Best tablet screen size / aspect ratio?

IndigoPrime · 22 October, 2015, 10:25:57 AM

What do Android people think of ComiCat? It's been a while since I did my round-up on comic readers for Stuff, but that was the one I went for in the end. I thought it was really good.

As for the Galaxy 12 (or, for that matter, the iPad Pro), it again wouldn't pass the 'me' test primarily due to weight. I'm clearly waiting for some magical technology to enable larger tablets to not weigh as much or more than my original iPad, which now feels like a brick compared to the newer models. (Looking online, the Samsung's 750g. Apple's upcoming iPad Pro is 723. The original iPad was 680. New current Air 2 is 437.)

Colin YNWA · 22 October, 2015, 11:04:40 AM

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 22 October, 2015, 10:25:57 AM
As for the Galaxy 12 (or, for that matter, the iPad Pro), it again wouldn't pass the 'me' test primarily due to weight. I'm clearly waiting for some magical technology to enable larger tablets to not weigh as much or more than my original iPad, which now feels like a brick compared to the newer models. (Looking online, the Samsung's 750g. Apple's upcoming iPad Pro is 723. The original iPad was 680. New current Air 2 is 437.)

Yeah but I'm strong like the ox me...ahem... Its not too bad, I guess the advantage I have is I've never known anything different.

I must confess on the occasions I've read for an extended period at home (as opposed to public transport where the seating options mean the device weight just doesn't become a factor) I've found myself subconsciously supporting the device one way or another. Its no different however than reading a decent sized hardcover trade and nowhere near as uncomfortable as reading one of this gigantic omnibuses, which, alas, I avoid these days as I do find them cumbersome to read.

IndigoPrime · 22 October, 2015, 11:28:34 AM

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 22 October, 2015, 11:04:40 AMI guess the advantage I have is I've never known anything different.

Fair enough. I got the original iPad, which at the time was like lifting a feather. Then the iPad 3, which was actually a bit crap. Then the Air. OH MY. It was like... well, not a Kindle, but almost like two had been glued together, which is still pretty light. I very nearly went for an iPad mini in the Apple Store at the time, until I came to my senses. Again, seduced by how little it weighed.

In all honesty, the Air sometimes gets used in the same way as your Galaxy — that curl up on the couch position.

jacob g · 22 October, 2015, 12:07:04 PM

For past 1,5 year I was reading all my Progs on iPad mini. Perfect option for me cuz I like reading Progs while I'm in crowded subway trains on my way from home to work.

IndigoPrime · 22 October, 2015, 01:14:10 PM

To clarify, the mini's too small for what I mostly use the iPad for (games, music-creation, writing); it's a perfectly decent buy for many people, and not bad value.

Mardroid · 22 October, 2015, 04:31:15 PM

I use the Kindle HDX 8.9 for my digital comic reading.

I rarely use the Kindle app though as its not great. Mainly I use the Comixology app or ComicRack* for the DRM free comics.

I used to use the 2000ad app but it n longer seems to download comics. This is due to the fact the Kindle is not pure android. In the past I used a trick to get around it, but that has ceased to work. That's okay. I just download the cbz files from the shop weekly and read them in 'Rack. The only downside is the kerfuffle of moving the file around, but as a comic reader I find ComicRack as good as the app. Better in some ways (no offence to the creators who did a good job. I'm sure it will get there.).

The aspect ratio is not ideal, if you never want to zoom. But I just zoom a bit and scroll a bit when needed. I emphasise 'a bit' as I can understand how doing a lot of that could be irritating.

It's a good compromise if you want a general purpose tablet to web surf and watch films on rather than something specificly just for comics.

And the Kindle 8.9 screen size is big enough that, if you really refuse to.zoom in, its large enough to make out everything. But your eyes might not thank you.

noose · 25 October, 2015, 11:28:56 AM

I find that the kindle devices are awful for reading comics on. I used to use an ipad but just found the whole Apple experience very frustrating.
I'm now using a Samsung galaxy s tablet with comicat and am pretty happy. I might think about getting a larger tablet in the future so the comics (American) are displayed more approaching there original dimensions but I'm happy with what I've got for the moment.
I rarely by "floppies" these days but I still collect trades of stuff I've enjoyed digitally.

SquashMatchCR · 26 October, 2015, 11:26:30 PM

My preferred tablet would be the iPad Pro with a 12+ inch screen and 4:3 aspect ratio which is good for book pages. Since that's very expensive for me, I'd like 10-inch screen tablets with 4:3 aspect ratio like the current iPad & its lesser clones.

mrketch · 12 November, 2015, 10:08:43 PM

I used to use an ipad but recently bought the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. It's the same screen size and resolution than the ipad air 2 but is lighter at 389g. I find the 2000ad app better on android as it gives the option to have landscape pages in single or double page view, something the ipad app doesn't offer for some reason. Shop around and this can be bought for much less than an ipad air 2 and also comes with 32gb memory as standard plus an SD card slot. Another plus for android is comixology works correctly with in app purchasing.