Periodicals and PDF on the DX - Where are the figures?

markMDR · 08-14-2009, 08:15 PM

I didn't find this info on a search, so thought I'd ask it here, hope it's not well worn territory.

I bought the DX thinking I would want the bigger screen to see images, charts, etc in magazines and PDFs. The problem is that the magazines and newspapers I tried, Business Week, Reason, Technology Review, FT, not only had no images/charts, but no call out boxes, and worst of all no table of contents. How do you scan a magazine or paper when you have to step through each article? Maybe it's just a different style of reading I'd get used to, but I don't think so, there is a reason they have charts, tables, and call out boxes, so you can scan quickly and pick up what is going on to decide if you want to invest the time. I called Kindle customer support (or had them call me) and the guy just said it was up to the publisher and he really didn't know what periodicals had matained the formatting or if they would get better over time.

Further the PDF mode, while it maintins the images (although sometimes so faint you can't see them) you can't scale the text and in those documents with a table of contents, the ones I tried at least, the TOC often doesn't work on DX. If I convert to .prc (mobi publisher) or awz (kindle email) file you loose illustrations and formatting. Arghh...

Unless I'm missing something completely - which I could be as I've only had it for a 10 days - It seems that at least for now the kindle is ok for reading books that you expect to read linearly without many graphics. But for magazines, newspapers, PDFs, etc. Not so much.

So the question, if it will be like that for a while, I might as well return the DX and get the K2. If I expect there to be software patches and much better content to be provided by publishers shortly, then maybe I should hang onto the DX......of course by then the DX2 will be cheaper and better.

Thoughts? Advice?

Many Thanks

Mark

ebs · 08-14-2009, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markMDR

Unless I'm missing something completely - which I could be as I've only had it for a 10 days - It seems that at least for now the kindle is ok for reading books that you expect to read linearly without many graphics. But for magazines, newspapers, PDFs, etc. Not so much.

I don't think you are missing anything. I have exactly same feelings - Amazon hyped all this "new" features but failed to deliver any useful experience, and in the end, DX is only really good for eBooks.

Also, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Amazon to improve anything - look how good they have handled all requests for better way to organize books (folders). And they have a nerve to hype "device can hold 3,500 books, etc". That's almost insulting.

pbennett · 08-15-2009, 12:20 AM

For properly formatted newspapers, etc. click the 5-way navigation button to go to the section list. You can jump from section to section that way - read something, hit back to go back to the section list.
Or you can do what I do, in the section list, move right with the nav control to pick the article count - click the nav control and you'll get an article summary - like a TOC. Paging at this point will continue with the article summaries and continue across sections. Picking an article to read then using the back button wlll take you back to the summary list.

I read the NY Times every day and skim through it just fine this way.

markMDR · 08-15-2009, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbennett

I read the NY Times every day and skim through it just fine this way.

Thanks, it must be publisher dependent. Do you get charts, graph, illustrations with the NYT?

ddavtian · 08-15-2009, 01:14 AM

Try Calibre, I get NYT (with pictures), San Francisco Chronicle, ESPN, Wall Street Journal (with pictures, requires a subscription) every morning, it takes only a minute to get them to Kindle and it's free. Kovid and his helpers have done great job to get the same navigation that Amazon has for its subscription (section list, article list, etc.)

pbennett · 08-16-2009, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markMDR

Thanks, it must be publisher dependent. Do you get charts, graph, illustrations with the NYT?

The Kindle version of the NYT seems to only have article-start pictures.

Gideon · 08-16-2009, 12:17 AM

I don't think mobi type files can even support little charts, etc. As for PDFs... well, I"ve scanned some magazines to test this out it doesn't look good and the lack of table of contents is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. Magazines when shrank down to be viewable on the DX screen - those little text boxes are almost always too small to read.

I thought I'd be getting quite a bit more out of my DX than I did - I still like it, but putting comic books or magazines on it really didn't come to fruition. I like the Amazon subscriptions, though.

08-14-2009, 08:15 PM	#1
markMDR Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Kindle DX	Periodicals and PDF on the DX - Where are the figures? I didn't find this info on a search, so thought I'd ask it here, hope it's not well worn territory. I bought the DX thinking I would want the bigger screen to see images, charts, etc in magazines and PDFs. The problem is that the magazines and newspapers I tried, Business Week, Reason, Technology Review, FT, not only had no images/charts, but no call out boxes, and worst of all no table of contents. How do you scan a magazine or paper when you have to step through each article? Maybe it's just a different style of reading I'd get used to, but I don't think so, there is a reason they have charts, tables, and call out boxes, so you can scan quickly and pick up what is going on to decide if you want to invest the time. I called Kindle customer support (or had them call me) and the guy just said it was up to the publisher and he really didn't know what periodicals had matained the formatting or if they would get better over time. Further the PDF mode, while it maintins the images (although sometimes so faint you can't see them) you can't scale the text and in those documents with a table of contents, the ones I tried at least, the TOC often doesn't work on DX. If I convert to .prc (mobi publisher) or awz (kindle email) file you loose illustrations and formatting. Arghh... Unless I'm missing something completely - which I could be as I've only had it for a 10 days - It seems that at least for now the kindle is ok for reading books that you expect to read linearly without many graphics. But for magazines, newspapers, PDFs, etc. Not so much. So the question, if it will be like that for a while, I might as well return the DX and get the K2. If I expect there to be software patches and much better content to be provided by publishers shortly, then maybe I should hang onto the DX......of course by then the DX2 will be cheaper and better. Thoughts? Advice? Many Thanks Mark

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08-15-2009, 12:20 AM	#3
pbennett Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony 500, Amazon Kindle	For properly formatted newspapers, etc. click the 5-way navigation button to go to the section list. You can jump from section to section that way - read something, hit back to go back to the section list. Or you can do what I do, in the section list, move right with the nav control to pick the article count - click the nav control and you'll get an article summary - like a TOC. Paging at this point will continue with the article summaries and continue across sections. Picking an article to read then using the back button wlll take you back to the summary list. I read the NY Times every day and skim through it just fine this way.

08-15-2009, 01:14 AM	#5
ddavtian Addict Posts: 271 Karma: 332 Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: San Francisco, USA Device: Sage, Elipsa, Oasis, Galaxy Tab 8U, S22U	Try Calibre, I get NYT (with pictures), San Francisco Chronicle, ESPN, Wall Street Journal (with pictures, requires a subscription) every morning, it takes only a minute to get them to Kindle and it's free. Kovid and his helpers have done great job to get the same navigation that Amazon has for its subscription (section list, article list, etc.)

08-16-2009, 12:17 AM	#7
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	I don't think mobi type files can even support little charts, etc. As for PDFs... well, I"ve scanned some magazines to test this out it doesn't look good and the lack of table of contents is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. Magazines when shrank down to be viewable on the DX screen - those little text boxes are almost always too small to read. I thought I'd be getting quite a bit more out of my DX than I did - I still like it, but putting comic books or magazines on it really didn't come to fruition. I like the Amazon subscriptions, though.

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