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Old 09-25-2010, 06:54 AM   #1
jaggy
Edge User
 
Question How usuable is the Edge for PDF annotation?

Hello

The Edge appears to be exactly what I've been looking for.
After a poor experience with a tablet PC (Asus T101MT), I'm interested in finding out the usability of the Edge for PDF annotation. Basically, this would be for annotating academic journal articles (and student work).

i) With the size of the screen and in relation to the pdf text size displayed, will annotations be restricted to fairly large hand-writing; or is it easy/possible to zoom in and then write notes?

ii) For easier reading/annotation, is it possible to do this in landscape mode? (Both questions i and ii are related to whether there is enough 'space' to make meaningful annotations, or is it restricted to just a few key words).

iii) How responsive is the screen to hand-writing, is there a lag, is it consistent, does it feel 'natural'?

iv) Do these hand-written annotations display properly when viewing the marked up pdf file on say a pc using adobe pdf reader?

v) Overall, how would you rate the Edge's ability to annotate pdfs? how does it compare to paper, is it too much of an effort or is it genuinely productive for everyday use?

I would very much appreciate your feedback and experiences.

thanks
 
Old 09-25-2010, 09:36 AM   #2
alefor
Edge User
 
I cant answer all of your questions. But I will make a few comments.

1. Annotating on the eDGe is very natural and works well.
2. There is a slight lag to handwriting, but easy to get used to.
3. Using the eDGe for annotating is definitely worthwhile in my opinion. It is much better than paper in my opinion, and very productive.

I have been using the eDGe to read PDF files that I create with Adobe Acrobat Pro. The eDGe faithfully shows all annotations, and can handle web links etc that I create with Acrobat. I have no idea about going the other way, i.e. taking an eDGe annotated PDF and reading it on a PC. Interestingly, the software in the iPad for reading PDF files will NOT show any annotations made with Acrobat Pro.

I hope this is helpful.
 
Old 09-25-2010, 11:34 AM   #3
borisb
Edge User
 
Some additional comments:
i) the notes are stored at the zoom level you're at, and if you change zoom level, the written annotations may appear/disappear correspondingly. This is a current limitation. You may want to use typed annotation notes instead (they appear as markers on the eInk side and the text on the LCD side).
ii) The eDGe currently does not support landscape on the eInk side. We hope to see it one day, though.
iv) Generally, yes.
v) The eDGe does annotations (written and otherwise) extremely well because it was specifically designed to do so, and I believe it does it better than any other eInk device on the market today.
 
Old 09-25-2010, 03:15 PM   #4
devseev
Edge User
 
I agree with all the comments above - I find the eDGe very useful to do hand-written annotations and it has almost completely replaced paper printouts for this purpose for me. I've also found that most of the time (when the annotations are just for my own use), I use the highlighter and typed annotation features instead, because they are easier to view in the table of contents. However the option to "name" your handwritten annotations is also a handy feature for navigation.
 
Old 09-26-2010, 04:55 AM   #5
jaggy
Edge User
 
Thanks for the feedback so far - very helpful.

A couple of further questions:

1) when reading a pdf in edge e-ink side, does the machine 'convert' it, so that the pdf re-flows, and that's why annotations only display at a particular zoom level?

2) And following on, I'm still rather confused about whether e-ink markups on pdfs are specific to the Edge, or are universally viewable on any machine with a pdf reader? Is it possible for someone to markup a pdf - using hand writing, coloured highlighting and typed comments - and make it available to download so I can actually check how it looks in a standard pdf reader on a pc. How a marked up pdf 'exports' is something I'm really interested in working out if the Edge is going to be suitable for my needs.

thanks
 
Old 09-26-2010, 12:31 PM   #6
cheyennedonna
Edge User
 
Go here to see a marked up page from a PDF http://drop.io/pdfeditexample
 
Old 09-26-2010, 12:39 PM   #7
jaggy
Edge User
 
Many thanks @cheyennedonna

Looks fine to me. Though the top sentence 'the following...' is slightly cut-off, is it meant to be like that?

Does the Edge have feature which includes markup with comment boxes in which typed text be inserted, and then clicking on to one reveals the typed comment?
 
Old 09-26-2010, 01:02 PM   #8
cheyennedonna
Edge User
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaggy View Post
Many thanks @cheyennedonna

Looks fine to me. Though the top sentence 'the following...' is slightly cut-off, is it meant to be like that?

Does the Edge have feature which includes markup with comment boxes in which typed text be inserted, and then clicking on to one reveals the typed comment?
Since I had zoomed the page to annotate the saved page reflected that zoom point. My eyes are not good enough, nor do I write small enough, to do it it without zoom. (Thats why I want landscape view for the reader) If you add a typed note a small icon appears next to text where you inserted the note, the note opens on the LCD side. Currently all annotations and journal entries must be handwritten to show on the PDF
 
 


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