Finally thinking to buy an ebook reader, last questions, PDF's, large screen devices

[fuzzy_dunlop]

I have been considering buying an ebook reader for a while but have been holding off for the devices to be improved. I have been reading ebooks on my PDA, mostly PDF's, for years and now want to get something that is easier on my eyes. I have a few questions before I buy though and was hoping the gurus on this forum could help me out

1. Will PDF's generally be readable if reflowed on say a Astak EZReader (Hanlin, BeBook) or am I going to be disappointed? I intend to read a large library of PDF books. I have been using reflow on PDF's on my PDA for years and have found that it generally does work especially for novels and books without pictures. But the larger the file size, page size and the more images the less likely it is to work or just crash during the conversion (tagging) process. A good example is any of the '...For Dummies' series books, they almost never reflow correctly.

Also with a Windows Pocket PC PDA, the PDF is tagged on your PC and then copied to the device, is it the same for the EZReader?

2. Do real options exist to convert and reformat PDF's (i.e. make readable on a smaller screen)? I have read a lot of posts by people saying they can't be bothered but I don't really mind at all considering a few minutes converting or tweaking will give you 6-10 hours of reading time. Even opening a 8.5x11 PDF right now and shrinking it down to 50% zoom, seems like by removing margins or reading it in landscape it would be fine.

3. Are any large screen devices that will come down to the $200 price range next year or in the near future? I have noticed that when printing PDF's at two pages per A4 sheet that it is roughly 9-10 inches diagonal, which makes me think that any PDF should be fine on a 10" screen. I'm not interested in a Kindle DX because of their proprietary format and although the Plastic Logic Reader looks impressive in a recent video the CEO wouldn't comment whether it would cost less or more than $500, which makes me think it will be really expensive (http://tinyurl.com/kmk788).

Thanks for your help.

[PhishStyx]

From everything I can find and determine, you're likely to be very disappointed in a PDF e-book reader (aka liseuse) smaller than 10" diagonal. Of those available, the best by far is the iRex DR 1000s, but it is NOT within your stated price range.

NOTE: By and large, my experience with PDF books on my liseuse are with game books, which are image heavy, dual-columned, technical style books usually at 8.5 x11" in size.

[davidspitzer]

Originally Posted by fuzzy_dunlop

I have been considering buying an ebook reader for a while but have been holding off for the devices to be improved. I have been reading ebooks on my PDA, mostly PDF's, for years and now want to get something that is easier on my eyes. I have a few questions before I buy though and was hoping the gurus on this forum could help me out

1. Will PDF's generally be readable if reflowed on say a Astak EZReader (Hanlin, BeBook) or am I going to be disappointed? I intend to read a large library of PDF books. I have been using reflow on PDF's on my PDA for years and have found that it generally does work especially for novels and books without pictures. But the larger the file size, page size and the more images the less likely it is to work or just crash during the conversion (tagging) process. A good example is any of the '...For Dummies' series books, they almost never reflow correctly.

Also with a Windows Pocket PC PDA, the PDF is tagged on your PC and then copied to the device, is it the same for the EZReader?

2. Do real options exist to convert and reformat PDF's (i.e. make readable on a smaller screen)? I have read a lot of posts by people saying they can't be bothered but I don't really mind at all considering a few minutes converting or tweaking will give you 6-10 hours of reading time. Even opening a 8.5x11 PDF right now and shrinking it down to 50% zoom, seems like by removing margins or reading it in landscape it would be fine.

3. Are any large screen devices that will come down to the $200 price range next year or in the near future? I have noticed that when printing PDF's at two pages per A4 sheet that it is roughly 9-10 inches diagonal, which makes me think that any PDF should be fine on a 10" screen. I'm not interested in a Kindle DX because of their proprietary format and although the Plastic Logic Reader looks impressive in a recent video the CEO wouldn't comment whether it would cost less or more than $500, which makes me think it will be really expensive (http://tinyurl.com/kmk788).

Thanks for your help.

The Kindle DX will read standard PDF's so thats not really propietary, Here are all the formats the kindle can read - Kindle (AZW and TOPAZ), PRC/MOBI (non DRM), TXT, PDF, Audible (format 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3

AZW and Topaz are Propietary, but you are certainly not required to use that formay on the kindle. If you are in the US the I think the DX is the most reasonably priced large screen reader you can buy (today)