Kindle Keyboard or Paperwhite for PDF

[vaninder]

Hello,
I want to buy a kindle device mainly for PDF viewing.
The largest file I have is of 163 MB and contains lots of images.
I can get over the image part because only 5-6 PDF files I have contain a number of images but then the text part. Which one according to you will be good for the text, without the need for zooming in.
I have to choose between Kindle Keyboard or Kindle Paperwhite only, no other tablet, nothing else.
Please help.
I think Kindle keyboard is better at handling the PDFs but still not sure about this.
Please help.

[HarryT]

I don't think you'd be very happy with any 6" eInk device if your priority is to read PDFs. Most PDFs are formatted for a much large page size, and the slow refresh rate of an eInk screen makes it unworkable to be constantly scrolling.

Get a large screen device. LCD tablets are the best for this (iPad or Android equivalent).

[markom]

Originally Posted by vaninder

Hello,
...
Please help.

If you buy Kindle Keyboard you should install kindlepdfviewer thereon and for Paperwhite you should install KOReader.

You can also install Duokan.

If you don't want to install anything you should use k2pdfopt to adjust pdf on PC beforehand e.g. automatically crop the margins using k2pdfopt's landscape mode for A5 sized pdf or using k2pdfopt's reflow mode for A4 sized pdfs (both scans or text) or 2-column mode.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=157047

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=209276

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...ghlight=duokan

http://www.willus.com/k2pdfopt/
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=144711

[Wrongway]

I have both Kindles, the paperwhite and the keyboard. I have used them for pdf's but have not been too happy with the result. I use an iPad Air for all my pdf's and having recently got an iPad mini tried pdf's on that too with surprisingly great success for its size. I store a lot of manuals and handbooks and found the eink displays very poor in this respect.

[jbcohen]

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe that Vaninder could not buy a Kindle Keyboard if he wanted to, the last I saw they were taken off the market.

[HarryT]

There are such things as second-hand devices. Lots of Kindle Keyboards for sale on eBay.

[vaninder]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't think you'd be very happy with any 6" eInk device if your priority is to read PDFs. Most PDFs are formatted for a much large page size, and the slow refresh rate of an eInk screen makes it unworkable to be constantly scrolling.

Get a large screen device. LCD tablets are the best for this (iPad or Android equivalent).

hey,
thank you for the suggestion.
Initially I wanted to buy kindle DX but it is not available in India, not even old one thats why I decided to go with Kindle Keyboard because Amazon publicized it as a better PDF viewer as compared to the other devices in the family.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Paperwhite is not an ideal device for PDF viewing and the viewing modes in Kindle Keyboard are more as compared to Paperwhite.

I don't like LCD devices for reading, thats why I wanted to go with Keyboard or Paperwhite.

Thanks for the reply anyhow.
Much appreciated.

[vaninder]

Originally Posted by markom

If you buy Kindle Keyboard you should install kindlepdfviewer thereon and for Paperwhite you should install KOReader.

You can also install Duokan.

If you don't want to install anything you should use k2pdfopt to adjust pdf on PC beforehand e.g. automatically crop the margins using k2pdfopt's landscape mode for A5 sized pdf or using k2pdfopt's reflow mode for A4 sized pdfs (both scans or text) or 2-column mode.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=157047

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=209276

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...ghlight=duokan

http://www.willus.com/k2pdfopt/
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=144711

hi,
thanks for the reply
A quick question.
Don't you think that installing any of these would violate the warranty terms.
Also, what I think is that it won't be able to maintain the basic formatting of the PDF files but I'll definitely give it a try.
Did you encounter any problem using them?

But thanks for the reply mate.
It definitely was helpful.

[vaninder]

Originally Posted by Wrongway

I have both Kindles, the paperwhite and the keyboard. I have used them for pdf's but have not been too happy with the result. I use an iPad Air for all my pdf's and having recently got an iPad mini tried pdf's on that too with surprisingly great success for its size. I store a lot of manuals and handbooks and found the eink displays very poor in this respect.

hello,
thanks for the reply.
I don't like LCD devices(iPads and other tablets) for PDF viewing.
Keyboard is my preferred choice because Amazon mentioned it a better device for PDF viewing.
Size of the files is also a concern for me as I said before that the largest file I have weighs 165 MB.
But still, according to you which would be a better choice amongst keyboard and Paperwhite.
Thanks again for the reply.

[vaninder]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe that Vaninder could not buy a Kindle Keyboard if he wanted to, the last I saw they were taken off the market.

hi,
I am planning to buy an old one, a second hand one as you call it.

[eschwartz]

I have never heard that KK is better than KPW...

You may think you don't like reading on an LCD display, but believe it or not it's still better than scrolling around the PDF viewer on an e-ink reader.

[markom]

Originally Posted by vaninder

hi,
thanks for the reply
A quick question.
Don't you think that installing any of these would violate the warranty terms.
Also, what I think is that it won't be able to maintain the basic formatting of the PDF files but I'll definitely give it a try.
Did you encounter any problem using them?

But thanks for the reply mate.
It definitely was helpful.

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I have never heard that KK is better than KPW...

You may think you don't like reading on an LCD display, but believe it or not it's still better than scrolling around the PDF viewer on an e-ink reader.

Majority of my scanned pdfs are A5 sized or below because that's the size for majority of books there, so it is quite handy to read them on 6" e-ink reader in landscape mode zoomed in without margins.

On my Sony Prs T1 I can choose whether to use buttons or fingers(pen) on touch screen to flip through such cropped pdf (e.g. in k2pdfopt for landscape), it takes usually two or three screens per one pdf page and about second or two per screen.

If we make an quick pdf OCR then we can also use search function, dictionary, highlights etc. and if our reader sports a scribble function like Sony Prs T series then we can also quickly annotate sticky notes by keyboard or by handwriting or scribble on pdf directly.

If we are not happy with our native pdf reader because it lacks some zooming options, it's slow in flipping through zoomed pdf in landscape mode etc. we can quickly and easily optimize pdf beforehand using k2pdfopt.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=11
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=34

PDF on Kindle Paperwhite using KOReader
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QMATVc6ZeA


Real problem are A4 sized pdfs (if not multi-coulmn pdf) because even with margins completely cropped, 12 cm landscape width of 6" reader is just too small for comfortable reading of 16-18 cm wide text.

We can use k2pdfopt again, though, to reflow scans(bitmaped pdfs) and also textual pdfs(vectors) if our native pdf reader is slow at rendering reflowed pdf text or removes pictures from pdf file during reflow process.

PDF Reflow on Kindle using kindlepdfviewer (demo for scanned pdf)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PauN_9O4dM
but if this is too slow for our likings we can use k2pdfopt to reflow pdf on PC beforehand.

Reading two column A4 PDF on Kindle Keyboard using kindlepdfviewer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moiRFi6Ttp4


For A4 pdfs and academic purposes 10" e-ink readers are better suited devices but a lot of people would still find them slow for academic purposes and would rather use tablets instead.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=12
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...06&postcount=7

Those who really need to read on e-ink because of eye strain or enviroment, could try to use tablet simultaneously for note-taking, quick referencing and page flipping, color, dictionaries etc. while reading on e-ink majority of the time.

[Jessica Lares]

Don't base your opinion on what Amazon tells you. Lots of us here have had ALL of these devices you're thinking about, and we know better than a huge product ad that is only trying to get you to click that buy button.

PDFs vary. I am personally reading a few on my Paperwhite 2 right now and enjoying it. However, I did have to play with some settings, take off the margins, and put a focus more on the text than the pictures.

I'm reading the bigger sized/image heavy ones on my iPad Mini.

The resolution is higher than on the Kindle Keyboard which is a few generations old now. You would enjoy it more on the Paperwhite display between the two.

But they could cram a 4K resolution in the 6" devices, and you'd still be better with the DX because of the bigger screen real estate.

[willus]

These kinds of threads occur quite a lot on MR. I.e. "I want to read PDFs on my e-reader," and then several helpful replies are always given, but it seems silly to keep re-inventing the wheel. I did my own web page (perhaps temporarily) on the topic, but I'd much prefer a sticky thread in the PDF format forum here that people can point to. What's the best way to make that happen?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by willus

These kinds of threads occur quite a lot on MR. I.e. "I want to read PDFs on my e-reader," and then several helpful replies are always given, but it seems silly to keep re-inventing the wheel. I did my own web page (perhaps temporarily) on the topic, but I'd much prefer a sticky thread in the PDF format forum here that people can point to. What's the best way to make that happen?

Make a new thread yourself, then ask a mod, via PM or in the post (they'll delete that part for you)
to sticky it.