I had an iPad 2 for two years before I received the Air as a gift and I thought the 2 was excellent except for reading text, e.g., websites like DU and books, either using the Kindle app or iBooks. The iPad 2 does not have a retina (high density) display, so any iPad with one is just miles better for reading. The other nice thing about the Air vs previous models is both the size and weight have decreased, although the display is the same physical size. You wouldn't think the reduction in size and weight would be that big of a deal, but the Air felt like a whole different animal when I held it. The processor in the Air is about seven times as fast as the iPad 2, so that's nice too.

Because of my health, I spend a lot of time in bed, so the Air is a wonderful device to have vs something like a Kindle reader or Nook that are primarily designed as readers. In addition to reading books & websites I play games, plus I've loaded my entire DVD & blu-ray collection of movies onto my iMac and stream them to my iPad (you can do this with Apple's iTunes, but I chose to use a package called Plex for various reasons.)

I am looking at my iPad Air for many hours every day and do have to adjust the display brightness from time to time so the contrast between the screen brightness and the light level in the room doesn't cause eyestrain. I imagine that the eyestrain issue will vary widely from person to person, but I personally don't have much trouble with it.

I have pretty much decided on making the purchase... Just wanted to make sure I'm not deluding myself.

She reads on her iPad much more than I and gave her Kindle to her dad. Neither of us have experienced higher eyestrain. The form factor of the Air is far lighter and just superior to previous generations.

Same display as an iPad Air, so my experience can answer your question.

It is easy on the eyes and an overall great experience. The Retina Display is so sharp the eye cannot see the pixels. That means it is as sharp as it ever needs to be. Making it sharper, while possible, I'm sure, gives no real world improvement in readability.

The only downside is in bright sunlight. Between glare and "fading" it is hard to read when the sun is shining on the screen. Turn it so the sun is behind it and it is again readable.

I give the iPad a 5 our of 5 in terms of the screen.

I am looking forward to it. Never had an iPad before, and I foresee it's going to be very useful and fun.