anyone tried medical textbooks on kindle yet? any docs here?

med007 · 03-28-2009, 02:14 PM

http://www.amazon.com/Harrisons-Prin...8263814&sr=1-1

I am considering getting this. Has anyone tried it? there are no reviews for the kindle edition on amazon.

Anyone tried any other medical e-textbooks?

TY

pshrynk · 03-28-2009, 02:39 PM

That's not a bad price on Harrison's. They don't have Kaplan and Sadock's Textbook of Psychiatry, yet. Can't imagine it would be any less eye straining as the paper version. On a K2 the illustrations might not be too bad.

catsittingstill · 03-28-2009, 02:50 PM

I haven't tried it; I'd be interested to know what you think. You can always get it and return it if you don't like it; I've returned a couple of things that didn't translate well to Kindle and Amazon customer support was really good about it.

med007 · 03-28-2009, 08:10 PM

i bought the book.
It's ok - the figures are a little light in terms of contrast but viewable.
I'm really bummed that the search this book isn't working.
but the TOC and text to speech work
if you are able to listen to tachycardia pronounced ta - CH (like chuck) - ycardia.

i called customer support about search this book not working. They said they will do quality control on it. I think it is because the book is so dang big - 128 or so mb.

the bible is the book they use saying it will download in about 1 min. The guy on the phone said it would download in about 30 min. better to dwnld to computer and transfer over (to the documents folder).

lilac_jive · 03-28-2009, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by med007

i bought the book.
It's ok - the figures are a little light in terms of contrast but viewable.
I'm really bummed that the search this book isn't working.
but the TOC and text to speech work
if you are able to listen to tachycardia pronounced ta - CH (like chuck) - ycardia.

i called customer support about search this book not working. They said they will do quality control on it. I think it is because the book is so dang big - 128 or so mb.

the bible is the book they use saying it will download in about 1 min. The guy on the phone said it would download in about 30 min. better to dwnld to computer and transfer over (to the documents folder).

We were all joking about TTS on romance novels, but now I'm dying to hear a medical book

catsittingstill · 03-28-2009, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by med007

i bought the book.
It's ok - the figures are a little light in terms of contrast but viewable.
I'm really bummed that the search this book isn't working.
but the TOC and text to speech work
if you are able to listen to tachycardia pronounced ta - CH (like chuck) - ycardia.

I was listening to the first Temeraire (fiction: British view of the Wars of Napoleon with dragons) book. Every time it got to "hatchling" it pronounced it "hatckling." Took me a while to figure out what that meant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by med007

i called customer support about search this book not working. They said they will do quality control on it. I think it is because the book is so dang big - 128 or so mb.

the bible is the book they use saying it will download in about 1 min. The guy on the phone said it would download in about 30 min. better to dwnld to computer and transfer over (to the documents folder).

Man, that's huge. I wonder if it's a topaz book. (If it is, it will have a .azw1 or .tpz file extension (or maybe .azw2; I've heard of those but not seen one yet.)

pshrynk · 03-28-2009, 11:20 PM

It is a huge book. Weighs about five to seven pounds in paper. Search fucntion won't work until the Kindle has indexed it, which will take a while and lots of battery. Best to let it sit overnight on power and then try it.

kevindorsey · 03-29-2009, 12:07 PM

I've read some medical student forums a little while ago, and more Kaplan books should be added very soon to Kindle.

pshrynk · 03-29-2009, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevindorsey

I've read some medical student forums a little while ago, and more Kaplan books should be added very soon to Kindle.

That's cool! I hope they have the full version and not the synopsis. When I have to look something up, these days, it's about some of the finer points and not what the medical student would need for casually passing a test.

med007 · 03-29-2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pshrynk

It is a huge book. Weighs about five to seven pounds in paper. Search fucntion won't work until the Kindle has indexed it, which will take a while and lots of battery. Best to let it sit overnight on power and then try it.

are you sure that is how it works? According to the amazon tech guy on the phone, the kindle does NOT store an index similar to spotlight or google desktop for later searching later. He says the search starts fresh each time.

He also said that the storage space is all RAM (solid state) which doesn't make sense to me.

Please post a link explaining the technical details on how the kindle2 searches a book.

med007 · 03-29-2009, 06:18 PM

the index is not useful in the kindle version of harrisons.

It just is a list of the words in the index - NO HYPERLINKING. such a shame.

pshrynk · 03-29-2009, 06:48 PM

Well, the "search" function is more about the ability of the kindle to find certain words by scanning all the files on the kindle when you search. It's not a real index.

med007 · 03-29-2009, 06:52 PM

we are talking about 2 different things.

google desktop indexes files to pull them faster when you do a search.

I'm upset that the digital version of the textbooks index (the list with page numbers at the back of a text) is not useful because there are no hyperlinks or page numbers for the kindle edition. It is just a list of words.

med007 · 03-29-2009, 06:53 PM

i'm also curious to know exactly how the kindle 2 searches.

does it need time to "index" all the words in the book before it can search it?

if so, how long would it take to do that on a 128 mb file?

My guess is that is not the issue with the Harrisons 17ed not searching. I think it is either a kindle software problem where it can't handle files that big, or something with the text itself that is causing the error.

pshrynk · 03-30-2009, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by med007

i'm also curious to know exactly how the kindle 2 searches.

does it need time to "index" all the words in the book before it can search it?

if so, how long would it take to do that on a 128 mb file?

My guess is that is not the issue with the Harrisons 17ed not searching. I think it is either a kindle software problem where it can't handle files that big, or something with the text itself that is causing the error.

A very long time would be my guess. When i first got the Mobipocket Guide from here on MR, it took two days and that is very small compared to Harrison's.

to get the K2 to search, click "menu" then down to "search", type in the term you're looking for, then select one of the options , click. Wiat for it, then click on Harrison's and look through the locations it offers.

03-28-2009, 02:14 PM	#1
med007 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: kindle2	anyone tried medical textbooks on kindle yet? any docs here? http://www.amazon.com/Harrisons-Prin...8263814&sr=1-1 I am considering getting this. Has anyone tried it? there are no reviews for the kindle edition on amazon. Anyone tried any other medical e-textbooks? TY

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03-28-2009, 02:39 PM	#2
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	That's not a bad price on Harrison's. They don't have Kaplan and Sadock's Textbook of Psychiatry, yet. Can't imagine it would be any less eye straining as the paper version. On a K2 the illustrations might not be too bad.

03-28-2009, 02:50 PM	#3
catsittingstill Guru Posts: 643 Karma: 551634 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle 1.0.8, iPod Touch, Kindle Keyboard	I haven't tried it; I'd be interested to know what you think. You can always get it and return it if you don't like it; I've returned a couple of things that didn't translate well to Kindle and Amazon customer support was really good about it.

03-28-2009, 08:10 PM	#4
med007 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: kindle2	i bought the book. It's ok - the figures are a little light in terms of contrast but viewable. I'm really bummed that the search this book isn't working. but the TOC and text to speech work if you are able to listen to tachycardia pronounced ta - CH (like chuck) - ycardia. i called customer support about search this book not working. They said they will do quality control on it. I think it is because the book is so dang big - 128 or so mb. the bible is the book they use saying it will download in about 1 min. The guy on the phone said it would download in about 30 min. better to dwnld to computer and transfer over (to the documents folder).

03-28-2009, 11:20 PM	#7
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	It is a huge book. Weighs about five to seven pounds in paper. Search fucntion won't work until the Kindle has indexed it, which will take a while and lots of battery. Best to let it sit overnight on power and then try it.

03-29-2009, 12:07 PM	#8
kevindorsey Evangelist Posts: 488 Karma: 258 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: kindle	I've read some medical student forums a little while ago, and more Kaplan books should be added very soon to Kindle.

03-29-2009, 06:18 PM	#11
med007 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: kindle2	the index is not useful in the kindle version of harrisons. It just is a list of the words in the index - NO HYPERLINKING. such a shame.

03-29-2009, 06:48 PM	#12
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	Well, the "search" function is more about the ability of the kindle to find certain words by scanning all the files on the kindle when you search. It's not a real index.

03-29-2009, 06:52 PM	#13
med007 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: kindle2	we are talking about 2 different things. google desktop indexes files to pull them faster when you do a search. I'm upset that the digital version of the textbooks index (the list with page numbers at the back of a text) is not useful because there are no hyperlinks or page numbers for the kindle edition. It is just a list of words.

03-29-2009, 06:53 PM	#14
med007 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: kindle2	i'm also curious to know exactly how the kindle 2 searches. does it need time to "index" all the words in the book before it can search it? if so, how long would it take to do that on a 128 mb file? My guess is that is not the issue with the Harrisons 17ed not searching. I think it is either a kindle software problem where it can't handle files that big, or something with the text itself that is causing the error.

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