Kindle or e-reader work for 4e pdfs?

[jdrakeh]

The trouble with netbooks - apart from the battery life - is that the screen size/resolution doesn't suit pdfs at all well. I can't stand having to scroll left to right to read pdfs!

The resolution issue is actually a much bigger problem with phones and PDAs. The 8.9" screen on the smallest netbooks is about three times as large as the average phone/PDA display — and 3" larger than the display of some readers.

I can see an entire Windows XP (home) desktop on my Aspire One, which supports resolution up to 1024 x 600 on its native screen. I'm unaware of any phone or PDA (save for true UMPCs) that supports such high resolution, and readers certainly don't do it.

If you're seriously considering things like the Kindle, you'd be remiss to dismiss netbooks based on resolution as the resolution of most netbooks blows away that offered by pretty much all of the other devices mentioned in this thread.

As for battery life. . . yeah, that's an issue. Only the Eee PC has battery life comparable to that of a reader or PDA, and even then, only with a six cell battery. My Aspire can go for roughly four hours on such a battery, while the Eee PC can go roughly six.

 

[Krensky]

I've got a Palm TX and it can read PDFs. I've never tried something the size of the PHB though. Since it is using Adobe Acrobat I can't see why it couldn't though. It can also read/edit Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files which makes it nice to keep a list of Character powers so I don't have to flip through the books to look them up.

I also ride the bus and subway into work in the mornings... I might have to give this a shot in the near future.

I have a T|X, and it doesn't really work for this. The Adobe reader isn't the most stable software, and requires that the PDF be converted/stripped by the Adobe Reader conduit. This requires that the PDF be fully accessible and marked up properly for adaptive reading. I do not know about the 4e books, but in my experience game PDFs are neither of these things.

You will have slightly better (but still horrible) experience using Documents to Go's pdf viewer, but it and the T|X will likely choke on a file the size of the PHB and if it doesn't it will require lots of scrolling and be mind numbingly slow.

I have had (marginally) better luck with print optimized copies of small PDFs, but I still wind up printing or using my laptop almost all the time.

 

[darjr]

LCD screens, after a while, give me a bit of a headache. And I stare at one all day for work. The iphone is one of the few that doesn't seem too...

Speakingof PDF and iphones and the web, Scott Rouse, I've noticed that WotC isn't zipping PDFs. In fact I can't remember the last time I saw one. Thanks for that. I dunno if it's intended, but I appreciate the extra use of bandwidth so I don't have to deal with the zips. This is very helpful when using DDI on my iphone.

My iphone is my choice IF you have remote access when your reading or if they ever break and give me the abliity, without jail breaking, to store PDFs on the phone other than in email.

 

[malraux]

As noted the Kindle doesn't support .pdf's natively; however Amazon offers up a conversion service - the downside is that most of the WoTC pdf files purchased through DriveThru are waaaaay bigger than the maximum file size Amazon will consider.

Could you separate out the different elements of the books and then send the multiple pdfs to amazon? ie just separate out the rogue section and get that converted?

 

[jdrakeh]

I just wanted to give a quick update. First, I should let you know that my vision sucks (I've been wearing glasses since I was five years old and have a really bad astigmatism). I loaded all of my PDFs onto the Aspire One tonight and it rocks on toast.

The screen resolution is great, the text is clear, the graphics are sharp, and I don't need to zoom on anything to be able to read it. In fact, the resolution is dang near more crisp than it is on my desktop, which has a 516 MB, 128-Bit video card installed.

Most of my landscape PDFs display full screen without the need to scroll, and the portrait PDFs don't need much scrolling to view a whole page. It's not perfect, mind you, but it's a thousand times better than trying to read PDFs on something as small as my e750 (Toshiba Pocket PC).

 

[Whimsical]

Your report is very helpful. I was thinking about getting something like that for gaming. Please tell us how well it works while gaming. I want to know how well you can access DDI and shuffle between PDFs and gaming notes in the middle of a game.

 

[jdrakeh]

Your report is very helpful. I was thinking about getting something like that for gaming. Please tell us how well it works while gaming. I want to know how well you can access DDI and shuffle between PDFs and gaming notes in the middle of a game.

Well, that might be a while, yet — I just got a new schedule at work which has, I think, effectively killed my gaming for a bit. I may, however, attempt to run something via voice chat or IM (which the Aspire supports).

 

[tenkar]

The trouble with netbooks - apart from the battery life - is that the screen size/resolution doesn't suit pdfs at all well. I can't stand having to scroll left to right to read pdfs!

The Aspire One has about a 5 1/2 hr battery life and no left - right scrolling on any of the PDFs i've viewed on it. Can't say the same for the first generation Asus netbook I tried... left - right scrolling was annoying and was a deal breaker for me.

The up-down scrolling is annoying on occasion but far from a deal breaker for me. The PDFs themselves look perfect.

 

[Turjan]

If you have a normal laptop, you can also read it on that one (ok, you probably already knew that ). I like to read the stuff by turning the laptop on its side edge, so I can use see a whole page at once in a reasonable resolution.

 

[tenkar]

If you have a normal laptop, you can also read it on that one (ok, you probably already knew that ). I like to read the stuff by turning the laptop on its side edge, so I can use see a whole page at once in a reasonable resolution.

A "normal" laptop isnt as portable as an e-book reader or one of the small net-books. If you want to use it while commuting a full-sized laptop is going to be awkward in most situations.