Quote:
Originally Posted by zedmin
I've been looking to get an ereader ever since seeing an e-ink screen for the first time. I have been looking at the kindle 3 because I like it's price and it was the first e-ink screen I saw.
I am not going to be buying any books, just downloaded pfd's and djvu files.
My question is how is the kindle support for pdf's and djvu files. Is it difficult to convert the files on your computer without uploading them to the amazon website?
Am i going to be able to fit the width of a page or am i going to have to times where I have to hit right on the arrow key to read the last word of every sentence?? This is my main concern!! Will the ereader treat the book as an image file or as a text file (ie increasing text size without distortion etc)
Are there any other ereaders I should consider for the under $200 price range
Much thanks guys!
|
Just like you, I don't buy any ebooks and mostly read pdf and djvu formats (sometimes epub and chm). I download books in social science and humanities so don't need extra big screens to display a lot of graphics or table. I would say 6" is big enough for this purpose. In landscape mode you can set the text to 130-140% which is actually larger than texts on paper books. 5" can reach 110% in pdfs (to keep the original layout) - might be small for footnotes. 9" is a bit too heavy to read in bed and too large carry around. 6" gives you the portability and the light weight. Occasionally, if needed, I reflow the pdfs.
I have a Pocketbook 602. I didn't get the Kindle 3 or Sony PRS-650 because 1) the large edges (no keyboard) are much easier to hold in landscape mode than the other two. 2) it supports djvu locally and almost all other formats you can download. No need for third-party firmwares to switch back and forth. 3) it supports Russian dictionary look-up in a book as pop-ups which I need. 4) it has two programs to read pdf files. The pdfviewer displays text-based pdf in a very dark color. The adobeviewer makes the scanned pdfs (usually dark already) look more refined. Make sure you don't use the newest beta 2.1.0 firmware but the 2.0.4. The 2.1.0 now still has bugs so pdfviewer button mapping doesn't work properly yet. 5) it comes with two year warranty. 6) it comes with a nice-looking practical pouch for free.
I think Pocketbook's target market is people like us. But it all depends on your needs at the end rather than other people's reviews or recommendations. I have been looking around at new models of other brands. To be honest, I have never found any that suits all my particular needs as the 602 does. I hate advertising for any companies for free but I see you be on the same reading boat as I am. Unfortunately, the 602 price was raised to 200$ in Jan. I bought it for 180 $ when one website was slow to change the price. Original price was 170$ last Oct. You can look for deals if not in a hurry. Or wait for new 602 with pearl screen. Oh, btw, I compared a friend's Kindle pearl and 602 screens with the same files I usually read and different settings/configurations on 602. I don't think I missed anything.
Good luck.
P.S. If you install alternative firmwares and hacks, Kindle 3 can handle djvu and other formats I heard but not the Russian dictionary. You will need to ask who uses these alternative firmwares if they are stable -- at least the special offer Kindle can't be hacked perfectly and will automatically update and replace your hacks when you switch to the original firmware. So far the new 3.2.1 firmware can't hacked by duokan at all.