So, I hate pdfs. Any advice on hating them less?

[lordabdul]

I hate PDFs for material that requires to be studied or used as a reference.

I wouldn't say "hate" but yes, I buy PDFs for checking out games, or for material that I only need to use at home while preparing an upcoming session. For anything that needs to be used in play at the table, I definitely get the physical book, and use the PDF only as a backup if a second players needs to look something up at the same time.

That said, I never actually loved (or even merely liked) PDFs until I got a 12.9" iPad Pro. Having a device whose screen size is pretty much the same as the physical size of the book the PDF is supposed to be makes such a huuuuge difference. Now, I absolutely love PDFs, especially the fact I can carry around an 800g device that has probably literally a ton of books inside it. Refreshing my memory on combat rules in the subway, reading sourcebooks and scenarios at bus-stops, etc... that's just too awesome and I wouldn't go without it now.

Yes, it's a pricey investment. There aren't many available devices besides the iPad Pro for this, and it's not cheap. But I've had it since it launched (almost 4 years ago?) and it looks like it will last me several more years. By now I probably spent several times its price in RPG PDFs (and in books-that-come-with-the-free-PDF), and I also use it for a whole bunch of other things (guess what, with a screen that big, suddenly digital comicbooks also become awesome! I didn't like them before either!).

For those of you with that kind of money to invest, I also recommend the GoodReader app.

 

[Shiroiken]

It's completely an acquired taste, and understand completely. My preference is to use pdf away from the game, but use books during the game. I've found it's oddly faster to get the book out and look it up by hand, than to load up the pdf and search for the information. Of course, I play on Roll20, and try to have most of my information available there.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Think a lot of hate can be fixed by the reader or app you use. A reader that is easy to use, able to jump quickly from page to page, book mark, annotate, search, and have multiple pages/pdfs (or even same doc) open. You just have to see which is the best for your needs.

 

[aramis erak]

Think a lot of hate can be fixed by the reader or app you use. A reader that is easy to use, able to jump quickly from page to page, book mark, annotate, search, and have multiple pages/pdfs (or even same doc) open. You just have to see which is the best for your needs.

I'd agree with this. But not just the device... the software is also important.

Keep in mind that Acrobat Reader isn't optimized for speed; it's optimized for compatibility, with partial render allowing for slower not feeling all that slow. A few I've used over the years rendered whole page in memory, then updated the display; overall, this was faster, but felt slower due to no immediate response.

On eInk screens, most readers will render the page in memory entirely before posting to the screen; Also, most also flash all black, then all "white", then display the new content; this can be software disabled on some.