Ask HN: An E-book that is also a PDF reader ?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=610443

by IgorCarron • 17 years ago

1 8 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I run a small blog on a very specific subject (compressive sensing to be exact) which is very much followed by a community of researchers and engineers from all over the world. One of the reason the blog has some success (i.e. in the quality of the readership) has to do with the fact that I am putting some time in analyzing near real time new preprints on the subject of interest to that community. I am doing this as a hobby. However for this to happen, I am reading these from a laptop or a netbook but neither of these solutions are optimal. I am looking for an E-book reader that can render math expression written in the different pdf preprints I get to download everyday. From an informal gathering of information on the net, it looks like Kindle 1 and 2 do not act as PDF readers. Does any of you have any experience with any other E-books when it comes to reading PDF preprints. I am also looking for the ability to read PDFs without having to do conversion of any kind as I read many papers every day.

I also know that I am not the only one in the scientific community that is looking for that product, so I venture that your guidance will help many.

Thanks in advance,

Igor. http://nuit-blanche.blogspot.com

yan• 17 years ago

The new Kindle DX has a large e-ink display and it can open PDFs natively, where as Kindle 1 and 2 needed conversion. Haven't used one myself, so I can't comment on the quality/readability, but it sounds like exactly what you're looking for.

IgorCarron4• 17 years ago

Thanks Yan

With regards to the Kindle DX, I think I am a little afraid of the DRM issues which for one reason or another might make it a brick because I am either in the wrong country when I am reading something or else. The DX is also not in the hands of users, as it will begin selling later this year, I am really looking for the point of view of an actual user of a real product that one can already buy.

jakewolf• 17 years ago

I've used my Kindle 2 in Greece and Israel. Outside the USA, you won't have wireless service, but you can buy books on amazon and transfer via USB from your computer. Same thing goes with PDFs. Just download, convert to ebook reader format and transfer.

ableal2• 17 years ago

(re-run of a comment I made previously; device reads PDFs)

iRex Digital Reader 1000S, 699 EUR; https://www.irexshop.com/

    10.2 Inch (diagonal) electronic paper display
    1024 x 1280 pixel resolution at 160 pixels per inch
    16-level grey scale
    Mini-USB connector
    Wacom® penabled® touch sensor input with Stylus
    ...

More data and opinions over at http://mobileread.com, etc.

IgorCarron4• 17 years ago

ableal.

It looks interesting but a little steep. Thanks,

Igor.

IgorCarron4• 17 years ago

Ableal,

one more thing, I just noticed the cool-er readers. In the specs there is:

"Formats JPEG, PDF, EPUB, TXT Languages 8 Content DRM PDF. EPUB"

Does it mean that it does what I am looking for, it reads directly a pdf with no translation that could misrender the math in my papers ?

Igor.

ableal2• 17 years ago

These ( http://www.coolreaders.com/specifications.asp ) look like one of the standard 6" e-ink screens [ http://www.eink.com/products/matrix/High_Res.html; iRex is not using the same screens as most everybody else]

You can read PDFs on those (I just got one from mybebook.com), but I do not think you're going to be happy reading technical PDFs, or anything 'printed' to A4/U.S.Letter size pages, on those 6" screens.

For freely circulated PDFs, DRM ought to be irrelevant, so the KindleDX may be right for you. Note that the iRex has touch+annotation features that you may need. It's the price of a low-end laptop, but may be worth the investment.

I'd really head over to http://mobileread.com/ and read a bit. You may even get one of the friendly locals to test one of your PDFs ;-). I don't have my iRex yet, it's next in my shopping list ...

Ask HN: An E-book that is also a PDF reader ?

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