Kindle DX and Programming books

fulcrum · 01-12-2010, 07:23 AM

Hi,

I have a PRS-505 which I use as my daily reader. It is great and I love it.

The drawback is that I can't view programming books that I own on PDF (quite a few of the APress titles).

This is due to the screen size. Now that the Kindle DX is available for the international market I was thinking of getting one just for my programming books.

Does anyone have one that they view programming books in PDF format on? If so, could you please let me know the following:

1) Do you get a whole screen per page?
2) Is it legible at a full screen per page if you can get that?
3) Do screenshots appear legible?
4) Can you read code blocks ok? Code blocks are normally a different font, maybe a lighter colour, or even black on a grey panel.

Thanks for any help on this people.

rfog · 01-12-2010, 07:50 AM

1) Yes in Portrait. In landscape an A4 is viewed in 3 steps, adjusting the side blank margins.

2) A normal McGraw or Apress book, yes, but font is a little small for my comfortability, however it can be read.

3) It depends of the amount of colors and size. Generally yes, but sometimes no.

4) It depend of the color. If the color is very clear, no. If the color is grayed from text, yes.

fulcrum · 01-12-2010, 08:00 AM

rfog... thanks for the quick reply.

From what I understand the DX auto rotates if you turn it to landscape. Are the screenshots much clearer then (assuming it was size, not the colouring of the original image causing the loss of clarity)?

If so, is rotating to landscape a relatively quick process, or does it involve a lot of repagination and causes big delays?

rfog · 01-12-2010, 09:21 AM

You can disable rotation if you want, or you can rotate manually.

Depending of the complexity of the PDF, rotation time is similar to page turning or takes a little more time.

And yes, you can see the image better if it was size problem.

Most Kindle DX limitation is that it does not have a zoom utility for PDF like DR1000 has and if you cannot see in Landscape you cannot se in any other size.

fulcrum · 01-12-2010, 04:30 PM

Thanks rfog. I think I'll get one now that I know what to expect. you've been a great help.

01-12-2010, 07:23 AM	#1
fulcrum Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	Kindle DX and Programming books Hi, I have a PRS-505 which I use as my daily reader. It is great and I love it. The drawback is that I can't view programming books that I own on PDF (quite a few of the APress titles). This is due to the screen size. Now that the Kindle DX is available for the international market I was thinking of getting one just for my programming books. Does anyone have one that they view programming books in PDF format on? If so, could you please let me know the following: 1) Do you get a whole screen per page? 2) Is it legible at a full screen per page if you can get that? 3) Do screenshots appear legible? 4) Can you read code blocks ok? Code blocks are normally a different font, maybe a lighter colour, or even black on a grey panel. Thanks for any help on this people.

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01-12-2010, 07:50 AM	#2
rfog Guru Posts: 696 Karma: 2383012 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Schiedam (The Netherlands) Device: Lots of eInk devices and iOS stuff	1) Yes in Portrait. In landscape an A4 is viewed in 3 steps, adjusting the side blank margins. 2) A normal McGraw or Apress book, yes, but font is a little small for my comfortability, however it can be read. 3) It depends of the amount of colors and size. Generally yes, but sometimes no. 4) It depend of the color. If the color is very clear, no. If the color is grayed from text, yes.

01-12-2010, 08:00 AM	#3
fulcrum Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	rfog... thanks for the quick reply. From what I understand the DX auto rotates if you turn it to landscape. Are the screenshots much clearer then (assuming it was size, not the colouring of the original image causing the loss of clarity)? If so, is rotating to landscape a relatively quick process, or does it involve a lot of repagination and causes big delays?

01-12-2010, 09:21 AM	#4
rfog Guru Posts: 696 Karma: 2383012 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Schiedam (The Netherlands) Device: Lots of eInk devices and iOS stuff	You can disable rotation if you want, or you can rotate manually. Depending of the complexity of the PDF, rotation time is similar to page turning or takes a little more time. And yes, you can see the image better if it was size problem. Most Kindle DX limitation is that it does not have a zoom utility for PDF like DR1000 has and if you cannot see in Landscape you cannot se in any other size.

01-12-2010, 04:30 PM	#5
fulcrum Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	Thanks rfog. I think I'll get one now that I know what to expect. you've been a great help.

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