helps you find the perfect gadget. ver. 1.8.7

"Kindle: I like you, but I am nervous about your future. The iPad displays books in a way that is much flashier than your black and white e-ink screen. It shows illustrations in color. Page turns actually look like page turns. And Apple gets the extras right..."

"Simply put, it's a great e-reader with enough options to please even the most strident critic.... The entire package is just so airtight. It's the first e-book reading experience we've seen that seems to truly understand the visceral, sensual enjoyment of holding an actual volume in your hand."

"For all its potential pitfalls, the iPad as an e-book reader has an equal share of advantages, provided you confine yourself to reading indoors.... Unique features, such as in-book music and video playback (when supported), and one-touch dictionary definitions further distinguish the iPad from its e-reader competitors."

"You can’t read well in direct sunlight. At 1.5 pounds, the iPad gets heavy in your hand after awhile (the Kindle is 10 ounces)."

"This is what we wanted e-books to be all along. Rich, nimble, and dense with image and sound and navigability, right there inside the flow of the story."

"Newspaper and magazine layouts look vastly superior on the iPad compared with Kindle. The iPad is backlit, so you can read in the dark. You have to supply a reading light with Kindle."

"The speeds brisk thanks to Apple's A4 chip and solid state storage."

"Also, while the iPad’s 1.5 pound weight may compare well to a full-sized notebook, it’s significantly heavier than a dedicated ereader like the Kindle; this is generally a two-handed reading experience, and probably not something you’d want to hold over your head while lying on your back in bed."

"Curling up in bed was more comfortable with a 10.2-ounce Kindle than with the weightier iPad."

"For magazines, travel guides, photo essays, and graphic novels, the iPad's color screen has the upper hand. We also enjoy how the iPad's ambient-light-sensing screen provides just enough light for an in-bed read and automatically ramps up the brightness near the kitchen window."