e-reader for the academic

Paperclip · 09-05-2010, 05:11 AM

I'm in grad school and get assigned a lot of reading from databases like JSTOR and PDFs that are posted on Blackboard. Given the price of ink and the amount I'm assigned to read, I'm buying an e-reader.

Any recs? (I study rhetoric, which will be primarily words, however, I do have some visual rhetoric articles as well.) What would be the least hassle for my reading purposes? I want this to make school easier.

Thanks in advance!

Latinandgreek · 09-05-2010, 05:22 AM

Well, you could try checking out these models: Pocketbook 902, Pocketbook 903, KindleDX, Sony PRS-900, Sony PRS-950, Entourage Edge and the iPad. I read PDFs (of journal articles and academic books) on my Sony PRS-505, which has a 6 inch screen, but I myself would like something larger for my PDFs and I am considering the models that I have mentioned in this post. Do you need / want a touchscreen, markup ability?

SkyDream · 09-05-2010, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

Well, you could try checking out these models: Pocketbook 902, Pocketbook 903, KindleDX, Sony PRS-900, Sony PRS-950, ...

Agree. Bigger is better.
Except that i wouldn't consider PRS-900 now that PRS-950 is coming.

Latinandgreek · 09-05-2010, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyDream

Agree. Bigger is better.
Except that i wouldn't consider PRS-900 now that PRS-950 is coming.

True, I'm leaning towards the 950 myself. However, Paperclip might need something right away, and the PRS-900 can be picked up at a reduced price, so I thought I'd mention it.

Ryan_Phx · 09-05-2010, 06:40 AM

I'm in a similar position, but while I use my Nook for some pdfs, I'm waiting for a decent tablet to hit the market. My wife has an iPad, and I'm really not impressed with it--it's too crippled for academic work. I'm waiting for a tablet that has a decent browser, that can use the full version of Google Docs, and that can handle multitasking. Sure, it won't get the battery life of the iPad, but what good is a long-life battery if you can't do much useful work with the gadget it powers? A lot of tablets should hit the market in the next 6-8 months. I'd advise waiting. If you must have something now, the iPad is probably the best bet, warts and all, because it does handle pdfs well, and the zoom is nice.

Latinandgreek · 09-05-2010, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan_Phx

I'm in a similar position, but while I use my Nook for some pdfs, I'm waiting for a decent tablet to hit the market. My wife has an iPad, and I'm really not impressed with it--it's too crippled for academic work. I'm waiting for a tablet that has a decent browser, that can use the full version of Google Docs, and that can handle multitasking. Sure, it won't get the battery life of the iPad, but what good is a long-life battery if you can't do much useful work with the gadget it powers? A lot of tablets should hit the market in the next 6-8 months. I'd advise waiting. If you must have something now, the iPad is probably the best bet, warts and all, because it does handle pdfs well, and the zoom is nice.

Have you had a chance to see how the iPad handles bookmarks in PDFs by any chance? I agree with your point about the battery life. As it is, I can't see myself carrying around a tablet with me, and imagine that I would use it the most at home.

Noah98 · 09-05-2010, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan_Phx

I'm in a similar position, but while I use my Nook for some pdfs, I'm waiting for a decent tablet to hit the market. My wife has an iPad, and I'm really not impressed with it--it's too crippled for academic work. I'm waiting for a tablet that has a decent browser, that can use the full version of Google Docs, and that can handle multitasking. Sure, it won't get the battery life of the iPad, but what good is a long-life battery if you can't do much useful work with the gadget it powers? A lot of tablets should hit the market in the next 6-8 months. I'd advise waiting. If you must have something now, the iPad is probably the best bet, warts and all, because it does handle pdfs well, and the zoom is nice.

The new Archos 101 Tablet (10.1 screen, $300, Android 2.2) should be a great ipad alternative.

jee · 09-05-2010, 10:08 AM

I asked the same question here about three months ago.

I bought the Entourage Edge and would sincerely recommend it to anyone who wants a good reader with a large screen for his or her research. It allows you to annotate (freehand), draw, to add notes to your PDF, highlight. You can write notes separatly from a pdf file, since there is an app called Journal. You can add as many notebooks as you wish. There is an option for attaching an external keyboard. You can also do some light Office editing.

The best thing is that when you annotate or highlight a word, the Edge automatically adds a bookmark with the name of the highlighted word/phrase, so that you can find/edit it very easily.

It has tons of very useful apps and gets improved with every firmware update. You can check out the videos on their webpage, just to get an impression of what this little device can do. I hardly mantioned its features, since it's more like a combination of a netbook and a ereader. It can do pretty much everything these two devices can do.

On the other hand, you can freely surf the web, Wikipedia or whatever you like, since it comes with WiFi, browser, mail application etc. I'm typing this on my Edge

. You should have in mind, however, that its weight is about 3 lbs (like a netbook).

Slingsby · 09-05-2010, 02:46 PM

I can read PDFs from JSTOR on the Kindle 3 without trouble. To get big print, I change the orientation of the page -- I read then with the buttons on the right-hand side. It only displays 1/3 of a page at a time, but with academic articles (because they are not so many pages?) I don't have the very slow page turning that I have with 360-page Google book PDFs.

Ryan_Phx · 09-05-2010, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

Have you had a chance to see how the iPad handles bookmarks in PDFs by any chance? I agree with your point about the battery life. As it is, I can't see myself carrying around a tablet with me, and imagine that I would use it the most at home.

No, I haven't. Sorry I can't help you there. Maybe ask on the Apple forum.

Ryan_Phx · 09-05-2010, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noah98

The new Archos 101 Tablet (10.1 screen, $300, Android 2.2) should be a great ipad alternative.

I also just saw on CNET that Toshiba just introduced the Folio 100, which looks interesting. It has a 10.1" screen, USB ports, runs Android, comes in Wifi and 3G versions... No word on multitasking, but it looks like a better option than the iPad, and for about the same price. Not available here yet, but should launch in Europe in a couple months.

And Noah--I'm going to look at the Archos 101 right now--thanks for the recommendation!

Paperclip · 09-07-2010, 11:08 PM

Thanks, guys!

ProfCrash · 09-08-2010, 09:47 AM

I just saw a post from an Aussie user of a K3 who said she was liking the PDF readability on her K3. She mentioned highlighting in her post. It sounds like the K3 PDF functionality is greatly improved. Hopefully someone else who has used the PDF's on the K3 or the DX will give you an update.

hmmm maybe I should get around to using the PDF feature on my DXG

v1k1ng1001 · 09-12-2010, 08:28 PM

Asus is going to make a tablet with an lcd screen that might fit your needs.

boswd · 09-12-2010, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jee

I asked the same question here about three months ago.

I bought the Entourage Edge and would sincerely recommend it to anyone who wants a good reader with a large screen for his or her research. It allows you to annotate (freehand), draw, to add notes to your PDF, highlight. You can write notes separatly from a pdf file, since there is an app called Journal. You can add as many notebooks as you wish. There is an option for attaching an external keyboard. You can also do some light Office editing.

The best thing is that when you annotate or highlight a word, the Edge automatically adds a bookmark with the name of the highlighted word/phrase, so that you can find/edit it very easily.

It has tons of very useful apps and gets improved with every firmware update. You can check out the videos on their webpage, just to get an impression of what this little device can do. I hardly mantioned its features, since it's more like a combination of a netbook and a ereader. It can do pretty much everything these two devices can do.

On the other hand, you can freely surf the web, Wikipedia or whatever you like, since it comes with WiFi, browser, mail application etc. I'm typing this on my Edge

. You should have in mind, however, that its weight is about 3 lbs (like a netbook).

The Entourage is great great LCD talblet and eink display, I too highly recommend it to any student.

09-05-2010, 05:11 AM	#1
Paperclip Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: none	e-reader for the academic I'm in grad school and get assigned a lot of reading from databases like JSTOR and PDFs that are posted on Blackboard. Given the price of ink and the amount I'm assigned to read, I'm buying an e-reader. Any recs? (I study rhetoric, which will be primarily words, however, I do have some visual rhetoric articles as well.) What would be the least hassle for my reading purposes? I want this to make school easier. Thanks in advance!

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09-05-2010, 05:22 AM	#2
Latinandgreek Warrior Princess Posts: 5,038 Karma: 9724231 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505; PRS-350, PRS-T1, iPad, Aura HD	Well, you could try checking out these models: Pocketbook 902, Pocketbook 903, KindleDX, Sony PRS-900, Sony PRS-950, Entourage Edge and the iPad. I read PDFs (of journal articles and academic books) on my Sony PRS-505, which has a 6 inch screen, but I myself would like something larger for my PDFs and I am considering the models that I have mentioned in this post. Do you need / want a touchscreen, markup ability?

09-05-2010, 06:40 AM	#5
Ryan_Phx Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 1660 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sandusky, OH Device: Galaxy Tab S2, Nook, Kindle DXG	I'm in a similar position, but while I use my Nook for some pdfs, I'm waiting for a decent tablet to hit the market. My wife has an iPad, and I'm really not impressed with it--it's too crippled for academic work. I'm waiting for a tablet that has a decent browser, that can use the full version of Google Docs, and that can handle multitasking. Sure, it won't get the battery life of the iPad, but what good is a long-life battery if you can't do much useful work with the gadget it powers? A lot of tablets should hit the market in the next 6-8 months. I'd advise waiting. If you must have something now, the iPad is probably the best bet, warts and all, because it does handle pdfs well, and the zoom is nice.

09-05-2010, 10:08 AM	#8
jee Enthusiast Posts: 43 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: enTourage eDGe	I asked the same question here about three months ago. I bought the Entourage Edge and would sincerely recommend it to anyone who wants a good reader with a large screen for his or her research. It allows you to annotate (freehand), draw, to add notes to your PDF, highlight. You can write notes separatly from a pdf file, since there is an app called Journal. You can add as many notebooks as you wish. There is an option for attaching an external keyboard. You can also do some light Office editing. The best thing is that when you annotate or highlight a word, the Edge automatically adds a bookmark with the name of the highlighted word/phrase, so that you can find/edit it very easily. It has tons of very useful apps and gets improved with every firmware update. You can check out the videos on their webpage, just to get an impression of what this little device can do. I hardly mantioned its features, since it's more like a combination of a netbook and a ereader. It can do pretty much everything these two devices can do. On the other hand, you can freely surf the web, Wikipedia or whatever you like, since it comes with WiFi, browser, mail application etc. I'm typing this on my Edge . You should have in mind, however, that its weight is about 3 lbs (like a netbook).

09-05-2010, 02:46 PM	#9
Slingsby Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle 3	I can read PDFs from JSTOR on the Kindle 3 without trouble. To get big print, I change the orientation of the page -- I read then with the buttons on the right-hand side. It only displays 1/3 of a page at a time, but with academic articles (because they are not so many pages?) I don't have the very slow page turning that I have with 360-page Google book PDFs.

09-07-2010, 11:08 PM	#12
Paperclip Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: none	Thanks, guys!

09-08-2010, 09:47 AM	#13
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	I just saw a post from an Aussie user of a K3 who said she was liking the PDF readability on her K3. She mentioned highlighting in her post. It sounds like the K3 PDF functionality is greatly improved. Hopefully someone else who has used the PDF's on the K3 or the DX will give you an update. hmmm maybe I should get around to using the PDF feature on my DXG

09-12-2010, 08:28 PM	#14
v1k1ng1001 Addict Posts: 378 Karma: 1624276 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: South, South Texas Device: Pocketbook 620	Asus is going to make a tablet with an lcd screen that might fit your needs.