scene rips (pdf) in 350/650

[vivliofagos]

This is my first post here. I found this forum through google.
It seems that it's full of avid e-book readers, so please allow me a question.

I'm flirting with the 350/650. Haven't decided yet.
I'd like to know how do they handle scene rips (PDFs).
I have a couple of technology related books in pdf format
and it would be really nice if I could carry my e-library at work with me.

Thank you in advance

[Xanthe]

If it is straight text, you shouldn't have a problem. The small-screen ereaders (5" & 6" ones), I've found, don't really do that well when there are a lot of graphics in the PDF's. The screens are too small and you have to do a lot of zooming. They seem to take longer to load, too.

The 350 does have five different page modes: Original, Margin Cut, 2-Column Split, 3-Column Split, and Full Page, which helps to make things easier. And it does have PDF reflow capability. I assume that the 650 has the same modes.

[krish]

I am also more inclined to buy PRS-650. Could someone clarify the below regarding reading pdf file in PRS-650.
After zooming in a pdf file, is it possible to scroll/pan by touchscreen. I mean real scrolling/panning and not full screen content change to forward / backward / sideward.
I saw in few videos that by clicking the arrows heads or by swiping the full screen content is moved.
If in case such scrolling is possible, if we scroll down slowly, will the horizontal position remains fixed or is that also changes.


Thanks

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by krish

I am also more inclined to buy PRS-650. Could someone clarify the below regarding reading pdf file in PRS-650.
After zooming in a pdf file, is it possible to scroll/pan by touchscreen. I mean real scrolling/panning and not full screen content change to forward / backward / sideward.
I saw in few videos that by clicking the arrows heads or by swiping the full screen content is moved ...

With an Adobe PDF file loaded (a mixture of text and images) and with Original page mode selected, after tapping the on-screen Zoom In button and dragging the slide-bar up from - towards +, I can then drag a page around using my finger to change the part of the page being viewed. When I drag my finger across the screen slowly the page moves smoothly.

Tapping on any one of the 4 on-screen arrows moves the view as far possible in the direction of the arrowhead. So in other words, tapping the arrow on the left-hand side of the screen moves the view to the left-hand side of the page. When the edge of the page is reached, the arrow disappears, indicating that no further movement is possible in that direction.

Originally Posted by krish

... If in case such scrolling is possible, if we scroll down slowly, will the horizontal position remains fixed or is that also changes.
Thanks

When I use my finger to drag the page down, then the horizontal position on the page relative to my finger remains unchanged, so long as I drag my finger down the screen slowly. When the desired position on the page has been reached then the view can be locked. Hope that helps.

[krish]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

With an Adobe PDF file loaded (a mixture of text and images), after tapping the on-screen Zoom In button and dragging the slide-bar up from - towards +, I can then drag a page around using my finger to change the part of the page being viewed. When I drag my finger across the screen slowly the page moves smoothly.

Tapping on any one of the 4 on-screen arrows moves the view as far possible in the direction of the arrowhead. So in other words, tapping the arrow on the left-hand side of the screen moves the view to the left-hand side of the page. When the edge of the page is reached, the arrow disappears, indicating that no further movement is possible in that direction.

When I use my finger to drag the page down, then the horizontal position on the page relative to my finger remains unchanged, so long as I drag my finger down the screen slowly. When the desired position on the page has been reached then the view can be locked. Hope that helps.

Thank you!

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

... The 350 does have five different page modes: Original, Margin Cut, 2-Column Split, 3-Column Split, and Full Page, which helps to make things easier. And it does have PDF reflow capability. I assume that the 650 has the same modes.

Likewise with the 650. The page modes are reached by pressing the hardware button that looks like a magnifying glass with a + inside inside it. When this button is pressed it causes a small panel to be displayed at the bottom of the screen. One of the on-screen buttons in the panel is labelled Page Mode. Tapping this on-screen button then causes the panel to close and a new window to be displayed, containing the five different page modes described above.

[Jason Green]

The 350 is too small for graphic based PDFs, I'd only recommend it for text novels.

[krish]

I have another question regarding this scrolling / panning while reading pdf.
Does this scrolling/panning by touchscreen also possible when in page mode menu like margin cut / 2or3 column split.
Also when in zoom in mode, if I select fit the page width button, whether this scrolling/panning by touchscreen works.
By scrolling/panning, I again mean real time scroll and not full screen content moved.

Thanks

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by krish

Does this scrolling/panning by touchscreen also possible when in page mode menu like margin cut / 2or3 column split ...

Yes, with the same PDF book loaded, I can drag the page around in the same way as previously described, in all five modes . However, I have not yet tried it with a multiple column document. I would need to find, or create one, to be able to confirm this. Let me know ...

Originally Posted by krish

... Also when in zoom in mode, if I select fit the page width button, whether this scrolling/panning by touchscreen works.

When in zoom mode, having previously dragged the bar part way up from - towards +, if the on-screen button containing two horizontal arrows (ie the button to the left of the on-screen Lock button) is touched, then the bar drops back down towards - and the page width is reduced back down, so that it fits within the screen's width.

Originally Posted by krish

By scrolling/panning, I again mean real time scroll and not full screen content moved. Thanks

Perhaps I don't fully understand what you're driving at. I can drag the page around in any direction, using my finger tip, irrespective of what magnification has previously been selected, via the - to + drag-bar. That to me is real-time scrolling. The only caveat that I would add is that it requires a little patience. So long as I drag my finger tip around the page slowly, then the page follows/moves/scrolls smoothly, however if I move my finger tip too quickly then the page movement is jerky, presumably because the processor and/or interface have difficulty keeping up. Nevertheless, I think this feature is really quite impressive and perfectly usable.

The only other point that I would add is sometimes when I lift my finder tip away from the screen, after having dragged the page around, the display flashes. What I mean by that is the black and white invert. As I understand it, this is an inherent limitation of the E Ink Vizplex display, therefore it applies to all devices that use this type of technology.

[krish]

Thank you again.
Enclosed is a two column pdf file. Could you try this.

Why I mean realtime scrolling is - though sony user manual clearly says that zoom in mode the left/right/top/bottom arrows marks are for scrolling the page but I saw in the video that this is not realtime scrolling. When we click these arrows it moves the complete screen to the next content in the direction we click and not really scrolling.

I am interested in realtime scrolling, for in case if in a pdf which has a diagram which is cut in a view, I could scroll down to see the full diagram in the screen and not pressing the down arrow button, which would show only the next half of the diagram and not the top half.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by krish

Thank you again.
Enclosed is a two column pdf file. Could you try this.

Why I mean realtime scrolling is - though sony user manual clearly says that zoom in mode the left/right/top/bottom arrows marks are for scrolling the page but I saw in the video that this is not realtime scrolling. When we click these arrows it moves the complete screen to the next content in the direction we click and not really scrolling.

I am interested in realtime scrolling, for in case if in a pdf which has a diagram which is cut in a view, I could scroll down to see the full diagram in the screen and not pressing the down arrow button, which would show only the next half of the diagram and not the top half.

It behaves no differently than I described in my last post, with your 2-column PDF loaded. Having zoomed in, I can drag the entire page around smoothly, in real-time, using the tip of my finger, irrespective of which page mode I have previously selected.

The fact that your document partly contains two columns is irrelevant (its title spans both columns). For example, I can drag the page smoothly from the table in the bottom left-hand corner, to the diagram in the top right, without any difficulty. Obviously, it is impossible drag the page from corner to corner contiguously at high levels of magnification, because the screen is so small. When zoomed in near maximum, it is necessary to repeat the swipe. Nevertheless, it is possible to drag the page smoothly from corner-to-corner, albeit with breaks necessitated by the repositioning of the finger tip, or stylus.

The smoothness of scrolling becomes more difficulty to maintain, as the magnification is increased. I find it easier to use my finger tip, than the stylus, when trying to do this smoothly. In either case, at maximum magnification, the smoothness is slightly jerky even when the finger tip is moved very slowly, nevertheless the page follows the finger tip, or stylus, faithfully. I think it is pretty impressive, given the limitations of the technology.

The up/down/left/right arrows move the entire page up/down/left/right in steps, the size of which depends on the level of zoom magnification selected. So, the arrows may need to be tapped more than once, to reach the edge of the page. For example, with your PDF, at low levels of magnification a single tap suffices, whereas when zoom is at maximum magnification, three discrete taps are required, to reach the top or bottom edges of the page.

Sorry if I'm not answering your questions, or explaining this, well enough. Anyway, I hope you find this helpful!

[krish]

Thank you. It was quite nice of you to be so detailed to explain and help.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by krish

Thank you. It was quite nice of you to be so detailed to explain and help.

Has it helped you reach any conclusions? If so, what have you decided?

[krish]

I ordered PRS-950 after I saw the excellent offer from B&H for $199.99.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by krish

I ordered PRS-950 after I saw the excellent offer from B&H for $199.99.

Excellent. I hope you enjoy using it.