Impressions of the PRS-700 as my first eReader - Page 2

ewiplayer · 11-21-2008, 03:54 PM

See now I'm on the fence when it comes to connectivity. I get easily distracted and I think the ability to surf (even lightly) on the same device where I'm reading books would be brutal for me. It's the chief reason I can't use my computer to read... too much "stuff" to do/play with/see... When I'm locked up with a physical book, I concentrate... So the 700 without net access seems right for me, at the moment.

We've all got our own reasons for buying this beast.

Shunt1 · 11-21-2008, 04:08 PM

I have only purchased two books from Amazon with my Kindle. The internet capability is not that important, since I can wait until I get home to answer my wife's question.

Reading historical books were costing me a fortune. When I spent $75 for an "out of print" book fromEngland, I knew that there had to be a better answer.

Along came the Kindle and I was able to download these books over the internet.

However, some of these books have graphics and tables that are vital to understand, and simple TEXT was not working.

I have purchased software that claimed to translate PDF to something that the Kindle could display. With my set of "test PDF files" they have all failed.

I was able to translate a very important reference book into images, but the type was so tiny, it was almost impossible to read.

Simple Question:

Can the PRS-700 display the test file that I have linked? Can you read both the text and view the images?

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&...um=1&ct=result

Trying to understand something that is 200 years old, without pictures, is almost impossible.

If the PRS-700 can not display this test book, then I must cancel my order tonight.

Shunt1 · 11-21-2008, 04:15 PM

Kindle internet capabilities:

Ok, sometimes downloading stories from www.literotica.com, late at night, does come in rather handy.

Enough said....

astrodad · 11-21-2008, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shunt1

Kindle internet capabilities:

Ok, sometimes downloading stories from www.literotica.com, late at night, does come in rather handy.

Enough said....

LOL! Too much information.

Liviu_5 · 11-21-2008, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shunt1

Simple Question:

Can the PRS-700 display the test file that I have linked? Can you read both the text and view the images?

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&...um=1&ct=result

Trying to understand something that is 200 years old, without pictures, is almost impossible.

If the PRS-700 can not display this test book, then I must cancel my order tonight.

I have tested this book - Rudimentary... 5 MB PDF Google Books and it displays almost all pictures and all tables but there are several pictures that are not displayed. The text is readable in vertical mode and perfectly eligible in horizontal half page mode. Navigation is a bit slower than usual, but still fast compared with any other small device and an image pdf in my experience.

To see which images are not displayed open the book in Adobe Digital since they do not display there either, though they DO display in the regular Adobe PDF reader. Or download the free Sony library software and dump the pdf into it and open it with the Sony software. That will also give a rough idea of how it looks on the 700 too in vertical mode.

=X= · 11-21-2008, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayBoy

PDF support, Search

This was a huge selling point for me. And also annotation. If I did not have the 505 I would have gone for the 700 model. Now if they add character recognition for the data entry, bluetooth and a dictionary. I will probably break down and buy that model

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayBoy

From what I understand the 700 is the only Sony model that allows zooming on PDF files (which is great for all the charts I have), but I also heard that there is firmware upgrade for the 505 that increases it support for PDFs as well. Do any of the Gurus on this forum know what the differences in PDF handling on the 505 with the firmware upgrade and the 700 out of the box are? (I'm curious).

Jason

All of the features that are supported in the 505 are included in the 700. There where 2 changes in the firmware. One was text reflow the other was to enhance the whitness of the PDF. The PDF with the original FW had a grayish background that made PDFs hard to read.

=X=

Wetdogeared · 11-21-2008, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shunt1

You were able to view the ship images and still read the text?

With the Kindle, I could only do one or the other.

THANKS!

Sorry I had to leave the thread there for a while. I wanted to do a complete test on the sample PDF book that I downloaded.

I thought at first that I only had 191 pages with "Digitized by Goo*le and their logo at the bottom right of each page. But, it was just taking time to render the images or whatever. Each page turn takes from 3 to 6 seconds. Here is some of what I saw:

Page: 71 Preparing of Rigging....(lots of nice knots)
Page: 35 Top mast tressel....(shows graphic and can zoom in and see
both graphic and text)
Page: 93: Looks like a missing graphic.
Page: ??: All tables were available and could be zoomed in and navigated

Note: I checked on the missing graphic on my computer with adobe digital editions and there was a blank place there where I think a graphic should have been. The reader did, however, show all charts and graphs that show up in the Adobe Digital Editions so the reader got everything that I copied down to it.

Hope this was of help, I got to play with the zoom and maneuver functions.

Another update...just went to look at the downloaded PDF using the regular adobe reader and I saw the picture of the big ship. That ship did not make it to Adobe Digital Editions and therefore did not make it to the reader.

DDHarriman · 11-21-2008, 05:27 PM

Shunt1

For the type of reading you are talking about you need an Iliad, and probably the new Digital 1000s (or variant of it), and you will get the detail you are looking for.

Any 6" reader today will not cut it for you, even if with such good pdf options as the 700 looks to have.

soilwork · 11-21-2008, 05:36 PM

you can take a look at the conversion program called 'PaperCrop'.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31677
It can process quite complex PDFs into smaller images and it also supports reflow. It lacks some features such as pre-trim, but this can be a really valuable tool for reading PDFs on 6 inch device. Since the program creates image or PDF files, it can be useful for any device. You can try this tool and see whether it alleviates the problem of reading PDFs in 6 inch e-ink reader.

However, I would agree with others that having letter/A4 size e-ink device will be really nice for reading PDFs.

JayBoy · 11-21-2008, 05:59 PM

After experimenting a little more I found another pleasant surprise when it comes to large charts. You can not only zoom and slide around PDF charts with the touch screen, you can also do this with high resolution pictures! And it is even faster than doing the same operation with PDFs! This is great for programmers out there to look at large database schematics, and class inheritance charts. I can see this also being of use for looking at blueprints, electronic schematics, etc. When I first looked into buying the 700 I didn't really see much of a use for storing pictures on the device, but knowing that I can zoom-in and slide these around now I do.

Wetdogeared · 11-22-2008, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shunt1

Here is test PDF file from Goggle Books.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&...um=1&ct=result

The table and graphics are very important to me, and trying to convert this book into something that the Kindle can use, has been very frustrating.

Give this file a test with the PRS-700 and let me know your results.

I have opened up a case with Adobe support and used this PDF as an example. I have asked why Adobe Digital Editions would render most graphics in the book but not all. I'm awaiting a reply. The PRS700 got all the graphics, text and tables that ADE created and was good (for a 6 " screen) at zooming in and maneuvering around this old book. It handled everything ADE gave it, it's just that ADE did't convert all graphics, maybe another converter would. If they get back to me I'll reply here.

astra · 11-22-2008, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayBoy

I thought that feedback from someone who has never owned and eReader before might be useful to those of you that are new to eReaders as well.

Jason, you are in for a big surprise. You still do not own eReader.

You own eBook reader, and it is entirely different beast.

Liviu_5 · 11-22-2008, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

I have opened up a case with Adobe support and used this PDF as an example. I have asked why Adobe Digital Editions would render most graphics in the book but not all. I'm awaiting a reply. The PRS700 got all the graphics, text and tables that ADE created and was good (for a 6 " screen) at zooming in and maneuvering around this old book. It handled everything ADE gave it, it's just that ADE did't convert all graphics, maybe another converter would. If they get back to me I'll reply here.

I am curious too. It is not the first time I saw that - image rendered with Adobe PDF reader but not with Ebook Library/ADE/700 - with a Google book.

At first I supposed the images which are embedded pictures and not part of the image scan are not supported, but they seemed to be bitmap and the manual says the 700 supports such.

Unless the pdf is drm'ed, you do not need to open it in ADE to put it on the 700, you can add it to your Sony Ebook library directly - though it may help with metadata if you go through ADE

Wetdogeared · 11-22-2008, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

I am curious too. It is not the first time I saw that - image rendered with Adobe PDF reader but not with Ebook Library/ADE/700 - with a Google book.

At first I supposed the images which are embedded pictures and not part of the image scan are not supported, but they seemed to be bitmap and the manual says the 700 supports such.

Unless the pdf is drm'ed, you do not need to open it in ADE to put it on the 700, you can add it to your Sony Ebook library directly - though it may help with metadata if you go through ADE

Thanks for your suggestion Liviu_5. The PDF wasn't DRM'd so I bypassed Adobe Digital Editions and copied directly into eBook Library. The results were about the same, most of the graphics were intact but some detailed drawings were left blank.

pilotbob · 11-22-2008, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra

Jason, you are in for a big surprise. You still do not own eReader.

Yawn.

11-21-2008, 05:27 PM	#23
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	Shunt1 For the type of reading you are talking about you need an Iliad, and probably the new Digital 1000s (or variant of it), and you will get the detail you are looking for. Any 6" reader today will not cut it for you, even if with such good pdf options as the 700 looks to have. Last edited by DDHarriman; 11-21-2008 at 05:32 PM.

11-21-2008, 05:36 PM	#24
soilwork useR! Posts: 299 Karma: 651 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: NY Device: Onyx Boox Max 2, Kobo Libra H2O, iRiver Story HD	This may be slightly off topic, but to read PDFs on 6 inch screen, you can take a look at the conversion program called 'PaperCrop'. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31677 It can process quite complex PDFs into smaller images and it also supports reflow. It lacks some features such as pre-trim, but this can be a really valuable tool for reading PDFs on 6 inch device. Since the program creates image or PDF files, it can be useful for any device. You can try this tool and see whether it alleviates the problem of reading PDFs in 6 inch e-ink reader. However, I would agree with others that having letter/A4 size e-ink device will be really nice for reading PDFs.

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11-21-2008, 03:54 PM	#16
ewiplayer Enthusiast Posts: 47 Karma: 90 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-700	See now I'm on the fence when it comes to connectivity. I get easily distracted and I think the ability to surf (even lightly) on the same device where I'm reading books would be brutal for me. It's the chief reason I can't use my computer to read... too much "stuff" to do/play with/see... When I'm locked up with a physical book, I concentrate... So the 700 without net access seems right for me, at the moment. We've all got our own reasons for buying this beast.

11-21-2008, 04:08 PM	#17
Shunt1 Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 112 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Kindle, PRS-700	I have only purchased two books from Amazon with my Kindle. The internet capability is not that important, since I can wait until I get home to answer my wife's question. Reading historical books were costing me a fortune. When I spent $75 for an "out of print" book fromEngland, I knew that there had to be a better answer. Along came the Kindle and I was able to download these books over the internet. However, some of these books have graphics and tables that are vital to understand, and simple TEXT was not working. I have purchased software that claimed to translate PDF to something that the Kindle could display. With my set of "test PDF files" they have all failed. I was able to translate a very important reference book into images, but the type was so tiny, it was almost impossible to read. Simple Question: Can the PRS-700 display the test file that I have linked? Can you read both the text and view the images? http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&...um=1&ct=result Trying to understand something that is 200 years old, without pictures, is almost impossible. If the PRS-700 can not display this test book, then I must cancel my order tonight.

11-21-2008, 04:15 PM	#18
Shunt1 Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 112 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Kindle, PRS-700	Kindle internet capabilities: Ok, sometimes downloading stories from www.literotica.com, late at night, does come in rather handy. Enough said....

11-21-2008, 05:59 PM	#25
JayBoy Member Posts: 11 Karma: 92 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Toronto Device: Sony PRS-700	After experimenting a little more I found another pleasant surprise when it comes to large charts. You can not only zoom and slide around PDF charts with the touch screen, you can also do this with high resolution pictures! And it is even faster than doing the same operation with PDFs! This is great for programmers out there to look at large database schematics, and class inheritance charts. I can see this also being of use for looking at blueprints, electronic schematics, etc. When I first looked into buying the 700 I didn't really see much of a use for storing pictures on the device, but knowing that I can zoom-in and slide these around now I do.

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