Thinking about getting an Iliad

junkyardwillie · 04-28-2008, 02:08 PM

So I'm thinking about getting an Iliad, I already have a Sony reader 500 which I've been using almost everyday since I got it about a year ago, its awesome I love it. My only grip with it is that it does a terrible job with PDFs even with pdf2lrf and all the other rasterizing programs.

I'm wondering how the Iliad compares.

I figure with the larger screen the landscape mode is almost the same as 8.5x11 so the text shouldnt be shrunk as much but I dont know how much of a real difference it makes. What I'm wondering about is the Zoom feature on the iliad. Can you zoom anything that you want to a full page size. Like if I box 5 words would it enlarge it to a full screen size and then I could scroll straight down a page like that? Or is it not that good where it has limits on how the text will flow after you zoom? I hope thats clear. I have some money burning a hole in my pocket and an Iliad is looking real good right now.

saniko · 04-28-2008, 03:55 PM

Coming from a PRS-505, the Illiad completes me. Its PDF rendering skills are fantastic.
The only problem is that its a lot bigger, doesn't charge via USB, and shows too much untapped potential.

junkyardwillie · 04-28-2008, 04:17 PM

I took the dive and ordered an Iliad, if nothing else it'll make a very expensive suduko player, not to mention ad lib tic tac toe.

I saw a video of it on youtube and the screen looks almost as big as the sony reader so I think I can live with that. I think my first plan of action will be to put up a video of the Iliad zooming in every way it can, why no one has done this I dont know.

I wish someone would make one full 8.5x11 but until then I'll rock the Iliad. Having both the reader and the Iliad should remedy most of my headaches, using the reader for books and Iliad for pdfs and articles I want to write on.

Now its just the wait for the Iliad to come in. Its going to be like Christmas in May. I want my tracker already so I can watch it travel the world to the US.

carandol · 04-28-2008, 05:36 PM

Text in a PDF won't reflow on the iLiad, just as it won't in Adobe Reader on a computer screen. But you can zoom in to get rid of wide margins, or look at part of the page at a time and move it round with the stylus, or turn it through 90 degrees and look at half a page at a time. And the display is much sharper than an average computer, so if you've got good eyes, a full-page A4 PDF will still be readable. I'm very happy with mine, and being able to use it as a notepad too is a lot more useful than I was expecting!

junkyardwillie · 04-28-2008, 06:03 PM

Its very hard to get around the txt reflow in pdfs which is annoying. I usually use book design or adobe to rip the text and then copy any charts or tables as pictures so they still show up right. Too bad Iliad doesnt support lrf as all my books are in that format right now so I'll be starting from scratch on that front.

I find it very odd that no one has created a full letter sized eink device yet. The 6 inch reader has become the standard which is fine for most people but how many of the same device at the same price do people need. Can none of these companies think outside the box and create a full sized reader. The device is far from ever going mainstream as people cant/dont read (makes me think of a Chris Rock joke) so why not create all different sizes to capture all points of the market instead of a feeding frenzy on the same segment?

Then again for the past two years I've been reading articles of the color e ink device coming out but like Annie its always 'the sun is coming out tomorrow' with it which means it'll never happen at least not for under 20k. I'm hopeful for the Aztek reader but I have a strong feeling that it wont see the light of day before 2009 and I can't wait that long for it and the specs seem questionable at best, either they found a time machine to create the ultimate device or someone's got a roll of quarters in their pocket.

I guess I'm coming around full circle because the Iliad made me want to get a reader, then I got the sony one because it was cheaper and now I'm buying the Iliad anyway because I like the technology. I dont know which company to thank for making me get an ereader but its been the best tech decision I've made in a while

Indigo Ink · 04-29-2008, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

I find it very odd that no one has created a full letter sized eink device yet. The 6 inch reader has become the standard which is fine for most people but how many of the same device at the same price do people need. Can none of these companies think outside the box and create a full sized reader. The device is far from ever going mainstream as people cant/dont read (makes me think of a Chris Rock joke) so why not create all different sizes to capture all points of the market instead of a feeding frenzy on the same segment?

I am sure you have already looked that threads on future ebook devices on mobileread, but if you haven't looks like a 9.7 inch screen size reader should be out before the end of this year...but then that's too close to 2009

GavinK151 · 04-29-2008, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carandol

... But you can zoom in to get rid of wide margins, or look at part of the page at a time and move it round

Carandol! can you tell me you do this (the moving around the page bit) I have some PDF comics that look great in portrait mode for the most part but some of the pages I need to zoom. I can zoom in but I am not sure how to move the page around in small increments (say just move down 5% etc)... any tips? :-)

axel77 · 04-29-2008, 08:34 AM

This button will do.

carandol · 04-29-2008, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by axel77

This button will do.

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words! I was just thinking in my head how to describe that icon too...

GavinK151 -- yes, use the icon above, then put your stylus on the screen and move it in the direction you want to go. It's a bit odd, but you soon get used to it!

GavinK151 · 04-29-2008, 10:46 AM

axel77, carandol - thanks! I will give that a shot tonight!

cheers :-)

junkyardwillie · 04-29-2008, 10:52 AM

I have a bunch of comics also which I'd love to be able to read on this thing. I think it comes in early next week (just got my shipping notice). If I can read my comics on this, it will pay for itself in hours of fun. The reader did a poor job with comics because of the small screen and the words were too blurry. I have my fingers crossed on this working with my comic collection. I wish they offered next day delivery I would of gotten that.

GavinK151 · 05-02-2008, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

I have a bunch of comics also which I'd love to be able to read on this thing. I think it comes in early next week (just got my shipping notice). If I can read my comics on this, it will pay for itself in hours of fun. The reader did a poor job with comics because of the small screen and the words were too blurry. I have my fingers crossed on this working with my comic collection. I wish they offered next day delivery I would of gotten that.

I find it works pretty well so far for comics but some of then you do have to zoom in and scroll about with. So far I have found the simplest solution is to use "comicrack" to export CBR to PDF.

junkyardwillie · 05-06-2008, 06:28 PM

I have to check out that comicrack, right now I'm using manga2pdf or some program like that but it works well, most sections I can read without the zoom but having the function is great.

Is there a good program that darkens up PDF's for the Iliad like the PDF2LRF for the sony reader. I have some magazines where the font is just too light to get a good read with without getting the text darker. Unfortunately the Iliad doesnt read LRF's so that program is out the window but I haven't seen any other programs that are similar to that for the Iliad on here.

04-28-2008, 02:08 PM	#1
junkyardwillie Addict Posts: 316 Karma: 570 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Onyx Note Pro, Kobo H20 and iPad	Thinking about getting an Iliad So I'm thinking about getting an Iliad, I already have a Sony reader 500 which I've been using almost everyday since I got it about a year ago, its awesome I love it. My only grip with it is that it does a terrible job with PDFs even with pdf2lrf and all the other rasterizing programs. I'm wondering how the Iliad compares. I figure with the larger screen the landscape mode is almost the same as 8.5x11 so the text shouldnt be shrunk as much but I dont know how much of a real difference it makes. What I'm wondering about is the Zoom feature on the iliad. Can you zoom anything that you want to a full page size. Like if I box 5 words would it enlarge it to a full screen size and then I could scroll straight down a page like that? Or is it not that good where it has limits on how the text will flow after you zoom? I hope thats clear. I have some money burning a hole in my pocket and an Iliad is looking real good right now.

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04-28-2008, 03:55 PM	#2
saniko Member Posts: 19 Karma: 55 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: iRex iLiad	Coming from a PRS-505, the Illiad completes me. Its PDF rendering skills are fantastic. The only problem is that its a lot bigger, doesn't charge via USB, and shows too much untapped potential.

04-28-2008, 04:17 PM	#3
junkyardwillie Addict Posts: 316 Karma: 570 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Onyx Note Pro, Kobo H20 and iPad	I took the dive and ordered an Iliad, if nothing else it'll make a very expensive suduko player, not to mention ad lib tic tac toe. I saw a video of it on youtube and the screen looks almost as big as the sony reader so I think I can live with that. I think my first plan of action will be to put up a video of the Iliad zooming in every way it can, why no one has done this I dont know. I wish someone would make one full 8.5x11 but until then I'll rock the Iliad. Having both the reader and the Iliad should remedy most of my headaches, using the reader for books and Iliad for pdfs and articles I want to write on. Now its just the wait for the Iliad to come in. Its going to be like Christmas in May. I want my tracker already so I can watch it travel the world to the US.

04-28-2008, 05:36 PM	#4
carandol Evangelist Posts: 423 Karma: 2153430 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: BeBook	Text in a PDF won't reflow on the iLiad, just as it won't in Adobe Reader on a computer screen. But you can zoom in to get rid of wide margins, or look at part of the page at a time and move it round with the stylus, or turn it through 90 degrees and look at half a page at a time. And the display is much sharper than an average computer, so if you've got good eyes, a full-page A4 PDF will still be readable. I'm very happy with mine, and being able to use it as a notepad too is a lot more useful than I was expecting!

04-28-2008, 06:03 PM	#5
junkyardwillie Addict Posts: 316 Karma: 570 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Onyx Note Pro, Kobo H20 and iPad	Its very hard to get around the txt reflow in pdfs which is annoying. I usually use book design or adobe to rip the text and then copy any charts or tables as pictures so they still show up right. Too bad Iliad doesnt support lrf as all my books are in that format right now so I'll be starting from scratch on that front. I find it very odd that no one has created a full letter sized eink device yet. The 6 inch reader has become the standard which is fine for most people but how many of the same device at the same price do people need. Can none of these companies think outside the box and create a full sized reader. The device is far from ever going mainstream as people cant/dont read (makes me think of a Chris Rock joke) so why not create all different sizes to capture all points of the market instead of a feeding frenzy on the same segment? Then again for the past two years I've been reading articles of the color e ink device coming out but like Annie its always 'the sun is coming out tomorrow' with it which means it'll never happen at least not for under 20k. I'm hopeful for the Aztek reader but I have a strong feeling that it wont see the light of day before 2009 and I can't wait that long for it and the specs seem questionable at best, either they found a time machine to create the ultimate device or someone's got a roll of quarters in their pocket. I guess I'm coming around full circle because the Iliad made me want to get a reader, then I got the sony one because it was cheaper and now I'm buying the Iliad anyway because I like the technology. I dont know which company to thank for making me get an ereader but its been the best tech decision I've made in a while

04-29-2008, 08:34 AM	#8
axel77 Fanatic Posts: 584 Karma: 914 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: iliad	This button will do.

04-29-2008, 10:46 AM	#10
GavinK151 Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: none	axel77, carandol - thanks! I will give that a shot tonight! cheers :-)

04-29-2008, 10:52 AM	#11
junkyardwillie Addict Posts: 316 Karma: 570 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Onyx Note Pro, Kobo H20 and iPad	I have a bunch of comics also which I'd love to be able to read on this thing. I think it comes in early next week (just got my shipping notice). If I can read my comics on this, it will pay for itself in hours of fun. The reader did a poor job with comics because of the small screen and the words were too blurry. I have my fingers crossed on this working with my comic collection. I wish they offered next day delivery I would of gotten that.

05-06-2008, 06:28 PM	#13
junkyardwillie Addict Posts: 316 Karma: 570 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Onyx Note Pro, Kobo H20 and iPad	I have to check out that comicrack, right now I'm using manga2pdf or some program like that but it works well, most sections I can read without the zoom but having the function is great. Is there a good program that darkens up PDF's for the Iliad like the PDF2LRF for the sony reader. I have some magazines where the font is just too light to get a good read with without getting the text darker. Unfortunately the Iliad doesnt read LRF's so that program is out the window but I haven't seen any other programs that are similar to that for the Iliad on here.

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