best device?

[HarryT]

The reason that so many of us are suggesting the iPad is because it really IS the best tablet on the market, bar none, for the job.

Firstly, it has a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is much better for reading on than the 16:9 or 16:10 ratio found on most other tablets.

Secondly, the very high pixel density of the screen (double that of most of its rivals) makes text crisp and sharp.

Thirdly, there are some outstanding PDF reading and annotation apps available. The one that most people recommend is "Goodreader".

And yes, you can comfortably read an A4 page on it without having to zoom in and pan around.

[jojoba]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The reason that so many of us are suggesting the iPad is because it really IS the best tablet on the market, bar none, for the job.

Firstly, it has a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is much better for reading on than the 16:9 or 16:10 ratio found on most other tablets.

Secondly, the very high pixel density of the screen (double that of most of its rivals) makes text crisp and sharp.

Thirdly, there are some outstanding PDF reading and annotation apps available. The one that most people recommend is "Goodreader".

And yes, you can comfortably read an A4 page on it without having to zoom in and pan around.

I second all of that. I use my iPad extensively to read research literature and it's excellent for that purpose.

[user]

okay you convinced me

since this thread gathered many ipad advocates, i would like to go a bit off topic and ask if i should wait for the new ipad to come out or buy the latest one, or the ipad2 ?

for pdf, ipad3 and ipad2 are the same? is there a feature in ipad4 that will make pdf more readable?

[agater]

In my opinion :

galaxy note and lg optimus 3d

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by user

okay you convinced me

since this thread gathered many ipad advocates, i would like to go a bit off topic and ask if i should wait for the new ipad to come out or buy the latest one, or the ipad2 ?

for pdf, ipad3 and ipad2 are the same? is there a feature in ipad4 that will make pdf more readable?

There is no "iPad4", nor any likelyhood of one in the foreseeable future. There may be a smaller iPad in the autumn, but that would be less suitable for PDFs, due to the smaller screen.

The advantage of the iPad 3 over the 2 is the doubling of the linear resolution. This makes text a lot sharper and clearer.

[jojoba]

Originally Posted by user

okay you convinced me

since this thread gathered many ipad advocates, i would like to go a bit off topic and ask if i should wait for the new ipad to come out or buy the latest one, or the ipad2 ?

for pdf, ipad3 and ipad2 are the same? is there a feature in ipad4 that will make pdf more readable?

I wouldn't wait around for the 4gen, as no one knows when it will come out. Like Harry said, the difference in the screen between iPad 2 and iPad 3 is quite noticable, so I would strongly recommend the 3 gen. The text is really very crisp and it's much easier to read on a 3gen than a 2gen.

[mark4asp]

Do not buy the Kobo touch. It looks nice but does not work very well.

I spent hours reading reviews on the web in preparation for a new reader (to replace my Kobo). Prior to the Kobo I used a Kindle. The Kindle worked well but the navigation keys broke.

The Sony ebook readers always get excellent reviews. The minuses are (1) only the Kindle can read Kindle format - but you can get a plugin for Calibre which will convert Kindle to mobi format and it works well, (2) the Sony e-reader is not the most attractive reader (3) it is one of the most expensive. [Sony PRS-T1]

The new Google 7" tablet looks very nice. It has more memory (8 or 16Gb) than e-readers. It can be used to watch videos, play music or games too.

For me, it's a straight fight between the Sony and the Google. I won't buy a Kindle because I disagree with their proprietary format and their refusal to support epub.

iPad? - it's far too large and expensive. We want to use 7" readers because they are easy to carry, and we don't want to spend much more than $200 on our readers. Oh, and the iPad is locked down so that users are forced to add content via the Apple store, so paying Apple their 33% tax. This tax is really unfair to content providers. It don't cost Apple very much to run the store but they insist on raking off huge profits on the backs of struggling publishers and startups. You can crack your iPad to make it easier to add content but that invalidates the guarantee. Don't support unethical capitalism - buy the google 7" instead (or the Sony - if you only want to read books).

[user]

Originally Posted by agater

In my opinion :

galaxy note and lg optimus 3d

hey, i already own a samsung galaxy note and has nothing to do with pdf reading...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mark4asp

For me, it's a straight fight between the Sony and the Google.

Not for reading A4 PDFs. Neither is at all suited for the job.

iPad? - it's far too large and expensive. We want to use 7" readers because they are easy to carry, and we don't want to spend much more than $200 on our readers. Oh, and the iPad is locked down so that users are forced to add content via the Apple store, so paying Apple their 33% tax.

You're talking about content bought from apps, which is utterly irrelevant to the OPs question, which is about reading PDFs. There's no problem at all loading your own content onto an iPad, and it's no more "locked down" in that regard than an Android device is.

[user]

1) are there any rumors about features of ipad 4? I read that it will be out till Xmas
2) how can I expand its 16GB capacity? the 64GB increases too much the price...

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by user

2) how can I expand its 16GB capacity? the 64GB increases too much the price...

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3 (haven't tested it yet)

[user]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3 (haven't tested it yet)

nah, i need something really portable, like sd card!

[jojoba]

Originally Posted by user

1) are there any rumors about features of ipad 4? I read that it will be out till Xmas
2) how can I expand its 16GB capacity? the 64GB increases too much the price...

The rumours I have seen of the iPad 4 are so scattered that they're not much to go by. In any case, so far the iPads have been updated once a year, so you can always be wanting for the next version. The iPad 3 gen is a really solid device, so I doubt you'll be disappointed.

iPads don't come with expandable storage, but it's relatively easy to manage your storage with DropBox, so you can download the documents you are working on at the time and upload to DropBox those you don't need. 16GB will also get you quite far. I had a 16GB iPad2 and kept a large research library on there (about 1400 pdfs at the time) plus notes and other stuff, and I only used 8GB at the most. However, if an external memory card is really important to you, you could always consider an Android tablet.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by user

okay you convinced me

since this thread gathered many ipad advocates, i would like to go a bit off topic and ask if i should wait for the new ipad to come out or buy the latest one, or the ipad2 ?

for pdf, ipad3 and ipad2 are the same? is there a feature in ipad4 that will make pdf more readable?

Get the New iPad (there is no such thing as the iPad 3) because it has the retina display and will make reading PDF much easier especially for small text.

[JSWolf]

At the moment, in terms of clarity of the screen, there is no tablet better then the New iPad. The retina display is better then all the others out there.

And since you find the 64GB New iPad too expensive, give a go to the 32GB New iPad.