which reader <250 is good for pdf's (wih equations, and graphs)

mrmojo · 05-02-2010, 01:16 AM

I'd like a digital reader that is good for pdf's that have equations and graphs for <250. Does such a thing exist? Don't need internet, would like a 5" screen.

HarryT · 05-02-2010, 04:20 AM

Unfortunately, your requirements are contradictory: no 5" device will show PDFs well, unless those PDFs have been specifically formatted for the small screen of the reader. Otherwise there are only two choices: to display the PDF full size and "pan" around it, or to attempt to "reflow" it (which will make all the equations, etc, disappear). Neither is a good solution. If you want to display PDF textbooks, etc, you want a reading device with a LARGE screen; the most affordable of these is perhaps the iRex DR800.

This is, please note, a world-wide forum, so saying "<250" is meaningless. Less than 250 what? 250 Turkish lira will buy you somewhat less than 250 British pounds, for example

.

fjtorres · 05-02-2010, 07:11 AM

If your baseline is US$250, then your best bet is a netbook.

You could hunt for a LINUX or WinCE MID (there's a forum here for such devices) or wait a bit to see what comes in the way of tablets in the next 6 months.
But, as pointed out, your focus on pdf as a filter format excludes pretty much all eink devices this side of KindleDX and (maybe) the iREXes.
Proper display of PDF really needs a computer and/or a largish color screen.

mrmojo · 05-02-2010, 03:14 PM

what if it's an all text pdf -- either one that's a scanned image of text or a scanned image that has had OCR software applied to it, so that the text is really text (and not a image). A 5" reader would still be no good?

HarryT · 05-03-2010, 03:05 AM

That would be OK, except that the reflow will give you line breaks in all sorts of strange places. Your best bet would be to convert such PDFs into a "real" eBook format such as ePub, using a tool like Calibre.

fjtorres · 05-03-2010, 07:22 AM

...or, if you are in fact doing the OCR yourself, skip the PDF pretend-paper phase and output a nice, simple HTML, Word, or RTF file. Most ebook readers can display those just fine. No extra effort there unless you want to proof and edit them.
There is no law that say scanned-and-OCR'ed doc *have* to go to PDF, you know...

05-02-2010, 01:16 AM	#1
mrmojo Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: none	which reader <250 is good for pdf's (wih equations, and graphs) I'd like a digital reader that is good for pdf's that have equations and graphs for <250. Does such a thing exist? Don't need internet, would like a 5" screen.

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05-02-2010, 04:20 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	Unfortunately, your requirements are contradictory: no 5" device will show PDFs well, unless those PDFs have been specifically formatted for the small screen of the reader. Otherwise there are only two choices: to display the PDF full size and "pan" around it, or to attempt to "reflow" it (which will make all the equations, etc, disappear). Neither is a good solution. If you want to display PDF textbooks, etc, you want a reading device with a LARGE screen; the most affordable of these is perhaps the iRex DR800. This is, please note, a world-wide forum, so saying "<250" is meaningless. Less than 250 what? 250 Turkish lira will buy you somewhat less than 250 British pounds, for example .

05-02-2010, 07:11 AM	#3
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	If your baseline is US$250, then your best bet is a netbook. You could hunt for a LINUX or WinCE MID (there's a forum here for such devices) or wait a bit to see what comes in the way of tablets in the next 6 months. But, as pointed out, your focus on pdf as a filter format excludes pretty much all eink devices this side of KindleDX and (maybe) the iREXes. Proper display of PDF really needs a computer and/or a largish color screen.

05-02-2010, 03:14 PM	#4
mrmojo Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: none	what if it's an all text pdf -- either one that's a scanned image of text or a scanned image that has had OCR software applied to it, so that the text is really text (and not a image). A 5" reader would still be no good?

05-03-2010, 03:05 AM	#5
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	That would be OK, except that the reflow will give you line breaks in all sorts of strange places. Your best bet would be to convert such PDFs into a "real" eBook format such as ePub, using a tool like Calibre.

05-03-2010, 07:22 AM	#6
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	...or, if you are in fact doing the OCR yourself, skip the PDF pretend-paper phase and output a nice, simple HTML, Word, or RTF file. Most ebook readers can display those just fine. No extra effort there unless you want to proof and edit them. There is no law that say scanned-and-OCR'ed doc have to go to PDF, you know...