Is the Pocketbook 912 worth it overall?

[Emergence]

Hello Folks!

I use to read pdf's intensively (papers and books) and cannot bear reading on harsh screens anymore. I've never had any ereader and I think it's time for me to get one : as it happens a store quite near my home does sell a Pocketbook 912, therefore I appeal to your expertise regarding this device : Is it worth having?? In particular I wonder whether one can access to platforms like JSTOR through it, and whether it supports a dynamic/non-linear reading (I mean jumping pages, using the index and the table of contents, searching for occurrences etc.).

If not & alternatively, what do you think of a tablet so as to do lengthy readings (again, mostly pdf's)?

Thanks very much in advance!

Romain

[mimble]

I bought a pocketbook 912 for exactly those reasons (professional papers, A4 format, 2 to 3 columns). We already had two kindles, but I found them hopeless for PDFs.

I am amazingly disappointed. The bugs are really too much. In these days, when you connect phones, cameras and sticks to your PC, there is no excuse for not being able to reliably connect via USB (see here).
If you feed it a PDF file from a journal which is a bit complicated, the device will take ages to open it, and turn the pages painfully slowly. You can annotate PDFs, with two small caveats.
1. The device is too slow to follow the pen on the screen
2. The annotations are stored in a bizarre html-ish format that you cannot use on any other device.

It has a web reader of sorts, but if you browse JSTOR, I think you have very little chance of downloading a PDF. From other sites, downloads may or may not work.

I tried going back to the kindle for PDFs, but it is as bad as I remember it (I love it for everything, except PDF files).

[HarryT]

I read an awful lot of PDF journal articles, and the iPad is the best device around for this purpose, hands down, in my experience. Way better than any eInk device. There are several excellent iPad PDF reading/annotation apps; I use "Goodreader".

[Billi]

The greatest advantage of the Pocketbook 912 is its price, the second one its battery duration.
One of its disadvantages is its screen, which is not Pearl.
But eink alternatives are rare, its almost only the Onyx M92.

Tablet-wise you can follow Harry's advice of the iPad or have a look at the Samsung Note 10.

(I have the pre-model, the Pocketbook 902, and use it dayly. But I don't need internet access for the device and I don't need notes. I am quite content with it.)

[markom]

Originally Posted by mimble

...

I tried going back to the kindle for PDFs, but it is as bad as I remember it (I love it for everything, except PDF files).

Kindle DX is very good for plain reading A4 sized PDFs with highlighting(underscoring), as well as djvu, epub, cbz, html, but we must install kindlepdfviewer thereon, because Kindle's native pdf reader is pretty rudimentary.

For taking notes or handwriting while reading PDF on Kindle DX I use tablet or netbook simultaneously.

[jojoba]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I read an awful lot of PDF journal articles, and the iPad is the best device around for this purpose, hands down, in my experience. Way better than any eInk device. There are several excellent iPad PDF reading/annotation apps; I use "Goodreader".

Agreed.

I went through a bunch of experimentation trying to use e-ink for my academic work, but it was just terrible. Now I'm using an iPad (using GoodReader and iAnnotate for marking up pdfs) and it's excellent - and MUCH easier to jump between pages, make notes, export annotations, and so on. I love e-ink devices for recreational book reading, but would never attempt to go back to them for pdfs. In general, I also find the iPad much easier to read on than a computer screen.

[Emergence]

Thank you all very much for your help. I have just bought an ipad & it is promising! Could those of you who are using it, tell me which is the handiest way to transfer a multi-folder pdf library from my pc to the ipad? Thanks in advance!

Romain

[jojoba]

Dropbox. Keep (or sync) your literature folders on/to Dropbox, and from there you can sync them to GoodReader or iAnnotate on your iPad.

[paola]

Originally Posted by jojoba

Dropbox. Keep (or sync) your literature folders on/to Dropbox, and from there you can sync them to GoodReader or iAnnotate on your iPad.

or even better Copy: at present you get 15GB free for signing up, 5GB extra free if you sign up using a link (e.g. the one in my signature ) and 5GB more for each referral! I've been using for a few months now, and am thinking of ditching dropbox altogether.

[Emergence]

Hi there!

I am experiencing very frequent crashes with Goodreader since I updated iOS on my iPad. They did not occur before the update though. It is really disabling & I am thinking either going back to iOS 6 (if possible) or changing Goodreader for another reader (which is a shame because, again, it was perfectly working since then). Are some of you encountering the same problem?

Best whishes

Romain

[jscarbo]

Although I agree that the iPad is probably the best tablet for PDF's, if you're on a budget the Nook HD+ isn't bad. I bought mine a couple of months ago primarily for reading PDF's, magazines and graphic novels. It's far superior to any of the 7" tablets I've used and I've been very satisfied with it.

[markom]

Originally Posted by Emergence

Hi there!

I am experiencing very frequent crashes with Goodreader since I updated iOS on my iPad. They did not occur before the update though. It is really disabling & I am thinking either going back to iOS 6 (if possible) or changing Goodreader for another reader (which is a shame because, again, it was perfectly working since then). Are some of you encountering the same problem?

Best whishes

Romain

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=226191