Well, it's not about theology, but it does have to do with reading, and might be helpful to someone looking into ebooks. I had been searching for the past month or two for a reading device with a larger screen than my iPod Touch for extended periods of reading ebooks, like from Kindle or Logos or B&N or Kobo.
My criteria for an e-reader: 1) excellent text clarity, 2) decent battery life, 3) user-friendly interface, 4) support for notes/highlights, 5) reasonable size/weight, and 6) the eventual option to access all my ebooks from one device.
I had previously tried the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3, and would have been happy with my Kindle 3, but it stopped working (don't buy expensive tech from Craigslist!). My iPod Touch 4th generation is great as far as text clarity and ebook availablity (supports all my preferred formats), but the 3.5" screen requires holding it close to your face, or increasing the text size to only get a few words per page, plus it's hard to hold it comfortably for long periods.
Since the 6" screen and half-pound weight of the Kindle was great, those became my target dimensions. I also enjoyed the dedicated page-turn buttons which left the screen free for text instead of looking at my fingers swiping or tapping to turn pages. I could have gone for another Kindle after my previous one broke, but I was hesitant to spend close to $200 for a single-function device, if I could get a comparable multi-function device for a little more money. Most tablets are either 7" or 10" screens, so I opted for the 7" screen size.
The options for tablets that could also serve as e-readers basically boiled down to three categories. 1) Tablets with resistive displays that were fuzzy or hard to push or both, and usually had poor battery life or build quality, running a generic Linux OS or an outdated version of Google's Android OS; 2) Tablets with capacitive displays that ran current versions of Android OS; or, 3) Apple's iPad.
Prices in the first category ranged from $100 after discounts to around $200; the second included devices from $200 to $600; the third started at $499 ($429 if you went with a refurbished model) and went up beyond $800.
Subsequent posts will cover my experiences with various devices from these categories.
