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".
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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.
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:
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Ask Leo! - How do I download and read an ebook?
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Ask Leo! - How do I convert a Word document into a PDF file?
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Leo Notenboom (personal blog) - What's on my Treo?
Article C2677 - June 3, 2006
Also a big fan of PDF's. I came across the following device:
Posted by: Chris at May 8, 2007 8:42 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 5:01 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 1:58 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 1:05 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 3:23 AMI was believing that "Amazon Kindle" will help us, but no. Acutally we need an "Amazon kindle" with full PDF support...?
22-Feb-2009
I'm frustrated with the lack of WYSIWYG PDF support on portables. I've used Mobipocket on my Palm for years, but it completely dies on complex, multi-column PDFs with charts, graphs, and vector graphics.
Foxit (the people who make the popular Foxit Reader, a zippy competitor to the bloated Adobe Reader) have introduced a new device called eSlick.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ebook/
It's nearly as expensive as the Kindle2, but I'm excited to have PDF experts develop an eReader. Let's see what comes of it.
Posted by: Fire at March 6, 2009 1:02 PMI have run across a low cost PDF reader at www.dittobook.com. Not a lot of bells and whistles...just a good cost effective PDF reader for less than $250.
Posted by: W. Mikelonis at June 16, 2009 1:48 PMHi I am also looking for a good portable pdf reader that wont cost me an arm and a leg. I noticed that this blog entry is about 3 years old. I am looking for someone to recommend such a device, during August-September 2009, that doesn't use a proprietary format and that isn't a mini version of a notebook or laptop. All I want is a portable pdf reader (much like a Kimbo) that can preferrably hold a couple of hundred pdf's. Please respond to this blog comment and do remember to email me at [email address removed] with the link to this page so that I know that my request was answered. Please remember to add this in subject line "portable pdf reader". This request is also for Leo, the owner of this blog. Thank you so much and please do post my comment, Leo. I just helped to keep your 3-yr old blog post fresh. o_~
Posted by: Jules Manson at August 27, 2009 1:43 PM