Kindle for studying PDF docs?

Bert McGert

Hey do you guys have any experience using an Amazon Kindle for reading PDFs for technical docs and/or study guides? I'm curious to hear your opinions of the device for this kind of material.

Thanks!

Bokeh

The best way to study PDFs on the Kindle is to get the Kindle DX. It is the same size as the Ipad, and has no trouble doing PDFs. The smaller Kindle can read them as well, but folks have said it is too small of a screen to use effectively for PDFs.

Devilsbane

I don't own one yet, but there have been several threads about the standard kindle's screen not rendering pdfs correctly especially when graphics are involved. To my understanding it willl work... you just might not be happy with the results.

I've had the kindle dx on my wish list for awhile not but just haven't had the desire (or need really) to buy it yet.

PsychoFin

I have the regular sized Kindle since half a year, and find it great for reading novels and mobipocket books. Also, if you buy any (kindle) tech books from Amazon they will have been formatted to fit the Kindle, very nice! However, pdf reading is surely a hassle. I've gone through a couple Cisco pdfs and it's not enjoyable at all. I'd highly recommend getting either the iPad or Kindle DX for that purpose.

Cheers,
Fin

Qord

Just to reiterate what has already been said, PDF's are not-so-nice on a Kindle. The issue is that by default, the font is almost = to a font size of about 4. If you enjoy reading tiny font, it's great! I'm sure it wouldn't be so bad if you has a screen magnifier, but as it is, it is not easy on the eyes. You can increase the size of the page in %, but this adjusts the entire document, not just the font, so you wind up only being able to read about the left 2/3 and have to move right to see the rest. It's doable, but it's a hassle and you spend more time moving than you do reading.

I've changed the layout so it is landscape instead of portrait; The font is still tiny, but doing that in conjunction with increasing the size makes it doable in very good lighting. As of yet, there is still no good way to reformat ppf's in a way that is acceptable. Calibre does a decent job, but you lose images. With a tech pdf, that kinda defeats the purpose.

nel

Im in the same view as the others.

You've got to take the kindle for what it is - a replacement for plain text books such as novels.

effekted

HP Touchpad if you can find one at the $99/150 price!

mamono

I have an Amazon Kindle DX, have had it since the 1st month it was released in June 2009. Its been a great study aide and I use it to read many technical document PDF's. I think it renders the diagrams well enough to get by. When reading Cisco books, I usually read them using landscape format. I sometimes miss being able to leaf through the book for a quick reference to something earlier to reinforce a topic that I'm currently reading, but that's what notes are for.

ehnde

I'm using a regular kindle without issues. If you have your PDF document sent to your kindle email address, Amazon will automatically convert the document into a more readable format and it automatically shows up on your kindle. Only downside is that it either

A) Shows diagrams without issue
doesn't show the diagram at all

Devilsbane

ehnde wrote: »

Only downside is that it either

A) Shows diagrams without issue
doesn't show the diagram at all

Wouldn't A be an upside?

TIA568B

I'll let you know on Monday!
I just bought a refurbished 3G kindle (less than half an hour ago) justifying it to myself that it's a study aide!
I've got a lot of plain text PDFs that are too long to print out and even if I can't use it for PDFs I'll still be able to use it for reading books.
I passed the final exam of CCNA Exploration tonight so I thought I'd reward myself with something before I go for the real thing, I was originally planning just to order a pizza, but got a bit carried away!

whatthehell

Picking up a Kindle DX soon. Let me know how you like the 3g version and I'll do the same with the DX.

Enjoy!

Thxlbx

I agree with what everyone else has said. I have a Kindle 3, and it has been fantastic, but the fonts on pdf files are very small and more difficult to read. I am considering picking up a Kindle DX if the price drops some at Christmas time.

TIA568B

I've had a chance to play with my Kindle over the weekend (receiving it on Saturday) and I love it, sure PDFs aren't rendered as nicely as proper ebooks, but I've just read a 30 page PDF with no issues at all, it scales nicely and I could zoom in if the font size wasn't too small (which I didn't need to), sure it's another gadget, but I think it's a legitimate study aide.

RobertKaucher

I have a Kindle DX and use it to read books in various formats. For very "wordy" books that I have in PDF I convert them to MOBI using Calibre and use the text-to-speech to read them while driving to work. I have an hour commute, so it helps me be productive. I also have Asus transformer and will be keeping the DX as I believe this feature alone - not to mention the eInk - makes it worth it. I hav enot experienced any issues using it with PDFs and the diagrams except that some MS press books do not display the diagrams properly (i.e. they do not show up).