[MLDaeni]

Hi there,

My significant half thinks I might like one of these mobile book readers
(and she wants to offer me one for Christmas.) So far, I took a tour of the
available devices, and I think I am hooked on the idea. The question is, of
course, which one?

I tried some readers in a store and I really feel the "right" size for me is 6".
The larger ones (10" from IREX) felt large and too bulky to carry around
(too expensive, also). I understand that for large sized PDF technical
documents these are the only option (and I have many of these
documents) but still, they feel too large and not very comfortable.

I know that in a few months there will be available several "middle sized"
readers (PRS900, DR800SG from IREX, plastic logic etc), but (1) they seem
to be oriented to the online newspapers with Wifi access or 3G
(2) they are too expensive ~400 euros and (3) they still seem a bit too large
and bulky.

I don't need online access, but just a device to read my books while on a
commute, or at home. So I have decided for a 6" device, which seem the
good size, and of all of them Sony PSR 600 seem on paper the ideal reader
(except for the reflections on the screen).

I intend to use the reader for documents of size around A5 (half of A4).
Many of my documents are technical, with equations, table and graphics,
formatted in PDF.

I tried in a store the Sony PRS 600 and I liked it. The design is great, it
really felt well built and it is about the ideal size to carry around. The
screen seemed ok, I certainly could read without problem the text on the
screen. There were some reflections, as many said in this forum, but
nothing annoying. I haven't tried the famous PRS 550 so the 600's screen
seems OK for me. Unfortunately I did not have a SD card with some sample
documents with me, so I have a few questions for the knowledgeable
people in this forum :-/

- How does text reflow works for PDF? Can I disable it? My documents
contain a lot o equations and graphs and I very much prefer to keep the
original layout of the document, even if this means reading it in lanscape
mode (or the use of frequent zooms)
- Can I follow hyperlinks in PDFs (to other parts of the document, e.g.
references), and then come back to the original place?
- What does autocrop property mean for PDF? I've seen this in the wiki
e-book reader matrix, entry for 6" devices.
- Can I store several bookmarks for a book? For example, I consult often
while reading the table of contents, the index, the bibliography and the
end notes.
- How stable is the PDF implementation for technical documents (I
suppose text documents are easier). Are there many documents that do
not display correctly?

I am also interested in feedback about PDF viewing of technical
documents for other 6" devices (Hanlin, Cybook, Pocketbook, Cooler etc).

Thanks everyone!