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Old 03-10-2010, 01:15 AM   #1
Evolut1on
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prs-300/prs-600 --> text pdf redable

Good morning

Im looking for a cheap ebook reader to read, among other things, pdfs.
In the pdf-files are no graphs or such things its only text.

I prefer the prs-300 because its cheap, has a good display and its without options i dont need.
But i would also buy the prs-600 if the prs-300 is bad in handling pdf-files because of the display or the processor.

I read also a lot about converting the pdf-files but not with the desired result.
Is it a problem to convert a pdf-file for the reader if the pdf-file consists only of text?

Is the prs-300 the right device for me?


Thx for help!
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Old 03-10-2010, 01:33 AM   #2
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Text only pdfs work ok for me on my 505 and 600. It just depends if you can live with some line and page breaks being off when the document is reflowed. In standard size I cannot read any of my documents so I usually go with reflow to M or L size.
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Old 03-10-2010, 09:13 AM   #3
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i wholeheartedly recommend the prs-600.

i bought one for my wife, and i find that we are starting to fight over who's turn it is to use it.

we may be moving into getting another one.
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Old 03-10-2010, 10:29 AM   #4
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I have a 505 and a 600. The 300 has the same processor as the 505. When I open larger PDF's, the 600 is noticeably faster and also fast on page turns. The 300 has the clearest screen though, albeit smaller. A tough choice.
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Old 03-10-2010, 11:01 AM   #5
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Be aware that both readers are not optimal for reading pdfs - especially if they have intricate layouts (e.g. several columns) or copyright protection. In these cases you are better off with the 600 because the screen is a little larger and it is easier to zoom and move around.

If you have one flat file without complicated layout and copyright protection then the 300 is good enough. In this case there is always the option of converting the pdf into a more adequate format (e.g. with Calibre).
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Old 03-10-2010, 12:41 PM   #6
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The pdf-files which i read have not a complicated layout (tables, etc.).
I just want to read them and dont want to zoom every 2 seconds for the next half of the screen (I expect that the zoom function is the same like the iphone).

Then there should also no problem in converting them in an other file for a better portrayal?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thx for the answers so far!!!
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Old 03-10-2010, 12:58 PM   #7
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Converting a pdf to another format is hit or miss. You can download a program called Calibre which has a converter built in and try your hand at converting pdf to either ePub or LRF. The viewer built into Calibre provides an adequate representation of what it will look like on the Reader.
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Old 03-10-2010, 01:27 PM   #8
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???
50:50 chance that the pdf-file is successful converted? although its only text?
Cant be true...
Cant imagine this! Why should it sometimes go right and sometimes not?
I mean then i can also copy the text in a word document... and then convert it.

Maybe you can write something more about this issue?
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Old 03-10-2010, 02:29 PM   #9
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I should correct myself that it isn't 50/50 that the file will convert but what errors result from the conversion. You may have to make certain corrections to the output file for maybe chapter breaks, paragraph breaks or incorect words.
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Old 03-10-2010, 03:09 PM   #10
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Well, as far as I interpret the initial post, the question is, whether or not a text only pdf will be working good/ok for reading on a 300.
I think that "ok" is a fair rating for any Sony reader.

Since I have the 600, I don't even bother reformatting layouted pdfs. This was one of the reasons I bought it. For the 505, I reformatted because there was no zoom and pan. But increasing font size with reflow worked well enough on the 505, too.

So what I basically want to get to is, that yes, text only pdfs will just work fine (even without conversion to any other file format).

I'm just curious, but why would I want to go through the hassle of converting text only files on the 300 (or even layout pdfs on a 600) if the file itself works fine as is?

Last edited by Mike_73; 03-10-2010 at 03:12 PM.
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Old 03-10-2010, 03:31 PM   #11
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When the pdf-file is readable its just fine!
But I read a lot about problems with pdf-files on a reader! (Processor is to slow or the pdf file is not shown correcty)

Then there should be no problem to buy the prs-300!

Friday or Saturday I'll have it
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Old 03-10-2010, 03:43 PM   #12
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I can't speak to the PRS-300, but I'm very impressed with how well the PRS-600 handles non-image based PDFs. I reckon the 300 does a good job as well. And if it does as well as my Pocket Pro (with a similar screen size) I think it would be more than up to the task.

The only reason I ever go through the trouble of converting PDFs to EPUB or whatever is when they've been encoded in some non-standard way such that the fonts are too exotic to read comfortably, or where line-breaks occur in the middle of words, like right before a final "s" etc. Then they're worth converting.

When the original PDF has really busy footers or headers, it can be tricky to remove these in Calibre, unless you've managed to pierce the veil on how it employs regex. I haven't quite gotten there yet, so I'll do an intermediate conversion to HTML, then use regex in a text editor like EditPad to strip out as much of the extraneous header/footer/page numbering code that came over from the PDF, then use Calibre to convert the HTML to EPUB. This has worked really well the few times I've needed to do it.

But for the most part, I just deal with the little bits of weirdness in the original PDF by ignoring it.

Sometimes I think it would be fun to get a huge magnifier like the ones on those CRT screens in the movie Brazil. Then I could read PDFs in portrait at small size, where the entire page displays, and have it blown up to full size by the retro magnifier. Might fetch me some odd looks at my favorite cafe, though.

Good luck!


p.s. killdanzig: love the Firefly ref, m8!
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Old 03-10-2010, 04:34 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xochipilli2012 View Post
But for the most part, I just deal with the little bits of weirdness in the original PDF by ignoring it.
Yep, that's what I do too. I don't mind the last letter being cut off from a word or so. Actually, the human brain works so good, that even with missing letters, text is quite readable (e.g. in ham radio for morse code, all vowels are left out, and still you can understand what's said).

I was just wondering why in most threads where pdfs are discussed, it almost always comes to converting them
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Old 03-10-2010, 04:47 PM   #14
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One of the quirks about reading a PDF in reflow mode is conversations. Typically a book will show each person's quote on it's own line. In reflow mode it will show a conversation as one long paragraph. It takes a little while to identify when one set of quotes ends and another begins.
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Old 03-11-2010, 01:38 AM   #15
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Ok, I haven't had this yet. The conversations in my books (if there are any in quotes) are usually longer than one line.
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