eWeek PDF Magazine - How does it look on 6" screen?

[originl]

Hi -

I realize this is very selfish of me; however, I've read around a lot on this forum and have found helpful screenshots that others have taken of Comic Books/ACN-formatted PDFs so I'm hoping that maybe someone can take the time to help me (and perhaps help someone in the future who is reading)...

I am looking into purchasing a bebook neo/onyx boox 60 due to its above-average PDF handling abilities (as well as Wifi/Storage Card capabilities); however, a good portion of the PDFs that I'd be reading are magazines.

I am curious if anyone can download this to your device and show me screenshots so that I may get an idea for how large the screen is as it compares to the size (physically and storage size wise).

In particular, I am curious about the following pages:

• page 10 - because it has some pictures and 3 columns of text
• page 18 - because 3 column but also due to bottom pane of text
• page 34 - because curious how large the image in upper right appears -- mainly zoomed in
• page 41/42 - due to the color backgrounds
• page 19 - because bottom right link "http://tinyurl.com/2wmx3xy", does that link work? What does the resulting page look like? (after you accept tinyurl's page... the destination will be an eweek url)

You may obtain the PDF from a computer at:
http://www.eweek-digital.com/eweek/ and then clicking in upper right to "Download", then again for "PDF". Alternatively, you may direct download from http://www-cdn.eweek-digital.com/ewe...0100719-dl.pdf (if you do direct download, I'd be curious if you are successful at downloading directly from the bebook/neo -- I assume it would be just fine, but one never knows!)

*WARNING* The PDF is approximately 27.3MB in size; so how long the device takes to open the PDF is also an interest.

In the end, I'm debating between Kindle DX Graphite and the bebook neo/onyx boox 60. Obviously the larger screen of DXG would be ideal; however, I also like storage card and wifi options (as well as epub, etc.). But, if the 6" screen + PDF use case doesn't work out, then DX is only current option aside from a Spendy, Rare, No Support (these days) iRex.

Thank you for any assistance, words of wisdom, or general comments.

Much appreciated!

[Dulin's Books]

i can give it a try tomorrow.

[originl]

Thanks, that would be appreciated.
I ended up buying a Kindle DX (as I can return easily within 30 days).

I then bought the Sony PRS900 and really liked how it was able to handle my PDFs, size of device, and it was touchscreen; however the screen proved to be too glare-conducive for me. So I actually returned it today.

Now it's down to KindleDX and the Boox/BeBook. If the Boox/BeBook can handle the PDFs just as well with comparable glare to Kindle DX (less than Sony's glare), then I may have to choose the Boox/BeBook for its portability.

[pashlit]

Originally Posted by originl

Thanks, that would be appreciated.
I ended up buying a Kindle DX (as I can return easily within 30 days).

I then bought the Sony PRS900 and really liked how it was able to handle my PDFs, size of device, and it was touchscreen; however the screen proved to be too glare-conducive for me. So I actually returned it today.

Now it's down to KindleDX and the Boox/BeBook. If the Boox/BeBook can handle the PDFs just as well with comparable glare to Kindle DX (less than Sony's glare), then I may have to choose the Boox/BeBook for its portability.

Hey there,
I ve had exactly the same debating thoughts for like last 6 months at least. And once DXG came out I almost jumped on it. But then I just got tired of waiting and thinking and hesitating... and just used my remaining PayPal balance to buy Boox. I ll receive it this week. DXG is cool screen wise - 9 inch is no brainer. Boox is nice in its functionality, language support (big one for me), open source software. I love folder support and yeah.. it is supposed to do PDFs pretty good. If you just need a reading device with large screen go for DX. If you need functionality Boox is a good choice. I had a couple of simpler devices but sold them in just a week or too. I decided I ll bite a bullet and buy a device with lots of functions. And even with Kindle 3 that came out today for just 140 bucks I would still buy Boox.
I guess I might also buy bigger device later, once I have spare funds for it cause I read lots of PDFs with graphs and pics. But 6 inch with great PDF support is a must for me while on the go. DX is good to have and read at home on the couch. If Boox will come out with 8 and 9.7 inches it might be a good gadget. The only problem is that Amazon like companies are killing it price wise creating monopoly.
I dunno if I helped you cause we always look for advises and opinions. But the more we think the more confused we become. Just go ahead and buy it.
Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Dulin's Books]

Ok well i had some time to get the screen shots for you. that chart on page 34 isnt really readable! i thought i had problems but then i looked at it online with my laptop too and even at full magnification there it can only be partially read.

I did some portrait and landscape for you so you could get a feel for the difference. this magazine i would probably read in landscape but "fit to width" but even in portrait is fine at a decent zoom. you have to pan around of course to read the multiple columns.

you can see from the last screenshot that you can scribble on the magazine for notes. pardon the poor handwriting. I zoomed in while trying the link, wrote the note and then took the screen at "fit to width"

[originl]

Pashlit and Dublin's Book - Thank you both!

Pashlit - Thank you very much for your thoughts. I had the DX for roughly 3-4 days and truly enjoyed it for the various PDFs that I had loaded to read (magazines as well as white papers/research documents). One of the few reason I ended up returning the DX was due to two factors: (1) I'm not sure I can logically justify $200 increase over the regular 6" Kindle and (2) It turns out I'm getting an iPad from my work. So, I figure, while I still have time to return DX, I should... see how the iPad treats my eyes and then reassess if I would like a 6" or 9.7" e-ink-like screen device. We'll see how that goes!

Dublin -- Thank you for your time and screenshots. Sorry it took me so long to see the screenshots. For some reason my email alert to this thread did not get triggered. I would agree with your assessment that Landscape looked best for this particular PDF. Thank you also for the annotation preview; I didn't think much of that in my original request even though that is one of my pro's toward the Boox.

To summarize, I believe I'll end up purchasing an e-ink (or similar) device, but now we'll see whether I think 6" or 9.7" is better suited for my needs (and my girlfriend's as she would be reading books only and 6" is more portable for her).

Thanks to all! You have been very accomodating and helpful throughout my decision process.

[Over]

I can say 3 column text will be almost illegible on 6" screen. But that's me, who doesn't like to pan 9 times for each zoomed page.

And reading without zoom is almost impossible.

[originl]

Thank you for your thought Over.

I also always forget that panning will greatly reduce the battery life as it'd probably be considered a "page turn" since the screen must refresh. So I may end up with 1/6 the battery life if it takes 6 "turns" to read 1 page.

Now that I've typed that, hopefully that will stay near the forefront of my thoughts in the future.

[Dulin's Books]

Panning with the wacom pen is VERY easy and accurate. For multi column PDFs you can grab a spot of the page- say upper right- and drag it to a new spot like lower left. Its very precise and makes working with PDFs fairly easy.


You might consider one of the PocketBook devices. Their PDF viewer allows you to read multiple column PDFs very easily. In the zoom options you simply select the column mode and tell it how many columns there are. It zooms the coulmn to screen width size and segments the columns so that with each push of the "next page" button gets you the next portion of the column or the next column and then finally the next page. It works amazingly well and there is an icon in the lower left corner that shows you which segment of the page you are in.