eReaders

[eat.climb.love]

I was rummaging through my undergrad stuff and noticed I had printed out a LOT of articles. I had an unlimited print quota so there were no worries in my little world at the time (don't worry - double-sided, two per page! I try to stay a little green! =P). But now that I am potentially heading off to grad school and will not be able to print as much as I used to, I was considering purchasing an e-Reader of some sorts.

I personally don't mark up my articles too much (I take notes in a separate notebook and have the citation of the article at the top of the page) so I am not going to really miss that feature. But I did want to know how people have liked certain e-Readers. I was thinking of the Kindle because the basic one is only $139. Any experience with the Kindle or any other e-Readers?

I tried looking at older threads but since the newer Kindle just came out in the fall, I was hoping that some of you have purchased that one and could share your thoughts. Thanks in advance!

[newms]

This is something I've wondered about too. How available, in general, are texts that are used in grad school on the Kindle?

[eklavya]

Any experience with the Kindle or any other e-Readers?

i am an avid e-reader, because papers i think are total waste. also, it is easier to find articles in digital versions than having to go through the pile of all those printouts. but unfortunately i don't use any specialized reader tablet. i use my laptop extensively when at home and at school. if i am on the running, my android phone does the job. kindle might be the best out there, but newcomer tablets are also catching a lot of attention. mainly the ipad and the tablets manufactured by samsung, motorola and such. it also depends on your personal taste, so definitely do some research before investing your precious $$.

for highlighting, editing and all that stuff, any word processor will do fine. i use adobe professional (our school provides them for free, but you have to uninstall it when you graduate), but foxit reader is very nice if you want to go the 'free' route. and of course, if you buy dedicated e-readers, they will have their very own softwares to do all this.

This is something I've wondered about too. How available, in general, are texts that are used in grad school on the Kindle?

i am pretty sure this depends on your field. liberal arts (roughly humanities, english, history, anthro, etc) must be the leading one on this. your field, my field, i say there aren't very many. and most texts used in grad schools are specially designed by the teachers. for example, all but one grad level class i have taken in my masters were text-free, where the professors put the materials together and gave to us - either in paper format or digitized. i am fine with digital copies as they can be accessed using laptops. we might still have long ways to go before everything comes to kidle-like-e-readers.

[LJK]

I got a kindle for Christmas this year and really like it. In my discipline most journal articles have two columns and amazon's conversion software can't tell and reads straight across the two columns (at least currently), making a converted document over which you have font size control unfeasible. You can still read pdf's in pdf format and you can turn the kindle display on its side to get more width. I don't have any problem reading the type that small as the kindle has great resolution, but it might bother other people. You are able to zoom in also so that you could have just one column showing at a time. I really like it, but I would definitely suggest finding someone who has a kindle to see if you can deal with these issues before getting the kindle if pdfs are going to be your main reason for owning it. They have a bigger one but it is a much higher price I believe.

[neuropsych76]

I'm interested in one as well! I'm definitely going to have to look into it more though. No more undergrad payments (yay!) means I'll have some money so maybe I can afford one before grad school

[neuropsych76]

I'm interested in one as well! I'm definitely going to have to look into it more though. No more undergrad payments (yay!) means I'll have some money so maybe I can afford one before grad school

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

Like LJK, I have a regular Kindle. I zoom in on one column and scan the pages that way. I find it pretty useful as I don't usually mark up documents anyway. I also usually reread papers, so the time I have it on my Kindle is just the first go thru. When I have it on my computer, I can highlight or annotate.

[newms]

I was initially thinking about the Kindle for texts but being able to read pdf papers on the go is definitely a plus. I'll seriously consider getting one for the fall

[Yalzin]

For those of you with an e-reader, I suggest getting a program called Calibre. It manages your documents and can convert them between types (can make pdf's .mobis, etc).

[a fragrant plant]

Are you using e-readers like Kindle for PDF only? I've had a Kindle before but sold it because the print is too small. Are you guys using the bigger Kindle to read PDF? What do you think about iPad2? I'm also not sure about using Kindle to read books because it doesn't show the original page number, which makes citation a nightmare.

[newms]

Are you using e-readers like Kindle for PDF only? I've had a Kindle before but sold it because the print is too small. Are you guys using the bigger Kindle to read PDF? What do you think about iPad2? I'm also not sure about using Kindle to read books because it doesn't show the original page number, which makes citation a nightmare.

iPad2 would be great but it's significantly more than a Kindle - I think the only advantage the Kindle might have over the iPad2 is the anti-glare screen for reading in the sunlight, but as I don't currently own either, that's just off what I've read. The new versions of Kindle do have adjustable font size and do have real page numbers corresponding to printed text, so your concerns have been addressed

[a fragrant plant]

iPad2 would be great but it's significantly more than a Kindle - I think the only advantage the Kindle might have over the iPad2 is the anti-glare screen for reading in the sunlight, but as I don't currently own either, that's just off what I've read. The new versions of Kindle do have adjustable font size and do have real page numbers corresponding to printed text, so your concerns have been addressed

Thanks! Does the new version of Kindle have real page number for books as well as pdf? Is is easier to read PDF file on Kindle DX because of the bigger screen?

(The screen of Kindle DX is 2.5 times bigger than the original Kindle)

[newms]

Thanks! Does the new version of Kindle have real page number for books as well as pdf? Is is easier to read PDF file on Kindle DX because of the bigger screen?

(The screen of Kindle DX is 2.5 times bigger than the original Kindle)

They say they have page numbers for books

We've added real page numbers that correspond to print editions so you can easily reference and cite passages.

link

As I don't have a Kindle, at least not yet, I don't know how much easier it is to read a pdf of the new versions. Maybe someone else can chime in.

[nonymouse]

Does anyone have, or has anyone tried out a Nook color? I'm trying to decide if it's worth the investment.

[sydney146]

I've got a Kindle 3 with 3G, and I really like it so far. I've been reading mostly books, which is really nice because as soon as I finish a book I can download another. When it comes to pdfs, the conversion from amazon works really well for people who mainly read the intro, discussion, and conclusion sections (aka the sections without equations). For the papers with theory sections that I need to read, I don't convert them, I just read in landscape mode. I've been visiting grad schools, and its been nice having the papers from the professors that I talk to available on my kindle. The kindle's new page number feature is really handy.

[leopolds]

If you can, you should definitely invest in a Kindle!

It's probably the smartest decision I've made in terms of graduate school preparation and generally for my research needs. Most of the books that I need for my topic are available in hard copy and on the Kindle but they're significantly cheaper on the Kindle. For example, one book I really needed cost about 60 bucks in print but only 13 bucks on the Kindle. That's a huge savings.

As long as you're in a field where it's viable to use the Kindle, I'd definitely dish out for one. You can check amazon.com and do a search of some of the books you might possibly end up needing, just browse around, and if they have what you need on the Kindle, it's a no-brainer. Plus, you can also get newspapers on the Kindle for much less than you pay for the print edition. I thought I'd never adjust to the death of the tree-copy of the newspaper, but I've adapted very easily. The Kindle makes me more apt to read the newspaper since I don't have to hog all the space when turning the pages on planes or in public transportation.

Lastly, you can do much more on the Kindle than read. Just check out some more reviews and specs on other websites. It's definitely a good investment and much more sensible, imho, than the iPad.

[Kathiza]

Isn't it a problem with citations? I was thinking about getting a Kindle but then I read that they don't have pagenumbers so you can't quote these texts correctly. That's why I was thinking of saving up and investing in an iPad instead, because it has more features and you can still read all kindle-texts.

[leopolds]

Kathiza, that's a really solid point! I came across that issue once before and just went to Amazon.com and used the 'Look Inside this Book' feature to find the page that had the line I wanted to reference. That way I could find the standard page number but I can definitely see that having an iPad that can counteract that issue can be really good. The iPad seems great, but just too far out of my price range. If you end up getting one, let me know how it is!

Isn't it a problem with citations? I was thinking about getting a Kindle but then I read that they don't have pagenumbers so you can't quote these texts correctly. That's why I was thinking of saving up and investing in an iPad instead, because it has more features and you can still read all kindle-texts.

[newms]

Isn't it a problem with citations? I was thinking about getting a Kindle but then I read that they don't have pagenumbers so you can't quote these texts correctly. That's why I was thinking of saving up and investing in an iPad instead, because it has more features and you can still read all kindle-texts.

Hey Kathiza, the new Kindle has page numbering, so citations shouldn't be a problem any more.

[eat.climb.love]

Part of me thinks an iPad is cool but the leap from the 140 kindle to the 500 dollar iPad is pretty big. Maybe if I were a desktop user that wanted the tablet as a secondary device - but I have a perfectly new laptop so I am trying to save some cash. Although for those of you that want to make the iPad leap, I have heard good things from my friends that have it.

Thanks for the input on the Kindle! It really seems like a good investment. I plan on saving my class notes as PDFs and reading them on the Kindle as well. Unless the book is a supplement, I probably will not buy it on the Kindle unless it is dirt cheap. I actually do take a lot of notes in my textbooks (but not on articles, I have a scattered little studying process). For 139, the Kindle seems like a deal! (I've already started looking at cases... there are some cool ones!)

Edited March 4, 2011 by eat.climb.love

[oldwolf]

What about equation viewing in E-Readers. I read somewhere (can't for the life of me remember where) that there are some issues in displaying non-traditional text format in PDF's, such as math equation output from LaTeX documents.

Is there anybody had any experience reading technical documents with any E-Readers who could confirm or deny?

[noodles.galaznik]

I have a kindle, and I love it! It might be a little bit pricey with the initial cost of the reader, but I've been able to get so many textbooks through the much cheaper Kindle verson. It's pretty much paid for itself! Also, it has a superb battery life- you really don't have to charge it all that often.

[Yalzin]

Is the nook a viable replacement for a kindle? Does anyone have experience with it?

[Gooner]

Is the nook a viable replacement for a kindle? Does anyone have experience with it?

I have a Nook, and in my experience, if the bulk of your reading involves books, then it is perfectly fine (as long as you don't annotate since the highlighting procedure takes too long to be useful). If you're working with PDFs (journal articles, scanned documents, etc.), life becomes a nightmare as the Nook can display them in full-page mode, but the resulting text is usually too small (full-size sheet of paper on a 7" screen); when you try to zoom in, it had to "re-flow" the text, which often results in odd-looking script. I believe this applies to the Kindle as well (although less so for the DX).

I hate the iPad because it's incredibly locked down, but it is the most mature tablet out there right now. The Android tablets offer much more upside, but the current third-party software support leaves much to be desired. Having said that, a suitable alternative is to get a Nook Color and root the device (pretty simple instructions out there). That way you get a great screen (as far as LCDs go) and you can read books from Amazon, B&N, Border's, etc. with their respective apps, and I believe an app called Repligo Reader supports PDF annotations, zooming in, etc.

(Also, rooting is perfectly legal, though it will probably void your warranty.)

[beanbagchairs]

What about equation viewing in E-Readers. I read somewhere (can't for the life of me remember where) that there are some issues in displaying non-traditional text format in PDF's, such as math equation output from LaTeX documents.

Is there anybody had any experience reading technical documents with any E-Readers who could confirm or deny?

This, anyone?

I have the same question.

I actually visited an apple store to check out ipads. I dont like the fact that it reflects light back (glare). Even in the store, I need to find a perfect angle to be able to read from it comfortably.

So, kindle 2 wins?