Any students using electronic readers for classes?

[physics]

Since you've been around here longer than I have, you probably already know this, but just in case not...the kindle dx does not have all the same pdf capabilities as the kindle 3. For example, it doesn't have the ability to highlight, take notes, or look up words in a dictionary, all of which the K3 does. Amazon does not seem to be planning on adding these features to the dx (or at least not this version of the dx), probably because it has less RAM, I believe. Also, it can only zoom to preset values (150%, 200%, etc.)- although the K3 has this shortcoming also.

One thing that it does do, however, is to automatically crop the margins off of pdfs- this even works on scanned (image) pdfs, not just text ones. (Quite a few old journal papers are scanned images.)

Anyway, I thought you might want to know this before deciding. I don't have an ipad, so I can't compare them.

[snipenekkid]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

I'm deciding between a Kindle DXG and an iPad 2, myself, for PDFs. I find that I can read many PDFs of journal articles surprisingly well on my Sony PRS-350, but some articles and scanned books definitely need to be read on a larger screen.

hey ya,

I had a DXG for a couple weeks about a month ago or so and sent it back. Not exclusively due to the PDF rendering but it was a factor. Really it was a confluence of PDF rendering and in document navigation felt beyond awkward compared the the iPod Touch 4 I had at the same time. In fact I preferred using the Touch over the DXG.

Were is me I would look at either an gen 1 iPad or the Pocketbook 902/903 as viable options. Of course there is the upcoming Onyx M90 and as I remember Dulin really does like the PDF handling on the Onyx 60 (sorry I forget the exact model number )

It's either a shame none of the devices have solid PDF handling software or it's that some really awful PDF's are being created using non-Adobe tools or just bad PDF creation tools. I really did like Goodreader a lot. I do wonder how much was simply due to the touch interface which makes zooming and moving around the pages nearly transparent. However, I like to take notes in my books and much prefer hand written notes over a keyboard. So I just backed away for now even though PDF's would represent a near to trivial number of my reference. However one book could mean $1000s in profits, or losses if I don't have mobile access to the references. So the number is not as important as decent access to the PDF's themselves plus any notations. I generally don't think I have a current need to seach my annotations, then again I have never had the ability to use them this way soooo ???

A shame really that we still are at this level for PDF's.

Hope ya find something soon! Now I think I'll brew up a fresh batch of my fav Turkish cawfee concoction.

[AlexSno]

People have begun to use this kind of stuff in the college my brother is attending. Adding some technology to the entire study process can only be a both way benefit.

[leebase]

My kids' schools wouldn't allow electronic devices into the classrom. I had 7 weeks of training last year and used my iPad to read the pdf versions of the books rather than the physical books. Loved it.

Lee