03-24-2014, 12:57 AM | #1 |
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Advice needed about buying a Paperwhite
Hi everyone!
My trusty Sony 650 reader has just sadly died, and I am looking into buying the next e-reader for myself. I was pretty much set on Kobo Glo until I learned that it doesn't support annotations in PDFs. Being a university student and often receiving textbook files and articles from my teachers in PDF, I would love to be able to highlight and annotate like I did on my Sony eReader. Can anyone tell me how the Paperwhite handles annotating/highlighting PDF files, and if it supports reflow of text (if, say, I make the font bigger?). Also, one thing that I have heard and tried out on the Kindle app is that books side loaded onto the Kindle do not actually get listed as books, but as "personal documents" or something silly like that. Can you tell me if this is true for the Paperwhite, or if the books sent via a USB cord from the computer appear in the books section, with their cover and everything? Thank you SO MUCH for your help, it's super appreciated! |
03-24-2014, 01:06 AM | #2 |
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PDFs can be annotated like any other supported file format on the Kindle. PDFs by definition are NOT reflowable, however. It is a fixed, final-view format chiefly meant to look the same no matter where you view it.
You can, however, zoom in. Personally, I am not impressed by the zoom options on anything but a tablet/PC. (Based purely on experience with a Kindle, plus hearsay on MobileRead about others' Kobos.) But that's probably just me being opinionated. Sideloaded books on my Kindle Touch appear in the main library view, however they have the "Personal Document" banner on the bottom of the cover, cutting of the last portion. That is easily fixed in calibre though. Go to Preferences ==> Conversion ==> Output Options ==> MOBI Output and set the box titled Personal Doc tag to: "[EBOK]" instead of: "[PDOC]". Now all books, when sent, will have the ebok tag set. Last edited by eschwartz; 03-24-2014 at 01:09 AM. |
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03-24-2014, 01:18 AM | #3 |
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Thanks for the reply, it's super helpful! I tried doing changing the PDOC to EBOK with Calibre, but it didn't manage to send the books to 'Books' and not 'Personal documents' on the Android app, but it may be just because I was using the 'Send to Kindle' app, and not the USB.
As for the PDFs, maybe 'reflow' isn't the best word to use, but my point was, text-based PDFs would be treated pretty much the same on my old Sony as would an EPUB - in other words, enlarging the font would not be the same as zooming (and then scrolling around the zoomed page as if it's an image), but would simply make the font bigger and effectively treat it as an EPUB. Does the Paperwhite not do this to textual PDFs? |
03-24-2014, 01:26 AM | #4 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
My Kindle Touch just zooms in, and I'm pretty sure the later models do, too. I didn't actually know this was possible. |
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03-24-2014, 04:17 AM | #5 |
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No Kindle ereader has PDF reflow, only the Sony's. Nor Kobo or Barnes & Noble. I have had ereaders from all those manufacturers and have tried PDFs on all of them.
No one treats PDFs like Sony. Last edited by Josieb1; 03-24-2014 at 04:19 AM. |
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03-24-2014, 04:54 AM | #6 |
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03-24-2014, 05:51 AM | #7 |
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03-24-2014, 06:20 AM | #8 |
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I would say to the OP that if PDF reading is a priority, the Kindle PW would not be a good choice. As stated, it does not support PDF reflow, only "pan across the full-sized page" style reading, which is far from satisfactory.
As has been said here innumerable times, for PDF, a large-screen tablet such as an iPad - or Android equivalent - is the best choice. Use the right tool for the job. |
03-24-2014, 10:50 AM | #9 |
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For PDF's, I agree with Harry. A larger screen tablet is much better. I love my Paperwhite but use a Nook HD+ with a 9" screen for reading PDF's, magazines, web articles and graphic novels.
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03-24-2014, 11:47 AM | #10 |
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Why choose mobi if the paperwhite works perfectly with the AZW3 book format?
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03-24-2014, 02:38 PM | #11 |
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