Grad Student... so lost... - Page 4

jj2me · 02-17-2009, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huyggy

I've finally made my choice : TC1100 just ordered (for 350€ -450$).

You might like PDF Annotator, for handwriting notes and hightlighting directly on the PDF. I got it half price when it was offered one day on one of those daily deals sites, (http://www.bitsdujour.com/).

Manichean · 02-17-2009, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheez-It

~6" readers offer a nice selection of regular books and content, but have difficulty displaying academic journal PDF files. There are methods to cut these files up, but they aren't perfect, or anywhere near it, particularly for studies involving odd tables and diagrams.

I beg to differ. I use mine to read academic papers and textbooks in PDF format. It works. I posted some pictures in this thread showing how a textbook looks, I can take some pictures of a paper, if you're interested. Oh, and I display the files in their original form, without cropping or anything.

Huyggy · 02-28-2009, 01:44 PM

Hi everyone !
After just less than one week, I'd like to give my review about the TC1100 !
In a few words: I don't regret my choice ! it satisfies my needs quite well.

But I've spent a long time tinkering with the options.
-The biggest problem that lots of people have raised was the noisy fan !
It wasn't easy : There is a solution :
You can't read in slate mode ! In fact I am now used to read with the keyboard attached, but in portrait mode. It could seem uneasy for some people, but for me, it's finally like holding an open book after all.
(there's another solution with copper wires but I didn't go this far...)
I had to install the software NHC too to control the CPU speed and voltage... See, it wasn't simple

-Display: The resolution is really great ! Even if the size isn't a A4
paper, the resolution is high enough to read even scientific papers. But after some hours, the 10,4" screen can be not so great. I advise cropping the white margins (with Adobe, works perfect).

-Autonomy: I've got 2H30 on battery. It doesn't seem huge, but I've got a second hand TC1100. Maybe with a new battery (You can read something like "up to 6hours" out there, but really doubt about this...). Anyway, I don't use my reader outdoor for the moment, or for journeys longer than 3 hours.

-Everything that reminds you that it's a PC and that you won't find (yet) on an E-ink device:
I can read while letting my email software open. For a 1,1 GHz CPU, it's quite fast : Windows Tablet Edition wakes up in a few seconds. you can surf between two readings etc... It's in color etc...

I think I will spend some time with this TC1100 before I find my perfect E-ink reader.

dmaul1114 · 02-28-2009, 02:42 PM

I was much in the same boat--Ph D student and soon to be assistant professor (next fall) who reads a lot of pdfs of journal articles.

After researching and thinking more I just decided not to let that factor into my ereader choice. When you boil it down it's just easier to print them out and be able to flip through readily, highlight stuff etc.--even more so when you factor in the display issues for 8.5x11 PDFs with lots of tables and figures etc. on the 6" readers (which I want for portability). And since I work for universities and can print PDFs on the office printers to my heart's content I may as well just stick with that for now.

So I'll just get an ereader purely for books. And I'll probably get the Kindle 2, but will probably wait for a price drop to $299 or less and to accumulate some more $25 rewards certificates from my Amazon Visa.

pilotbob · 02-28-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

And since I work for universities and can print PDFs on the office printers to my heart's content I may as well just stick with that for now.

Oh the poor trees.

You know, once you get a half dozen dissertations or papers or whatever printed they start to get heavy.

Don't forget the paper cuts... they can HURT! Especially when you squeeze your lemon over your lobster dinner.

BOb

sigma8 · 02-28-2009, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

When you boil it down it's just easier to print them out and be able to flip through readily, highlight stuff etc.--even more so when you factor in the display issues for 8.5x11 PDFs with lots of tables and figures etc.

It's a shame this company won't modify a 17" MacBook Pro into a tablet. That might handle 8.5" x 11" at full size!
http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbookpro

Of course, you'd have to hope you're not one of the unlucky ones whose eyes get driven insane by LED flicker (when at less than 100% output). And given the cost of a 17" laptop and the conversion service, you'd also be a lot poorer.

Hm, after a slightly closer look, 17" tablet PCs of any variety do not seem to exist. That's a shame, you'd think there'd be some demand for electronically writing onto something that matched the actual size of stuff we usually write on.

HarryT · 03-01-2009, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sigma8

Hm, after a slightly closer look, 17" tablet PCs of any variety do not seem to exist. That's a shame, you'd think there'd be some demand for electronically writing onto something that matched the actual size of stuff we usually write on.

I suspect it's a matter of power consumption. 17" screens use so much power that they really are confined to "carry it somewhere and plug it in" type machines. What use a Tablet PC with a 30 minute battery life?

dmaul1114 · 03-01-2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Oh the poor trees.

You know, once you get a half dozen dissertations or papers or whatever printed they start to get heavy.

At least I recycle the ones I don't need to keep long term! I mainly just leave them in the office and don't carry them around much so weight isn't an issue.

I just don't see PDFs ever being usable on a 6" reader--too much will get lost in trying to fit them on the screen for stuff with lots of graphs and tables.

An 8.5 x 11 reader with a touch screen (say an e-ink tablet pc basically) would be nice--but that tech is a long ways off from being affordable. And one that size isn't very portable (have to have a briefcase or something to stick it in).

So I'll just stick with printing them for the foreseeable future, as it's a long way from having an affordable reader that displays all of the properly and allows you to highlight and make notes as easily as you can on paper. I'm not sure any reader will ever get to that point.

pilotbob · 03-01-2009, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I just don't see PDFs ever being usable on a 6" reader--too much will get lost in trying to fit them on the screen for stuff with lots of graphs and tables.

Well, PDFs formated for A4 paper size... I absolutely agree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

An 8.5 x 11 reader with a touch screen (say an e-ink tablet pc basically) would be nice--but that tech is a long ways off from being affordable. And one that size isn't very portable (have to have a briefcase or something to stick it in).

Well, it depends on what you consider long way and affordable. The DR1000 is here now, and it is $800. The Plastic Logic device is about 1 year away and they have hinted at "Kindle like" price... but that was when the Kindle was $400.

As to portablity, I think the reader would be just as portable as a stack of A4 pages stapled together. Granted you would have to take a bit more care with it.

Also, this summer we are doing to see products from Jinke and Netronix with 9.7 inch screens. Well have to wait and see what type of pricepoints and features they have.

I know I also want a device for work documents and technical PDF programming books. But, I can wait a year or so. I agree $800 is a bit to much for my blood. Of course, if my employer wanted to get me a DR1000...

BOb

emellaich · 03-01-2009, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Well, it depends on what you consider long way and affordable. The DR1000 is here now, and it is $800. The Plastic Logic device is about 1 year away and they have hinted at "Kindle like" price... but that was when the Kindle was $400.

Well Pixel Qi is promising ebook readers after June of this year. Based on LCD technology (but with 5x the battery life of LCDs) they say they expect cost to be competitive with LCD screens and volumes to basically unlimited also since they can use LCD facilities.

Since these folks have already delivered the screen tech for the OLPC, this is not just wishful thinking. I have watched false promises in this field for 10 or 20 years, and I know nothing is a sure thing, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

On the other hand, there are many manufacturers in the market and change is constant. E-ink? Flexilbe screens? Touchscreens? Pixel Qi? Toshiba's e-paper (and several others), iPhone and stanza. There will always be a better ebook around the corner. It's like waiting to buy a pc because an even better model is going to be out in six months. If you take this approach you will be waiting for quite a while, because there will always be better things on the horizon.

dmaul1114 · 03-02-2009, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

As to portablity, I think the reader would be just as portable as a stack of A4 pages stapled together. Granted you would have to take a bit more care with it.

Yeah, that's my worry. It would be fragile and easier too damage (due to being bigger) when crammed in a back pack etc. For portability I mainly want a reader for books/novels that I can easily carry around--while it would be nice if it could handle A4 PDFs I wouldn't use that enough to sacrifice portability by buying an A4 sized reader.

I also think it's a ways off from having an A4 sized reader that's like a tablet PC where you can mark up things just as easily as on paper etc. And I'm mixed on how I'd like that vs. just having the paper copies as I'm a bit old fashioned with that kind of stuff. The main appeal of thinking of getting an e-reader is a seldom re-read books and it's just pointless to have hard copies around--even though I'd prefer reading the physical book. For the time being I'm just trying to use the local libraries rather than buy, but they don't have a lot of stuff that interests me.

So that's why I'm holding off for now as I'm just not big enough in to reading and the tech in general to drop $250-360 on an ereader right now--as much as my inner tech geek is tempted!

sigma8 · 03-02-2009, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I suspect it's a matter of power consumption. 17" screens use so much power that they really are confined to "carry it somewhere and plug it in" type machines. What use a Tablet PC with a 30 minute battery life?

bla bla 17 inches bla bla bla 8 hours bla bla
-Steve Jobs

or something. Maybe now we'll get one?

legender · 05-25-2009, 01:00 PM

Agree. Looks like iLiad is the best for a graduate student reading many PDF files and taking notes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccarleton

Wow, thank you all for the replies. I've been immersed in C programming for the last few days so have only got back to this today. It looks to me as though the iRex Iliad is great (except for the $700 price point). The only other thing that I've found, which is really exciting for students and office professionals, is a device that is scheduled to bit the open market in 2010 from a company called Plastic Logic. It's like a tablet about the size of a clipboard that has a touch screen and styles for note taking that can read many formats - it's also not tied to a proprietary eBook retailer. If you're interested in checking out the link; http://www.plasticlogic.com/ - unfortunately the only draw back is the wait and the unknowns (things almost always change before a product actually arrives on the market including the price, which is as yet undetermined, but supposedly 'competitive').

I also really like the idea of the iRex 1000s reader (also except for the $1000 + that it will cost me here in Canada). So, cbell, if you do get a chance I'd love to see some images. Thanks again to everyone for posting here.

legender · 05-27-2009, 10:13 AM

I got something like this.

http://bbs.mobread.com/thread-1941-1-1.html

The thing is it is written in Chinese. Basically it says how to change the battery from 1100ma to 2800ma. Also need some software to manage the battery. Getting the software working is really a pain according to that webpage. The battery could be something like 30 hours.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DesiLinguist

vivaldirules, I understand your concern but for me, the benefits of having a single portable device in which I can carry my technical articles and my leisure reading far outweigh any minor inconveniences I would have in dealing with the device.

I have further questions for iLiad owners:

(a) I understand that the wi-fi in iLiad v2 is only of very limited use and can't really be used to browse the internet, for example. Can it be turned off to save battery life, though?

(b) Given that the iLiad book edition does not have wi-fi, does it have a larger battery life than iLiad v2? I see numbers like 15 hours ... are they realistic?

(c) Are there any external battery packs that one could use in case I wanted to make heavy use of the iLiad on, say, a 14 hour flight?

(d) Does the iLiad come with everything out of the box? Stylus, USB charging cable etc. I also see other styli for sale on some websites. Is the included stylus limited in some way?
Thanks again!

talking_walnut · 05-28-2009, 10:18 AM

Great thread. I found this forum when looking for a similar answer when I started my PhD ~8 months ago. Been keeping an eye on all the progress since then.

At the moment I'm saving for a reader myself. Gonna aim for one of the iRex ones as reading pdf journals on it will be essential. I was going to try and go for the DR1000S but when I see the 2 of them side by side in cbills pictures it looks like a monster! I'd want to be reading normal books on it too to justify spending that much and it looks far to big to carry around comfortably.

I'm also hoping that some more choices will appear while I'm still saving

. Course there's always something better just around the corner....

02-28-2009, 01:44 PM	#48
Huyggy Zealot Posts: 117 Karma: 87860 Join Date: May 2007 Location: Strasbourg France Device: Onyx Max 3 & Onyx Lumi 2	Hi everyone ! After just less than one week, I'd like to give my review about the TC1100 ! In a few words: I don't regret my choice ! it satisfies my needs quite well. But I've spent a long time tinkering with the options. -The biggest problem that lots of people have raised was the noisy fan ! It wasn't easy : There is a solution : You can't read in slate mode ! In fact I am now used to read with the keyboard attached, but in portrait mode. It could seem uneasy for some people, but for me, it's finally like holding an open book after all. (there's another solution with copper wires but I didn't go this far...) I had to install the software NHC too to control the CPU speed and voltage... See, it wasn't simple -Display: The resolution is really great ! Even if the size isn't a A4 paper, the resolution is high enough to read even scientific papers. But after some hours, the 10,4" screen can be not so great. I advise cropping the white margins (with Adobe, works perfect). -Autonomy: I've got 2H30 on battery. It doesn't seem huge, but I've got a second hand TC1100. Maybe with a new battery (You can read something like "up to 6hours" out there, but really doubt about this...). Anyway, I don't use my reader outdoor for the moment, or for journeys longer than 3 hours. -Everything that reminds you that it's a PC and that you won't find (yet) on an E-ink device: I can read while letting my email software open. For a 1,1 GHz CPU, it's quite fast : Windows Tablet Edition wakes up in a few seconds. you can surf between two readings etc... It's in color etc... I think I will spend some time with this TC1100 before I find my perfect E-ink reader. Last edited by Huyggy; 02-28-2009 at 01:49 PM. Reason: Edit: sorry for the faults... and those remaining...

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02-28-2009, 02:42 PM	#49
dmaul1114 Wizard Posts: 2,300 Karma: 1121709 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Amazon Kindle 1	I was much in the same boat--Ph D student and soon to be assistant professor (next fall) who reads a lot of pdfs of journal articles. After researching and thinking more I just decided not to let that factor into my ereader choice. When you boil it down it's just easier to print them out and be able to flip through readily, highlight stuff etc.--even more so when you factor in the display issues for 8.5x11 PDFs with lots of tables and figures etc. on the 6" readers (which I want for portability). And since I work for universities and can print PDFs on the office printers to my heart's content I may as well just stick with that for now. So I'll just get an ereader purely for books. And I'll probably get the Kindle 2, but will probably wait for a price drop to $299 or less and to accumulate some more $25 rewards certificates from my Amazon Visa.

05-28-2009, 10:18 AM	#60
talking_walnut Member Posts: 11 Karma: 16 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: none	Great thread. I found this forum when looking for a similar answer when I started my PhD ~8 months ago. Been keeping an eye on all the progress since then. At the moment I'm saving for a reader myself. Gonna aim for one of the iRex ones as reading pdf journals on it will be essential. I was going to try and go for the DR1000S but when I see the 2 of them side by side in cbills pictures it looks like a monster! I'd want to be reading normal books on it too to justify spending that much and it looks far to big to carry around comfortably. I'm also hoping that some more choices will appear while I'm still saving . Course there's always something better just around the corner....

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