E-reader that reads math and has no web browsing

[Lee Wang]

I'm looking for an e-reader that has the following characteristics:

1. Reads academic pdfs, specifically Mathematics.
2. Does not have internet capability or has one that can be turned off permanently.

The second point is very important to me: the internet is a source of constant distraction.
When I say turned off permanently, I mean it: in such a way that I'm not able to turn it back on without outside help. It's not helpful to tell me "just turn it off and don't turn it back on again". I'm not just able to for any long period of time, so I'm looking for a device that gives me no opportunity to fall in to the temptation.

[susan_cassidy]

I doubt that there is such a device. You pretty much need a tablet to read pdfs with math in it, and no tablet is going to have a way to permanently turn off wi-fi.

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by Lee Wang

I'm looking for an e-reader that has the following characteristics:

1. Reads academic pdfs, specifically Mathematics.
2. Does not have internet capability or has one that can be turned off permanently.

The second point is very important to me: the internet is a source of constant distraction.
When I say turned off permanently, I mean it: in such a way that I'm not able to turn it back on without outside help. It's not helpful to tell me "just turn it off and don't turn it back on again". I'm not just able to for any long period of time, so I'm looking for a device that gives me no opportunity to fall in to the temptation.

You may want to consider a 9.7" Kindle DXG. I have used it to read a few math pdf's and it works pretty well, esp. if you turn it sideways (landscape mode). As a basic e-book reader it's fantastic imho btw.

The DXG has a very basic web browser with free 3g. It's really only ok for text-based websites so I don't think you'll be tempted to use it much, lol! There is a systems menu that you can access via the settings menu that lets you pick a particular 3g source. You just need to find one that does not work well in your area and it will never connect.

You can contact Amazon tech support to see if you can permanently disable 3g access.

If you want to post a typical math pdf file I'd be glad to try it on my DXG and let you know how it looks.

[Cosmosgravitatio]

Yeah, I'd say the technology isn't quite there for ereaders to reliably view academic pdf's yet. You can do it with some of them, but page turns and such will be slow.

You're probably going to want a tablet. I use a Nexus 7 and haven't had any problems reading physics & math books, but there is probably something better on the market now. Check for apps that will disconnect you from the internet and not allow you to easily re-enable it.

For example, android has Timeriffic. You can disable wifi for 24 hours a day.

[Roseweave]

Honestly if I feel the urge to go online I'll go to another device, I've never been all that tempted by the internet functionality on my e-reader when using it. It's generally not as easy to flip between stuff on Android as it is on Windows with a proper desktop.

[Lee Wang]

@Cosmosgravitatio Can't I just deinstall this app? Otherwise sounds great.

@Roseweave It's great that you don't feel that urge. I don't have any other devices that can web browse.

@ThomasC
Thanks for your helpful response, here are two typical math files I'm interested in:

http://math.stanford.edu/~vakil/216b...1113public.pdf
http://math.ecnu.edu.cn/~lfzhou/othe...20Thurston.pdf

I'll try amazon tech support.

In general about the tablet versus e reader: I've heard a lot of complaints about reading academic papers on e-readers, but I highly prefer e-ink over a screen since a computer screen keeps me awake noticably longer.

[Cosmosgravitatio]

Yes, with Timeriffic you can simply uninstall.

However, there are other apps that will prevent uninstallation unless you have a password. Most of them are classified under parental control. I don't use them, but there's a lot of them to search through for both Android and Ipad. What you'd want to do is have a friend or relative set up the program to block the internet and tell them not to give you the password so you can't undo it.

Also I think there's parental control built into the newest version of the Android. Yeah, see this link. So again, you could have a friend/relative setup the administrator profile, give yourself a regular profile with blocked internet apps, and then simply have them not give you the password to the administrator account. No internet.

So you have to jump through some hoops, but you could do it. I'm sure you could do it with an Ipad too.

If you are set on an E-ink screen, you might want to wait a bit. Early next year an Android tablet with an E-ink screen is supposed to come out. See this link. To soon to tell if it will be any good.

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by Lee Wang

@ThomasC
Thanks for your helpful response, here are two typical math files I'm interested in:

http://math.stanford.edu/~vakil/216b...1113public.pdf
http://math.ecnu.edu.cn/~lfzhou/othe...20Thurston.pdf

I'll try amazon tech support.

In general about the tablet versus e reader: I've heard a lot of complaints about reading academic papers on e-readers, but I highly prefer e-ink over a screen since a computer screen keeps me awake noticably longer.

I downloaded the first file and transferred it to my dxg. I could not download the 2nd file.

Overall, I found the first pdf file fine to read on my dxg. The print was a bit smaller than I would like, but still quite readable. Actually it was better than on my 15" laptop unless I went to partial landscape pages.

The main restriction was that on the dxg no links were available and you can only use the dxg goto function to go to a page number (which at least seems to follow the table of contents). Also, you cannot bookmark pdf pages or make notes with the dxg . It's a pity that Amazon did not update the dxg firmware like it did with the kindle k3 keyboard which did give you a bit more pdf capability but unfortunately a smaller 6" screen.

Not really sure what to recommend. If it were me, I'd prefer the physical textbook.

Cheers,
Tom

[markom]

Originally Posted by ThomasC

...

The main restriction was that on the dxg no links were available and you can only use the dxg goto function to go to a page number (which at least seems to follow the table of contents). Also, you cannot bookmark pdf pages or make notes with the dxg . It's a pity that Amazon did not update the dxg firmware like it did with the kindle k3 keyboard which did give you a bit more pdf capability but unfortunately a smaller 6" screen.

Not really sure what to recommend. If it were me, I'd prefer the physical textbook.

Cheers,
Tom

I can bookmark and highlight(underscore) pdfs on Kindle dx, using kindlepdfviewer which is much better pdf viewer than native one in k3 or kindle dx.

Besides goto function to go to a page number in kindlepdfviewer we can also use bookmarked table of contents(we should make one ourselves if there was not one in document beforehand) or press number keys 1,2,3..0 to jump to 10%, 20% ... 90% of document.

It has gamma function to darken the text and night mode.

It also reads djvu, cbz and epub, allows for folders/subfolders and takes just a couple of seconds to get back to kindle's native reader or back to kindlepdfviewer.

It takes a few minutes to install it from scratch and I highly recommend it for pdf reading on Kindle dx.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=157047

[Lee Wang]

@Cosmosgravitatio That sounds very good! Are there similar apps for e-readers or would this condemn me to a tablet?
The android tablet you linked seemed a bit small, and gimmicky if you ask me.

@ThomasC Aah that doesn't sound to good, thanks for you help in any case.
Unfortunately there is no physical textbook for the first one.

@Markom That sounds much better. Could you tell me how readable the files I linked are (can you open both of them?), and tell me what are your own experiences with math texts (if you have any) on the kindle dx? Is there zoom capability?

[markom]

Originally Posted by Lee Wang

...

@Markom That sounds much better. Could you tell me how readable the files I linked are (can you open both of them?), and tell me what are your own experiences with math texts (if you have any) on the kindle dx? Is there zoom capability?

Both files are easily readable in portraite mode with zoom-to-document-hight or zoom-to-document-content-hight.

For even bigger letters, you can use fit-to-content-width, so no need for landscape mode at all.

I can use TOC to jump to the particular page.

It takes about 15 seconds to flip through 10 pages, so less than a second per page.

I needed a gamma correction to darken the text a bit.

If your pdf is scanned image without ocr, you can still use zooming to content-width by using the two-point cropping to remove white margins, or you can use reflow mode or percentage zooming or do the quick ocr beforehand and use fit-to-content zooming for textual pdf's like these two.

Btw. your Thurston pdf link was not valid, so I've downloaded it from another site(43 MB, 358 pages, page size 8.5x11 inch, text proper size about 7x9 inch)

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by markom

I can bookmark and highlight(underscore) pdfs on Kindle dx, using kindlepdfviewer which is much better pdf viewer than native one in k3 or kindle dx.

Besides goto function to go to a page number in kindlepdfviewer we can also use bookmarked table of contents(we should make one ourselves if there was not one in document beforehand) or press number keys 1,2,3..0 to jump to 10%, 20% ... 90% of document.

It has gamma function to darken the text and night mode.

It also reads djvu, cbz and epub, allows for folders/subfolders and takes just a couple of seconds to get back to kindle's native reader or back to kindlepdfviewer.

It takes a few minutes to install it from scratch and I highly recommend it for pdf reading on Kindle dx.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=157047

This is an unsupported hack and I really do not want to use any unauthorised hacks on my dxg.

Because of the limited internal memory in the dxg many of these hacks may end up hanging the dxg. Probably only happens in larger pdf files?

As long as it works for you, that's great.

Cheers,
Tom

[Lee Wang]

Originally Posted by markom

Both files are easily readable in portraite mode with zoom-to-document-hight or zoom-to-document-content-hight.

For even bigger letters, you can use fit-to-content-width, so no need for landscape mode at all.

I can use TOC to jump to the particular page.

It takes about 15 seconds to flip through 10 pages, so less than a second per page.

I needed a gamma correction to darken the text a bit.

If your pdf is scanned image without ocr, you can still use zooming to content-width by using the two-point cropping to remove white margins, or you can use reflow mode or percentage zooming or do the quick ocr beforehand and use fit-to-content zooming for textual pdf's like these two.

Btw. your Thurston pdf link was not valid, so I've downloaded it from another site(43 MB, 358 pages, page size 8.5x11 inch, text proper size about 7x9 inch)

You are very convincing.

I'm trying to find parental control on the kindle and apparently amazon did add that in recently on the regular kindle, but I can't find anything on the dxg. Does anybody know more?