10-09-2007, 05:27 PM | #1 |
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...just for pdf files?
Hey
Im looking for something to read pdf's on. Perusing the forums here has given me the idea that none of the options are very good... Should I be waiting for something better to come along, or is there a unit that works well? I run a mac as well, so windows software wont help either.. Thanks S. |
10-09-2007, 06:02 PM | #2 |
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Welcome to MobileRead, sharp21!
I'm glad you're doing your research first so you won't get something and be disappointed by it. The iLiad is the best e-ink device out there, at the moment, for A4/Letter PDFs. Though it only really manages it by virtue of turning the pages sideways and panning/zooming. There are a number of utilities to slice-n-dice them so that they're more or less readable on a 6" e-ink device, but there is presently no e-ink device that handles A4 PDF files flawlessly. If you're willing to step out of the e-ink arena, then you have the option of Tablet PCs, but that would also require that you accept an M$ OS of some stripe, which is not acceptable to a lot of folks, particularly MacUsers. Unfortunately, that about exhausts the options. There are predictions of e-ink devices with large enough displays for A4 PDFs, but they're a few years off yet, and they're just predictions so far. |
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10-09-2007, 06:19 PM | #3 | |
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10-09-2007, 10:59 PM | #4 |
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10-10-2007, 12:35 AM | #5 |
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The iLiad is your best E-Ink option today. There are screen photos in the thread: Technical Document Examples. The only thing these photos don't show is how small the iLiad is. The actual device is about A5 (half of US letter + 0.5" in width), with the screen quite a bit smaller than that.
There will be several devices with 10" diagonal screens (vs the iLiad's 8.1") next year. The one that has been pre-announced is the Hanlin eReader V9, but there will be others. What is unknown is what these will cost - the 10" screen is assumed to be expensive to make. Not everyone believes 10" will be commercially available next year, see E Ink in 2009: Larger, colorful and flexible, says CEO. |
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10-10-2007, 06:13 AM | #6 |
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Hmm, thats too bad...
I dont want to get a tablet, I can just read off my MacBook if it comes to that. Im not trying to get too fancy, I just love to read! Factor in all the great free pdf files online & you have a winner! The adds I saw for that sony 505 talk about reading pdfs & as it works so well on computers I assumed it would be a top priority to port it over so it was available on these readers... Guess ill just have to bide my time & wait for a larger one with colour. S. |
10-10-2007, 08:12 AM | #7 |
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Okay, here is another question then.
What would be a low cost unit, just to give ebooks a try? Maybe a decent older model. S. |
10-10-2007, 11:14 AM | #8 | ||
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Quote:
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10-10-2007, 11:18 AM | #9 | |
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10-10-2007, 03:27 PM | #10 |
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I did some looking around & the Nokia 770 is looking pretty good! They are selling quite cheap now that the newer one is out (n800).
How would that be for pdf files? S. |
10-10-2007, 04:10 PM | #11 |
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It's not good enough for heavy pdf use. Get a tablet; there are excellent deals on Ebay for newer versions of Fujitsu's (got an older one for ~250$ when the newer one was selling for 800$ on Ebay, now they sell for 3-400$)
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10-10-2007, 04:49 PM | #12 | |
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BTW, if you are considering an Ebookwise 1150, I have one in excellent shape for $60. PM me if interested. |
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10-10-2007, 05:20 PM | #13 |
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The Nokia 770 with FBReader is an excellent e-book reader. Its only downside is that FBReader does not support any DRMed e-books. If it is legal where you live, one option is to buy Secure .lit e-books and convert them to OEB books without DRM using (say) ConvertLIT. However, I have found plenty of ebooks sold without DRM to use with FBReader.
There was an unsupported version of FBReader for OSX, but I'm not sure it is still available. You can try it out under Linux or Windows on your Mac if you run either in a virtual machine (I used to run FBReader using VMware and Linux on my Windows PC before the Windows version became available). |
10-10-2007, 05:44 PM | #14 |
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Im not sure what DRM is, im pretty new to this...
I dont really want to have to convert all kind of files to get it to work. I was thinking more along the lines of putting them onto an SD, insert & go! JBenny i see you have the 800. Is it much improved over the 770? I like the whole roaming internet thing, but not sure if its hype or if it really picks up signals all over the place S. |
10-10-2007, 05:56 PM | #15 | |
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DRM is bad ... say it with me DRM is bad.
DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. You can think of it as an attempt to keep folks from copying the content, or you can think of it as an attempt to limit how you use the content you pay for. In essence, it's rather a hassle, and tends to keep new folks from coming into e-books in earnest, because they don't want to hassle with it. Quote:
If you really want something that's conversion free, you should look at one of the devices that has a store associated with it, as they'll have a pool of content that you can load without conversion. The caveat there is that you have a chance of losing access to that content if you change devices or the store shuts down because it'll be in that format (and probably DRM-locked, besides) and you'd no longer have a way to access it. You might also look at the stores and make sure they have titles that you're interested in before you settle on a device. Sony has a store (and Fictionwise.com sells some things in their format as well), and any reader that uses Mobipocket format has several stores that sell that format. Also, you might want to wait a few days and see if Amazon really does launch their, as yet, mythical device. |
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