iPad or Kindle: will our wallets decide?
By Paul Miller 
posted January 27th 2010 6:18PM
posted January 27th 2010 6:18PM
 iPad |
 Kindle 2 |
 Kindle DX |
| Upfront cost | $499 / $629 (3G) | $259 | $489 |
| Screen size | 9.7-inch | 6-inch | 9.7-inch |
| Screen resolution | 1024 x 768 | 600 x 800 | 1200 x 824 |
| Pixel density | 132 ppi | 167 ppi | 150 ppi |
| Screen type | Color IPS LCD | 16-level gray E Ink | 16-level gray E Ink |
| Storage | 16GB | 2GB | 4GB |
| Accelerometer | Yes | No | Yes |
| Music | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Movies | Yes | No | No |
| Text-to-speech | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| ePub | Yes | No | No |
| Kindle books | Yes (Kindle app) | Yes | Yes |
| 3G service cost | N/A / $15 / $30 | Free | Free |
| 3G networks | GSM / HSDPA (US) | EV-DO + HSDPA (World) | EV-DO + HSDPA (World) |
| Weight | 1.5 pound | 0.6 pound | 1.2 pound |
| Thickness | 0.53-inches | 0.34-inches | 0.38-inches |
| Battery | 10 hours | 1 week | 1 week |
Update: As Daniel P. pointed out to us, the iPad, like the iPhone 3GS, has VoiceOver screen reading technology. It might not work as slickly in iBooks as Kindle's text-to-speech functionality, but hopefully it still get the job done. We updated the chart accordingly.
No e-ink = no e-reader. Simple as that.
@Shmiert It's really kind of funny how Apple just completely blew off the idea that e-readers have to use e-ink - an idea that the rest of the entire industry seems to have thought was the only way.
@Shmiert
I'm glad someone else understand that. If I wanted to read books on something else I'd just do it on my laptop. The whole point of doing it on e-ink is to avoid the eye strain.
@Shmiert
Kindles e-ink is easy to read even at the beach. The network is free, the books are relatively cheap, it's smaller and uses barely any power.
Gotta go with the Kindle for reading books. Just wish e-ink would refresh quicker. Nook is nice too if they iron the kinks out.
@Shmiert Are these really even comparable? Should I compare the iTampon to my blackberry? cause they cost about the same $... Stop trying to find reason to talk about the damn thing.
For reading novels it's Kindle by a landslide.
@Shmiert Surely 'e-reader' is simply a shortened version of 'e-book reader', which would mean that anything that could read e-books can be classed as an e-book reader. To me, that would make more sense than defining an 'e-reader' by the use of e-ink technology, as you suggest.
@Shmiert
Exactly. E-readers aren't meant to fry your eyes after a few hours.
@Shmiert
kindle is more revolutionary if you ask me,
@Shmiert Agreed. I think Apple is betting on the fact that the average consumer isn't yet aware that there are better options out there for e-readers.
@Shmiert
Buy both. The $499 iPad and the $259 Kindle is still less than the $999 the tablet was supposed to cost.
I wonder what JooJoo will do now!
@Sourside
Well, sometimes bucking the trend isn't always a good thing.
@Shmiert
This is a stupid analysis, Engadget. Seriously.
@Sourside
I guess Steve Jobs is getting a little senile in his old age because the iPad is not an eReader, it's a large PMP.
@Shmiert:
I don't own a Kindle but after now knowing the specs of both, I would go Kindle without a doubt. I've never even seen a Kindle or iPad in person, but this thing makes me want a Kindle even more. I have a million and one ways to play games and consume audio/video/internet content, I don't need or want another one.
E-Ink display is no doubt the winner. I've tried using the Kindle app on my iPhone and my eyes were bleeding from my anus.
Battery life is not even comparable. 1-week of usability time for Kindle vs 10 hrs for this monstrosity
@Shmiert
This is all a bad dream!
@Michael Scrip Isn't that kind of the whole rub? Everyone is trying to tag the iPad as a Kindle/Nook/etc killer. I love my iPod Touch, but I love my nook even better for reading. Wouldn't want to play games on my nook, but WOW on the Touch. Yes, you probably should buy both. But one will not kill the other. At least, I hope not.
@Michael Scrip
Or buy the HP slate PC. Better than the iPad and lets you read kindle books.
@Shmiert
This is another example that Apple has lost touch with its base !! They have thrown this out there thinking everyone has to love it because it’s from them, rather than actually asking there users what they would want the product to be able too do!!!!
@Shmiert Without diminishing the worth of e-ink id like to add that an lcd screen can be adjusted to read text quite comfortably. i use HalliReader on my PDA which lets me set black text over a darkish grey background and with the backlight at minimum i can happilly read for hours on that with no strain. Unfortunately theres nothing on an iphone or ipad that allows you to change the background colour as far as i can see unless you jailbreak the iphone and use an uncerted app.
@Why should I have all the fun
"Kindles e-ink is easy to read even at the beach. The network is free, the books are relatively cheap, it's smaller and uses barely any power."
True, but not easy to read in dim areas.
@Dahis
JooJoo will go out of business, although, I'm not sure it really was in business.
@n0ne
Sorry but e-ink is waaaaay better than an ips lcd. Engadget should change the screen type section to green for the Kindle's and red for the iPOOP. This comparison is about e-readers not anything else.
@TMC isn't that whole point of ebook - mimicking real books?
@comments Uhmm, it's not really being advertised as a E-Reader. It's being advertised as a tablet computer. That can do much more then the Kindle can. I've seen the kindle, and it's pretty good. I like it. But see the difference here is that Kindle is a sole purpose device, for E-Reading. iPad is a general purpose device, which can do a lot of stuff that Kindle can't. Kindle has some better book features, I agree, but iPad beats Kindle as general purpose.
@Shmiert Sorry to add to the mountain of replies but I agree exactly with the original poster.
@Shmiert I don't think they are selling it as an e-reader but. And while I appreciate the benefits of e-ink, it would have been stupid to put it on this device given it would rule out using any of the apps ect that this device will make use of.
In any event, I wonder how many people use their kindle outside the confines of their armchair or bed anyway. The screen may be less of an issue than people make out.
@TMC "True, but not easy to read in dim areas."
Neither is a book. That's why they invented lights.
@Shmiert
did engadget FORGET THE NOOK?
it runs frickin Android!!!
@Shmiert I completely disagree. e-ink does not a reader make. iPad will eat Kindle's lunch -> http://notestoself.posterous.com/ipad-is-going-to-eat-kindles-lunch-and-then-k
@Shmiert
You can say nigh anything on the front page and get
highest rated. This monomaniacal iPad bashing is as obnoxiously snobbish and stupid as the people who are rabidly promoting it.
The truth usually lies between extremes.
@Shmiert
Here's the thing. How well does Office run on Kindle?
Oh, it doesn't? Well it's not really comparable to the iPad then, is it? Yeah. You guys don't appear to be taking the full capabilities of the iPad into account when comparing it to the Kindle. If e-reading was the only thing the iPad could do, then you might have a point. But since it's not, you don't.
How are those 140,000 apps for the Kindle? Oh wait, yeah. Forgot about those too.
@admlshake
you don't think reading normal books gives you eyestrain?
its holding something a foot away from your face thats straining your eyes. kids in China wear glasses when they're 8 years old, not because of the light from their iPads, its because they study for 4 hrs every night. straining their eyes...
@ everyone above:
If the device allows for the reading of e-books, it can be called an e-reader.
The iPad, while horribly named, is a viable competitor to the Kindle. It is competitively priced, as long as you get the 16GB wifi only model.
It also allows you to do much more than just read books.
@Jack
how does Office run on iPad???
Oh wait, it doesn't run either.
oops
@Why should I have all the fun What about comic books? I would rather see them on a color screen.
@ryleyinstl exactly what i thought. they are going after the idiot dollar
@Jordan
" I've tried using the Kindle app on my iPhone and my eyes were bleeding from my anus"
well, you clearly weren't using it properly.
@Michael Scrip: buy both? Wow, that makes a lot of sense. Now I can carry around TWO limited use devices, and maybe throw a laptop into the huge backpack as well! Or I can hire a personal servant to carry the 37 different single use devices I may or may not want to use every day. :P
Seriously though, it makes more sense to get a convertible tablet along the lines of the Lenovo S10-3t, Asus T91MT or spend a bit more and get the Acer 1820PT (still under a grand), or go for broke and get something higher end in the thin & light convertible.
At least you don't have to worry about compatibility, lack of codec support, walled gardens and being mocked for CARRYING AROUND A GIANT IPHONE.
@Shmiert
What are they going to compare it to then?
A TV?
@Shmiert e-Ink is honestly the only thing that enables me to read a book on anything other than dead trees. Someone mentioned that the Kindle battery life was one week. I have read four books since I received mine (Christmas day). I charged it Christmas night, and it just died on me yesterday, a little more than one full month.
Of course, I was smart enough to turn off the 3G when not downloading a book.
@blenderman345
A tablet computer? I was waiting for something revolutionary to make me dump my Fujitsu TabletPC. The iPad doesn't expand any useful tablet functionality beyond the iPhone.
@Jimbob
The iPad lets you read Kindle books, too.
@goopy
My real books have better contrast.
@Shmiert Yes, I don't understand why readability in sunlight is not on this comparative table. I like reading my books outdoors in sunlight.
I wish Engadget know this, and educate the masses that iPad is not e-reader, but they do the opposite: comparing both. Lame.
@johnnyrotten
iPad is a classic text-book example of overmarketing/overhyping and undelivering. But then again, this is Apple....
"will our wallets decide?"
No, common sense will decide. No e-Ink = No e-Reader
@Acey
The Kindle is more revolutionary. By a long shot. What is Engadget trying to do?? Why even make this comparison? My current netbooks and laptops can get eBooks on them......why isn't engadget doing side-by-side comparisons between Kindle and laptop/netbooks???? It is apple vs. oranges....but hey, they need to grasp at whatever straw they can to try to show (and fail) the iPad beating something out.