New To ereader and ebooks- Physics student

Silentseraph · 08-29-2008, 10:41 PM

Hi guys I'm pretty much new to this entire thing never seen one up close but Ive checked out a lot of youtube videos and reviews but i am still very unsure

What I need is a ereader to read my text books which i have on pdf and rtf format.

this are the features that I would like the most

Dictionary support
search capability
large SD cards
right handed use.
notes
Bookmarks
fast loading times

my budget is about 500$ American

I really don't know what models are out there besides the kindle, sony, iliad, and bebook. I curious if there is anything else out there that can handle these features.

Thanks again!

HarryT · 08-30-2008, 03:06 AM

The Kindle's probably your best bet, with those requirements. IF you live in the US.

Dr. Drib · 08-30-2008, 09:16 AM

Welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately, PDFs are not quite there yet. PDF support is available, but very limited in my opinion. I bring this up because of the mention of text books.

If you're interested in reading novels, then that's a different story. There's everything from the Cybook Gen3 to Sony's PRS-505 (that I own). And there are other great choices, as well.

Don

Silentseraph · 08-30-2008, 09:31 AM

So there isnt really much out there for text book support?

vivaldirules · 08-30-2008, 10:52 AM

Almost none. I've tried to use my Sony Reader to read PDF technical documents and it doesn't work well at all unless you intend to read it from beginning to end. You can't search. It's not easy to get to another section and get back and then check the back of the book, etc. There's no color. The figures are hard to read. And you can't buy most textbooks you want. So what I recommend to all students who come here asking about ebook readers for textbooks is to do yourself a favor and forget it for now. Maybe it'll happen later but for right now, you don't want to cripple yourself by having to deal with a technology that will only eat up your precious study time. If you're serious about physics, study with the best tools you have available: physical textbooks. My opinion.

Manichean · 09-10-2008, 06:18 AM

Just to have it mentioned here: PDF is not really an ebook format, it's more of a print template. Technical or scientifical literature is rare to nonexistant in non-PDF format, as you no doubt will have noticed.

From what I've heard, the Iliad would be best for PDF reading and, to my knowledge, is also the only device supporting notes. The downside is that you'd certainly exceed your budget, and battery runtime is extremely limited.
Personally, I own a Cybook and, as of the last firmware update, PDF handling is reasonable in landscape view. I'm a physics student myself and have read A4 formatted technical PDFs on the Cybook with no problems. Firmware updates happen quite frequently, but you should know that some individuals, myself included have experienced problems of varying severity with certain updates, in rare cases (not mine, luckily) going so far as to totally brick the device.
It seems that the Sony PRS-505 supports PDF reflow in the latest firmware version, although I have no knowledge as to how well this works with technical PDFs. I've heard some bad things about dictionary support on this one, though.
The third option would be waiting for a true "full format" reader (meaning approx. A4 screen size) to come out.

Personally, I've noticed that I'm using the Cybook mainly away from home or for casual reading. I intended it to carry some reference books and papers with me in a convenient format, and for that, it works well in my opinion. But you should be very aware that, if you buy an eink device, no matter which, you are pretty much an early adopter. The ebook and ebook reader market is, in my opinion, only just emerging, and your device may very well become outdated and, perhaps, obsolete in quite a short time.

In short, and to sum it up, you should be willing to compromise and/or wait a little longer. I'd recommend doing your research carefully and then deciding for yourself whether to go ahead or not.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot: RTF, to my knowledge, require conversion on all devices. YMMV depending on the device, conversion toolchain and format.

HarryT · 09-10-2008, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manichean

EDIT: Oops, I forgot: RTF, to my knowledge, require conversion on all devices. YMMV depending on the device, conversion toolchain and format.

The Sony Reader has partial support for RTF "natively". You get the text, but no pictures, hyperlinks, etc.

Manichean · 09-10-2008, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The Sony Reader has partial support for RTF "natively". You get the text, but no pictures, hyperlinks, etc.

OT: RFT supports hyperlinking? And here I thought it was just a poor man's way of saving documents in a word processor.

HarryT · 09-10-2008, 07:19 AM

RTF supports pretty much every feature that "Word" does. The Sony Reader, however, supports only a basic subset of RTF features.

DDHarriman · 09-10-2008, 09:05 AM

I would say: Ilead.

Manichean

Thanks for the greate personal experience post.

Best regards,

Manichean · 09-10-2008, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDHarriman

Manichean
Thanks for the greate personal experience post.

Uhm, you're welcome, although I wasn't aware there was that much of it in my post

I was simply trying to sum up the pros and cons to each device that I knew of and/or had considered while researching which one to buy. And, of course, at the same time avoiding giving any recommendation whatsoever lest I be flamed by anyone

Or, put another, more realistic way: I was avoiding studying for my exams by doing his research for him

DMcCunney · 09-10-2008, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manichean

OT: RFT supports hyperlinking? And here I thought it was just a poor man's way of saving documents in a word processor.

It's a bit more than that. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Text_Format

Among other things, all current word processors support it, which makes it a fairly portable format.

Also, it's text based, with markup in embedded commands, like

{\rtf1\ansi{\fonttbl\f0\fswiss Helvetica;}\f0\pard
This is some {\b bold} text.\par
}

instead of binary codes like Word documents, so you can pull an RTF file into a text editor and not get gibberish.

And yes, it can do hyperlinks.
______
Dennis

DaleDe · 09-11-2008, 10:46 AM

You can also check the wiki on this site for info on RTF and all other eBook formats.

Dale

kat288 · 09-11-2008, 03:05 PM

I was going to suggest the kindle, because you have web access and dictionary support. An that there is also a rumor going around that kindle is working on a textbook version of their current kindle. The textbook version will be a little larger do to the fact that we are talking about textbooks. I really hope they come out with this, it would be not only amazing in general, but also save students' backs from the heavy backpacks of textbooks (which i am sure you have already considered) lol

.

08-29-2008, 10:41 PM	#1
Silentseraph Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: none	New To ereader and ebooks- Physics student Hi guys I'm pretty much new to this entire thing never seen one up close but Ive checked out a lot of youtube videos and reviews but i am still very unsure What I need is a ereader to read my text books which i have on pdf and rtf format. this are the features that I would like the most Dictionary support search capability large SD cards right handed use. notes Bookmarks fast loading times my budget is about 500$ American I really don't know what models are out there besides the kindle, sony, iliad, and bebook. I curious if there is anything else out there that can handle these features. Thanks again!

08-30-2008, 09:16 AM	#3
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 44,751 Karma: 55645321 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: Kindle: Oasis 3, Voyage WiFi; Kobo: Libra 2, Aura One	Welcome to the forum. Unfortunately, PDFs are not quite there yet. PDF support is available, but very limited in my opinion. I bring this up because of the mention of text books. If you're interested in reading novels, then that's a different story. There's everything from the Cybook Gen3 to Sony's PRS-505 (that I own). And there are other great choices, as well. Don Last edited by Dr. Drib; 08-30-2008 at 12:12 PM. Reason: added the word "my"

08-30-2008, 10:52 AM	#5
vivaldirules When's Doughnut Day? Posts: 10,059 Karma: 13675475 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Houston, TX, US Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	Almost none. I've tried to use my Sony Reader to read PDF technical documents and it doesn't work well at all unless you intend to read it from beginning to end. You can't search. It's not easy to get to another section and get back and then check the back of the book, etc. There's no color. The figures are hard to read. And you can't buy most textbooks you want. So what I recommend to all students who come here asking about ebook readers for textbooks is to do yourself a favor and forget it for now. Maybe it'll happen later but for right now, you don't want to cripple yourself by having to deal with a technology that will only eat up your precious study time. If you're serious about physics, study with the best tools you have available: physical textbooks. My opinion. Last edited by vivaldirules; 08-30-2008 at 10:54 AM.

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08-30-2008, 03:06 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The Kindle's probably your best bet, with those requirements. IF you live in the US.

08-30-2008, 09:31 AM	#4
Silentseraph Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: none	So there isnt really much out there for text book support?

09-10-2008, 06:18 AM	#6
Manichean Wizard Posts: 3,130 Karma: 91256 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Gen3	Just to have it mentioned here: PDF is not really an ebook format, it's more of a print template. Technical or scientifical literature is rare to nonexistant in non-PDF format, as you no doubt will have noticed. From what I've heard, the Iliad would be best for PDF reading and, to my knowledge, is also the only device supporting notes. The downside is that you'd certainly exceed your budget, and battery runtime is extremely limited. Personally, I own a Cybook and, as of the last firmware update, PDF handling is reasonable in landscape view. I'm a physics student myself and have read A4 formatted technical PDFs on the Cybook with no problems. Firmware updates happen quite frequently, but you should know that some individuals, myself included have experienced problems of varying severity with certain updates, in rare cases (not mine, luckily) going so far as to totally brick the device. It seems that the Sony PRS-505 supports PDF reflow in the latest firmware version, although I have no knowledge as to how well this works with technical PDFs. I've heard some bad things about dictionary support on this one, though. The third option would be waiting for a true "full format" reader (meaning approx. A4 screen size) to come out. Personally, I've noticed that I'm using the Cybook mainly away from home or for casual reading. I intended it to carry some reference books and papers with me in a convenient format, and for that, it works well in my opinion. But you should be very aware that, if you buy an eink device, no matter which, you are pretty much an early adopter. The ebook and ebook reader market is, in my opinion, only just emerging, and your device may very well become outdated and, perhaps, obsolete in quite a short time. In short, and to sum it up, you should be willing to compromise and/or wait a little longer. I'd recommend doing your research carefully and then deciding for yourself whether to go ahead or not. EDIT: Oops, I forgot: RTF, to my knowledge, require conversion on all devices. YMMV depending on the device, conversion toolchain and format.

09-10-2008, 07:19 AM	#9
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	RTF supports pretty much every feature that "Word" does. The Sony Reader, however, supports only a basic subset of RTF features.

09-10-2008, 09:05 AM	#10
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	I would say: Ilead. Manichean Thanks for the greate personal experience post. Best regards,

09-11-2008, 10:46 AM	#13
DaleDe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,470 Karma: 13095790 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Grass Valley, CA Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7	You can also check the wiki on this site for info on RTF and all other eBook formats. Dale

09-11-2008, 03:05 PM	#14
kat288 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: kindle	I was going to suggest the kindle, because you have web access and dictionary support. An that there is also a rumor going around that kindle is working on a textbook version of their current kindle. The textbook version will be a little larger do to the fact that we are talking about textbooks. I really hope they come out with this, it would be not only amazing in general, but also save students' backs from the heavy backpacks of textbooks (which i am sure you have already considered) lol .

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