903 PDF annotations on Pocketbook 903

[NextStep]

Originally Posted by bogdaniosif

I recommend at this point to just ignore the 903 but also hold out of buying the 902 for a while.

Thank you. I will think about it in - say - a couple of months and decide after that. A pity though. I have thought about the iRex DR1000 (too expensive; later iRex went bankrupt), waited on the Plastic Logic QUE (never came on the market). There are not that many 9+ inch eInk readers available. Will keep an eye on the Hanlin V90.

[LoneTech]

I've started a writeup of some of my early impressions of PocketBook 903.

[bogdaniosif]

Thanks LoneTech for all the information. It's good that a couple more threads started to pop up with impressions on the 903. Here's hoping for a 720p review on Youtube.

The 903's annotation [in]capability has been clarified.

I hope for you, and all the other buyers of 903s, that PocketBook will be able to evolve the firmware so as to make good use of that stylus, at the very least to support annotations written to external files. However, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this to happen. If they would've been capable to add rich, innovative and ergonomic functionality around the stylus, they would've made this before the product started to ship with such rudimentary stylus support and with bugs able to bring it to a freeze.

Let's hope CES will show us next week a better alternative.

[paola]

Originally Posted by bogdaniosif

The 903's annotation [in]capability has been clarified.

I hope for you, and all the other buyers of 903s, that PocketBook will be able to evolve the firmware so as to make good use of that stylus, at the very least to support annotations written to external files.

forgive me if this is completely wrong, as I am a tech-ignoramus: nevertheless, could this be a solution? Since it mentiones the Sony e-reader, I thought you guys may be able to make something useful of it for the PB...

[LoneTech]

That mention is because they've managed to handle the Sony's note format. The PocketBook uses plain bmp for the scribbles and screenshots, so there's not much to that. Jarnal itself is in Java, so would be considerably harder to port than Xournal, probably... and we still need the SDK to do anything at all.

[paola]

Originally Posted by LoneTech

That mention is because they've managed to handle the Sony's note format. The PocketBook uses plain bmp for the scribbles and screenshots, so there's not much to that. Jarnal itself is in Java, so would be considerably harder to port than Xournal, probably... and we still need the SDK to do anything at all.

ok, a dumb suggestion, sorry - and thanks for the clear explanation!

[LoneTech]

I wouldn't say dumb - it is at least a piece of free software. It's much more feasible than, say, Windows Journal.

[tr_tr]

Originally Posted by domee

As for the PB 903: This is really a shame. I'm a doctoral student and I will probably go for the Entourage Edge... it is heavy and pricy, but once I checked out the presentations on YouTube I instantly fell in love with it. Check this out for annotation options on the Edge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bJWCzTpDZ8
Greets

I was really into the PB903, but your post made me look for the Entourage Edge. How easy some people can be persuaded Thanks for bringing it up because I just bought an Entourage Edge. Pretty sure I saw it before, but didn't see the real value from having an extra screen.

Seeing some video's the last few days and checking the Entourage Edge section here and their own forum made me understand the value of the extra screen. A good way to annotate PDF's is a must for me, so this seems like the best device out there for my scribbling needs.

Too bad the Entourage Edge is so heavy and battery life isn't that great, but I take that for granted.

[Bonex]

Originally Posted by LoneTech

and we still need the SDK to do anything at all.

In this thread in the German forum they say the SDK will be available in May...

[LoneTech]

What the heck, mtravellerh? Four extra months for publishing tools you already have? And what "english version" - the SDK doesn't even have documentation!

Let's not forget that you have no legal basis for withholding the source to the GPL and LGPL software you completely rely on and have already spread in binary form, violating their license. This is not only shameful but insulting.

[Panoleon]

Originally Posted by bogdaniosif

Is the Pocketbook 903 capable of creating and editing PDF annotations?

I'm interested specifically in PDF annotations that are written in the PDF file. In Windows one can benefit from this capability using the free PDF-XChange Viewer or the new free Adobe Reader X or Acrobat. On the iPad, the Goodreader and iAnnotate apps can be used for the same purpose.

A

Nope..... PB 903 is NOT able to create notes on PDF or any other document. It is the greatest disappointment from last year. AND the worst part is: they have a history of bad upgrade firmware. WE all wait for the right upgrade.

Besides that. The PB 903 has everthing you want (and more) for a e-reader. And After all. I think I-pad/ tablets is no substitute for e-ink, because: after a day behind a computer screen, the e-reader is very nice to look and read at. The tablets are no good for the eye.

Besides that.... The battery life is horrible good. I had my PB for 3 weeks not loaded and still good battery. A tablet is drinking energy like an alcoholic needs his drink. An e-reader is totaly different.

[bogdaniosif]

Originally Posted by Panoleon

Nope..... PB 903 is NOT able to create notes on PDF or any other document. It is the greatest disappointment from last year. AND the worst part is: they have a history of bad upgrade firmware. WE all wait for the right upgrade.

Thanks for the reply, I also reached the same conclusions. Additionally, I think PocketBook is generally a small time company because of the misleading way they presented 903 before its launch, the long delay they inserted before releasing the SDK (I don't know if they even released it by now) and generally the way they present themselves and their products. Essentially, my impression is that PocketBook tries to appear as being way more than what they are actually capable to be.

Originally Posted by Panoleon

And After all. I think I-pad/ tablets is no substitute for e-ink, because: after a day behind a computer screen, the e-reader is very nice to look and read at. The tablets are no good for the eye.

Besides that.... The battery life is horrible good. I had my PB for 3 weeks not loaded and still good battery. A tablet is drinking energy like an alcoholic needs his drink. An e-reader is totaly different.

I largely agree with that but I still think that reading can be done on both tablets and eink ereaders and there are important scenarios where one type of device is better than the other; eink doesn't always win (eg: reading full color glossy magazines, quickly browsing through a PDF or taking annotations is what tablets are generally much better for than ereaders). Thus, ereaders cannot afford to claim that the good parts of the eink technology justifies about any shortcomings it may have in comparison to a tablet. A balance must exist between price and feature set and the 903 seemed to me to miss the balance point by a lot.

I think the Kindle DX is superior from an eink technology point of view (Pearl screen), its system software is more stable than 903's and generally its hardware is much better aligned with its purpose. The touch screen in the 903 is pointless without capability for annotations while the KDX has a useful physical keyboard.

The most pleasant surprise I had with the KDX is that it is capable to display annotations in PDF files. You can't edit them but you can see them. So if I annotate a PDF on my workstation with underlines, highlights, added text, etc, I can see those annotations on KDX. It was a wonderful surprise and now I read my ebooks and record my annotations using my Android phone and a software that records voice in a structured way. In this way I can add/modify my annotations when I'm on my PC and still see them on my ereader. If I would really want to capture annotations on my KDX I would have to convert the papers I read from PDF into something else, and then the KDX can also add/edit annotations. But I don't want to go through the hassle of converting the PDFs and, for now, I can live with the limitations of the KDX.

[paola]

Originally Posted by Panoleon

Nope..... PB 903 is NOT able to create notes on PDF or any other document. It is the greatest disappointment from last year. AND the worst part is: they have a history of bad upgrade firmware. WE all wait for the right upgrade.

actually this is not correct: you could create notes in 2.0.4, and with 2.0.5 you can also annotate them freehand (the notes, not the document itself). Not ideal, obviously, but a definite improvement. I should note, though, that for some people (e.g. review) picture editing is very slow - it works fine on my machine.

[cipri]

it's indeed disgusting, that pb, is not able to use the good hardware made by foxconn.
Annotation support in pdf - files is a neccessity, and it wouldn't be that hard to implement. But pb has prooved to be weak at programming, they seem quite incompetent, the update 2.0.5 is just inacceptable as the result of "3 month of development". And don't forget that pb repeat all the time, that they are doing just ebook reader and nothing else and that's why they can concentrate on the software. :PP
It's ridiculos how buggy pb software is compared to sony. It's inacceptable that zoomed pdf-files can not be navigated fully. When you zoom a file, it's possible that not all parts can be accessed !!! It's horrible, and incredible!! I mean, i payed for a "pro-device" and then it has such horrible bugs, and which are not solved for about half year now, and there is still no hope that they will be improved.
There are a lot of bugs that i reported, and i was promised that they will be solved at next update, and this didn't happen!

[Panoleon]

We agree on the lack of PB and it is a huge disappointment. (althought i am hooked on Sudoku). But we disagree on the possibility of e-ink. But, who am I to argue about the nice to have features on tablets. They are also a very fine technology to have.

I think the Kindle DX is superior from an eink technology point of view (Pearl screen), its system software is more stable than 903's and generally its hardware is much better aligned with its purpose. The touch screen in the 903 is pointless without capability for annotations while the KDX has a useful physical keyboard.

I have had a Kindle DX. And I returned it straight away. Main reason: the keyboard was horrible to use. And with wanting to make annotations it wasn't just as good. There where plenty of other disappointments, but this was truly the main thing i sended it back.