Tablet for textbooks/ebooks

[CatherineEGraham]

I started uni this fall and so far the litterature has not been in english. But this semester and the coming fall will be having most of the litteratur in english.

Since books in english are easier to find online i want a tablet to read them on. I borrowed my sisters 1st generation galaxy tab. I like it very much but want to get my own.

For textbooks is 1080p resolution important? 10" or 7" for reading textbooks?

Nexus/Samsung or china tablet like Pipo?

[ytheleus]

The answer is that it depends.
What you are really describing is a dedicated e-reader like a Kindle Paperwhite or similar, with a screen designed mainly for reading text, but there are some very good reasons for using a tablet as an e-reader too, provided that the contrast and resolution of the screen are good enough to prevent eyestrain with prolonged use. Most tablets you can buy now are fine for this, modern screens are excellent and all made by the same small group of companies to be put in many different branded tablets. It is harder to read a tablet in direct sunlight however, and battery capacity is measured in days rather than weeks..

I use my 8.9" Pipo for reading a lot, and it isn't tied to Amazon or whoever wants to sell me books, unless I decide that it should be. I can also use my tab for things that a dedicated reader would be less suitable for.

A 10" tab with a nice bright high-res IPS screen will do the job, but an 8" tab would be cheaper and easier to transport, while a 7" tablet like a Nexus will fit in a coat pocket, but the limited screen area might put you off. Nobody can make these decisions for you. You could go into a computer store and see which format appeals to you in your hands.

As for generic China vs popular brands, it depends on your budget and how reliant you might be on customer support, or how influenced you and your peers are by corporate branding and kudos. A $700 Samsung tablet might be slightly slicker in some ways than a $200 Pipo, but it needn't be functionally any different. Most people here are likely to have chosen the $200 route, so I assume you're leaning that way too. Very sensible in my opinion. Good luck.