Ereader for academics?

plxadh · 08-20-2013, 08:22 AM

Hi, new here and need advice. I am looking to get an ereader that I will use mostly for reading scientific papers (i.e. pdfs). It must be able to upload from PC and have a hierarchical file system (with many layers).

Ideal spec includes:
- downloading from password protected sites
- coping with enhanced pdf
- eInk

Thanks in advance for any advice.

HarryT · 08-20-2013, 11:32 AM

A question that's very often asked, and I'm afraid the honest answer is that this is something that eInk devices are just not terribly good at. PDFs take a lot of processing power to render, and eInk devices have very slow CPUs and really aren't up to the job of rendering complex PDFs. Most people (myself included) will recommend an iPad or equivalent Android tablet to you for this purpose. For me, an iPad with the "GoodReader" App is hard to beat.

If you absolutely must have an eInk device you need one with a 9.7" screen. The Onyx M92 is probably the best.

Jessica Lares · 08-20-2013, 03:05 PM

You want a full sized tablet. You're not going to get much luck with eInk. They all see PDFs as images pretty much.

Rizla · 08-20-2013, 10:24 PM

I do okay reading pdfs on a rooted Nook STR using Orion Viewer. But not everyone has the know-how to root an e-reader and install apps on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

A question that's very often asked

Indeed...

google site:www.mobileread.com/forums/ e-reader academic pdf

Pismire · 08-22-2013, 08:11 AM

As a person that asked the same question way back, I now heavily lean towards actually getting a tablet.

Maybe its time to turn this subject into a sticky, with some proper information about readers, associated citation software, screenshots... volunteers?

*whistles and walks away*

jojoba · 08-22-2013, 10:08 AM

Just echoing what the others are saying. I'm a researcher and initially tried e-ink devices when I wanted to go digital with all my research literature, but e-ink simply isn't designed to support serious research literature management. I use an iPad, with the help of the apps GoodReader, iAnnotate and Bookends (the latter syncs to my mac research library, but you could also use e.g. Papers or EndNote if you are using Windows). A lot of academic publishing houses also have separate apps that you can install on a tablet.

Here's one of my previous (longish, rant like) posts on e-ink versus tablets for academic work:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...23#post2237323

wayrad · 08-22-2013, 11:36 AM

I've gone with a Nexus 10 for reading academic pdf's and it seems to be working out well. AFAIK either that or an iPad would be the best game in town at the moment for this purpose.

I did think about a Galaxy Note because the stylus capability would be nice for annotations, but the screen resolution is way too low for scientific pdf's. On the Nexus 10 I can easily read full pages displayed in portrait mode without eyestrain.

Pismire · 08-22-2013, 02:26 PM

Hey wayrad, would it be much to ask for a picture of your nexus with an unzoomed PDF?
I have been raiding local stores and downloading PDFs to check on Samsung Tab and Note. Was starting to think that even with a higher resolution one might need landscape mode and panning to read PDFs...

HarryT · 08-22-2013, 02:43 PM

You certainly don't on an iPad 3 or later. Unzoomed A4/Letter PDFs display absolutely fine.

jojoba · 08-23-2013, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

You certainly don't on an iPad 3 or later. Unzoomed A4/Letter PDFs display absolutely fine.

This is my experience, too.

wayrad · 08-23-2013, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pismire

Hey wayrad, would it be much to ask for a picture of your nexus with an unzoomed PDF?
I have been raiding local stores and downloading PDFs to check on Samsung Tab and Note. Was starting to think that even with a higher resolution one might need landscape mode and panning to read PDFs...

OK, I'll try. I just managed to take a screenshot in Ebookdroid - let's see if I can get a thumbnail to appear:

It looks lousy on my monitor, which is a much lower resolution than the tablet is, but if you zoom in (there's a zoom thingie on the lower right corner of the image) you can see how high resolution it really is. The automatic crop is on but there is no other tweaking. The actual size of the image on the Nexus is 5 1/4 X 8", excluding the navigation and menu bars. It looks very sharp and clear.

P.S. I tried a photo with my phone also, but couldn't get it to look decent.

HarryT · 08-23-2013, 09:57 AM

Here's a picture of my iPad displaying an uncropped, unzoomed, page of a US-letter format PDF. As you can see, the aspect ratio of the iPad is pretty much a perfect match for such documents.

EDIT: It's not a very good photograph, I'm afraid. Poor lighting (the iPad bezel is actually white

). It's a lot clearer in reality than it looks in the photo, but hopefully the photo at least shows that it is easily readable.

Pismire · 08-23-2013, 03:37 PM

Thank both of you very much, this is very helpful.

HarryT · 08-23-2013, 03:43 PM

You're very welcome.

wayrad · 08-25-2013, 11:15 AM

Glad I could help!

08-20-2013, 08:22 AM	#1
plxadh Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: none	Ereader for academics? Hi, new here and need advice. I am looking to get an ereader that I will use mostly for reading scientific papers (i.e. pdfs). It must be able to upload from PC and have a hierarchical file system (with many layers). Ideal spec includes: - downloading from password protected sites - coping with enhanced pdf - eInk Thanks in advance for any advice.

08-22-2013, 10:08 AM	#6
jojoba Addict Posts: 277 Karma: 1039638 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Europe Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad 3gen, Cybook Odyssey FL HD	Just echoing what the others are saying. I'm a researcher and initially tried e-ink devices when I wanted to go digital with all my research literature, but e-ink simply isn't designed to support serious research literature management. I use an iPad, with the help of the apps GoodReader, iAnnotate and Bookends (the latter syncs to my mac research library, but you could also use e.g. Papers or EndNote if you are using Windows). A lot of academic publishing houses also have separate apps that you can install on a tablet. Here's one of my previous (longish, rant like) posts on e-ink versus tablets for academic work: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...23#post2237323 Last edited by jojoba; 08-22-2013 at 02:23 PM.

08-23-2013, 09:57 AM	#12
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Here's a picture of my iPad displaying an uncropped, unzoomed, page of a US-letter format PDF. As you can see, the aspect ratio of the iPad is pretty much a perfect match for such documents. EDIT: It's not a very good photograph, I'm afraid. Poor lighting (the iPad bezel is actually white ). It's a lot clearer in reality than it looks in the photo, but hopefully the photo at least shows that it is easily readable. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by HarryT; 08-23-2013 at 10:16 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
tablet/ereader for academics	pj123	Which one should I buy?	3	10-01-2011 11:51 AM
Academics using Edge?	jaggy	enTourage Archive	35	10-22-2010 11:59 AM
Large screen reader for academics/research	pmthokku	Which one should I buy?	10	08-15-2010 02:36 PM
Academics: which e-reader do you use?	hermance	Which one should I buy?	5	07-31-2009 08:31 PM
Digital bookstores for Academics and Scholars	thibaulthalpern	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	4	03-22-2009 09:31 AM

08-20-2013, 11:32 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	A question that's very often asked, and I'm afraid the honest answer is that this is something that eInk devices are just not terribly good at. PDFs take a lot of processing power to render, and eInk devices have very slow CPUs and really aren't up to the job of rendering complex PDFs. Most people (myself included) will recommend an iPad or equivalent Android tablet to you for this purpose. For me, an iPad with the "GoodReader" App is hard to beat. If you absolutely must have an eInk device you need one with a 9.7" screen. The Onyx M92 is probably the best.

08-20-2013, 03:05 PM	#3
Jessica Lares Wizard Posts: 2,240 Karma: 5759170 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Near Dallas, Texas, USA Device: iPad Mini, iPod Touch (5th gen)	You want a full sized tablet. You're not going to get much luck with eInk. They all see PDFs as images pretty much.

08-22-2013, 08:11 AM	#5
Pismire Small God, also Turtle. Posts: 78 Karma: 227774 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: South-ish Device: Kindle Touch	As a person that asked the same question way back, I now heavily lean towards actually getting a tablet. Maybe its time to turn this subject into a sticky, with some proper information about readers, associated citation software, screenshots... volunteers? whistles and walks away

08-22-2013, 11:36 AM	#7
wayrad Fanatic Posts: 551 Karma: 1121392 Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Device: HTC One M8	I've gone with a Nexus 10 for reading academic pdf's and it seems to be working out well. AFAIK either that or an iPad would be the best game in town at the moment for this purpose. I did think about a Galaxy Note because the stylus capability would be nice for annotations, but the screen resolution is way too low for scientific pdf's. On the Nexus 10 I can easily read full pages displayed in portrait mode without eyestrain.

08-22-2013, 02:26 PM	#8
Pismire Small God, also Turtle. Posts: 78 Karma: 227774 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: South-ish Device: Kindle Touch	Hey wayrad, would it be much to ask for a picture of your nexus with an unzoomed PDF? I have been raiding local stores and downloading PDFs to check on Samsung Tab and Note. Was starting to think that even with a higher resolution one might need landscape mode and panning to read PDFs...

08-22-2013, 02:43 PM	#9
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	You certainly don't on an iPad 3 or later. Unzoomed A4/Letter PDFs display absolutely fine.

08-23-2013, 03:37 PM	#13
Pismire Small God, also Turtle. Posts: 78 Karma: 227774 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: South-ish Device: Kindle Touch	Thank both of you very much, this is very helpful.

08-23-2013, 03:43 PM	#14
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	You're very welcome.

08-25-2013, 11:15 AM	#15
wayrad Fanatic Posts: 551 Karma: 1121392 Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Device: HTC One M8	Glad I could help!

Advert

Advert