what's a good e-book reader for general pdf files?

Question

when i was doing my honours year i ended up with 8 kilograms of journal articles printed out, poor trees, so i am thinking of getting an e-book reader. I have heard of Amazon's kindle but it seems closely linked to their store, i want to be able to read pdf files from scientific journals and make notes in the margins etc. and preferably sync or copy annotated versions back to my computer.

i want the reading on the couch with a pen experince of paper print outs, but without the many kilos of actual print outs.

Answer 1

The Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader are the two best and most popular e-book readers on the market, and among these two the Amazon Kindle is the best. However, currently there is not any profession e-book reader which comes with a color screen...



Among all the ebook readers, the Amazon Kindle is the best on handling PDF files. You can read these reviews to know more about it:



http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FR3AJNTUT3N59CR%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=more_info-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957



http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FRR2UVRTOI6UKW%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=more_info-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957



If the Kindle DX still cannot match what you need, I think you'll need to wait for some newer e-book reader with more advanced technology to come out...

Answer 2

Unfortunately, none of the current e-ink readers are really good for PDFs.



The Kindle DX doesn't have any search or annotation functions for PDFs, so it won't work for that.



The Sony PRS-700 has a smaller screen, but does allow annotations; it's mostly being replaced by the soon-to-be-relased Sony PRS-600. (The 700 isn't being made anymore, although several stores still have them.) But a lot of people think the screen on the 700 is blurry; it's got a built-in light around the edges that make it thicker than is comfortable to read. (The 600 doesn't have the light.)



The iRex 1000DS has annotations, and possibly wifi--but it's *really* expensive, and older tech so it only has 4 levels of grayscale. (No e-ink readers have color yet.)



For annotations of PDFs, you're probably best off with a low-end netbook, which are about as cheap as the dedicated e-ink readers. They have color, allow all sorts of useful software, and have wifi--the drawbacks are that they have the larger screen, and shorter battery life than dedicated ebook devices. But some of them are quite small and light.

Answer 3

Unfortunately there are no ebook readers having colour screen. I think the best one that suits your need is the Kindle DX. Even though the Kindle is closely linked to the Kindle store, there are over 320,000 Kindle books available and it is kept on increasing. It is largest ebook resource among all the e-book readers right now.



There is Sony Reader but Sony provides even less choice on books compared to the Kindle, it will be more difficult to find books for the Sony Reader and price of books on Sony Reader is more expensive.



I suggest you to read this review by an actual Kindle DX owner. It mentions about journal handling in the middle of the review:



http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FR3NOTIU175QPFQ%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=querystr-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957

Answer 4

I think the Amazon Kindle DX should suit best of your need, and it is also the best e-book reader right now in the market. Yes, you can only buy books in Kindle version from Amazon. However, the best thing is that the Kindle DX supports PDF natively, so you can buy any books in PDF format and they can be read well on the Kindle DX.



Read the fifth paragraph of the review here about bookmarking function of the Kindle DX:



http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FR3I4L6G31CT2G%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=moreinfo-po-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957



Hope it helps.

Answer 5

Good, inexpensive tablets include the Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, Lenovo Ideapad A1, and the new Le Pan II. Avoid other cheap tablets found under $200 as none have proven to be reliable. If you want a larger display, go with the 9.7-inch, 1024x768, Le Pan II ($280); others have 7-inch displays. If you need a rear-facing camera, go with the Lenovo Ideapad A1 ($243) and its 3MP rear camera. If you need a front-facing camera, either the Le Pan II or the Lenovo Ideapad A1 will work. Between the Kindle Fire ($199) and the Nook Tablet ($199/$249): Displays are the same: 7-inch (1024x600) IPS LCD. Processors are the same: Dual-core TI OMAP 4430 running at 1 GHz. Neither have cameras, front or rear; neither have 3G; neither have Bluetooth. Weights are similar: (0.91 lbs for Kindle Fire; 0.88 lbs for NOOK Tablet). NOOK Tablet has advantages of optionally having double the memory for $50 more (16G vs 8G), double the RAM (1G vs 0.5G), and an SD port. Kindle has the advantage of having the new Silk web browser that leverages Amazon's massive computing and networking infrastructure to speed-up web browsing, and coming from a financially rock-solid company (Amazon). Be sure to also consider whether you prefer shopping at Amazon or Barnes & Noble online stores.