eBook Reader

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Hi all,

I'm planning on doing quite a few certs this year, and my new job involves a fair sized commute, perfect for studying! The trouble is, I don't really fancy carrying a MSPress Bible with me.

I was wondering if anybody had tried the MSPress PDFs on an eBook reader? The Kindle is supposed to handle PDFs very well, but I wonder if it's small screen would be suitable for MSPress-sized material?

I could get the Kindle DX (which is the 9.7" version) but, as it's ~£240 (versus £111 for the standard Kindle), I wonder if I'd just be better off getting an iPad or Android based tablet?

I did find an older thread on here about this, but eBook readers/tablets have come on a bit since then.

Thanks,

Gav

 

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I have the kindle and the PDFs are usually ok if you view them in landscape eg turn the kindle over and select the rotate function. The good thing about the kindle is the battery life over other things like phones, tablets etc. Pictures can sometimes be a little harder to view but only slightly because they are grayscale.
You can also convert the PDF but this usually messes with the formatting a bit, but you can put up with it in most cases. The most annoying thing is when it converts a table and it always leaves you with lines of text, without the actual table. If you were keen enough you could skim through the html and make some of these corrections before you convert the html file to the ebook format.

 

Does it render the PDFs ok though? I presume the rendering capability is the same on the Kindle as the Kindle DX, so if it's just a case of needing more real estate, that should be perfect?

 

They look fine although I find the text a bit small for me and that's why i convert them so I can increase the text size. That's a personal preference though as it helps me not getting eye strain. The size is probably ok for most.

 

Another thumbs up from me where the iPad is concerned, I love mine and have purchased more ebooks than real books in the last couple of months. An added bonus to the iPad over the Kindle is that mine is backlit where as the Kindle isn't. I can also pop a couple of videos on mine to assist with studying should I want\need to.

 

+1 for kindle DX ordinary sized ebook readers are no good as they are too small. I do love my DX through its brilliant saves all that arm ache from carting fat books to and from work. have a click look at my flickr gallary for a couple of pics of a DX.
http://www.dales-diary.co.uk/

 

Sounds perfect. The complaints I've been reading all seem to stem from the screen size, so I think the DX seems prefect. I also managed to find a video on youtube of a chap who took a large pile of Cisco/MS Press books and put them on his Kindle DX (the last gen model) and was very happy with it.

 

+1 for the iPad for technical PDFs

Got a Kobo eReader for fiction books, works like a dream, but it doesn't reflow PDFs (others do and so would display them better) it's a no go for me.

The iPad with GoodReader combo = pdf technical library on tap, zooming, reflowing. I don't find the weight a put off myself after using it for a good few months, even got a cushioned case on it that adds a bit more weight, the screen rocks and it's ability to carry videos, act as an RDP header as well as everything else it does just works for me.

As for Andorid tablets... no idea, not used one or had access to one so canna comment I'm afraid, but as long as the battery was good then I'd pick one over an eReader for technical PDFs.

 

This is another reason I am finally leaning towards an iPad purchase.. will be able to use it for PDF's etc. Since iBooks seems alright on iPod Touch, it should be pretty good on an iPad etc.

Think I will wait for the next generation iPad's and then purchase one.

 

The kindle isnt backlit for a reason. It is designed to be more comfortable on the eyes for reading which is also why it doesnt keep refreshing the screen. The e-ink technology is great for merely reading books/pdfs as the battery life is excellent. The kindle doesnt use any power until you scroll or change pages. It is a good piece of kit if your sole purpose is to read.

I spent a few months playing with the kindle 3G version as part of my dissertation. I have heard that they are currently working on a colour version.

 

What Beer said. Also contrast and reflection can be a big issue on iPads. If there is a lot of light about you get a hell of a lot of glare. e-Ink on the other hand doesn't suffer from it at all, and the contrast increases the more light there is on it (just like with real paper).

 

I just looked into this again, and was ready to order the Kindle DX.

For whatever reason, you have to order the Kindle DX from the Amazon USA rather than UK. They offer the brand new one for $379 or a refurbished one for $319.

You can't get the refurbished one ship to the UK. Fine, I can live with that.

What I can't live with, however, is paying $80 for customs fees and $20 for shipping, bringing the price to $479.98 or ~£310. I've even looked into getting a friend of mine in the USA to buy the refurb and get it shipped, but it turns out that I'd still have to pay customs charges/VAT (even if it was marked as a gift).

I can get a very good condition iPad 16GB WiFi for that money, or a Samsung Galaxy Tab for a tad more, and that's what I'll probably do. It's a shame, because I was really sold on the Kindle DX.