The best one to annotate?

[ChristineGER]

Hey there,

I'm very new to the e-reader-world. I've just got an Kindle 4 (non touch).
I like it.
I'm able to read PDFs well, in spite of the small screen.
But I have not found a way to save notes and highlights along with the PDFs, or at least to synchronize them with the PC applications.
The separate listing in the My Clippings.txt is not a viable method.
I want the marks and annotations in the original, also on the PC.

Like many other students, I want mainly read a lot of papers on the e-reader.
Which reader can handle annotating better than the Kinde?
Otherwise, I do not need many features, of course it should be one with e-ink.

If this post has already been answered, I'm sorry, I could find only some old posts (2010).

Thanks a lot for helping!

By
Chrissy

[paaThaka]

I'm in the same boat and have been for the past four years.

I have given up.

IMHO, for me, none of the eBook reader devices (ePaper or similar) offer easy and trusted workflow of PDF annotations, highlights and syncing them properly. Most are kludgy, proprietary and unreliable.

The easiest and most expensive way is just to get an iPad and buy a proper PDF management, marking, indexing and searching app like Papers.

A similar one for Android seems to be Mantano eBook reader, althought not anywhere near as comprehensive.

YMMV, of course.

[Billi]

Chrissy, for your questions regarding notes on the Kindle it's best to ask them in the Kindle subforum.

The general question - ebook reader for students: the best eInk solution is an Onyx Boox M92. The size of the screen is roughly 14 x 20 cm and not 9 x 12 cm as the Kindle4 has.

Und: willkommen im Forum! Wir haben hier auch einen deutschen Teil!

[ChristineGER]

Thanks for your kind answers! :-)

@paaThaka:
I guess you are right, the best solution would be a tablet, but then I have to read on a lcd again...and then I can use my netbook also.

@Billi
Danke schön :-) The Onyx Boox M92 sounds really good, but it isn't really sold anymore in German, is it?
And 300 something Euro is a lot...perhaps the 6' one, its only 130 Euro.
Well, I've to google some more time.
But if you have any ideas of a good way getting it in Germany? :-)

[Billi]

Yes, here: http://www.ereader-store.eu/

And one of the people working there - Booxtor - is very active in this forum here too, what can't be bad at all if there are any questions.

[ChristineGER]

Originally Posted by Billi

Yes, here: http://www.ereader-store.eu/

And one of the people working there - Booxtor - is very active in this forum here too, what can't be bad at all if there are any questions.

Danke nochmal! :-)

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by paaThaka

IMHO, for me, none of the eBook reader devices (ePaper or similar) offer easy and trusted workflow of PDF annotations, highlights and syncing them properly. Most are kludgy, proprietary and unreliable.

The easiest and most expensive way is just to get an iPad and buy a proper PDF management, marking, indexing and searching app like Papers.

A similar one for Android seems to be Mantano eBook reader, althought not anywhere near as comprehensive.

YMMV, of course.

I agree with you on the first part. I too havent found eInk reader that is really good with pdf. The reason for this is simply screen size. Let's face it, 6' screen is just bad for pdf. And highlighting is not so simple, as well as making notes, annotations, drawings and so on.

As for getting the iPad just to read the pdfs? Sheer stupidity. It might be the easiest way, but lets face it. If you are a student and not some 60 yo housewife, you should give yourself some credit and try other tablet options out there. What I mean is I expect a student to be little bit more tech savy then an average housewife and give the android market a go. Plus the customizability. Oh the customization is best part. Why confine yourself with iOS. Yuck.

Now, I'm a student and my choice was same as OP's. I had to find something to mainly read pdf on with ability to take notes. I knew most important thing would be screen size. So I went with 10' tablet. That's the only thing that matters with pdf really. My choice was Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet. The specs are in the attachments. Price? 322$ compared to iPad 546$ with same 32 GB model. (prices in Japan).
Bonus thing is Lenovo tablet has a real stylus pen. So I can make annotations and highlights like I would with marker on a paper book.

As for annotations I tried a lot of applications, but I stick with ezPDF Reader now. Its perfect for highlight and notations. Its not expensive; google store has it.


As for more on awesomeness of Lenovo tablet and pdf annotating see this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufT3W11ch34


The point is, buying a iPad to read Pdf is madness. Give an android tablet a try. There is plenty of good tablets from Lenovo, Samsung, Sony. Don't spend more then 500$ because that's an easy way out. Do your research. You're a student aren't you?

[ChristineGER]

Hey,

I bought the Onyx Boox i62HD and I'm very satisfied with it.
It works very well with pdf annotating. Of course 9,7'' would be better, but its ok for me to turn the reader by 45° and scroll twice for each page and save some hundred bucks.
So my Kindle goes straight back to Amazon. :-)

[Geralt]

What is the difference between 6 inch Onyx and and 6 inch kindle when it comes to pdf annotation? Seems to me not a big one.

[ChristineGER]

Originally Posted by alucarda

What is the difference between 6 inch Onyx and and 6 inch kindle when it comes to pdf annotation? Seems to me not a big one.

Its a huge one!
I annotate a pdf on Kindle and can export it with a lot of other notes of a other papers in a txt file.
There are some tools to get this file structured but there is no way to have the highlights and notes in the actual pdf file again on your computer.
That made the function useless for me. I would have to search the pages again to read the context of my notes.
And: The cool function to sync annotation over wifi with your kindle-account does work only for kindle-ebooks, not for your own stuff and not for pdfs. Fail! This "cool features only for amazon products" was the main reason for me not to use kindle any longer. Onyx is very open, scriptable. And if there comes in two years a cool new ebook file format then some geek will code an new plugin for it, you can be sure.

In Onyx pdf annotation its much better: Every annotation, every highlight and every scribble is optional saved directly in a copy of the pdf file. It looks on the computer same as on the reader. Perfect! And it supports the extra txt file mode also.

[Geralt]

Android 10' tablet would have been much better choice.
ezPDF Reader saves annotated copy as well and you don't have to squint your eyes or turn your reader around to get that highlight.

[ChristineGER]

Well thats again the old e-ink vs. lcd debate.
For me it's clearly much more comfortable to read with e-ink.
But it depends of course on your personal wishes. :-)