Best 10" or larger ereader for PDFs?

[Julie Paradise]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I gave figures.

It's not always about specs, and if you ask people for their recommendations and user experience you'll also get "soft" answers. In real-life use it might not be relevant what the dpi value is when you're not out for pixel-peeping but for reading and interacting with the device.

Regarding the Quaderno: These are hard to get, depending where you are, and the big ones also cost around 500 € to 600 € but only have very limited functions.

I have and use the devices I recommended daily for hours in my work as a professional copy editor, and I have used Kindle readers and others since 2009, so it feels a bit weird to be brushed off like that. Even though the Tab X (and also the old Max2) do not have 300 dpi, these are not unusable or lacking. AFAIK, there are no 13.3" devices with 300 dpi, and only 1 or two with 300 dpi in the 10.3" size (Kindle Scribe and ... ? ... the new not-yet-launched Supernote A5X2).

Maybe OP chimes in and gives us more clues as to what they are looking for.

[apastuszak]

I'm looking for something that I don't think exists:

1. 300 ppi screen
2. eInk or similar front-lit technology with decent battery life.
3. 10" or larger
4. PDFs are first-class citizens

I know the 300 ppi panel exists. But I read that Amazon locked the panel maker into an excluive contract.

The Scribe has most of these things. But it fails at point 4. Maybe that will get fixed with software updates.

I'd love to get a 13" device. But the price point of those things is way too high. and they're not 300 ppi.

[Julie Paradise]

Is the dpi really that crucial for you? Have you seen some other devices in real life?

Maybe this video by Voja/MyDeepGuide on YouTube helps you evaluate this aspect: Is the 300 PPI Resolution All That Matters? Note Air 3C vs Tab Ultra C Pro vs Amazon Kindle Scribe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnEV2B0WIWE

[apastuszak]

Yes. I have, and the DPI is important.

Amazon's exclusivity on that 300 ppi panel recently expired. So, hopefully I just need to wait a little.

[apastuszak]

Ok, so now i know the device I want doesn't exist.

Your video clearly shows that these devices would look a lot sharper if they didn't have that paper-feel coating on it for note taking.

So, I really want a 10.3" or larger eInk tablet designed for eReading and not for note-taking. It should have physical page turn buttons on it.

You can include a screen protector in the box the user can apply if they want it for note-taking.

But what I want clearly doesn't exist and no one will ever make it.

The note taking features, for me, are subpar. The best note taking app I have ever used was on the old Apple Newton. You would write on the screen, and when you moved to write the next line, it would OCR the previous line and convert it to editable text. It would replace your handwriting with text you can edit. At the end of the document, you had a document that looked like you typed it.

Then you could get it off the document as an RTF file and do what you want with it.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by apastuszak

Ok, so now i know the device I want doesn't exist.

Not on eink

Originally Posted by apastuszak

The note taking features, for me, are subpar. The best note taking app I have ever used was on the old Apple Newton. You would write on the screen, and when you moved to write the next line, it would OCR the previous line and convert it to editable text. It would replace your handwriting with text you can edit. At the end of the document, you had a document that looked like you typed it.

Then you could get it off the document as an RTF file and do what you want with it.

Nebo on real LCD Android (or Windows or iOS) with a digitizer built-in and a pen works far better than Newton, or anything else. The Google Gboard handwriting is using a sketchpad where the keyboard would be and works better than Palm or Newton ever did, just with a finger. I was able to install it even on an old Android 7 phone instead of the default Android ASOP. You do need to change all the defaults and privacy. Nebo is poor on Sage or Elipsa due to eink. The Gboard is unusable on an Android 8 eink, but fine on a really cheap ancient RCA Android 8 tablet, and various Android phones.

The surface on eink isn't for writing but to reduce glare and reflections. Most LCD and OLED give headaches because of reflections on too shiny screens. Some matt screens do exist on LCD, OLED and CRT (it's 40+ year old technology, shiny is cheaper).

[apastuszak]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Not on eink



Nebo on real LCD Android (or Windows or iOS) with a digitizer built-in and a pen works far better than Newton, or anything else. The Google Gboard handwriting is using a sketchpad where the keyboard would be and works better than Palm or Newton ever did, just with a finger. I was able to install it even on an old Android 7 phone instead of the default Android ASOP. You do need to change all the defaults and privacy. Nebo is poor on Sage or Elipsa due to eink. The Gboard is unusable on an Android 8 eink, but fine on a really cheap ancient RCA Android 8 tablet, and various Android phones.

The surface on eink isn't for writing but to reduce glare and reflections. Most LCD and OLED give headaches because of reflections on too shiny screens. Some matt screens do exist on LCD, OLED and CRT (it's 40+ year old technology, shiny is cheaper).

Regardless of what is best for note taking, I don't want to use a large format eink device for note-taking. I want to use it for reading only.

[apastuszak]

Here is a good video comparing the Kindle Scribe to the Onyx Boox Note Air 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMUsoo8Hnwg

Shows that the Scribe renders fonts better than the Boox.

[Quoth]

You can tell the Scribe is better for text from the specs.

[apastuszak]

Originally Posted by Quoth

The surface on eink isn't for writing but to reduce glare and reflections. Most LCD and OLED give headaches because of reflections on too shiny screens. Some matt screens do exist on LCD, OLED and CRT (it's 40+ year old technology, shiny is cheaper).

I do not think you're correct. These 10" readers have a "paper-like" screen coating that smaller readers don't have. They have a smooth anti-glare coating. These coatings are for writing on the screen.

[apastuszak]

Originally Posted by Quoth

You can tell the Scribe is better for text from the specs.

It's a combination of 3 things:

1. The ppi of the screen.
2. The rendering engine in the software
3. The paper feel coating on the screen.

If a 10" ereader didn't have that paperfeel coating on the screen, it would look a lot sharper even at 227 ppi.

The Kindle is a good device hindered by bad software.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by apastuszak

I do not think you're correct. These 10" readers have a "paper-like" screen coating that smaller readers don't have. They have a smooth anti-glare coating. These coatings are for writing on the screen.

This is not true for the Boox "Tab" devices - these have a frosted glass surface

[apastuszak]

I wonder how those compare. "Frosted glass" sounds like it still might obscure the image.

[Quoth]

He might mean micro-etched glass, which if a fine enough etch doesn't reduce quality but is dramatically anti-glare/anti-shine/anti-reflection.

[apastuszak]

I would not mind seeing that.