Kindle?

[Mr T]

I own and love the Kindle. The e-ink screen is great - much easier on my eyes than a computer screen. Amazon's customer service has also been top notch.

I offer this only as another data point. I have no interest in the iPad but there is room for both devices and hope both continue to sell well.

 

[ruben]

Does it matter if/that the kindle is better?
I think the Ipad will crush it.

 

[blairh]

It won't. Two completely different devices. Even as an ereader they are totally different experiences. There is and will remain an ereader/E-ink consumer. If anything it will only grow with future advanced models with more features, etc.

 

[GQgeek]

I just noticed that kindle dx (and I think kindle2) now supports pdfs. Finally. Nice to see amazon relent on that issue. There are limitations though...

For regular kindle users, the biggest inconvenience is lack of zoom, which can be an issue due to the smaller screen. Most of my technical books actually have pages the same size as the DX so it's not so really an issue for me... My biggest gripe is you can't highlight or annotate in pdf documents. I checked the adobe site though and you can't annotate or highlight in the free adobe reader either, so there is a licensing issue there. I don't know what features amazon licensed, but I'd REALLY hoped they licensed those two features so that you'd have similar functionality in pdf as you do in their native kindle format. Then again, I'm kinda betting against it. If they did that, people would have no reason to by kindle versions because everyone would just pass freely downloaded pdfs around.

It seems like i'm still better off buying my books in paperback since cisco tends to bundle pdf versions on a cd with a lot of their books. One day the perfect device may finally come along...

 

[oman]

you have a dx? ive been wanting to order one for months now but ive been too busy to think about it

is it as awesome as it looks? i'd be using it for political textbooks (not colour) and stuff, as well as tons of academic journals

also can you recommend a cover? the amazon one looks to be of reasonable quality but i hear it smashes the screen if you close it too hard (and i'm frequently drunk, sooo...)

 

[GQgeek]

No, I don't have it. I was about to make another book order from amazon and I started thinking about it when I saw it now had pdf capabilities. I have used a kindle though and they are fantastic. For my needs, the DX is the perfect size.

If your textbooks are available in kindle format i'd definitely give it strong consideration. Personally, I couldn't use it as a textbook if I wasn't able to highlight (all the books I currently own are in pdf and i'm not gonna repurchase them in kindle format). I do most of my reading (about 600pgs/wk) with a highlighter in hand and I just spent $400 bucks on new books, so as much as I want one, I'm going to hold off for a while, especially since i'm currently unemployed and doing all my reading at home. Once I go back to work I will probably get one so that I can make productive use of my time commuting. Carrying around big thick 700 page books sucks.

In the meantime I'm uploading pdf versions of my books to google docs so I can have them as reference on my iphone and anywhere i have web access, but that's really more so that I can use them for reference rather than actual reading.

 

[Trompe le Monde]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

I just noticed that kindle dx (and I think kindle2) now supports pdfs. Finally. Nice to see amazon relent on that issue. There are limitations though...

For regular kindle users, the biggest inconvenience is lack of zoom, which can be an issue due to the smaller screen. Most of my technical books actually have pages the same size as the DX so it's not so really an issue for me... My biggest gripe is you can't highlight or annotate in pdf documents. I checked the adobe site though and you can't annotate or highlight in the free adobe reader either, so there is a licensing issue there. I don't know what features amazon licensed, but I'd REALLY hoped they licensed those two features so that you'd have similar functionality in pdf as you do in their native kindle format. Then again, I'm kinda betting against it. If they did that, people would have no reason to by kindle versions because everyone would just pass freely downloaded pdfs around.

It seems like i'm still better off buying my books in paperback since cisco tends to bundle pdf versions on a cd with a lot of their books. One day the perfect device may finally come along...



if you transfer pdf directly onto the kindle it will render as graphic, which means no highlighting.

if you convert text-authored pdfs (ie by emailing to [email protected] w/ subject "convert") you will be able to change font size and highlight because, well, its text.......

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by Trompe le Monde

if you transfer pdf directly onto the kindle it will render as graphic, which means no highlighting.

if you convert text-authored pdfs (ie by emailing to [email protected] w/ subject "convert") you will be able to change font size and highlight because, well, its text.......

Ya but if you have lots of images or tables, it screws up the formatting in the conversion. Hopefully it'll get better over time but it's not ideal at this point.

 

[oman]

should i get a kindle dx if i would ONLY use it for pdf documents?

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by oman

should i get a kindle dx if i would ONLY use it for pdf documents?
Do you need to be able to highlight? If so, then you can't do that with the dx at this point. You can only view them. Amazon surprised me by putting a pdf reader in there so maybe they'll improve it and bring pdf abilities up to par with kindle versions. I really don't know. At this point in time, if you want to highlight, you need to buy the kindle versions (which tend to be cheaper than print versions). If you're happy with the ability to just read the pdfs, then ya, go ahead and get it.

 

[oman]

purchased! will report back when it arrives

 

[Matt]

i just bought one for my mother's sixtieth birthday.....

 

[jgold47]

I have a kindle. I got it as a gift, and had it not been for that, I probalby wouldnt have bought one ( I would rather go to goodwill and get a .50 book, but I really enjoy using it.

 

[oman]

my DX arrived today. looks and feels awesome, very elegant for what is essentially a heavy-duty reading device

will report back after extended use

 

[Trompe le Monde]

if you owe any ebook reader you owe it to yourself to download CALIBRE software