Best eReader for PDF books?

[mapletony]

I own many math, physics and programming PDFs that I'd like to read on an eReader. Are there any eReaders which will do a better job at displaying complex PDFs than the Kindle DX? I'm considering Amazon's device, but I don't want to make an investment if there is something better than that for reading technical PDFs.

[zetareticuli]

I know of no such device (yet). All the devices I have tried have problems, including the Kindle DX which I was able to try recently. I have the same interests as you and my ebook collection in PDF is just like yours. I suggest you wait a few months until the large screen readers (such as the Kindle DX) from other vendors are released later this year.

Based on my experience with the Kindle DX, I can tell you that some technical PDFs display correctly while others don't. I tried 30 technical PDF e-books (Math, Physics, Computers, etc) and it was about a 55% success rate. While all the PDFs I tried do display, some of them are barely readable. I also saw problems with certain graphs and tables (Adobe Reader on my netbook displays them all perfectly). The Kindle DX is good enough for PDFs as far as physical dimensions are concerned, but it suffers from very poor software support for PDFs. My advice is to wait until readers with better PDF support come out...

[abq254]

Hi mapletony,

from what I read around these forums the iRex readers do the best job of displaying pdf in their natural format so not trouble at all with formulas etc. You may want to look into this thread
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49817
or google for academic eReader and it will lead you back to relevant threads on this forum.

There are three models: The iliad has an 8" screen, zoom and annotation capabilities, the DR1000s has a 10.1" screen and also zoom and annotation capabilities but less of a battery life, and overall both systems can be buggy. The most recent DR800 also has an 8" screen a newer design, longer battery life but so far no zoom and no annotation capabilities. Though these may be added in firmware updates later on. The emphasis is on "may".

Hope this helps.

[greenapple]

I'm not sure if iPad qualifies as an ereader, but I have high hope for this gadget to display PDFs correctly.

[quartal]

Hi guys, decided to register here finally. I've been doing some research on the e-ink devices for the last week and seem to have stumbled on the same PDF-problem as the threads starter. (since I'm a dev I'd really like to be able to read on some tech PDFs and quite possibly HTML-demo books too).

Currently there doesn't really seem to be much of a choices for a good device. Dunno about the Kindle, I wan't to try to stay away form getting too attached to a certain proprietary stuff. One choice could be the PRS-900 from Sony.

At the moment I wouldn't want to spend entirely too much for the device (iRex prices) and I'm currently hoping for some of the unreleased devices. Jinke/Hanlin A9 seems pretty promising. Or possibly the Onyx boox 60/BeBook Neo.

I really wouldn't want to get a touch version either, but it seems to come as default on the bigger devices.

A9 video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhtzrhHNvnw

PS. On the iPad, it seems really ok device (if you don't take all the bad stuff into account which seem to be alot ). I really liked a eink device though, other ways I'd just buy a notebook.

[Ulli]

I do reading of physical and chemical expression in pdf on my PocketBook and its working very well. The only bug i found with that, is that when you have some special signs there is a problem with the reflow of the pdf. But thats no problem because the zoom works anyway.

If you have a example pdf file you like to know how its displayed on a PocketBook you can PN me that file (up it on a 1klickhoster e.g. megaupload.com)

[quartal]

I have access to pretty big eBook library through my work and we have atleast quite many Wrox books available. Most of these books are in PDF-format.

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archi...-tutorial.aspx

I'm not quite sure how that would correspond to our PDFs, but atleast the formatting should atleast somehow follow a normal dev-book.

How would say.. 68 of 186, page 128 of 186 or 134 of 186 look like on the PocketBook? As far as I know it would require pretty good zooming options or bigger screen. what comes to the reflow.. don't really like some of the stuff I've seen.

[greenapple]

A few of the ebook readers I have come across just don't have the horse-power to open large and complex PDFs. Some are very, very slow to turn the pages, others have difficulty rendering.

[abq254]

Originally Posted by quartal

At the moment I wouldn't want to spend entirely too much for the device (iRex prices) ...

You could also get a second hand one. A few people are selling iLiads on the forum. If it fits your needs and budget then a used one may be better than one that does not fit your needs. Just a thought.