What's good for a Ebook

[Saba'a]

Yes but using the tab 2. Tab 1 was same as well. I am sure tab 3 even better.

 

[Dave]

For colour PDF, iPad Retina every time. For ebooks, the Kindle paperwhite (but it's terrible for PDF).

 

[medicnick83]

For colour PDF, iPad Retina every time. For ebooks, the Kindle paperwhite (but it's terrible for PDF).

But you see, all my medical books are in PDFs

 

[cerebus]

But you see, all my medical books are in PDFs

Yes for PDF you need a full tablet, the e-ink devices don't render them well at all. It can even be a chore on a tablet screen. PDF is a lousy format.

The iPad Retina would certainly be my first choice. I love mine. The Nexus7 screen is a bit on the thin side, and PDFs tend to render with huge margins which can make the text small as it doesn't reflow. The HDX also has a slightly wider screen which should help with that.

 

[ITCynic]

Can you elaborate a bit pls?

From experience. The display options for pdf on Kindle are not good at all, especially if the pdf text is small.

One could use Calibre to convert the pdf to another e-book format but I did not have much succes with the end result.

So now I just view PDF with a pdf viewer and keep the kindle for other ebook formats

Edit : See above post, good explanation

 

[Dave]

But you see, all my medical books are in PDFs

iPad with Retina display then, I use PDFs almost daily, the iPad is the best tablet I've used for them.

 

[garyc]

I like the look of the Kindle Fire HDX

Amazon have locked down the Kindle Fire, making it more difficult to get your own files on to it:

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Kindle_Fire_Review

I have used a Nexus 7 for reading PDFs. Even though it works there is usually some zooming and side scrolling involved. The best option would be a 10" tablet with a higher resolution than something like a Nexus 7.

 

[AstroTurf]

From experience. The display options for pdf on Kindle are not good at all, especially if the pdf text is small.

One could use Calibre to convert the pdf to another e-book format but I did not have much succes with the end result.

So now I just view PDF with a pdf viewer and keep the kindle for other ebook formats

Edit : See above post, good explanation

I use my kindle only for actual books.
pdf's and such really and truly suck on it, they are "viewable" but really horrible to navigate and actually read.

 

[Beachless]

But you see, all my medical books are in PDFs

For pdf's screen size is very important, I have the same zooming scrolling issues on my kobo as you have on your S4 as the screen is too small. I dont mind the grey scale pictures but having to constantly move the page around is a pain.

 

[Ronele]

I'm going really low tech, but very effective and very low cost the gobii from Kalahari. It's plays nearly every format but the base model isn't touch screen, but it comes in at under R400. Their touch screen ones are R1399 for the 7" WIFI anf R1799 for the 7" 3g and Wifi.

http://www.kalahari.com/ct/gobii;jsessionid=1E970CAB68A0BC1AD61BA017E6EC3DE8

 

[cerebus]

Amazon have locked down the Kindle Fire, making it more difficult to get your own files on to it:

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Kindle_Fire_Review

If you get a Fire, the first thing you should do is flash it to stock Android. There are good roms out there. I did it when I had a 1st gen Fire and it turned into a nice little tablet.

I have used a Nexus 7 for reading PDFs. Even though it works there is usually some zooming and side scrolling involved. The best option would be a 10" tablet with a higher resolution than something like a Nexus 7.

The screen size is one factor but aspect ratio plays a bigger part. The Nexus7 is 16:9 which basically is ideal for viewing fHD movies, but not so much for reading on. The new crop of small tablets like the Note 8 and the HDX tend towards Apple's 4:3 ratio approach, which works well on the iPad Mini. For reading I really prefer a smaller size tablet.

 

[medicnick83]

Well, there is a guy selling a Kindle Fire HD 7" and it has (which I don't really care about) Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB and is in perfect condition for R1750.

I really only want it to view the PDF's nicely - do you guys think this is worth considering?

 

[cerebus]

Well, there is a guy selling a Kindle Fire HD 7" and it has (which I don't really care about) Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB and is in perfect condition for R1750.

I really only want it to view the PDF's nicely - do you guys think this is worth considering?

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/...le-fire-hd-2013-review-7-inch-android-tablet/

Is it the 2012 or 2013 HD? It's worth considering, but keep in mind you'll have to deal with Amazon's Fire OS which is limited compared to true Android, unless you're confident to root and flash it yourself.

 

[grok]

I'm going really low tech, but very effective and very low cost the gobii from Kalahari. It's plays nearly every format but the base model isn't touch screen, but it comes in at under R400. Their touch screen ones are R1399 for the 7" WIFI anf R1799 for the 7" 3g and Wifi.

http://www.kalahari.com/ct/gobii;jsessionid=1E970CAB68A0BC1AD61BA017E6EC3DE8

I have the base one, great little ebooks reader perfect for ebooks, reading, listening & videos but don't even try reading a PDF on it. Yes it does the format but you'll be tearing your hair out in no time, the zooming & navigation required to read for example a PDF magazine will drive you straight back to paper.

 

[medicnick83]

I'm going really low tech, but very effective and very low cost the gobii from Kalahari. It's plays nearly every format but the base model isn't touch screen, but it comes in at under R400. Their touch screen ones are R1399 for the 7" WIFI anf R1799 for the 7" 3g and Wifi.

http://www.kalahari.com/ct/gobii;jsessionid=1E970CAB68A0BC1AD61BA017E6EC3DE8

I like the look of this... I checked, all the Ebooks I currently have come to about 12GB.
It's Wifi and such. Android. It looks like a keeper!
Is Kalahari the only place that sells it?

 

[cerebus]

I like the look of this... I checked, all the Ebooks I currently have come to about 12GB.
It's Wifi and such. Android. It looks like a keeper!
Is Kalahari the only place that sells it?

Please avoid this item. Cheap tablets are always a mistake. You think you're saving money but actually you're getting crappy hardware.

 

[medicnick83]

Please avoid this item. Cheap tablets are always a mistake. You think you're saving money but actually you're getting crappy hardware.

Check the comments on the Kalahari site... seems very good.

 

[cerebus]

Check the comments on the Kalahari site... seems very good.

http://www.techcentral.co.za/kalaharis-gobii-tablet-reviewed/46185/

The Gobii is expected to retail for R1 399, including vouchers to the value of R320. It has a 12-month warranty. All in all, the quality of the Gobii is proportionate to its low price. You’ll get what you pay for. But without the Play store, it’s a deal breaker. Avoid. — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media

 

[Ronele]

I like the look of this... I checked, all the Ebooks I currently have come to about 12GB.
It's Wifi and such. Android. It looks like a keeper!
Is Kalahari the only place that sells it?

Yes they are.

 

[medicnick83]

Well, there is a guy selling a Kindle Fire HD 7" and it has (which I don't really care about) Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB and is in perfect condition for R1750.

I really only want it to view the PDF's nicely - do you guys think this is worth considering?

I've just spoken to the above mentioned guy - he lives around the corner from me and has agreed to let me borrow it for a week and see if it's something I am happy with.
If I like it, I can pay it off type deal "Gentleman's agreement" (which is so refreshing in this day and age!!!)

I'm going to fetch it on Sunday and then I'll take it from there.