I love the way how iPad works with PDFs,epubs etc. It is a glorified reader but works perfectly. I wish something like kindle would match the experience.
I have both the new Kindle Paperwhite and the old Kobo mini e-reader, and I like the Kobo much better. Kobo's UI is far superior, and it connects with Pocket, so you can catch up on your articles too.
Thinking of buying an iPad just for this use case. Most of my technical books are in PDF form, converting them to any other format ruins the readability, and the PDF on the kindle is terrible to navigate.
Yes. Thousand times yes. If i could just justify spending so much money on ipad to use it just for reading.And anyway i would want the latest device which has not been released yet (october?).
I would still be worried about battery life (as it requires much more effort to keep an eye on than on an e-ink reader).
And do not forget about the screen differences. It's still more pleasant to look at an e-ink than on the traditional display.
I've managed to read on my iPhone and my Mac, I've found it easier on the phone due to portability and the touch screen. But the i've found I can't sustain long periods on either.
I have the Sony Digital Paper and I can't say enough good things about it. It has been a gamechanger. I have thousands of papers/books on it, and I find myself reading more papers and making notes on them where ever I am.
Pros:
1. Native pdf reader. It is not an epub reader, but epubs can be converted to pdfs easily (the difference between epub and pdf is that the latter is formatted to a particular page size)
2. A-4/Letter sized documents can be read as is. I don't want to scroll.
3. The advantages of an e-ink display. (i) Good contrast. My eyes don't hurt the way they do when I stare at a lit screen.
(ii) I don't use the built-in wifi, and I think I charge it once a month.
4. Supports handwritten annotations. The stylus is responsive, the resolution is high, the lag is small, and the friction is just right ... it feels like writing on paper. I use the device to write lengthy notes (tens of pages).
5. Multiple tabs openable on the same document. I keep separate tabs open on the bibliography and on important figures to be referenced.
6. Touch screen - standard gestures for zooming, scrolling and panning.
7. Extensible memory (SDCard) - I have tons of documents, but haven't come anywhere close to filling up the internal 4G mem.
Cons:
1. Price. $850 could buy a whole lotta other things.
2. The disadvantages of an e-ink display: While it is snappier than the kindle, there's plenty of room for improvement. I was beside myself with excitement when I had first heard of Mirasol. where are they now?
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And if anyone from Sony's reading this, I'd like to be able to select pieces of a drawing and drag them around. I'd like to be able to reorganize my notes. It would be so trivial for you to add this feature.
I recently got a Samsung S 8.4" tablet primarily for reading and I'm very happy. Super fast, good battery life and with an excellent screen but a little pricey.
Previously I used the original Nexus 7 but found it to be too slow and too small.
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[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 42.2 ms ] threadThey have hidden internal MicroSD cards. A few screws and you can upgrade your device pretty easily.
I disliked the "activation" process of setting up an account stuff and needing to connect to the Internet, but there are workarounds for that. http://uscoffings.net/clc/tech/embedded/kobo-touch/
I would still be worried about battery life (as it requires much more effort to keep an eye on than on an e-ink reader).
And do not forget about the screen differences. It's still more pleasant to look at an e-ink than on the traditional display.
Pros: 1. Native pdf reader. It is not an epub reader, but epubs can be converted to pdfs easily (the difference between epub and pdf is that the latter is formatted to a particular page size)
2. A-4/Letter sized documents can be read as is. I don't want to scroll.
3. The advantages of an e-ink display. (i) Good contrast. My eyes don't hurt the way they do when I stare at a lit screen. (ii) I don't use the built-in wifi, and I think I charge it once a month.
4. Supports handwritten annotations. The stylus is responsive, the resolution is high, the lag is small, and the friction is just right ... it feels like writing on paper. I use the device to write lengthy notes (tens of pages).
5. Multiple tabs openable on the same document. I keep separate tabs open on the bibliography and on important figures to be referenced.
6. Touch screen - standard gestures for zooming, scrolling and panning.
7. Extensible memory (SDCard) - I have tons of documents, but haven't come anywhere close to filling up the internal 4G mem.
Cons:
1. Price. $850 could buy a whole lotta other things.
2. The disadvantages of an e-ink display: While it is snappier than the kindle, there's plenty of room for improvement. I was beside myself with excitement when I had first heard of Mirasol. where are they now?
-------
And if anyone from Sony's reading this, I'd like to be able to select pieces of a drawing and drag them around. I'd like to be able to reorganize my notes. It would be so trivial for you to add this feature.
Where and how are the annotations saved? Can you bring them back out of the device and see them on the PDF still?
Thanks
The annotations are saved on the pdf file itself. I write all my notes that way.
Previously I used the original Nexus 7 but found it to be too slow and too small.