|
I have many .pdf books and docs ... is there a decent portable device to download and read them on the go? I heard about e-book readers and pda's, but am frustrated in internet searches? Must I settle for a laptop to read them? So far, every solution I've seen to this one has some serious disadvantages. The most promising, however, depends on how far you want to stretch the definition of "laptop". Personally, I have yet to come across a good, portable, PDF reader. Dedicated devices, such as the various ebook readers that I have seen, all suffer from what, in my opinion, are serious problems. Besides being more expensive than the usage justifies, the most common issue is simply that they often only read a proprietary format, not PDF. That proprietary format is typically one with DRM (Digital Rights Management), preventing you from easily transferring your ebooks from one computer or device to another. I'm a big fan of PDF. Outside of dedicated readers it's ubiquitous and simple to use and view. So where can we read PDFs? I'll throw out two solutions: Look into a "tablet PC". These are typically smaller than a laptop. Most are possibly still bigger than you're looking for, but there are some fairly small form-factor devices out there. "I'm a big fan of PDF. Outside of dedicated readers it's
ubiquitous and simple to use and view."
Advantage number one is that PDFs just work. You're running Windows XP, you download Acrobat Reader, and off you go. With a WiFi or other network connection, downloading's just as easy as any other PC. Advantage number two is that it's more than a PDF reader. You've got a PC in your hands. Read email, do work, whatever, when you're not reading PDFs. If I were looking for something to do a lot of mobile PDF reading, this is probably the route that I would go. The route that I did go? Look into a Palm OS device. Adobe makes an Acrobat Reader for Palm devices, like the Palm Pilot, or my Treo cell phone. It's what I use. I always have a book on my phone (an interesting phrase in and of itself) to read for those times when I'm out somewhere and waiting for some reason. The down side to the Palm reader is that they must be loaded onto your device from your PC. They actually get converted and shrunk for the Palm Acrobat reader before they're copied over. That means you can't simply download a PDF to your device, you need to download it to your PC, and then "hot sync" it over. The other downside is that part of that process often loses some of the "look and feel" of the document. It's only natural that things might look different, since the Palm screens are typically much smaller than regular PC displays. On some occasions things can even get slightly mangled. However for straight text reading, it's a viable alternative that could work with a device you already have - a cell phone or PDA. I know I don't leave home without it. Related:
Article 10377 | Posted June 3, 2006 |
Stay Informed Archives Advertisers |
•
I checked the sony reader in the shop, and tried many pdf formats. Almost all of them you can not use sony reader to read. It opens the file fine, but you can only zoom once on the document and it is very difficult to read the text in that size. Very very small font, can't zoom in more. I was hoping to read pdf on the go, but haven't heard of such a gadget yet. Thanks
Posted by: tarik at December 21, 2006 12:03 PMCan u tell me if the Sony Reader with its E ink technology displays coloured photographs in PDF files? I've searched but all pics I found were showing b&w pages. Do u think Sony Reader is a good portable PDf reader?
Posted by: Hiranmoy Kar at January 4, 2007 11:09 AMThe sony reader is a black and white device. I've heard mixed reviews, and have decided to avoid it for now, myself.
Posted by: Leo Notenboom at January 4, 2007 11:56 AMLooking for the same thing i even considered a playstation portable with pdf2psp software as a cheap alternative. Until i have seen it in action i wont bother for now though.
Posted by: Frye at February 26, 2007 10:37 AMAlso a big fan of PDF's. I came across the following device:
Posted by: Chris at May 8, 2007 08:42 AMhttp://www.archos.com/
They do music,video,wireless, and PDF.
Just came across iLiad iRex for the same. Good features but very pricey and not available in India. :-( Any users and reviews on the product? It has been released only last year.. Check it out on www.mobileread.com
Posted by: Nirmala at June 27, 2007 05:01 AMIf you're still looking, designtion has made a web service that converts any PDF to text so you can read it on your cellphone:
Posted by: Designtion at July 19, 2007 01:58 PMhttp://digg.com/software/Read_Any_PDF_on_Your_Cell_Phone
That way you only need a web-capable device to read PDFs.
not sure why the above linked to digg and not to the direct link -
Posted by: jude at July 20, 2007 10:36 PMhttp://designtion.com/labs/2007/07/18/read-any-pdf-on-your-cell-phone/
Get a psp, and use Bookr (pdf reader). $120 for a universal system. Use it for gaming, music, video, pdf, macromedia flash/shockwave, (full) internet browser, and the list goes on...
Posted by: lex at January 18, 2008 01:05 PMThen there's Archos's line of products. Archos 605 WiFi is neat little gadget with 4.3 screen with 16M colours @ 800x480. Its widescreen. Its mainly a PMP, but it can read PDF's, can handle limited Flash and to top it off, it has Wifi. The Wifi has to be purchased separately though. Video playback is outstanding, and has tonnes of features. Battery life is only average though. You'd get either 14hours of music or 5 hours of video.
PDF features are quite limited too; don't use to view graphically heavy PDF's can lag like hell. If your primary use is text, then its fine.
Overall, its a great little product. Comes in 30/80 and 160GB of storage plus a flash version which has 4GB and expansion slot that handles SD/MMC cards.
30GB starts at $270. Don't know about the rest, but that's the one I'm looking at.
Posted by: Milad H at May 7, 2008 03:23 AM