I lost my Kindle last week. Left it on a plane :(

Of course, the upside is that I get to go shopping for new e-readers! I'm wondering if anyone here has experience and suggestions about whether I should consider an e-reader other than Kindle.

Here's what I like about kindle:
- lightweight
- very thin
- battery lasts forever
- e-ink seems very easy to read
- purchasing books on the fly no matter where I am, every time I finish a novel.

Here's what I don't like:
- no PDF annotation
- terrible PDF rendering and no scrolling
- no ability to copy snippets of text out of a PDF into a bookmark file like you can with e-books.

I'd like a device that I could use both for reading novels *and* for reviewing and copying text out of PDFs for my work. When I got the kindle, I thought I could stop toting around big binders of paper that I read at night and on the weekend, and instead do that all on the kindle. because of the terrible PDF support, this turned out not to be the case.

Best of all worlds, of course, would be the ability to copy text from e-docs and PDFs and sync them to my Evernote account. If anybody knows of a device like that, I'm in.

Any suggestions appreciated.

dan7000 wrote:

I'm wondering if anyone here has experience and
suggestions about whether I should consider an e-reader other than Kindle.

I recommend you take a look at the "iPad" and "Beyond the PDF" threads on this forum a few days ago, as there's been a bit of discussion on there about e-readers and PDFs. I'm also shopping for an e-reader solution, specifically to be able to read and annotate PDFs. I've done a bit of research and I've concluded that none of the dedicated e-readers on the market are up to the task. So the next best thing seem to be to use a tablet PC with a PDF annotating software. Then the next question is which device and which operating system. What I've heard is that the current Android OS (2.1, 2.2) have been designed for phones not for tablets, so they're not as smooth as iPad's OS is. Also, I couldn't find any Android software for reading and annotating PDF that could match the sophistication of GoodReader or PDF Expert on iPad (check out the reviews on Youtube for these). Then there are Windows 7 tablets. However, Win 7 was also not designed for tablets, so what I hear is that it is sluggish, takes up most of the memory, and is not so tablet-user-friendly. Though some of the higher end ones seem decent, but they're twice the price of the cheapest iPad.

So far I'm drawn to iPad + PDF Expert combination. I suspect the price of iPad 1 will fall dramatically once the 80 or so different tablets that were announced for this year start gradually appearing the market (and once iPad 2 comes out in April).

dan7000 wrote:

Here's
what I like about kindle:
- purchasing books on the fly no matter where I am, every time I
finish a novel.

P.S. there is a Kindle app for iPad and Windows devices, so you shouldn't need a Kindle for that. In a way it's really silly that Amazon ignored PDF users' needs, as the Kindle sounds like a perfect device for that. Kindle DX would be my first choice if it could properly handle PDFs.

For what it's worth, I'm using viliv s5 at the moment (last half a year), it's a PC in the pocket (new 340 pounds off ebay).
It doesn't have multitouch bla bla bla, ... but I can have all the same soft that I have on my standard PC, that means for example, proper PDF annotation software (pdf-xchange), proper indexing software (archivarius) and my knowledge base (UR).

It's kind of amusing to read some comments that Win 7 or XP is sluggish on tablets when in comparison sth like ipad only just recently discovered what multitasking is.

Anyway, ebook reading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygsmU154P_o

one thing I forgot to mention, viliv s5 (and probably most of the tablets/ipad/...) is very hard to read on sunny day, that means I have to go for a seat that's in shade in tube/train ;-)

Dr Andus wrote:

dan7000 wrote:
I'm wondering if anyone here has experience and
>suggestions about
whether I should consider an e-reader other than Kindle.

I recommend you take a look
at the "iPad" and "Beyond the PDF" threads on this forum a few days ago, as there's been a
bit of discussion on there about e-readers and PDFs. I'm also shopping for an e-reader
solution, specifically to be able to read and annotate PDFs. I've done a bit of
research and I've concluded that none of the dedicated e-readers on the market are up
to the task. So the next best thing seem to be to use a tablet PC with a PDF annotating
software. Then the next question is which device and which operating system. What
I've heard is that the current Android OS (2.1, 2.2) have been designed for phones not
for tablets, so they're not as smooth as iPad's OS is. Also, I couldn't find any Android
software for reading and annotating PDF that could match the sophistication of
GoodReader or PDF Expert on iPad (check out the reviews on Youtube for these). Then
there are Windows 7 tablets. However, Win 7 was also not designed for tablets, so what I
hear is that it is sluggish, takes up most of the memory, and is not so
tablet-user-friendly. Though some of the higher end ones seem decent, but they're
twice the price of the cheapest iPad.

So far I'm drawn to iPad + PDF Expert
combination. I suspect the price of iPad 1 will fall dramatically once the 80 or so
different tablets that were announced for this year start gradually appearing the
market (and once iPad 2 comes out in April).

For me, the problem with iPad is that it doesn't match up to the kindle on battery life and size. I might as well use my notebook or a netbook instead of the iPad, because then I get a keyboard. The key thing I like about kindle is that I can literally use it for a week without remembering to charge it, I can comfortably hold it up for long periods, and it fits in the inside pocket of my overcoat.

quant wrote:

one thing I forgot to mention, viliv s5 (and probably most of the tablets/ipad/...) is
very hard to read on sunny day, that means I have to go for a seat that's in shade in
tube/train ;-)

Ah, yes. That's one thing I forgot to mention: one reason that I don't just use my laptop for reading on the weekends is that I can't see it outside, and I like to sit in the park or the back porch or on the beach to do my reading on weekends.

quant wrote:

For what it's worth, I'm using viliv s5 at the moment (last half a year), it's a PC in the
pocket (new 340 pounds off ebay).
It doesn't have multitouch bla bla bla, ... but I can
have all the same soft that I have on my standard PC, that means for example, proper PDF
annotation software (pdf-xchange), proper indexing software (archivarius) and my
knowledge base (UR).

It's kind of amusing to read some comments that Win 7 or XP is
sluggish on tablets when in comparison sth like ipad only just recently discovered
what multitasking is.

Anyway, ebook
reading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygsmU154P_o

Thanks all! I'll check out the viliv. How's the battery life?

quant wrote:

It's kind of amusing to read some comments that Win 7 or XP is
sluggish on tablets when in comparison sth like ipad only just recently discovered
what multitasking is.

OK, maybe it wasn't fair to generalise to all Win 7 devices, and new ones are coming out every day, after all. Specifically I looked at Dell Inspiron Duo and Viewsonic Viewpad (http://amzn.to/eMxq7Y where this criticism came up.

I should mention that my reading needs are somewhat specific as well. As I need to read scientific papers and books, I really need to remember spatially where a specific argument occurred within a 30-page document, in order to be able to follow it. Therefore the larger the screen and higher the resolution, the better for me. Hence reading on iPod Touch or viliv s5 or even 7" devices probably won't be satisfactory. Actually a dual-screen device might be the best, like the Kno (http://bit.ly/bfN0hp but unfortunately it's not available in the UK yet and costs quite a bit more.

dan7000 - Any advice would really depend on your specific usage pattern. You say you read books on your e-reader - I cannot begin to imagine reading a full-length novel on the iPad or any other LCD screen. The screen on the iPad is absolutely superb. It doesn't get any better in the LCD world. But it's still an LCD screen, and if I read for more than half an hour straight on any LCD screen, my eyeballs start to ache and I tire rapidly.

It's not the same as general browsing/research, where you can happily stare at an LCD screen for hours, grazing your way around. Novel-reading is an entirely different discipline, and I strongly urge you to borrow someone's iPad and read a novel on it before you consider buying one (or any tablet). I would happily use an iPad for many things, but not reading long texts. I don't think there is any real alternative at the moment to e-readers (e-ink products) for long reads. And at the moment, I think the Kindle is still the best of them. It's far from perfect, but I'm still very glad to have one. My eyes are very grateful.

Dan,

I would never buy any product that locks me into one supplier, so that's an Apple or Amazon product out for a start!

I use two e-Readers:

- Sony Reader PRS 350 which is:
-- lightweight
-- very thin
-- battery lasts forever
-- e-ink
-- seems very easy to read
-- allows pdf rendition and annotation, though I don't know how well as I haven't tried that yet

- iRex 1000, which is great on the pdf side but is a monster to carry around, and iRex are bankrupt, so probably not the best path to follow.

For the "purchasing books on the fly no matter where I am, every time I finish a novel" you might consider the BeBook Neo, which was the one I considered before buying the Sony. It has wi-fi and a browser so you have internet access to any online e-book store. It's bigger than the Sony, though, and in the end I decided I preferred a reader that was small and mobile above the extra possibilities of the BeBook.

Graham

Just wondering why no one ever suggests the Barnes & Noble e-reader, NOOK. I don't have an e-reader, but if I were to get one, I think the NOOK would be high on my list. It doesn't lock you into a format, it provides web access through wifi, the price is good, and the NOOKStudy which was previously mentioned looks like a nice way to annotate PDFs.

I'm just curious at the lack of enthusiasm I see for the NOOK.

Steve

But it does tie you to one country. As I understand it I can't buy the Nook or any products from bn.com if I am outside the USA. Ergo.

Graham Rhind wrote:

But it does tie you to one country. As I understand it I can't buy the Nook or any products
from bn.com if I am outside the USA. Ergo.

How unreasonable of you, Graham! (winking smiley face thing that indicates I'm joking).

Steve

Graham Rhind wrote:

Dan,

I would never buy any product that locks me into one supplier, so that's an Apple
or Amazon product out for a start!

I use two e-Readers:

- Sony Reader PRS 350 which
is:
-- lightweight
-- very thin
-- battery lasts forever
-- e-ink
-- seems very
easy to read
-- allows pdf rendition and annotation, though I don't know how well as I
haven't tried that yet

- iRex 1000, which is great on the pdf side but is a monster to
carry around, and iRex are bankrupt, so probably not the best path to follow.

For the
"purchasing books on the fly no matter where I am, every time I finish a novel" you might
consider the BeBook Neo, which was the one I considered before buying the Sony. It has
wi-fi and a browser so you have internet access to any online e-book store. It's bigger
than the Sony, though, and in the end I decided I preferred a reader that was small and
mobile above the extra possibilities of the BeBook.

Graham

Graham, Thanks for the great suggestions. It looks like the BeBook does not provide any way to copy your notes or annotations back to a computer. The Sony looks like it might be right for me (except for the price). Most reviews rave about the PDF support and it also displays Word files.

The following might not help in choosing an ebook, but I found it interesting:

Study: E-books take longer to read than print

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/07/05/kindle.ipad.reading.mashable/index.html

For what it's worth, I concur with its findings re the Kindle 2. Nowadays, if I'm reading at home it will probably be a paperback. I will use the Kindle mostly when traveling, where weight is paramount.

Books that I find worth keeping at arm's length in the future, I will probably purchase in both printed and electronic format. Fortunately, they are not that many. And yes, I would expect some kind of discount when purchasing both.

dan7000 wrote:

I'd like a device that I could use both for
reading novels *and* for reviewing and copying text out of PDFs for my work.

Have just come across this today: enTourage eDGe. An e-reader/tablet hybrid. http://www.entourageedge.com/devices/entourage-edge.html