I will have to look into it though, I REALLY appreciate all the comments.
 

airanp

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Aug 8, 2012
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Look at what you get, they may seem like the same price with the rebate, but the tf300 has 32Gb of memory and an expansion slot for another 32Gb of memory. It also has HDMI out for media later and the tegra3 processor. I know right now you say it's only for e-book reading for school, but for what is almost the same price you get double the memory, with the potential of 4x the memory if you have a 32Gb micro sd card in it as well as a media machine for when you are not studying that you can use with your TV.