Kindle Paperwhite - improved the PDF support?

max99 · 10-03-2012, 10:49 AM

before I get too carried along by the Paperwhite hype-wagon I wanted to know if anyone has experimented with its PDF functionality?

historically Kindles have lacked support for basic PDF navigation (presumably because it doesn't generate any income for the mighty Amazon), and historically they dumped support for their large screen DX, despite it being ideal for PDFs.

i've read the latest reviews but as yet none of these reviewers have bothered to load a pdf into the device before hurrying out their gushing reviews.

i would very much appreciate a few basic questions answered, namely:

1. does it finally support table of contents?
2. does it finally support manual cropping of margins?
3. does it have reflow?
4. can you read PDFs in landscape?

in short, is it a versatile e-reader, or a crippled device optimised for amazon's own content?

Trauma Doll · 10-03-2012, 11:17 AM

I loaded a PDF at random. Table of Contents works fine. Landscape mode works fine (but I'm pretty sure it did on my Kindle 3/keyboard also). There is no way to apply a crop throughout, but you can pinch to zoom. I don't see a reflow.

(I'm not sure calling it 'crippled' is really necessary either way--PDFs are traditionally the enemy of standalone e-readers. PDF is typically used for complicated documents with lots of elements/tables/images, etc. e-readers are better for mostly-text books. If you need to view complicated PDF documents regularly, you're better off with a tablet (in my opinion). I suspect this is due to hardware limitations of a device that is expected to also work in sunlight and have a battery life of months, not a corporate plot.)

tomsem · 10-03-2012, 01:18 PM

I assume PW is the same as Kindle Touch in terms of PDF features (firmware version is 5.2 as opposed to Kindle Touch, currently at 5.1.2), but the higher resolution screen should make things more readable when viewing in full page mode (it has nearly the resolution of iPad1/2). It does have landscape mode, there's no reflow but I've never found that to work very satisfactorily.

Compared to DXG:
- supports PDF bookmarks
- supports PDF links
- pinch zoom pan
- you can highlight/annotate (annotations aren't 'portable' to other PDF software however)
- contrast adjustment
- has multicolumn navigation mode (double tap to zoom column to fit width, then page turn gestures advance down the column, then to next column/page etc.

In summary it is far from ideal but workable for many PDFs. I'll be doing more investigation once my KPW is in my hands.

max99 · 10-03-2012, 02:39 PM

thanks guys that was helpful.

10-03-2012, 10:49 AM	#1
max99 Addict Posts: 201 Karma: 1300000 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kindle DXG, PW	Kindle Paperwhite - improved the PDF support? before I get too carried along by the Paperwhite hype-wagon I wanted to know if anyone has experimented with its PDF functionality? historically Kindles have lacked support for basic PDF navigation (presumably because it doesn't generate any income for the mighty Amazon), and historically they dumped support for their large screen DX, despite it being ideal for PDFs. i've read the latest reviews but as yet none of these reviewers have bothered to load a pdf into the device before hurrying out their gushing reviews. i would very much appreciate a few basic questions answered, namely: 1. does it finally support table of contents? 2. does it finally support manual cropping of margins? 3. does it have reflow? 4. can you read PDFs in landscape? in short, is it a versatile e-reader, or a crippled device optimised for amazon's own content?

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10-03-2012, 11:17 AM	#2
Trauma Doll Addict Posts: 219 Karma: 1009108 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Gave up on PW. Using Kindle Keyboard.	I loaded a PDF at random. Table of Contents works fine. Landscape mode works fine (but I'm pretty sure it did on my Kindle 3/keyboard also). There is no way to apply a crop throughout, but you can pinch to zoom. I don't see a reflow. (I'm not sure calling it 'crippled' is really necessary either way--PDFs are traditionally the enemy of standalone e-readers. PDF is typically used for complicated documents with lots of elements/tables/images, etc. e-readers are better for mostly-text books. If you need to view complicated PDF documents regularly, you're better off with a tablet (in my opinion). I suspect this is due to hardware limitations of a device that is expected to also work in sunlight and have a battery life of months, not a corporate plot.)

10-03-2012, 01:18 PM	#3
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,464 Karma: 25996225 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	I assume PW is the same as Kindle Touch in terms of PDF features (firmware version is 5.2 as opposed to Kindle Touch, currently at 5.1.2), but the higher resolution screen should make things more readable when viewing in full page mode (it has nearly the resolution of iPad1/2). It does have landscape mode, there's no reflow but I've never found that to work very satisfactorily. Compared to DXG: - supports PDF bookmarks - supports PDF links - pinch zoom pan - you can highlight/annotate (annotations aren't 'portable' to other PDF software however) - contrast adjustment - has multicolumn navigation mode (double tap to zoom column to fit width, then page turn gestures advance down the column, then to next column/page etc. In summary it is far from ideal but workable for many PDFs. I'll be doing more investigation once my KPW is in my hands.

10-03-2012, 02:39 PM	#4
max99 Addict Posts: 201 Karma: 1300000 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kindle DXG, PW	thanks guys that was helpful.

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