Seeking advice

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

Why, as an expert reader, am I suppose to care about what most other people highlighted in a book ? I highlight what I want highlighted plain and simple.

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Yeah, that was a real head scratcher for me as well when I saw it touted.

Same here. It's one of the first features I turn off when I get a new Kindle.

[teija]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Same here. It's one of the first features I turn off when I get a new Kindle.

I didn't know you could turn off the highlighting "-- people have highlighted this" on the Kindle. Where can I find that setting?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by teija

I didn't know you could turn off the highlighting "-- people have highlighted this" on the Kindle. Where can I find that setting?

Settings -> Reading Options -> Highlights & About This Book

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Abhuman

So there's no way to resize PDF within the device to fit the screen? I'm talking about text only, not comics and such.

Some PDF readers can reflow text which would mean they perform similar to how they would on ePub. Of course some PDF's that look like text are really images and they cannot be reflowed. Reflow on some documents (tagged ones) is better than others in for far as formatting is concerned.

Dale

[Raphi'Elohim]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

From where did you get this title? It is rare to run across anyone who still has it, most of us stumble and drool too much to even be considered.

Easy, most Americans only read at an 8th grade level that is why the author James Patterson is so popular because they write books at a level most Americans can actually read at. Before that it was Stephen King. Once, a student reaches the lowest stage of reading, the elementary level, the American school system assumes the student knows how to read but there are two higher reading levels after elementary reading : analytical and syntopical. Analytical reading is supposed to be a highschool reading level (even though most Americans read only at the 8th grade level) and syntopical reading is supposed to be college level even though college kids don't reach it, nowadays, until graduate school.

Americans score poorly on the international PISA scores even a small insigificant member state of the EU, Ireland, scores higher than the USA in math, science and reading.

Basically, I read a book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren on how to read at higher levels. It is not easy ,at first, it is like learning how to ski but since I read the book years ago I am now an expert reader.

Anyway, that is my opinion why the Kindle adds training wheels features to the kindle. The Barnes and Noble Nook has zero training wheels and people mistake this for crappy firmware/software.

[Deskisamess]

Many of the articles I came across on adult literacy strongly tie literacy to having a college degree. Which imho will give you skewed numbers.

I've never been to college, and married at 18. I've read at an 8th grade level when I was in second grade. I don't believe I'm that unusual.

[ps67]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

Americans score poorly on the international PISA scores even a small insigificant member state of the EU, Ireland, scores higher than the USA in math, science and reading.

You have no right to call another country "insignificant".

James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, George Bernard Show an so on come from an insignificant country?
And why in a small country students should not score high results in PISA test?

[crossi]

I would recommend a kindle if it's your first e-reader simply because Amazon has such a lenient return policy. Get one, try it for a few weeks and get some better idea of what you want and don't want in an e-reader. Then either keep it or return it and buy a different e-reader. Also try Calibre to convert epubs bought elsewhere to see if you find it difficult or too much trouble.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

Basically, I read a book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren on how to read at higher levels. It is not easy ,at first, it is like learning how to ski but since I read the book years ago I am now an expert reader.

I, for one, don't give a rat's hind-end what "reading level" I've achieved in my lifetime of reading. Nor do I have any interest in attaining an arbitrarily defined "higher reading level." I read because I enjoy reading.

[teija]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I, for one, don't give a rat's hind-end what "reading level" I've achieved in my lifetime of reading. Nor do I have any interest in attaining an arbitrarily defined "higher reading level." I read because I enjoy reading.

Here, here! Agreed!

Those who can - read! It is not a competition about what "level" we are all at, nor should we be worrying about levelling-up as if it were some sort of MMORPG.

[Deskisamess]

I agree it's not a competition. Literacy rates in the US are not what they should be. But that's a totally different conversation.

[crane3]

I also read for enjoyment & do not care about "reading levels". Never had any idea what the definition of "reading level" or any examples of a reading level.

The concept is also ridicules as the "reading level" is also dependent on what the subject is in relation to a 'category'. i.e. how does "reading level" apply to how one understands a book on 'Partial Vector Differentiations" or differences on Oracle's version of DB2 vs IBM" version or Microsoft's version or other versions?

What reading level is one supposed to be able to decipher lawyer's micro-printed legalese in documents? What reading level is one to have to understand a medical doctor's description of an illness/problem, e.g. I have a difficulty in understanding why my sick sinus syndrome is not related to my sinus allergies.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

Basically, I read a book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren on how to read at higher levels. It is not easy ,at first, it is like learning how to ski but since I read the book years ago I am now an expert reader.

"A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible." 2 Nephi 29

Have you also read How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster? How To Read A Book A Day: The Ultimate Guide To Quickly Absorb And Retain Information by Chris Campbell? ABC of Reading by Ezra Pound though the final segment Treatise on Meter is poetry oriented? Or any of the other books on how to read books that have been published over the years? Even On Writing by Stephen King teaches some useful lessons.

Over the years, I've read around 10 books on reading. Some were useful, some weren't internally consistent, some were useful mostly as proof of the theory that a bad example is as good as a good example for learning as long as you know which is which.

Edit: And I'll be damned if I know that this has to do advice on which ereader to purchase.

Edit2: (feeble attempt to get back on topic) If the electronic money is good for Amazon, several retailers on Amazon sell Kobo ereaders which may put them back in the list of potential purchases.

[slkissinger]

Originally Posted by Abhuman

Great, for currently those two are the main contenders. I've read the Touch HD 3 has issues handling PDF while the PW4 would be superior in this regard; also, exploring the Pocketbook section of this very forum I was concerned when I saw people complaining about the screen freezing. Could you please go into your experience with the device with some detail? Besides the format nuisance, what do you find lacking in PW4?

I don’t find anything lacking in the PW4. I was going from your list of wishes, which you said was...“My priorities are speed, compatibility (the more files it can read, the better), customization (of fonts, lightning to avoid eye hurting and such), a good thesaurus, physical buttons, a clean UI and the ability to decently read all-text PDF.”

Speed, same (IMO).
Compatibility, touch hd 3 (IMO)
Customization, touch hd 3 (IMO)
Thesaurus, idk, don’t use them usually
Physical buttons, touch hd 3 (pw4 has none)
Clean ui, same
All text pdf, same (IMO)

So with only your wishes in mind, overall, IMO, touch hd 3 ‘wins’ if we are only comparing the two, because those are the only 2 on your list I have experience with. I could be completely wrong, and one of the other 2 on your list will fit your needs much better...so again, just my opinion...

Experience with touch hd3, I never had a screen freeze. No idea what other people mean. Works fine, and I like the battery life

[Abhuman]

Thank you for your insight, looks like I can't go wrong with any.