From tablet to e-paper

[Xwang]

Hi to all!
Since some years I read magazines and technical books on my asus me302kl 10" tablet. Both magazines and books are PDF files stored on an USB pen drive.
The only real problem is when I try to read outside because despite the anti glare cover it is difficult to read in such a situation.
So I'm wondering if it is the case to move to a device with an e-paper display, but I would like to spend no more than 200€.
Any suggestion?

[Pajamaman]

At that price point, maybe look for a used Likebook or Onyx on ebay. You could read PDF in landscape.

I mean a 9.7".

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

At that price point, maybe look for a used Likebook or Onyx on ebay. You could read PDF in landscape.

At that price point, the screen is too small for technical PDF. Reading landscape is not a good idea.

The thing to do is save up for a 10.3" Pocketbook or a 13.3" Onyx Boox Max (the new one forthcoming with the front light).

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The thing to do is save up for a 10.3" Pocketbook

I would prefer Likebook Alita - 10.3 Inch

[Xwang]

Thank you for the suggestion, but they are too much expensive. I'll wait for cheaper alternatives or in case I found some of them used.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Xwang

Thank you for the suggestion, but they are too much expensive. I'll wait for cheaper alternatives or in case I found some of them used.

That's the problem with PDF and eInk. You need a large screen to be able to read PDF. 6" is too small. And at your budget, you will have to save some.

[Pajamaman]

I can see two used 9.7" Onyx M92s on ebay for that price. They're old, but Onyx hardware is pretty study, but you never know with old kit. It's the chance you take. A4 PDF would be okay in landscape. I read PDF on a 9.7" tablet in landscape all the time.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Xwang

Thank you for the suggestion, but they are too much expensive. I'll wait for cheaper alternatives or in case I found some of them used.

Likebook Mars is 7.8 inch and has the same number of pixels as the 10.3 inch devices.
You just have to read closer.

[Xwang]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

I can see two used 9.7" Onyx M92s on ebay for that price. They're old, but Onyx hardware is pretty study, but you never know with old kit. It's the chance you take. A4 PDF would be okay in landscape. I read PDF on a 9.7" tablet in landscape all the time.

On my tablet I rad in portrait mode without issues, so I do not think that the being 1" smaller would be a problem. I will have a look at them.

[mobama]

Originally Posted by Xwang

On my tablet I rad in portrait mode without issues, so I do not think that the being 1" smaller would be a problem. I will have a look at them.

An inch may not make a big difference, but the loss of resolution may make a big difference. 9.7" eink screens are 150 dpi, the worst. 7.8" screens are 300 dpi, the best. 10.3" is 227 or so, good enough.

This forum has a flea market section. Some tolerable option may turn up there.

[Quoth]

The DXG 9.7" is much poorer for PDFs than the 6.8" H2O original as it's much lower resolution. The 7" Libra is still not good enough for most PDFs but far better than the H2O because it's 300 dpi vs 266 or something as well as slightly bigger.
Page turn on many older ereaders of PDF is very slow. Conversion to 1 bit per pixel as well as making background white (can be automated) as well as a crop can help.

[Marinolino]

Originally Posted by Quoth

The DXG 9.7" is much poorer for PDFs than the 6.8" H2O original as it's much lower resolution. The 7" Libra is still not good enough for most PDFs but far better than the H2O because it's 300 dpi vs 266 or something as well as slightly bigger.
Page turn on many older ereaders of PDF is very slow. Conversion to 1 bit per pixel as well as making background white (can be automated) as well as a crop can help.

I've been gladly reading all kinds of pdfs on Kindle DXG for over 7 years now, mainly outdoors though (indoors I rather use iPad or my eink readers with frontlight), using KPV (ex-koreader) reader with a contrast adjustment control and very good other pdf functions i.e. much better than DXG's native pdf reader.

Although I can read a lot of my b/w A4 pdfs on 7.8" 300 dpi Kobo Aura One, e.g. two-column A4 pdfs using two-column mode, and single-column A4 pdfs (with the text width 16-17 cm + empty margins) using landscape with margins completely cropped, there are quite a few single-column A4 pdfs whose text width is about 18 cm, so that it is much easier for me to read those pdfs using DXG in landscape mode because with margins completely cropped I can also get 10-15% magnification compared to the paper original (on its 20 cm wide screen), than on Kobo's 16 cm screen in landscape.

I could also use Kobo's (Koreader's) reflow mode for such wide A4 pdfs but I rather use DXG (KPV reader) and read with an original (undisturbed) page layout, or indoors iPad.