reader for PDFs without converting?

kuck · 05-30-2010, 05:23 PM

Hi,

I currently own a Sony PRS-600 and I don´t like the fact that it does not display pdf files properly. (my pdfs are just standard text)

I tried using calibre for converting, but that is just something that takes too much time. I don´t want to experiment with the settings several times for each pdf until I get it right. Also, the learning curve for the software has become quite steep.

Is there any reader out there that does a better job with reading pdfs without the need to convert them first?

Thank you for your suggestions.

kuck

AnemicOak · 05-30-2010, 05:29 PM

Well, I guess that depends on how the PDF's are formatted etc...

Many PDF's are formatted as Letter or A4 size documents. To really view them without doing anything to them you'd most likely want a large screen device like the Irex DR1000 with it's 10.2 inch display (quite expensive unfortunately). Perhaps something like the DR800 will be big enough.

HansTWN · 05-31-2010, 12:29 AM

I have several books in PDF format, those look great on the Irex 800 in their original size (better than an Epub could ever hope to, because PDF exactly recreates the printed book). These were totally unreadable on the Sony 505, reflow just sucks. And reformatting is a real pain.

On the Irex I don't even crop the margins. For technical, 2 column documents, it is much more difficult. There is a user created add-on, TechPDF, which does a decent job.

The DR1000S would do an even better job, but it is an extremely big device, while the overall size of the 800 is almost as small as the Sony 505, even though the screen is 50% larger.

Pranananda · 05-31-2010, 01:14 AM

The iPad works really well for PDF. Its multitouch interface, plus its speed of display makes zooming a pleasurable experience. Plus it handles color.

kuck · 05-31-2010, 04:34 PM

Ok, two votes for the Irex 800. Mhh, gotta read up on that.

Yeah, the Ipad is nice, but way too big and too heavy. Also, I sit in front of a computer everyday and dont want another display with brightness.

Thank you for your suggestions!

kuck

alexul · 06-01-2010, 05:02 AM

Hello,
There is a reader they say it's made specific for reading PDF:
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ebook/
They sold by Foxit, who have different software solution for PDF. Hope that helps

kuck · 06-02-2010, 10:16 AM

Hi Alexul,

thank you. yes, that helped. This is the kind of device I was looking for. Small enough to carry around and it can read pdfs.

I will miss the ability to mark text in a book and have summaries generated from it, but right now it is more important to get pdfs to show correctly on such a device.

Thanks for the input to all of you.

kuck

Dulin's Books · 06-03-2010, 05:16 PM

pocketbook- better pdf support than fox it and note taking that can go off the reader in html files.

kuck · 06-09-2010, 07:32 AM

Hi,

I ordered the Foxit PDF Reader and have done some tests with some pdfs that i already had.

After upgrading to the latest firmware (version 1.0 was not good at all!) it was really nice to finally see a pdf display perfectly on a small 6 inch device which is also so light and easy to carry.

I have not done any long-term tests, but so far it does what I want. One small issue it has though. When reflowing the pdfs, it sticks some words together and ignores the space between them, but I am sure that they will fix that in a future upgrade of the firmware.

Pocketbook, mhh. It looks like a more complete package, but unfortunately, your suggestion came too late. I started with PRS-505 - sold it after 3 months, because of poor pdf support, then with PRS-600 (also sold it, even though it says it supports Adobe PDFs) and got the eslick already.

Thank you for all your help.

kuck

fromi · 06-16-2010, 03:47 PM

Hi, what is your opinion about prs-900 as for reading full A4 pdfs?
Thanks.

davidspitzer · 06-16-2010, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fromi

Hi, what is your opinion about prs-900 as for reading full A4 pdfs?
Thanks.

The 900 is a capable ereader but my opinion is that it lacks for reading full size pdf's. I made the switch to an Ipad and have been completely happy. I look back at my Kindle DX and my Irex 1000 attempts for pdf reading and while it worked, I now can not imagine living with those in lieu of my Ipad.

The e-ink screen are awesome for reading but for graphical page layouts in larger pdf's they just dont compare with the speed and ease of the Ipad - IMHO

fromi · 06-18-2010, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidspitzer

The 900 is a capable ereader but... IMHO

Hi David, and what about the same pdfs if rotated for 90°deg?
Regarding the Ipad the lifetime of the battery is not so good. I dont like to follow that.
For example prs 505 was directly charged only once for the last 2,5 years. Ususally its is charged while uploading and editing files (opprox once a week) and that COOL

davidspitzer · 06-18-2010, 01:55 AM

The touch layer on the 900 for takes away from the ink display and moving around a PDF is slow and frustrating (for me)

HarryT · 06-18-2010, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fromi

Hi David, and what about the same pdfs if rotated for 90°deg?
Regarding the Ipad the lifetime of the battery is not so good. I dont like to follow that.
For example prs 505 was directly charged only once for the last 2,5 years. Ususally its is charged while uploading and editing files (opprox once a week) and that COOL

A battery charge on the iPad will last a couple of full days of work. Personally I think that's perfectly adequate, considering the enormously better display capabilities for PDFs. Isn't the important thing here how well you can read your PDFs, not whether you have to charge the device once every 2 or 3 days, rather than once a week?

hoboslobobabe · 06-18-2010, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuck

Hi,
After upgrading to the latest firmware (version 1.0 was not good at all!) it was really nice to finally see a pdf display perfectly on a small 6 inch device which is also so light and easy to carry.

I have not done any long-term tests, but so far it does what I want. One small issue it has though. When reflowing the pdfs, it sticks some words together and ignores the space between them, but I am sure that they will fix that in a future upgrade of the firmware.

kuck

Is it just me or is the Foxit eslick the same exact device as the Cybook gen3 and the Pocketbook 301?

Cybook 3

PB301

Foxit

I'm also looking for a nice device, pdf is an issue for me too, but unless you buy a 8" screen or bigger, it will potentially be problematic, without converting the file.
But really, I'm still very undecided, what to go for.
- a PB 360 seems more rugged than other devices, nice custom stuff
- a Cybook Opus (because I could get it much cheaper than a PB 360 and the hardware is the same)
- the updated 6" Bebook One (16 greyscales which should be nice for pdfs with images right?)
- 6" Pocketbook 301 which costs about the same as a the Bebook and PB 360.
- the foxit reader, possibly same thing as Cybook 3 and/or PB 301 at a significantly cheaper price (200 Euros compared to about 250), but in germany availabe only from one ebay seller
The latter make it pretty hard to decide for a 5" PB 360 at about 250€.
I find that this one inch difference is actually making a big difference.
Tough choice, I think.
Have to do some more research and I guess I'll have to make a specific post for myself with all the questions I have

05-30-2010, 05:23 PM	#1
kuck Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony eReader	reader for PDFs without converting? Hi, I currently own a Sony PRS-600 and I don´t like the fact that it does not display pdf files properly. (my pdfs are just standard text) I tried using calibre for converting, but that is just something that takes too much time. I don´t want to experiment with the settings several times for each pdf until I get it right. Also, the learning curve for the software has become quite steep. Is there any reader out there that does a better job with reading pdfs without the need to convert them first? Thank you for your suggestions. kuck

06-16-2010, 03:47 PM	#10
fromi Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: prs-505	PRS-900 for A4 PDFs Hi, what is your opinion about prs-900 as for reading full A4 pdfs? Thanks.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Converting PDFs	macrotor	PDF	62	08-14-2011 07:10 PM
Converting PDFs	JoshLessard	Amazon Kindle	12	10-07-2010 06:40 AM
Numbers in pdfs not converting	kilgoretrout	Workshop	9	06-25-2010 05:18 PM
Converting PDFs to Images	fargo	iRex	9	05-01-2008 11:34 PM
Converting math PDFs for Sony Reader	mlh496	Sony Reader	3	01-22-2007 05:43 PM

05-30-2010, 05:29 PM	#2
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	Well, I guess that depends on how the PDF's are formatted etc... Many PDF's are formatted as Letter or A4 size documents. To really view them without doing anything to them you'd most likely want a large screen device like the Irex DR1000 with it's 10.2 inch display (quite expensive unfortunately). Perhaps something like the DR800 will be big enough.

05-31-2010, 12:29 AM	#3
HansTWN Wizard Posts: 4,538 Karma: 264065402 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Taiwan Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD	I have several books in PDF format, those look great on the Irex 800 in their original size (better than an Epub could ever hope to, because PDF exactly recreates the printed book). These were totally unreadable on the Sony 505, reflow just sucks. And reformatting is a real pain. On the Irex I don't even crop the margins. For technical, 2 column documents, it is much more difficult. There is a user created add-on, TechPDF, which does a decent job. The DR1000S would do an even better job, but it is an extremely big device, while the overall size of the 800 is almost as small as the Sony 505, even though the screen is 50% larger.

05-31-2010, 01:14 AM	#4
Pranananda Connoisseur Posts: 98 Karma: 122982 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Humboldt County, California Device: ipad, iPod touch, JetBook Lite	The iPad works really well for PDF. Its multitouch interface, plus its speed of display makes zooming a pleasurable experience. Plus it handles color.

05-31-2010, 04:34 PM	#5
kuck Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony eReader	Ok, two votes for the Irex 800. Mhh, gotta read up on that. Yeah, the Ipad is nice, but way too big and too heavy. Also, I sit in front of a computer everyday and dont want another display with brightness. Thank you for your suggestions! kuck

06-01-2010, 05:02 AM	#6
alexul Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 4324 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Romania Device: PB 360, Kobo Touch	Hello, There is a reader they say it's made specific for reading PDF: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ebook/ They sold by Foxit, who have different software solution for PDF. Hope that helps

06-02-2010, 10:16 AM	#7
kuck Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony eReader	Hi Alexul, thank you. yes, that helped. This is the kind of device I was looking for. Small enough to carry around and it can read pdfs. I will miss the ability to mark text in a book and have summaries generated from it, but right now it is more important to get pdfs to show correctly on such a device. Thanks for the input to all of you. kuck

06-03-2010, 05:16 PM	#8
Dulin's Books Wizard Posts: 2,806 Karma: 13500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Portland, OR Device: Boox PB360 etc etc etc	pocketbook- better pdf support than fox it and note taking that can go off the reader in html files.

06-09-2010, 07:32 AM	#9
kuck Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony eReader	Hi, I ordered the Foxit PDF Reader and have done some tests with some pdfs that i already had. After upgrading to the latest firmware (version 1.0 was not good at all!) it was really nice to finally see a pdf display perfectly on a small 6 inch device which is also so light and easy to carry. I have not done any long-term tests, but so far it does what I want. One small issue it has though. When reflowing the pdfs, it sticks some words together and ignores the space between them, but I am sure that they will fix that in a future upgrade of the firmware. Pocketbook, mhh. It looks like a more complete package, but unfortunately, your suggestion came too late. I started with PRS-505 - sold it after 3 months, because of poor pdf support, then with PRS-600 (also sold it, even though it says it supports Adobe PDFs) and got the eslick already. Thank you for all your help. kuck

06-18-2010, 01:55 AM	#13
davidspitzer So Many Words to Read! Posts: 411 Karma: 125665 Join Date: Aug 2006 Device: Kindle	The touch layer on the 900 for takes away from the ink display and moving around a PDF is slow and frustrating (for me)

Advert

Advert