MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Prospects for Academic/Scientific PDF reading in the coming year

clangkamp · 03-09-2011, 07:18 PM

Hi,
I have now bought a pocket book 902 (from the Read-Green in Gelsenkirchen) after having been given the opportunity to test it in comparison to a pocket book 903 for about an hour. My benchmark is the 6'' Kindle I will now give to my mum.
1st - I do not need the annotation, I use it simply as a reading device for academic papers. If I want to make notes, I do it with a laptop (or the good old physical paper and pencil).

I decided against the Touchscreen and the 3G as I will not be downloading books, and I also don't want to scratch the surface. Of course the pen is designed not to do that, but as the navigation works well with the buttons, I thought 330 EUR is enough.

The screen is not as sharp as the Pearl screen of the Kindle 3. But the double screen size makes more than enough up for that. I can now read without eye strain, and the difference to the LCD screen is notable. Even the fine print tables of PDF articles of various Journals display fine and without zoom.

I have now all the articles which I (at present) want to read for my doctorate on the device, plus LaTeX, R manuals and a few lecture notes.

The device looks robust, but I still think the production of the Kindle 3 is neater. Time will tell which one dies first on me. The Software is also not entirely finished, but in all honesty I am not entirely confident that I really want to install the new version.

To sum up I am almost certain that a better device will be available at the end of the year, but as this year will be the year where I actually do most of the reading for the doctorate and the comparison is reading on the Kindle 3 (too small / cumbersome when turned by 90°) or the LCD screen of the Laptop / Desktop (eye strain) or logging around dozens of folders of paper I thought that in comparison to alternative investments to prevent further damage to my eyes it well worth the money.

03-09-2011, 07:18 PM	#34
clangkamp Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 426 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: none	Hi, I have now bought a pocket book 902 (from the Read-Green in Gelsenkirchen) after having been given the opportunity to test it in comparison to a pocket book 903 for about an hour. My benchmark is the 6'' Kindle I will now give to my mum. 1st - I do not need the annotation, I use it simply as a reading device for academic papers. If I want to make notes, I do it with a laptop (or the good old physical paper and pencil). I decided against the Touchscreen and the 3G as I will not be downloading books, and I also don't want to scratch the surface. Of course the pen is designed not to do that, but as the navigation works well with the buttons, I thought 330 EUR is enough. The screen is not as sharp as the Pearl screen of the Kindle 3. But the double screen size makes more than enough up for that. I can now read without eye strain, and the difference to the LCD screen is notable. Even the fine print tables of PDF articles of various Journals display fine and without zoom. I have now all the articles which I (at present) want to read for my doctorate on the device, plus LaTeX, R manuals and a few lecture notes. The device looks robust, but I still think the production of the Kindle 3 is neater. Time will tell which one dies first on me. The Software is also not entirely finished, but in all honesty I am not entirely confident that I really want to install the new version. To sum up I am almost certain that a better device will be available at the end of the year, but as this year will be the year where I actually do most of the reading for the doctorate and the comparison is reading on the Kindle 3 (too small / cumbersome when turned by 90°) or the LCD screen of the Laptop / Desktop (eye strain) or logging around dozens of folders of paper I thought that in comparison to alternative investments to prevent further damage to my eyes it well worth the money.