PDF viewing solutions for mobile devices

[Bob Russell]

PDFZone has presented an array of available solutions for viewing PDF files on mobile devices. Any solution is going to be limited with a small screen and generally non-reflowable text, although certainly some PDF documents can be reflowed.

Here's the lineup they provide:

Palm OS

* Dataviz Documents To Go Premium Edition Version 8.0 (Cost is $49.99, or upgrades for $29.99).
* Picsel File Viewer

Blackberry

* Terratial DocHawk (subscription web service)

Symbian OS
(Nokia Series 60 smartphones, including Nokia 6660, Nokia 3650, Nokia 7610 and the Siemens SX1.)

* mBrainsoftware's Pdf+
* Picsel File Viewer
* The Dataviz product listed under PalmOS. It also runs on Symbian OS-based UIQ and Symbian OS-based Series 80 devices.

Windows Mobile

* Cerience Repligo Professional
* Picsel File Viewer

You may be thinking that Adobe offers some mobile PDF viewing software also. Probably true, but unless things have drastically changed, for most people it isn't really worth using.

See the PDFZone article for futher information about these alternatives.

[mdhuang]

I can't believe the best PDF viewer for PalmOS was not even mentioned:
Freeware PalmPDF at
http://www.metaviewsoft.de/en/Softwa...PDF/index.html

I have tried many, and it is the only one works well on my CLIE NX80V.

[mobilyazilar]

There is also PocketXPDF for Windows Mobile: http://pocketxpdf.sourceforge.net/

That is all old news or what I call common knowledge. Big woo! Those guys at PDFZone need to update their web page. Next to that boring article is a link to a discussion from 2006 wherein they speculate that MS might drop their Save to PDF function from Office 2007. Newsflash: Office 2007 was released a year ago and it HAS the Save to PDF function.

[BooksForABuck]

Haven't tried the Freeware Palm PDF but I have used Adobe's PDF reader for Palm. It's certainly not as good as reading eBooks in eReader or Mobipocket, but it does work. I've read several dozen books this way (on an ancient Palm III xi) and it certainly works better than trying to scroll around a non-reflowed version.

I can't understand, though, why so many in the eBook world are still stuck on PDF--unless most everyone in the eBook world still reads eBooks on their computers rather than on handheld devices.

Rob Preece
Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com
Affordable Novel-length Fiction

[beachwanderer]

mdhuang is right

PalmPDF by metaview is by now probably the most widely used pdf-viewer on PalmOS, an rightly so

works just fine on zire 72 and the sturdy "old" tapwave zodiac2 too
(still a pity that firm went down ...)

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by jswinden

That is all old news or what I call common knowledge. Big woo! Those guys at PDFZone need to update their web page. Next to that boring article is a link to a discussion from 2006 wherein they speculate that MS might drop their Save to PDF function from Office 2007. Newsflash: Office 2007 was released a year ago and it HAS the Save to PDF function.

Yea, there a lots of missing products on that site and as you say it is old. PalmPDF is likely the best on Palm these days and the Adobe (if you install it on a card) is still near the top on PocketPC devices do to its reflow capability and the ability of activesync to add reflow to files that do not have it. Since Adobe is 8 Meg you need to install it to a card. There are some others mentioned in my PDF section in my ebook article.

Dale

I have PalmPDF but prefer Dataviz Docs-to-Go. Dataviz is generally faster and more compatible with Adobe docs. If you have any protected PDF files that display watermarks without Adobe software, PalmPDF will display the marks whereas Docs-to-Go will not. But the two programs are pretty close. Picsel was only available on Sony units and is not generally available otherwise.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by akira28

I have PalmPDF but prefer Dataviz Docs-to-Go. Dataviz is generally faster and more compatible with Adobe docs. If you have any protected PDF files that display watermarks without Adobe software, PalmPDF will display the marks whereas Docs-to-Go will not. But the two programs are pretty close. Picsel was only available on Sony units and is not generally available otherwise.

Picsel did finally start selling the ProViewer for other devices, but seems to have discontinued it. No surprise: they're a B2B outfit licensing to device manufacturers. I think they are still trying to figure out how to sell their products retail. Picsel Browser, which can also be used to surf the web if you have Wifi, was only available on Sony Clies, though a ripped version, patched to run on any Palm OS 5 units, is floating around.
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Dennis

[blunty]

Just come across this thread. Why not just run the PDF through Mobipocket creator and turn it into a proper e-book?

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by blunty

Just come across this thread. Why not just run the PDF through Mobipocket creator and turn it into a proper e-book?

Because it doesn't always work very well. Converting PDF is a complex subject. Just because one file works well after conversion doesn't mean all of them will. Read the wiki article on PDF to begin to understand the complexities involved in this.

Dale

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by blunty

Just come across this thread. Why not just run the PDF through Mobipocket creator and turn it into a proper e-book?

How well that works depends on the PDF. Simple one column PDFs with limited graphics convert fairly well. More complicated ones with multiple columns and fancy formatting intended for a printed page can come out unusable.

It would be lovely if it were that simple...
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Dennis