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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Tbora on June 16, 2010, 05:49:09 PM
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I am looking for a decent ereader that isn't supremely expensive that can read the pdfs without any glitches.Any suggestions?
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IPAD.
Nothing short of that will read the DFRPG pdfs well.
The problem is all the pretty pictures. They make 'zooming' impossible.
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I am looking for a decent ereader that isn't supremely expensive that can read the pdfs without any glitches.Any suggestions?
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For PDFs, you're honestly best off staying away from e-readers entirely and just going with a netbook. To be COMPLETELY honest, laptop, because a netbook requires a bit too much navigation to see the whole page if it's at 100%.
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iPad or Laptop....
doing the debate myself....
$450 for a laptop or...
$600 for an iPad....
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iPad or Laptop....
doing the debate myself....
$450 for a laptop or...
$600 for an iPad....
no brainer, is it?
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no brainer, is it?
Yup. The iPad is a toy. A pretty, pretty toy, but a toy nonetheless at the price.
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You cannot read graphics heavy content on an E-reader
it's just not what it's built for.
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It would be but I have demo'd an iPad and I Like it...
for 200 more you get more battery life and easier portability.
Why do I need that laptop again?
Put the DFRPG files on the iPad and everything reads just fine.
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Most people (me) cant afford to drop 600+ dollars like its nothing.
So Ipad no matter how much I want one isn't an option.
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I don't know what your budget is but other Ereaders are crap for PDF reading, especially with the image laden PDFs like DFRPG. You can pick up some laptops for cheep at the Dell outlet. $300-400
http://www.dell.com/outlet
Personally I don't like netbooks cause of the short screen. Too much scrolling.
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Just wait half a year. All the big players have announced their own tablets. These things are gonna drop in price faster then you can say net-book.
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It would be but I have demo'd an iPad and I Like it...
for 200 more you get more battery life and easier portability.
Why do I need that laptop again?
Put the DFRPG files on the iPad and everything reads just fine.
More battery life and easier portability than what?
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You cannot read graphics heavy content on an E-reader
it's just not what it's built for.
I beg to differ. I have a Kindle DX, which is just fine for reading my roleplay PDFs, graphics heavy or otherwise.
It does have difficulty with the rare PDF, but the DFRPG ones read and display just fine.
Oh, and the battery lasts a week and a half of daily use if the 3G wireless isn't switched on
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More battery life and easier portability than what?
any laptop in an iPad's price range.
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I beg to differ. I have a Kindle DX, which is just fine for reading my roleplay PDFs, graphics heavy or otherwise.
It does have difficulty with the rare PDF, but the DFRPG ones read and display just fine.
Sure... for $500, which I believe would not fall within the OP's parameters of "not supremely expensive", as it's the same price as the iPad. Please read the original post so you're certain to respond to the request as stated.
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any laptop in an iPad's price range.
Really? If it were double my wife's netbook's 8-hour battery life, I'd be inclined to agree that it's MAYBE worth the extra $250... if it could run more than one program at a time, had a keyboard, etc. Fold it closed and carry it around without having to deal with a separate case/sleeve to protect an exposed screen? Not more portable.
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Really? If it were double my wife's netbook's 8-hour battery life, I'd be inclined to agree that it's MAYBE worth the extra $250... if it could run more than one program at a time, had a keyboard, etc. Fold it closed and carry it around without having to deal with a separate case/sleeve to protect an exposed screen? Not more portable.
gah netbook comparison.... on the battery life, I'll get back to you on that. Pure reading and web-browsing? As for the multitasking the new OS should take care of that. Keyboard on the touch screen aint bad. About the same as the netbook, just no clicky clack. There is a nice flip case/screen thing that works well and doesn't add too much to it and its a lot better than a backpack of a laptop bag. If I had the choice of netbook or iPad, I'd get an iPad (short screen kills me and the device doesnt stream videos very well in my experience). If it was a decent laptop (I can run games on) and iPad I have indecision.
on a side note...
Netbooks are CHEEP!!! If you can get around the short screen then its definite doable for a web-browser / e-reader. Get one for a new contract and $199 at your local wireless store.
Also you can probably get an outdated laptop from a refurbish store for around the same price as well.
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*shrug* Depends on the use to which you're putting it. If you're a media maven and Just Have To watch streaming videos all the time ;), then either an iPad or a top-end netbook with killer GPU. If you type a lot and have been typing for a long, long time on regular keyboards, then a netbook/laptop is the way to go.
Personal preference/need, really. I have a lot of gaming PDFs stored on my wife's netbook, which we take to RPG nights. While yes, the "short screen" is something of a weird thing at first, it's no better on anything that doesn't have a portrait-oriented screen that's bigger than the pages in your RPG book, and it took about 5 minutes for me to get used to the scrolling and such. So while it would be nice to have a full-page, portrait-oriented screen (and the iPad isn't quite a full page that I've seen, but it does have killer resolution and clarity to make up for that partially), it just ain't necessary as such.
Plus, when it comes down to it, my mobile computing needs aren't big but they're very specific. I RARELY find myself in a situation where I don't have a horizontal surface (table, desk, etc.) nearby and need to hold my computing device up, and when I do have said horizontal surface, I prefer the ability to adjust my screen so it's perfectly perpendicular to my direction of view, which can't happen with a tablet without actively holding it up.
Don't get me wrong. I VERY much like the iPad for what it is. But what it is is an expensive toy. And it doesn't fulfill the requirements of the OP at $500.
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Yup. The iPad is a toy. A pretty, pretty toy, but a toy nonetheless at the price.
It is pretty, but I would argue it is no more of a toy than a laptop.
I was on my laptop for at least 2-3 hours a day before I got an iPad. Now, I sometimes go days without ever getting it out of my backpack. The iPad has proved more useful and flexible than I ever dreamed it would be.
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Have to agree with the iPad users. I own a net book, laptop and iPad and am very happy with the iPad. Sure it is more expensive, but I think it is worth it. The PDF's are gorgeous and the iPad is so easy to carry around and navigate through PDF's. I had many problems scrolling through PDF's on my net book and refresh was horribly slow. The iPad just sings. It has changed how I compose. Also, in a few months, the iPad gets multi-tasking and the ability to put PDF's in iBooks.
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Let's get back to staying on-topic as defined by the OP, shall we? I think we've all (myself definitely included) strayed off-topic too long; a netbook/laptop is definitely what he'll be wanting within the parameters that he's set.
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I beg to differ. I have a Kindle DX, which is just fine for reading my roleplay PDFs, graphics heavy or otherwise.
It does have difficulty with the rare PDF, but the DFRPG ones read and display just fine.
Oh, and the battery lasts a week and a half of daily use if the 3G wireless isn't switched on
Funny I was looking at the Kindle DX and wanted to post/ask how good you can read RPG-PDF's on it. ;D
Thanks.
So I'm thinking about buying one, Amazon says up to 3.500 books. How much is that in MB/GB? (Since PDF's are way bigger than *.epub Format...)
Can you upgrade the memory with an SD-disk or somesuch?
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Some readers take SD cards and the like for expanded memory capacity; look at the specs for readers that interest you to see if they do.
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Let's get back to staying on-topic as defined by the OP, shall we? I think we've all (myself definitely included) strayed off-topic too long; a netbook/laptop is definitely what he'll be wanting within the parameters that he's set.
Fine. :P However the OP has not stated his price range yet, so we really cannot give him a big picture. there might be an E-Reader out there that is in his price range.
I kind of like the fact that people have been giving 1st hand opinions on devices they have used for PDF reading even if it is out the the price range of the OP.
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I've tried reading RPG pdfs on the Sony Reader Touch. And the problem I run into is that no matter what I do, I can't 'zoom' very effectively so I'm stuck reading a full page on my screen. The screen is 6" display. An RPG book is usually 9-12" diagonal reading space. So it's really TINY.
The Kindle (regular) does basically the samething.
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I've tried reading RPG pdfs on the Sony Reader Touch. And the problem I run into is that no matter what I do, I can't 'zoom' very effectively so I'm stuck reading a full page on my screen. The screen is 6" display. An RPG book is usually 9-12" diagonal reading space. So it's really TINY.
The Kindle (regular) does basically the samething.
I have the Kindle 2, and I wouldn't even attempt putting the DFRPG pdfs on there. I only have one since the update to make pdfs readable, and I have to change the orientation from portrait to landscape to make the font readable because it doesn't let me change the font size. Could possibly be something with the file, but it's so much trouble I haven't tried any others.
From what I've seen of any other ereader, they're all comparable to the Kindle 2 in size, other than the DX which was made more for pdf and newspaper reading. Other than that, I think the only other comparable type things are what everyone else has said--laptop, netbook, and iPad. So nothing really cheap. Oh, and the 16G wifi iPad is relative in price to the DX--both just under $500.
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Fine. :P However the OP has not stated his price range yet
He certainly has, as regards the price of the iPad. So we can assume that $500 is definitely too much, and we can work well below that, shall we? While avoiding (yet again) the iPad and other things that are in that price range?
Folks, if we want to discuss the iPad or anything else outside what the OP is asking for, let's make another thread.
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And I think we've stated that no E-Reader will fit the bill for his price range.
Basically sounds like his price range is roughly $300.
This means that his only real option is a cheap netbook.
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And I think we've stated that no E-Reader will fit the bill for his price range.
Basically sounds like his price range is roughly $300.
This means that his only real option is a cheap netbook.
Right. Which is why I was responding to posts continuing to talk about the iPad and other things in that price range. And $300 is not necessarily a cheap netbook. You can get pretty good ones for that price if you're patient, do the research and watch a few good websites for sales/discounts/price reductions, especially tigerdirect.com and newegg.com. I particularly like and respect those two.
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Well, not knowing your price range - but if $500 is way to expensive - I'm guessing you're looking at a couple hundred bucks tops? I've got experience with the kindle and like others have said it isn't that great. However, it does depend a bit on the rpg layout. For example, chronica fuedalis and others with larger type aren't that bad at all. But most of them really cram the text in there and it is just too small. This is probably true with most ereaders - not all RPGs are equal.
Depending on what you find acceptable quality and convenience a net book might work for you. My cousin uses one, but I wouldn't care to make it my primary reader.
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A while back, I was comparing my Dad's Kindle with the upcoming Nook from Barnes and Noble. For me, if I were to get an ereader, it would be the Nook because it can natively read PDFs, and it has expandable memory with SD cards. So there you go.
Now, for an ereader, I've been using my iPhone... but I have yet to try PDF files on it. Come Monday, when iOS 4.0 is released and I'm updated, I'll be able to put PDFs on it through iBook. I'll let you know then.
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Adding my two cents here;
I've been reading the DFRPG pdfs on the bus using my Nook. What I'll say is that the text is tiny and it can be a little hard to navigate around the pdf, but for the most part I'm able to handle it (as long as I don't need to flip through different parts of the pdf one after another, which takes some time). So overall, if you have an ereader its ok to use it to read the pdfs, but its not worth buying one just so you can read them on the road ;)
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Adding my two cents here;
I've been reading the DFRPG pdfs on the bus using my Nook. What I'll say is that the text is tiny and it can be a little hard to navigate around the pdf, but for the most part I'm able to handle it (as long as I don't need to flip through different parts of the pdf one after another, which takes some time). So overall, if you have an ereader its ok to use it to read the pdfs, but its not worth buying one just so you can read them on the road ;)
Nice! So, as long as you've got good vision, PDFs on the Nook are satisfactory?
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I had tried the DFRPG on a nook and I didn't think it handled it very well. It seemed to have trouble rendering graphics when turning pages and had a tendency to crash. Though, if you just wanted to have a single page up for reference, it could handle that reasonably well.
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This is the kind of info I think our OP will appreciate! Anybody got more info?
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I had tried the DFRPG on a nook and I didn't think it handled it very well. It seemed to have trouble rendering graphics when turning pages and had a tendency to crash. Though, if you just wanted to have a single page up for reference, it could handle that reasonably well.
I had the same experience. I bought a Nook for my mother for Mother's Day, and after she got it working, I uploaded DFRPG and Diaspora, and neither of them worked too well. DFRPG caused it to crash if I tried to turn pages too quickly. It's just not made for graphic-intense PDFs.
-EF
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Just tossing my own two cents into the mix, mainly because I can:
I bought an Asus EeePC netbook a year ago to be an ebook reader for games and a machine for conferences/conventions, and spent about $300 on it. It isn't the greatest, but it's not horrible. The saving grace is surely the 6+ hour battery compared to the 1-2 hours on my laptops. The scrolling for most RPGs did become a bit of a hassle, and some graphic heavy books were a bit of a problem (Dresden hasn't run very well, honestly), but it's a doable option for you if you are on a tight budget and choose to shop around.
Laptops are also a good way to go in general if you want something that's a bit more versatile than an e-reader while being more powerful than a netbook. As previously mentioned, they are getting cheaper as time goes by, and if you choose to shop around, you can get one at a decent price.
I personally haven't used many of the standard e-readers (Nook, Kindle, or the Sony e-reader) due to having my laptop and netbook, but a friend of mine did say that his Nook fit the bill for him without any major issues. Not sure on the print and readability, nor can I confirm or deny the issues with the DFRPG, but it's a start, ne?
I'm not much of an Apple person, but one of the local gamers I know swears by his iPad for reading a book and having the dice rolling apps on the side, which gives me some hope for the next generation of tablet PCs (such as the HP Slate, which has a softer pricetag than the iPad).
There's also a device that was released not long ago called the Entourage Edge. It's one part e-reader, one part netbook. It's pricetag is also around the $500 range, but the local Instructional Design department seems impressed by it and will be tinkering with them soon enough.
In any case, best of luck with finding what you need!
--Crion