iPad Good PDF-Plus?

I tried the Jetbook Color and am unhappy with the results, even though my primary purpose is as a PDF reader. I also want a device that can use ePub and/or Mobi and can read Kindle and Google Books content. The eInk 9.7 inch readers aren't impressive as general purpose devices even if you're not interested in browsing, so I've about decided to go with some kind of tablet.

The two I'm considering at the moment are the iPad and the Nexus 10. For PDFs the Nexus would probably be OK, but the screen size in portrait orientation is about 8% smaller than the 9.7-inch screens, even though it has a 10-inch screen. That's because they've gone with the "little movie screen" concept. At any rate it would probably be adequate, which brings the consideration down to other factors.

1. What are the advantages of an Android device like the Nexus 10 over the iPad OS, or visa versa?

2. What is it that is uniquely available via Google vs Apple? Is one better at cloud syncing than the other, for instance? Kinds of formats and their facility?

I'm assuming that it's possible to do annotations of eBooks and PDFs using a virtual keyboard (not handwriting), but that's something that was missing on the JBC so I guess I can't take it for granted. I currently own a Kindle 2, but the screen is just too small to use with PDFs or to exhibit things like graphs and maps.

[FlorenceArt]

Hi,

I can't tell you much about Android tablets, I've never even seen one myself. But there is a review on Ars Technica of the Nexus 10 that says the tablet is good, but the Android market is weak. So I guess one big advantage of iOS is the Apple app store, and the apps are what makes a tablet good at syncing or reading various formats.

There are several apps that allow you to annotate using the keyboard. iBooks is one of them. It reads PDFs and ePub and syncs between iOS devices. The Kindle app also allows annotations but only reads mobi. It syncs with more devices, but the syncing works best with books bought on Amazon.

[jojoba]

Hi there,

I use my ipad extensively to annotate pdfs, using both a stylus and the keyboard. I use Sente for pdf management, and Sente and iAnnotate to mark up the articles. iAnnotate is by far one of the best annotation apps for iOS, with GoodReader and PDF Expert as high quality alternatives. I have written about how I use iAnnotate here and Sente here.

In short I think both an iPad and a Nexus would do the job without any problems, and if you use DropBox you can sync your documents to pretty much anything and anywhere.

One thing to consider is the rest of your eco system. For example, if you have an android phone you might want to stick with the Nexus, or if you have a mac or an iPhone you might want to go with the iPad.

If you're doing a lot of reading, the quality of the screen would be another factor. I would encourage you to check out both tablets in a shop, and have the shop assistant show you what a pdf file looks like on both screens. Screen specs are important but they are not always the whole story.

Both iOS and android come with huge app stores, and in terms of pdf reading and annotation I think you will find what you need in both.

Thanks for the advice. I ended up with a Lenovo S2109, which has Google Play. I wanted the 4:3 aspect ratio in a 9.7 inch screen and neither of the Nexus devices had that, and the iPad is about twice the price of the Lenovo. The screen seems fine. I'm a little disappointed with the battery life, but I suppose that's the price you pay for getting a tablet instead of an eInk device. Ironically I was able to fix my old Kindle 2i so I have that as backup.

Regarding the future of Google and Android, I know that Google is being pretty aggressive about hiring good people to develop products for them, because they bought out one of my favorite TV/Video apps (SageTV) and have those people working for them now. I think they have big plans for Google Play.