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trekchick · 09-05-2011, 01:40 PM

I thought my Kindle DXg had the absolute best screen for viewing PDFs, but its lack of features (no TOC, no annotations) made it frustrating to use for PDFs. I like Kindle for general reading, but Sony has the best out of the box support for PDF that I've found.

With Sony, you can make notes with the on-screen keyboard or draw them with your finger or stylus. You can even make drawings/diagrams directly on the screen (separate from a "note"). You can see/sort all of the notes on your device (for research, I start notes with #topic to sort like-content together, regardless of source). And you can import your notes to your computer, using the Sony Reader Library software (which might be the only good feature the Reader Library software has). Sony even has a special page mode (2 modes on the 950) that displays columnar PDFs in sections, just like you'd read them - this is very useful for improving readability while preserving complex layouts (e.g. columns with graphics, tables, charts etc.) that would be sacrificed by reflow.

There's a new Sony (PRS-T1) coming out soon, but the current version can be found used. If going for a used one, stick to the PRS-x50 line (950 has a 7" screen, 650 has 6", 350 has 5").

09-05-2011, 01:40 PM	#5
trekchick Lurker Posts: 226 Karma: 9245 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Walton, KY Device: Sonys and Kindles and Nooks, oh my!	I thought my Kindle DXg had the absolute best screen for viewing PDFs, but its lack of features (no TOC, no annotations) made it frustrating to use for PDFs. I like Kindle for general reading, but Sony has the best out of the box support for PDF that I've found. With Sony, you can make notes with the on-screen keyboard or draw them with your finger or stylus. You can even make drawings/diagrams directly on the screen (separate from a "note"). You can see/sort all of the notes on your device (for research, I start notes with #topic to sort like-content together, regardless of source). And you can import your notes to your computer, using the Sony Reader Library software (which might be the only good feature the Reader Library software has). Sony even has a special page mode (2 modes on the 950) that displays columnar PDFs in sections, just like you'd read them - this is very useful for improving readability while preserving complex layouts (e.g. columns with graphics, tables, charts etc.) that would be sacrificed by reflow. There's a new Sony (PRS-T1) coming out soon, but the current version can be found used. If going for a used one, stick to the PRS-x50 line (950 has a 7" screen, 650 has 6", 350 has 5").