Looking into a new e-rader, will be reading a lot of Pdf's

[LiquidEssence]

Hello everyone,

I am looking into buying an e-reader. A lot of books that I have are in PDF format (they are mostly text though), so I will have to take that into consideration when making my purchase.

Now I know that due to the usual characteristics of PDF files (usually a big page size) it is often better to have a larger screen size, but so far the impressions that I have read about the new Asus 900 are not so positive. Also, Amazon Kindle [DX] is not really viable for me, because I live in Europe and it takes a lot of time to deliver, there are customs, shipping fees, potential problems with repair etc.

In the 6 inch area I was looking a lot at the Bebook Neo and Club and also at refurbished Bebook One's that they are selling. I would like to know how much of a strain is reading Pdf's on a 6inch screen, is it possible to read it without much frustration or I should rather wait till more of the 9 + inch readers come out?

Thanks!

[ProfCrash]

Sony 950 is a 7 inch reader and the Sony has the reputation of being the best for reading PDFs.

I have the Kindle DXG and love it but I don't read PDFs. The downside to the DXG is that Amazon has not released a firmware upgrade for the DXG that gives it the advanced PDF options available with the K3. So if you are looking at the DX and really want it but are trying not to spend that money feel comfortable looking at another device.

I have heard people mention the Pocketbook E-readers. I don't know if they are available in Europ but you might want to look there.

[vxf]

SONY PRS 950 is a good solution, but in landscape mode, so you only see a third of a page at the time.

Otherwise, an iPad...

[yatesco]

I am in the UK as well (not that it matters other than hey - isn't this snow cool!) and I started off with a Kindle 6, loved the fact I could get my RSS feeds (via calibre->free.kindle.com) to magically appear on my device each morning.

Then I started a Masters, realised I needed a larger screen for the PDFs and purchased the Kindle DX - at quite a lot of money what with our poor exchange rate. Fell in love with that, but don't make the same mistake I made of thinking it was basically a bigger version of the 6". The firmware is very different (i.e. crappy web browser) and there is no wifi so no more freebie delivery of RSS feeds and the keyboard is *horrible* for typing on.

Eventually I caved in and purchased the iPad. I am a Software Engineer and spend 10+hours a day looking at a computer, hence my reluctance at purchasing an iPad, but I have to say I haven't regretted it for a second - it fits my needs perfectly.

HOWEVER!!! Trying to read the iPad anywhere near a strong natural light source (i.e. even indoors with your back to a window) is going to make you weep. Having said that, reading at night is much nicer on the iPad then the Kindle.

So - if you want a light weight reading device that you can toss in a back and read anywhere you like - the kindle is unbeatable. If you want a very powerful document reader (editor/annotator/free hand note taker) then the iPad is without doubt the right tool for the job.

I obviously returned both kindles, but sometimes I wish I hadn't returned the 6" when casually reading

[LiquidEssence]

Thank you for the answers so far. I will look into the sony, but I remember something from watching reviews from sony that the extra inch did ot really help a lot when compared to other 6 inch readers -- i'll try to lookup that review from youtube

also I'm not sure if the 950 is available in Europe

ipad is out of the question from the start, since i don't want an LCD screen - my preference for an e-reader stems from the fact that I hate how my eyes get tired from reading off of a LCD screen.

[Zetmolm]

Sony 950 is not available in Europe.
Bebook Neo is among the best 6" readers for PDF support.
Before you decide on a 6" reader, check if your PDFs are reflowable (check the properties to see if they are 'tagged' PDFs). If so, 6" will work OK for your text-based PDFs. If not, go for a bigger screen.
The PocketBook 902 or 903 is your best option then. Much better screen than the Asus 900.

[LiquidEssence]

thank you Zetmolm,

if the pdf's go through OCR that means they are reflowable (I don't exactly know how to check if they are 'tagged', I have a localized version of Evince reader and don't know how to check this property specifically)?

I will check out the Pocketbooks as well
EDIT: they are a little pricey - like 400€ for the 903; that may be a bit too much for my budget

[vxf]

Not to sound like a broken record... I posted earlier about the iPad... but believe me, it's still the best option for PDFs.

I am a PhD student, I read 3-400 pages of PDFs a day these days and I annotate them. I tried the iRex models, the Kindle DX and the SONYs (900 and 950). IRex was buggy, sluggish and overall poorly built. The DX would be great, but no touchscreen, which stinks if you want to annotate. The SONYs worked, but the screen is a bit too small for a full-size PDF and the annotations cumbersome to export.

Eventually, I got an iPad. With a stylus and iAnnotate, it's a pleasure to use. Sure, the screen is an LCD and thus heavier on your eyes than e-ink. But the larger screen is a must for PDFs and the annotation system (iAnnotate save annotations directly in PDFs, so you can view them on any other PDF software) is light years ahead of SONY.

Now, if you are interested in simply reading (and not annotating) PDFs and don't care too much about tables and graphs, then I would recommend a PRS950. As I mentioned, the smaller screen forces you to read PDFs in landscape mode, thus displaying a third of a page. For text, that is not an issue. But if you have figures, tables, graphs, then it becomes unpleasant.

[ProfCrash]

I take notes on my DXG when reading books and find the keyboard to work just fine.

[LiquidEssence]

vxf: thank you again for your advice, but I'm really really sitting out on LCD based readers - for that i have my 15 inch laptop, which I can also turn on it's side while reading Pdf's to get really big letters and everything- and I don't like it at all. My eyes get really tired (and my eyesight is getting worse anyway so I really don't want to stress it out even more than I already do) and it's just a pain psychologically (i get irritated) to read from an LCD screen for long periods of time, at least for me.

Annotating is good, but I don't really need it that much, since I write out important pieces of information on paper or my laptop. I also won't be doing a lot of graphs, because I'm studying philosophy so graphs are pretty scarce anyway.

[jocampo]

Hi and Welcome,

Well, if you took Kindle DX out of the equation and you are in Europe only other choice would be Sony 950?

Not a true ereader and not so good with battery as Sony or Kindle, but Nook Color handles PDF very well; but because you live in Europe could be a problem for you as well.

[Latinandgreek]

Have you taken a look at the Pocketbook 902 and 903? They both have a 9.7 inch screen and ship to Europe (Pocketbook is a Ukrainian company, I believe).

[LiquidEssence]

Hey, I've been checking them (the Pocketbooks) out, but as I mentioned earlier --- they are almost 400€ and that seems a tad too high at the moment and at the moment I will probably opt for waiting until the prices drop for the 9 inchers.

Now hat I think of it, actually the biggest question would be about what kind of experience people have with reading text pdf's on 6 inch screens - is it really awkward, or is it tolerable? Zetmolm has already sketched out some points on this issue

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by LiquidEssence

Hey, I've been checking them (the Pocketbooks) out, but as I mentioned earlier --- they are almost 400€ and that seems a tad too high at the moment and at the moment I will probably opt for waiting until the prices drop for the 9 inchers.

Now hat I think of it, actually the biggest question would be about what kind of experience people have with reading text pdf's on 6 inch screens - is it really awkward, or is it tolerable? Zetmolm has already sketched out some points on this issue

It's not terrible (at least in my experience). It really depends on the particular PDF that you are using. Some of my PDFs read like a dream, some don't. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the reflow worked when I got my PRS-505 in general, and newer devices like the 650 have great zoom options, better sceens, and can even darken the text which is great for scanned PDFs. I would love to have a 9 inch screen for my PDFs, however. If you need to read PDFs but are going to hold out on getting a 9 inch screen, check out how the PRS-650 and the 950 handle PDFs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtrKo5UWpco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co5bPVY95DY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sYTLtYPh90

The K3 doesn't seem bad, either, but I'd say that the 950 is probably the best non 9 inch reader for PDFs.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by LiquidEssence

Hey, I've been checking them (the Pocketbooks) out, but as I mentioned earlier --- they are almost 400€ and that seems a tad too high at the moment and at the moment I will probably opt for waiting until the prices drop for the 9 inchers.

Now hat I think of it, actually the biggest question would be about what kind of experience people have with reading text pdf's on 6 inch screens - is it really awkward, or is it tolerable? Zetmolm has already sketched out some points on this issue

Prior to switching to the iPad, I used a PRS900 and then a PRS950 for PDFs.

I used to remove margins with BRISS. This became a bit less of a necessity with the 950, as it does at least partially cut white space around the page, but it still helps.

Even so, most PDFs are hard to read in portrait, without zoom. And I found zooming around the page to be too cumbersome for continuous reading.

So my solution was always to use the 900 and 950 in landscape mode for PDFs. That will display only a third of the page, as mentioned above, but that third is pretty much 'real size'. Very readable and very pleasant, unless you have tables and graphs which might get cut (but you already mentioned that is not the case, if I am not mistaken).

I know the 900 and 950 are not sold in Europe. Yet, I was able to find importers in Italy last summer. I would not recommend the 600s for landscape PDF reading - the smaller screen is somehow more of a bother in landscape mode than in portrait (maybe because of the ratios... not sure... just an impression).

EDIT: doh, I just realized you were asking about 6" specifically... the PRS9x0 are 7" screens...