Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Readers > Which one should I buy?

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 10-04-2009, 03:09 PM   #1
Cheez-It
Member
Cheez-It began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 14
Karma: 10
Join Date: Feb 2009
Device: None
Device for reading scholarly journals

Greetings,

I'm having a tough time finding a device to fit my needs. My goal is to do much of research and reading on a mobile electronic device.

Some specifics on what I would like:
  • Reasonable battery life. 4 hours minimum, prefer more.
  • Screen size. I need to read academic journals, scanned text-book pages, etc.
  • Readability. I'm not sure how much this will impact me, but given the choice, I would prefer a more readable screen (e.g. eInk vs. LCD)
  • Compatability. PDF. Text/word documents as well, but less important.
  • Note taking. It would be convenient to take notes, either scribbling or with a keyboard.
  • Dictionary. Would be convenient.
  • Searching. Would be convenient, leaning towards a requirement...

Will add more if I can think of anything.

So far, the iRex DR1000 seems like the only real fit (I'm not going to put up with any manipulation of these files to fit on a small screen), but I find the price tag difficult to justify for the narrow functionality of the device (and the fact that this technology is still rather immature). Alternatively, a decent touchscreen notebook might work, but will sacrifice readability and battery life...

Anyone have actual experience with these devices in this setting? I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or suggestions!

Cheers,
Cheez-It

Last edited by Cheez-It; 10-04-2009 at 03:12 PM.
Cheez-It is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2009, 04:22 AM   #2
PhishStyx
The me that I am
PhishStyx can extract oil from cheesePhishStyx can extract oil from cheesePhishStyx can extract oil from cheesePhishStyx can extract oil from cheesePhishStyx can extract oil from cheesePhishStyx can extract oil from cheesePhishStyx can extract oil from cheesePhishStyx can extract oil from cheese
 
PhishStyx's Avatar
 
Posts: 413
Karma: 1078
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: In my house! Duh!
Device: Kindle 1 & DR 1000s
At the moment, the DR 1000s (or a laptop computer) is your best choice. I use mine all the time; it has virtually replaced my laptop as my "go-to" device for any sort of writing or PDF reading.

So far, I don't have a dictionary on my DR, but I've been thinking about picking one up.
PhishStyx is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 10-05-2009, 06:14 AM   #3
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
The DR1000S is the only real choice, in eInk devices, at the moment. It is relatively expensive, yes, but is, for me at least, well worth the money.
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2009, 02:38 AM   #4
llreader
Mesmerist
llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
llreader's Avatar
 
Posts: 331
Karma: 506558
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spain
Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.
I may be a little behind the curve, but I don't have a reader yet, and I am looking at the Sony PRS-600 (because of my budget, and other things). Can anyone tell me what happens to a journal article on this reader? It has a 6" screen, and you can change the font and "zoom" (not sure if these are the same things). But what does that mean in terms of actually reading a PDF? Do you have to page back and forth to read a full line? Will it only show a full line if the text is unacceptably small?

I really don't think I can afford the DR1000S. I am wondering what my experience with the 600 would be.
llreader is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2009, 11:05 AM   #5
emellaich
Wizard
emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.emellaich ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 1,101
Karma: 4388403
Join Date: Oct 2007
Device: Palm>Ebookman>IPaq>Axim>Cybook>Kndl2>IPAD>Kndl3SO>Voyager>Oasis
llreader:

A few folks report good results with reading on six inch devices. I believe they take the original pdf's and edit them to trim out the white space (margins), then they read them in landscape fashion on their Sony's.

However, most folks seem to feel that you will not have an acceptable experience on anything this small. The consensus seems to be that you should go for a 9.7 inch device or to pass for now.

In terms of zooming journal articles, you may have a real problem. Many (most?) journal pdf's are simply scans (pictures) of pages from past journals. This means that you can't resize them to fit your page. If you zoom out to fit a page you get really small type. If you zoom in you get bigger, fuzzier type that doesn't fit a full line on a page.

If you do get one of the text-orientated pdf's then you may be able to get it to reformat to fit your page. However, the problem is in graphics, charts, etc. These will not be able to reformat to the limitations of your device.
emellaich is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 10-06-2009, 11:26 AM   #6
wallcraft
reader
wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
wallcraft's Avatar
 
Posts: 6,975
Karma: 5183568
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Mississippi, USA
Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD
I don't think any current 6" E-Ink device is likely to meet your needs. The PRS-600 perhaps comes closest, with both reflow (changing the font size and flowing text to fit the screen) and zoom (magnifying part of the page). However, the zoom is on a page by page basis only - you can't save the zoom setting for the next page. The Cybook Gen 3 with ADE (firmware not out yet) will do zoom only, and I don't know if that will be better or not.

You really need a larger screen. The Sony Daily Edition will initially be US only, but is has a 7" diagonal (6" wide) screen and that might be just enough for landscape reading of PDFs. The iRex DR800SG, also initially US only and at the same $400 price point as the Daily Edition, has an 8" diagonal screen and the 8" iRex iLiad has been "good enough" for PDFs for many readers. I think almost anyone would consider a 9.7" or larger screen acceptable for PDFs. The DR1000S is good but very expensive. The only other current entry is the Kindle DX, which is US-only (probably soon in the UK) and "only" $489. It has an incredibly basic PDF capability, best described as pathetic, but it does illustrate than the screen size is good for PDFs and it also sets the price point for "mainstream" large screen readers. So I would not recommend the KDX, but I expect several other devices with 9.7" screens probably early in 2010 and probably at about $500.

Diagonal screen sizes can be confusing, see E-book Reader Matrix for the actual screen dimensions and note that an 8" screen in landscape mode is as wide as a 10.2" screen in portrait mode. Also, don't forget that most PDFs have relatively wide margins which can be cropped on the Reader.
wallcraft is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2009, 05:16 PM   #7
llreader
Mesmerist
llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
llreader's Avatar
 
Posts: 331
Karma: 506558
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spain
Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.
Thanks!

emellaich - I haven't seen any recent journal articles as images. They are all normal PDFs and often you can download text files. However, my program does distribute some scanned articles, which are dreadful to read. I guess I can always use the laptop for those.

wallcraft: I don't think I am ready to spend a whole lot more money on my first reader. I am still having doubts about whether the 600 is worth the money (I think it is a good choice, but money is tight).
llreader is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2009, 04:22 AM   #8
bbusybookworm
Tech Junkie
bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'
 
bbusybookworm's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,027
Karma: 10080
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Earth
Device: iPad, MotoXStyle, OnePlusOne
If Cost is an issue, I'll actually suggest getting a small Tablet PC, either new or Secondhand.

If you're not looking for the latest and greatest, there are some really great deals for brand new, but older models of Tablets on ebay. I've seen HP tablets, which are just a genration or two old going for £300-400 Pounds with even the Ultraportable HP elitebook going for £500-600 which usually sells for 3 times that price. At the current £ to EUro rate, its well worth it looking across the EU for a good deals, as most sellers will be willing to ship to spain.

Another option may be the Asus Eee PC T91 or T101H which are netbooks with totating touch screens, which might provide you with a small size portable computer which is also handy for reading with the rotating screen.
bbusybookworm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2009, 04:30 AM   #9
llreader
Mesmerist
llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
llreader's Avatar
 
Posts: 331
Karma: 506558
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spain
Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.
Thanks! I'm not interested in a tablet PC at all. I don't need another computer (I have a very nice laptop) and I don't like the tablet format. It doesn't really have any advantages over an ebook reader for reading, in my opinion (battery life is limited, heavy, and PCs are twiddly things - I work with Linux, Windows and Mac computers, and I don't need something new to maintain).

I can afford an ereader, but I just quit my job to concentrate on my studies, and I need to be careful about expenses.
llreader is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2009, 05:16 AM   #10
bbusybookworm
Tech Junkie
bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'
 
bbusybookworm's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,027
Karma: 10080
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Earth
Device: iPad, MotoXStyle, OnePlusOne
I Understand. I just wanted to throw the suggestion out if you had not considered it.

Unfortunately the 1000S is currently the only option which meets most of your requirements, unless you are willing to pick up an Illiad but which is not supported any longer.

Other devices from Sony and others are supposed to come on the market soon, But probably not for another few months.

I'll suggest looking in the "See a device near you" thread to see if any members in you area have one to go and have a look and play with it before making a final decision. That way you can be sure whether or not you can live with the performance before paying such a high price.
bbusybookworm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2009, 02:15 PM   #11
Cheez-It
Member
Cheez-It began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 14
Karma: 10
Join Date: Feb 2009
Device: None
One of my issues with the 1000S isn't necessarily the cost... It's my perception that this technology is still in it's infancy... I feel like we're going to see some leaps soon (larger screens for less $, color screens, etc.) and that prices for devices like the 1000S and their successors will start to drop to far more reasonable prices.

Like buying a 1 gig MP3 player for a fortune soon before the much larger and similarly priced devices arrived. Or spending thousands on a 42" tv when a superb plasma can now be purchased for $800 or less. It seems like ereaders will be picking up steam like these technologies. And fairly soon...

But not in time to use one for my masters research

Maybe if I get job offer...
Cheez-It is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2009, 06:10 PM   #12
llreader
Mesmerist
llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
llreader's Avatar
 
Posts: 331
Karma: 506558
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spain
Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.
Cheese-It: Exactly! Of course, I have two kids, so I am pretty sure one of them will want it. But it is the main reason I am not prepared to buy one of the larger devices, because they are beyond the "sweet spot" for value/price, in my opinion.

bbookwork: Thanks! That is a very good suggestion. I have been doing some reading today, and I would have loved to go curl up somewhere away from my laptop and just read, without the distractions of mail or worrying if the battery will run out. I think I am ready to spend to money :-)

So, as far as formats go, scanned images are a real non-starter on a 6" screen. How about text PDFs that don't have the reflow feature (as I understand very few current PDFs have this feature activated)? I have a couple of textbooks in PDF format, which I would love to have handy, as well as some course handouts (all as text PDFs).
llreader is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2009, 07:44 PM   #13
bbusybookworm
Tech Junkie
bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'bbusybookworm knows the difference between 'who' and 'whom'
 
bbusybookworm's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,027
Karma: 10080
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Earth
Device: iPad, MotoXStyle, OnePlusOne
Quote:
Originally Posted by llreader View Post

So, as far as formats go, scanned images are a real non-starter on a 6" screen. How about text PDFs that don't have the reflow feature (as I understand very few current PDFs have this feature activated)? I have a couple of textbooks in PDF format, which I would love to have handy, as well as some course handouts (all as text PDFs).
The readers that support PDF reflow dont't (as far as I've seen) require the reflow feature to be activated in the PDF itself. They can handle the reflow on their own as long as the content of the PDF is text and not a scanned image.

I've just tested that on my Pocket Pro which had the Adobe Software for reflow, and non of the PDF's I threw at it had reflow active. The sony uses the Same software so should treat it the same way.

So if your textbooks and handouts were generated as text PDF's it should not be an issue. unless your professor was rescanning the handouts instead of just printing to PDF, it should probably not really be a proble.
bbusybookworm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2009, 10:48 PM   #14
Cheez-It
Member
Cheez-It began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 14
Karma: 10
Join Date: Feb 2009
Device: None
Hmm...

So on the Digital Reader 1000... How does note taking work, in terms of organization and navigation? Could I read through a PDF, jotting notes on the side? Will the reader make note of this somehow so I can see all the places I have notes, without actually going to the page?
Cheez-It is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-2009, 05:03 AM   #15
llreader
Mesmerist
llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.llreader ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
llreader's Avatar
 
Posts: 331
Karma: 506558
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spain
Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbusybookworm View Post
So if your textbooks and handouts were generated as text PDF's it should not be an issue. unless your professor was rescanning the handouts instead of just printing to PDF, it should probably not really be a proble.
Thanks BB, that is exactly what I wanted to hear . There were several image scans in the first module or two (the Master's program is modular, with 4-5 modules per year), and those were just hard to read no matter what I did with them. But in general things have been in text format. Also, they upgraded all the course material this year, so a lot of that older stuff has been retired. And, since this is a relatively new field (Geographical Information Systems or GIS), much of the important reading is newer, and available in text-based formats.

Man, this is going to be great! Now they just have to bring the damn PRS-600 to Spain. Or I need to bite the bullet and order from NYC.
llreader is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
What was your first e-reading device? jimhanas General Discussions 162 09-22-2010 05:04 PM
Reading device(s) or PC? Book Depository News 2 12-02-2009 07:32 AM
Zinio Reading Device? greg4168 Which one should I buy? 7 10-07-2009 06:40 AM
Reading medical journals on Kindle DX sr505 Amazon Kindle 0 07-15-2009 11:58 AM
Yet Another Device for E-Reading kilohertz53 Lounge 1 03-08-2008 10:52 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:16 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.