Kindle or Tablet?

MattN

The Kindle will have the best battery and will easily be able to get you through a flight without needing a charge.

However, you'll pretty much only be able to read books on it.

If you want to be able to do other stuff as well (e.g. watch movies, surf the internet, edit photos etc.) then a tablet would be a better option. The trade off for being more powerful and having a different type of screen is battery life.

But you can most likely charge your tablet on a plane; but fully charged it should be just about enough to get you through a flight.

BTW you can get kindle apps on most tablets, so have full access to the kindle store and your library.

Personally speaking I'd be tempted to go for the new iPad mini with retina for travelling, but it all depends really on your individual needs.

Yolina

If it's primarily for reading then go with an e-ink reader. I say that as someone who goes through about 200 books a year and the Paperwhite is well worth it over the basic Kindle IMHO.

I had a Kindle Keyboard since they first came out in the UK, which I was very happy with; but the latest gen PW is really great and I have no regrets getting one (they've pretty much ironed out the screen lighting issues that were plaguing the 1st gen PW). The only caveat is that since Amazon sells the Kindles pretty much at cost price, QC can be a bit hit and miss, with some rather large manufacturing tolerances where the screen is concerned - don't hesitate to ask for an exchange if you're not 100% happy with the screen.

AndyBSG

Which one is suitable for you really just boils down to what you want it for

Kindle

- It's an E-reader, not a tablet so is only really useful for reading books.

- Battery life on it is phenomenal, you could fly to Australia and back reading all the way on one charge.

- The paperwhite is the same it just has a light built into the screen and you can also get a 3G one. In all honesty, the paperwhite is not worth the extra money over a normal Kindle

Kindle Fire

- These are tablets, not E-readers.

- Battery is nowhere near as good as the E-reader, you'll be looking at a few hours tops depending on what you're doing

- You can read on them

- You can also browse the net, watch movies and download apps

- They come in 7 inch and 9 inch.

If I wanted an E-reader just for books then i'd pick up the £69 Kindle but if I was after a tablet then I wouldn't get a Kindle Fire.

For a small tablet the Google Nexus 7 does everything the Kindle ones do and more and if I wanted a full size tablet i'd probably be more likely to go for a Sony Xperia Z or an iPad.

Contessa

Thanks for all your helpful replies.
I think they've clarified things and made me realise I'm comparing apples to pears!

So, probably, to have both would be ideal ( but not financially)

The basic Kindle has reverted to it's £69 price in T***o (I hadn't realised it was a Cyber Monday deal) so that changes things a bit.

I've got a few weeks to decide yet so who knows what may be available in the sales...

I appreciate the time people have taken to reply and the opinions that have been offered. But be warned... I may be back!

LadyDee

Just an added consideration - an e-ink screen is not affected by bright lights - you can read on the Kindle Paperwhite (or similar e-ink ereader) in the brightest sunshine.

DigForVictory

I still reckon a kindle & tablet are two different things - & if you've not used an ebook reader, get a grey kindle (about £35 buy it now off ebay) & get a kindle library running mate to load it for you (or buy a disk off ebay.) That way you are not carrying kilos of books. If you like the idea, you can sell the old kindle & disk on ebay & put the money towards a tablet, most of which have ebookreader applications. (If you save your disk onto your computer you can transfer all your reading to the new thing if you get the kindle app!)

I love kindles for their singleness of purpose - my phone & ipad get borrowed for other things, whereas my kindle is All Mine!

Happy holidays & move gently in new waters. The kindle experiment shouldn't be more than £40, most of which you can get back!

Johnmcl7

I agree e-ink devices and tablets are for different uses, personally I wouldn't hesitate to go for an e-ink device if I was wanting it primarily for reading - the screen is superb for reading text in all conditions including bright sunlight, the e-ink devices are thin and light and their batterylife is superb.

John