The frau is asking for some tablet... I'll get her what y'all recommend.

Thanks, good to know. I guess I'll have to go look at the superwhite Kindle as yet another device on my nightstand.

Personally, I have become very fond of Google Play for one important reason: the data is from the cloud, letting me read on any device I care to. Since I use a corporate computer at work and either an iPad or my MacBook Air other places I find the sync to be a killer feature. ymmv

 

On several levels, I sooooo want to be an android fanboy but both the smartphones and galaxy tab I've purchase were either returned or sold. As has been said, unless the wife is a techno-nerd, go with the ipad. My wife absolutely LOVES hers. I've never told her it's a used/refurb iPad2 16GB purchased from apple with warranty for $250!!!! LOL.

My kids won't use the original kindle (hand me down from a relative who got a fire). Even my daughter who's a voracious reader doesn't like it or the interface.

 

The Kindle B&W e-paper devices have another advantage, they will run for weeks on a charge if you have the wi-fi and (3g-4g if you have a model with that)shut off. They are excellent readers, work great even in in bright sunlight, but aren't good for much except as e-readers. My wife has one of the early ones and it is a great reader with limited nearly useless web browsing and email capability.

 

Amazon has the same service. All of your media is stored in their cloud and is accessible from any device linked to your account. I currently read books on: work laptop / Macbook / Droid X / Asus tablet / iPad / iPod touch. Last night I was reading Dracula on my tablet and continued where I left off on my phone today at lunch.

 

^^^
The syncing of the page positions in a book from the Kindle eBook store also works on iDevices (iPad, iPod, iPod Touch). It was one of the big features they touted. If you have a Kindle eBook reader, you can read mostly there and read a bunch more on your iPhone while on the go and so on.

Regarding libraries and what eBooks they can "loan out" and on what device. It's complicated and depends on the library and device. See Frequently Asked Questions about Digital Content | San Jose Public Library, for example. I have so far never bothered w/borrowing any eBooks from my library yet. Of the devices listed, I have an iPad 2 and iPhone 4.

 

My wife uses a library loan service, but I find the interface so crappy I avoid it; and of course no sync.

 

I have no problems using my library loan service, and it syncs fine between my Kindle and my iPad Kindle app. Anyway, here is a new review of the new Kindle devices.

 

Or you could get a Nook Tablet and read them from Barnes and Noble. Or our Samsung tablet has an app that pretends it is a nook. I get Baen e-books in epub (some free!) that I read on both as well. Both take micro SD for more media- books, pictures, videos, etc.

 

If you are little adventuresome you can root a Nook Color tablet and turn it into a full fledged android tablet. Then you can run the B&N and Kindle apps on it as well as most any other Android app.

Nook Color | CyanogenMod

I did mine but wanted better performance and better scree so got a Google Nexus 7 and haven't looked back.

 

BTW, to add to my Sept 10th post, another possibility is a refurb iPad 3 (aka 3rd gen) which has the Retina Display. It won't help w/the frau w/small type but they sometimes are available for a 16 gig wi-fi only version for $379 at Refurbished iPad - Apple Certified, 1-Year Warranty - Apple Store (U.S.). Stock comes and goes.

Besides the much higher res display, one significant advantage is that it can get Siri (iOS 6: Which software features does my iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch support?) unlike iPad 2 (2nd gen). In theory, since it's newer, it'll be further away from deprecation (Apple no longer providing iOS updates) than iPad 2. However, if you really want to have support for the longest time, then going w/the latest and greatest (iPad 4th gen, aka current gen) is the best way to go.

 

^^^
Cool. 64 gig? That's huge. I personally wouldn't be willing to pay what Apple wants for that capacity. My 32 gig is generally sufficient if I don't keep lots of huge apps or eBooks on it.

iPad Mini is a nice size to many, but that really doesn't help the frau w/font size. It's also too bad that it only has a 1k x 768 display (no Retina Display), so it looks much grainier vs. the iPad 4 and iPad 3.

 

A GREAT app for the ipad and iPhones is Anylist
AnyList - The best way to create and share a grocery shopping list.
Unlike games or entertain apps, it is a very productive program that has actually helped simply our lives. It's scary how quickly it learns your shopping habits with autofill. <grin> Sharing the list with anyone you want is what makes this work for couple or families. IOW, you don't have to wait to get home to write something down on the traditional paper list on the 'fridge which by that time you get home you've forgotten what it was! The list is always there on your phone, ipad, etc.

 

IMHO you have to put a retina display side by side with a 'normal' display to see the difference. I am quite happy reading on our 9.7" iPad G2, so I know the mini will look even better since it has the same number of pixels but in about a 36% smaller area.

As for font size: certainly books can be read at any size desired. I'm not sure about OS related screen like the desktop or settings.

 

Love my iPad Mini... and a plus is I can run my iTunes music in the Prius... The iPad Mini battery lasted four days without a recharge when I was on vacation as well.

 

I bought the better half a 10.1" 16gb Acer Iconia A200 tablet for his birthday last month...he loves it and hasnt set it down since...lol.

I looked around and liked the Acer the best.