MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - New To ereader and ebooks- Physics student

Manichean · 09-10-2008, 06:18 AM

Just to have it mentioned here: PDF is not really an ebook format, it's more of a print template. Technical or scientifical literature is rare to nonexistant in non-PDF format, as you no doubt will have noticed.

From what I've heard, the Iliad would be best for PDF reading and, to my knowledge, is also the only device supporting notes. The downside is that you'd certainly exceed your budget, and battery runtime is extremely limited.
Personally, I own a Cybook and, as of the last firmware update, PDF handling is reasonable in landscape view. I'm a physics student myself and have read A4 formatted technical PDFs on the Cybook with no problems. Firmware updates happen quite frequently, but you should know that some individuals, myself included have experienced problems of varying severity with certain updates, in rare cases (not mine, luckily) going so far as to totally brick the device.
It seems that the Sony PRS-505 supports PDF reflow in the latest firmware version, although I have no knowledge as to how well this works with technical PDFs. I've heard some bad things about dictionary support on this one, though.
The third option would be waiting for a true "full format" reader (meaning approx. A4 screen size) to come out.

Personally, I've noticed that I'm using the Cybook mainly away from home or for casual reading. I intended it to carry some reference books and papers with me in a convenient format, and for that, it works well in my opinion. But you should be very aware that, if you buy an eink device, no matter which, you are pretty much an early adopter. The ebook and ebook reader market is, in my opinion, only just emerging, and your device may very well become outdated and, perhaps, obsolete in quite a short time.

In short, and to sum it up, you should be willing to compromise and/or wait a little longer. I'd recommend doing your research carefully and then deciding for yourself whether to go ahead or not.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot: RTF, to my knowledge, require conversion on all devices. YMMV depending on the device, conversion toolchain and format.

09-10-2008, 06:18 AM	#6
Manichean Wizard Posts: 3,130 Karma: 91256 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Gen3	Just to have it mentioned here: PDF is not really an ebook format, it's more of a print template. Technical or scientifical literature is rare to nonexistant in non-PDF format, as you no doubt will have noticed. From what I've heard, the Iliad would be best for PDF reading and, to my knowledge, is also the only device supporting notes. The downside is that you'd certainly exceed your budget, and battery runtime is extremely limited. Personally, I own a Cybook and, as of the last firmware update, PDF handling is reasonable in landscape view. I'm a physics student myself and have read A4 formatted technical PDFs on the Cybook with no problems. Firmware updates happen quite frequently, but you should know that some individuals, myself included have experienced problems of varying severity with certain updates, in rare cases (not mine, luckily) going so far as to totally brick the device. It seems that the Sony PRS-505 supports PDF reflow in the latest firmware version, although I have no knowledge as to how well this works with technical PDFs. I've heard some bad things about dictionary support on this one, though. The third option would be waiting for a true "full format" reader (meaning approx. A4 screen size) to come out. Personally, I've noticed that I'm using the Cybook mainly away from home or for casual reading. I intended it to carry some reference books and papers with me in a convenient format, and for that, it works well in my opinion. But you should be very aware that, if you buy an eink device, no matter which, you are pretty much an early adopter. The ebook and ebook reader market is, in my opinion, only just emerging, and your device may very well become outdated and, perhaps, obsolete in quite a short time. In short, and to sum it up, you should be willing to compromise and/or wait a little longer. I'd recommend doing your research carefully and then deciding for yourself whether to go ahead or not. EDIT: Oops, I forgot: RTF, to my knowledge, require conversion on all devices. YMMV depending on the device, conversion toolchain and format.