[Q] Cover suggestions for e-reading?

Leonart · Sep 2, 2014

I ordered the Tab S as a replacement for my Kindle Paperwhite. Although the price difference is nontrivial, I realized a tablet would probably make a better e-reader for me than the Paperwhite does. So after a lot of research and comparison, I decided the Tab S (while not-cheap) is the overall best tablet out at the present moment.

Most of the covers I've looked at are foldable and thus seem to be aimed at those who would want to prop the tablet up on a flat surface at varying angles. But I see myself laying on the couch, or curled up in bed sideways.

I like the case that I have on my Paperwhite (I attached it because I'm not allowed to link). It distinctly makes it more book-like to hold. I'm not one of those purists that I feels the need to imitate the book-reading experience, but it does seem to be fairly ergonomic. I'm worried about the "flaps" of the Tab S cases I've seen making it difficult to hold in the same way, which I feel like is something I've experienced with iPad covers of a similar design.

I'm not necessarily looking for a replica of the aforementioned cover. I guess I'd like to hear from people who have a case and if they feel that it's comfortable for the kind of horizontal e-reading that I'm describing, or what other options there might be.

Leonart · Sep 4, 2014

I guess I'm talking to myself here, but for now I'm going with the "FYY® Ultra Slim Magnetic Smart Cover Case" that I found on Amazon.

It's under $6, which actually kind of worries me, but it looks like what I would want.

I considered the official Samsung case, but I like the design of this more -- being book-like but also having viewing angles, and not leaving the bezel exposed -- and it's significantly cheaper. It's not that the Samsung case is expensive, I just don't see how the price is justified for what you get. I've seen it for as low as $45, but I feel like $30 is the most I'd ever spend on it, and even that's a stretch.

At least with this one, if it turns out to be junk, I only lost $6. I'll probably go for the Samsung cover if this doesn't work out.

Leonart · Sep 6, 2014

Self-replying again. (The reason I bother is so maybe people Googling something on this topic will find my posts.)

This is a pretty good case. It's aesthetically pleasing, minus the FYY logo on the front. I like that it protects the bezel and has a magnetic closure.

The solid front cover makes it more book-like to hold, but you can still prop the tablet up at 3 different viewing angles.

It looks and feels somewhat cheap in the hands, but at the price point $6 there's not a lot of room to complain.

Sadly, the tablet being somewhat tall, holding it one-handed from the bottom of the cover is kind of awkward. Due to the weight and height of the tablet, he only thing stopping it from doing a backflip out of my hand is my thumb holding it down. This puts a lot of stress on one's thumb and would probably contribute to fatigue over time. Additionally, given the fairly small bezel, you don't have a lot of room to put your thumb to begin with. This is something that one doesn't experience with the Kindle Paperwhite, since it's lighter, more square, and has a huge bezel (probably intentionally).

My biggest problems with the Kindle Paperwhite were that it supports limited formats (no epub support??? come the heck on), taking notes with it sucks due to the screen's low sensitivity and responsiveness, and I feel limited to using the Kindle store. The lack of formats makes it feel like. So I wanted something that would allow me to use any format or any vendor, as well as take notes with whichever keyboard I choose, on a display that is visually responsive. I factored weight into my decision.

I knew the Tab S would be heavier but I didn't think it would be too heavy. I'm imagining how painful it would be if I were reading while on my back and accidentally dropped the tablet on my face. The Tab S is also the lightest and thinnest tablet of its size. In fact, the Nexus 7 is 1g heavier. So it doesn't really get much lighter than this. A 7in tablet might have better weight distribution for the purpose of reading though.

The Kindle software on Android is great, though (and if it wasn't, I can always use Google Play Books) which is how my tablet-search started.

All in all I think this experiment shows the Tab S is not for me.

killall · Sep 7, 2014

I'm using the book cover as I like the option of a stand for videos. When holding in portrait you can fold back the magnetic part of the flap and then hold like a book. It is nice and firm just like the paperwhite cover.
There's also the simple cover if you don't need the angled stand.

guga124 · Sep 8, 2014

Leonart said:
Self-replying again. (The reason I bother is so maybe people Googling something on this topic will find my posts.)

This is a pretty good case. It's aesthetically pleasing, minus the FYY logo on the front. I like that it protects the bezel and has a magnetic closure.

The solid front cover makes it more book-like to hold, but you can still prop the tablet up at 3 different viewing angles.

It looks and feels somewhat cheap in the hands, but at the price point $6 there's not a lot of room to complain.

Sadly, the tablet being somewhat tall, holding it one-handed from the bottom of the cover is kind of awkward. Due to the weight and height of the tablet, he only thing stopping it from doing a backflip out of my hand is my thumb holding it down. This puts a lot of stress on one's thumb and would probably contribute to fatigue over time. Additionally, given the fairly small bezel, you don't have a lot of room to put your thumb to begin with. This is something that one doesn't experience with the Kindle Paperwhite, since it's lighter, more square, and has a huge bezel (probably intentionally).

My biggest problems with the Kindle Paperwhite were that it supports limited formats (no epub support??? come the heck on), taking notes with it sucks due to the screen's low sensitivity and responsiveness, and I feel limited to using the Kindle store. The lack of formats makes it feel like. So I wanted something that would allow me to use any format or any vendor, as well as take notes with whichever keyboard I choose, on a display that is visually responsive. I factored weight into my decision.

I knew the Tab S would be heavier but I didn't think it would be too heavy. I'm imagining how painful it would be if I were reading while on my back and accidentally dropped the tablet on my face. The Tab S is also the lightest and thinnest tablet of its size. In fact, the Nexus 7 is 1g heavier. So it doesn't really get much lighter than this. A 7in tablet might have better weight distribution for the purpose of reading though.

The Kindle software on Android is great, though (and if it wasn't, I can always use Google Play Books) which is how my tablet-search started.

All in all I think this experiment shows the Tab S is not for me.

I share your concerns...have you taken a look at the just announced Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact? It's an 8 inch tablet and weighs 270 grams....(not sure, but the wifi-only version might even be just 260 grams). Besides, the Huawei MediaPad X1 is a very competent 7 incher that weighs 239 grams, although not sure if it's simple to grab one of those.

Leonart · Sep 8, 2014

guga124 said:
I share your concerns...have you taking a look at the just announced Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact? It's an 8 inch tablet and weighs 270 grams....(not sure, but the wifi-only version might even be just 260 grams). Besides, the Huawei MediaPad X1 is a very competent 7 incher that weighs 239 grams, although not sure if it's simple to grab one of those.

Sad thing is I don't think any tablet can manage to be as light as the Kindle Paperwhite, which weighs 170g. I will check out those devices, though; thanks for your suggestions.

I also think weight distribution is playing a role. Because the Tab S is so tall and skinny, it wants to tip out of your hand when holding it from the bottom. The Kindle Paperwhite display is almost 4:3 where as the Tab is 16:10. Since the Paperwhite device is closer to square, I believe that the weight is more evenly distributed in the palm of your hand. But it's also not as big or heavy overall, so that probably plays a more important role.

leojab · Sep 12, 2014

I have the book cove from samsaung and it is great based on quality and different angles it offers.
But I have a question for you all, How are you holding the tablet in portrait mode.. I always have my palm pressing the back or multitask button.. IT is such a ache..
Any suggestion please how to hold or avoid such issues while being comfortable.

Any app to disable those buttons etc..

drei666 · Sep 16, 2014

Leonart said:
I ordered the Tab S as a replacement for my Kindle Paperwhite. Although the price difference is nontrivial, I realized a tablet would probably make a better e-reader for me than the Paperwhite does. So after a lot of research and comparison, I decided the Tab S (while not-cheap) is the overall best tablet out at the present moment.

Hi Leonart,
why are you replacing the Paperwhite?
I do own them both.. but I would never replace the comfort of reading on the paperwhite (or any self illuminating e-ink readers).

I love the SuperAMOLED screen on the tab S but it performs poorly in bright sun light compared to the e-ink screen.

Anyway I do own the 10.5 version and I agree that it would be impossible to use it in bed to read ebooks.

Cheers

dREI

Leonart · Sep 16, 2014

drei666 said:
Hi Leonart,
why are you replacing the Paperwhite?
I do own them both.. but I would never replace the comfort of reading on the paperwhite (or any self illuminating e-ink readers).

I love the SuperAMOLED screen on the tab S but it performs poorly in bright sun light compared to the e-ink screen.

Anyway I do own the 10.5 version and I agree that it would be impossible to use it in bed to read ebooks.

Cheers

dREI

There's several things I dislike about the Paperwhite. It's great for reading, but all of the functions around reading aren't that great in my opinion.

One thing that I hate trying to do with the Paperwhite is take notes. On a tablet, I can swipe, and the keyboard is responsive, and it's learned words in my personal vocabulary, and so on. On the Paperwhite, the keyboard and display is not as responsive, I have to type each letter, the screen sensitivity isn't amazing, and I just find typing on it to be a chore.

The other thing that bugs me is it doesn't support epub, which is just absurd. I know I can do a conversion in Calibre, but I also shouldn't have to. Google Play Books, Nook, iBooks, all support epub. And they should, it's an open format.

Overall, the Kindle isn't very friendly to books acquired outside of the Kindle store. For example, if I upload an epub to Google Play books, I can access that book from any device. Also, if I take notes in that book on the Kindle, those notes aren't synced. Google Play Books will also sync my notes across to devices, even with books that I uploaded instead of bought.

Sometimes the Kindle version of a book is inferior to the versions from other stores. For example, a book I just finished had an irregularly sized right margin on the Kindle store, so the entire book was off-center. This is something that a person less OCD than I could probably just ignore, but the same book on Google Play Books didn't have this problem. So I ended up buying it from there.

There's also PDF support, which the Android version of Kindle has but the eReader obviously doesn't. I don't want to read PDF if I can avoid it, but for certain books, you can't avoid it.

Overall, a tablet gives me more options on where I get my books and how I read them. I can get them from Google Play Books, Amazon, Nook, or any other merchant. Taking notes, highlighting, looking up words or locations, is much easier, and more responsive and interactive. I can use the full Android Goodreads app rather than the severely stripped down version on the Paperwhite, or, hell, I can just go to goodreads.com in the browser.

The Paperwhite's main advantages over a tablet are that it's extremely light, a perfect size of reading, has a long battery life, and is readable in all lighting conditions, and is cheaper than just about any decent/current tablet. But I feel like I'm locked into Kindle's ecosystem, which makes the Paperwhite feel more like a $120 cable box than an eReader in its own right. The lack of epub support in the year 2014 is the biggest indication that they really want you to buy all your books from the Kindle store...I don't like that. A tablet has its own drawbacks, like weight, but it's much more versatile.

I guess it depends on what's important to you.

drei666 · Sep 16, 2014

Leonart said:
There's several things I dislike about the Paperwhite. It's great for reading, but all of the functions around reading aren't that great in my opinion.

One thing that I hate trying to do with the Paperwhite is take notes. On a tablet, I can swipe, and the keyboard is responsive, and it's learned words in my personal vocabulary, and so on. On the Paperwhite, the keyboard and display is not as responsive, I have to type each letter, the screen sensitivity isn't amazing, and I just find typing on it to be a chore.

The other thing that bugs me is it doesn't support epub, which is just absurd. I know I can do a conversion in Calibre, but I also shouldn't have to. Google Play Books, Nook, iBooks, all support epub. And they should, it's an open format.

Overall, the Kindle isn't very friendly to books acquired outside of the Kindle store. For example, if I upload an epub to Google Play books, I can access that book from any device. Also, if I take notes in that book on the Kindle, those notes aren't synced. Google Play Books will also sync my notes across to devices, even with books that I uploaded instead of bought.

Sometimes the Kindle version of a book is inferior to the versions from other stores. For example, a book I just finished had an irregularly sized right margin on the Kindle store, so the entire book was off-center. This is something that a person less OCD than I could probably just ignore, but the same book on Google Play Books didn't have this problem. So I ended up buying it from there.

There's also PDF support, which the Android version of Kindle has but the eReader obviously doesn't. I don't want to read PDF if I can avoid it, but for certain books, you can't avoid it.

Overall, a tablet gives me more options on where I get my books and how I read them. I can get them from Google Play Books, Amazon, Nook, or any other merchant. Taking notes, highlighting, looking up words or locations, is much easier, and more responsive and interactive. I can use the full Android Goodreads app rather than the severely stripped down version on the Paperwhite, or, hell, I can just go to goodreads.com in the browser.

The Paperwhite's main advantages over a tablet are that it's extremely light, a perfect size of reading, has a long battery life, and is readable in all lighting conditions, and is cheaper than just about any decent/current tablet. But I feel like I'm locked into Kindle's ecosystem, which makes the Paperwhite feel more like a $120 cable box than an eReader in its own right. The lack of epub support in the year 2014 is the biggest indication that they really want you to buy all your books from the Kindle store...I don't like that. A tablet has its own drawbacks, like weight, but it's much more versatile.

I guess it depends on what's important to you.

I agree, my needs are quite different.. i do not take notes and i rarely use the search function.
I do rely on Calibre for my format conversion, as I mostly own only epub files, like the rest of the world. ..
I know, it is a pain. .. but I did a jailbreak and now I work almost entirely with kindle collections created in Calibre.
I almost read only SF, and lots of it

dREI

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