Need a non capacitive eReader for scanned PDF Textbooks

IcarusMiles · 08-23-2012, 01:07 AM

Hi!
I am a broke college student and have all of my texts as scanned PDFs on my laptop, but I can't read them for long without getting the eye pains and the blinding head aches. It took me 2 hours to read 20 pages last night (though notes were taken).
I need something good that I can transfer the PDFs for my books from my laptop to an eReader.
Also, my skin is less than optimally capacitive... enough so that my dad used to tease me by giving me his iPhone to do simple tasks I could not perform, so capacitive touch screens are not really useful for me.

I have considered the Kindle DX, but I am honestly at a loss when it comes to this stuff. The $379 price seemed hefty to me as well. =\
And I will likely give this to my mom eventually so that she can read on it.

So what do you think are my best options?

Thanks for the input.

charmian · 08-23-2012, 04:36 AM

Try to find a used Kindle DX on ebay or craigslist.

slm · 08-23-2012, 06:02 AM

All of the "touch" e-ink readers use IR not capacitance.

IcarusMiles · 08-23-2012, 02:38 PM

Are the Touch eReaders big enough to clearly and easily view text books? Also, some of my textbooks are scanned in, so they'd be like pictures from PDF. Are they easily compatible?

slm · 08-23-2012, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IcarusMiles

Are the Touch eReaders big enough to clearly and easily view text books? Also, some of my textbooks are scanned in, so they'd be like pictures from PDF. Are they easily compatible?

Somewhat.
The Nook Touch Glow can be turned into quite a nice Android 2.1 tablet and you can then use pretty much any Android program to display the pdfs.
The screen is "6 inch" but 4:3 rather than 16:9 so it displays about the same amount of text as a "7 inch" Android table. This still means that the print from a scanned textbook will be pretty small, if your textbooks are the common large-format books.

With the glow light, the Nook it very readable, BUT it is black and white. Reading texts that have colors can be a real problem, particularly light blue and similar colors which generally show up as white or nearly white!

IcarusMiles · 08-23-2012, 03:55 PM

Yeah, my text books are large like that. =\ And certain words are printed in blues. It would probably be fine for most of my Psych classes, not so much for biology ones, though.
I was also looking at a Nexus 7 (with a capacitive stylus, of course), does anyone know anything about them? I have zero intention on using it for youtube (I don't youtube, google plus, any of that stuff), but since I can't use smart phones I have zero experience with tablets too. Also, our most technological store is Walmart... the nearest BestBuy, Target, everything else is more than 80 miles away, so online is pretty much my only option right now, I can't go and handle devices to see how they look because there aren't any here. Also, our craigslist... any entries that ARE for our town are like tubed TVs and stuff.
I have looked at ebay for inexpensive Kindle DX and I think that may be the route I take, but I haven't decided. I just want to use it for my textbooks, and give it to my mom afterwards so she can read on it. Kindle DX seems more than large enough, but is black and white. Nexus 7 is smaller, but someone else suggested it, and it has color, and I guess I could find some other use for it afterward.
I just feel lost with all this stuff,a dn overwhelmed by all the different types and interfaces. I just need an easy way to read and do my college assignments, while hopefully not leaving me broke and unable to afford textbooks come January. =\

Fluribus · 08-23-2012, 09:03 PM

In my experience, the smaller Kindles are horrible for reading PDFs. If I were in your shoes, I would get the DX. A larger tablet might work if you use a stylus, but you should make sure that you can comfortably read it.

You might try dimming the screen on your laptop when you need to read. It might help enough that you don't need to buy anything.

IcarusMiles · 08-24-2012, 06:48 PM

Two problems with my laptop: distraction factor (I do have F.Lux installed to adjust brightness automatically), and portability. It is 17" so kinda big, but I'd been carrying it my napsack home from the library one day and got hit by a minivan. The motherboard is damaged, the hard drive controller slowly but surely eats and renders useless large portions of my hard drives, so it's best to leave it in one place. Plus, a big laptop is a battery freakin' vampire.

Fluribus · 08-25-2012, 11:32 PM

The only things that I can tell you for sure are:
I hate doing intensive reading on an LCD screen.
I hate reading PDFs on a small ereader.
I would have bought a DX if they weren't so expensive.

08-23-2012, 01:07 AM	#1
IcarusMiles Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: none	Need a non capacitive eReader for scanned PDF Textbooks Hi! I am a broke college student and have all of my texts as scanned PDFs on my laptop, but I can't read them for long without getting the eye pains and the blinding head aches. It took me 2 hours to read 20 pages last night (though notes were taken). I need something good that I can transfer the PDFs for my books from my laptop to an eReader. Also, my skin is less than optimally capacitive... enough so that my dad used to tease me by giving me his iPhone to do simple tasks I could not perform, so capacitive touch screens are not really useful for me. I have considered the Kindle DX, but I am honestly at a loss when it comes to this stuff. The $379 price seemed hefty to me as well. =\ And I will likely give this to my mom eventually so that she can read on it. So what do you think are my best options? Thanks for the input.

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08-23-2012, 04:36 AM	#2
charmian Addict Posts: 386 Karma: 1814548 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle 3, Kindle PW2	Try to find a used Kindle DX on ebay or craigslist.

08-23-2012, 06:02 AM	#3
slm Fool Posts: 377 Karma: 3557934 Join Date: Feb 2003 Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle PW1, Kobo Glo HD, Nook Glowlight Plus ...	All of the "touch" e-ink readers use IR not capacitance.

08-23-2012, 02:38 PM	#4
IcarusMiles Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: none	Are the Touch eReaders big enough to clearly and easily view text books? Also, some of my textbooks are scanned in, so they'd be like pictures from PDF. Are they easily compatible?

08-23-2012, 03:55 PM	#6
IcarusMiles Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: none	Yeah, my text books are large like that. =\ And certain words are printed in blues. It would probably be fine for most of my Psych classes, not so much for biology ones, though. I was also looking at a Nexus 7 (with a capacitive stylus, of course), does anyone know anything about them? I have zero intention on using it for youtube (I don't youtube, google plus, any of that stuff), but since I can't use smart phones I have zero experience with tablets too. Also, our most technological store is Walmart... the nearest BestBuy, Target, everything else is more than 80 miles away, so online is pretty much my only option right now, I can't go and handle devices to see how they look because there aren't any here. Also, our craigslist... any entries that ARE for our town are like tubed TVs and stuff. I have looked at ebay for inexpensive Kindle DX and I think that may be the route I take, but I haven't decided. I just want to use it for my textbooks, and give it to my mom afterwards so she can read on it. Kindle DX seems more than large enough, but is black and white. Nexus 7 is smaller, but someone else suggested it, and it has color, and I guess I could find some other use for it afterward. I just feel lost with all this stuff,a dn overwhelmed by all the different types and interfaces. I just need an easy way to read and do my college assignments, while hopefully not leaving me broke and unable to afford textbooks come January. =\

08-23-2012, 09:03 PM	#7
Fluribus Guru Posts: 891 Karma: 8893661 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Kindle	In my experience, the smaller Kindles are horrible for reading PDFs. If I were in your shoes, I would get the DX. A larger tablet might work if you use a stylus, but you should make sure that you can comfortably read it. You might try dimming the screen on your laptop when you need to read. It might help enough that you don't need to buy anything.

08-24-2012, 06:48 PM	#8
IcarusMiles Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: none	Two problems with my laptop: distraction factor (I do have F.Lux installed to adjust brightness automatically), and portability. It is 17" so kinda big, but I'd been carrying it my napsack home from the library one day and got hit by a minivan. The motherboard is damaged, the hard drive controller slowly but surely eats and renders useless large portions of my hard drives, so it's best to leave it in one place. Plus, a big laptop is a battery freakin' vampire.

08-25-2012, 11:32 PM	#9
Fluribus Guru Posts: 891 Karma: 8893661 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Kindle	The only things that I can tell you for sure are: I hate doing intensive reading on an LCD screen. I hate reading PDFs on a small ereader. I would have bought a DX if they weren't so expensive.