9.7"/10.3" too small for PDFs?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Philippe D.

I've read PDFs on a standard iPad (10"5, right?), and for short documents it's OK except for the LCD screen - I'm mentioning short documents because zooming in is then very convenient, and there are often margins that can be cropped. For longer documents (books), the default ebook app on the iPad is horrible since there is no way to set a default cropping for all pages of a document - having to re-zoom with each new page breaks my concentration when reading.

Earlier iPads were 9.7"; it's only the most recent iPad Pro that's 10.5". The extra 0.8" makes more difference than one might imagine.

There is no "default ebook app" - you install whatever app you want. For PDFs, the best app by far is GoodReader, which assuredly does remember your crop.

When it comes to the whole eInk vs. LCD for PDFs, I'm very much on the LCD side, personally. I read fiction on an eInk device (Kindle Oasis 2), but PDFs (of which I read an awful lot for my Egyptology degree studies) on my iPad. I find that eInk devices are just too slow. When I'm doing research, I want to be able to have multiple PDF documents open at once, and be able to rapidly flip both through them and between them. I've not come across any eInk device which allow me to do that.

[mdp]

We've been through this a few times, the following should be what you need for reference.

Below are attached two A4 page sized PDF files, they contain PNG (precise) screenshots of a professional PDF document (book) rendering
-- at a resolution of 2200x1650, resized at 271x203mm or 206ppi - the ES133TT3 (e.g. the Max family)
-- at a resolution of 1872x1404, resized at 157x210 or 226ppi - the ES103TC1 (e.g. the Note).

Note: when/if you print them, be careful not to have a printer resize the "Max" document within its irrelevant margins, because the Max is already pretty much A4 - 210x297 vs 203x271 (so the printer driver may insist in shrinking the content to an internal area many millimeters smaller than the A4). The PDF should be printed "as-is", no size modifications, no shrinking.

[mdp]

Originally Posted by mdp

Below are attached two A4 page sized PDF files, they contain PNG (precise) screenshots of a professional PDF document (book) rendering
-- at a resolution of 2200x1650, resized at 271x203mm or 206ppi - the ES133TT3 (e.g. the Max family)
-- at a resolution of 1872x1404, resized at 157x210 or 226ppi - the ES103TC1 (e.g. the Note).

Attached are two previews, just thumbnails for reference before download of the PDF files above.

[DaleDe]

Many readers and tools exist that will trim the margins which can make a huge difference. Look in our PDF forums. Onxy PDF reader internally will trim margins.

[Philippe D.]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Earlier iPads were 9.7"; it's only the most recent iPad Pro that's 10.5". The extra 0.8" makes more difference than one might imagine.

OK, didn't know that. Thanks.

There is no "default ebook app" - you install whatever app you want. For PDFs, the best app by far is GoodReader, which assuredly does remember your crop.

Well, there is a default app - the one that ships with the device. That's the one that will open by default, if you try to open, say, an attached PDF file in an email - hence the "default". I completely agree it may not be the best choice, but it's the one that you can count on every iPad user to have tried available.

[mdp]

Originally Posted by HarryT

When it comes to the whole eInk vs. LCD for PDFs, I'm very much on the LCD side, personally.

Ah, but then you have not tried yet the magic of OLED...
Never without from then on. (Of course, that's for indoor use.)
The blacks are strictly black (= off). If you read using light on black, it can be nice to your eyes.
(Warning: sometimes 2560x1600 OLED screens are much closer to 1280x800 in real practice: in the past, many used two lights per pixel instead of three. Check well first in person. The miopic eagle eye recoil scream and flee. But professional matte layers can cover well the intrinsic faults of the screen detail.)

Originally Posted by HarryT

I find that eInk devices are just too slow. When I'm doing research, I want to be able to have multiple PDF documents open at once, and be able to rapidly flip both through them and between them. I've not come across any eInk device which allow me to do that.

The Max2 comes pretty close.

...I think I will try to post a demonstration. Some go "yes but why do I need a CPU at all when I am quietly reading", others want responsiveness when they rightfully go active on the device like Deckard on his Memex. If you have a relevant request, post it.