Will be starting WGU soon

Was starting WGU soon and was told that the books are provided via PDF. Are they page for page exactly as they were from the book? I shouldn't be missing any diagrams or pics right?

Also, I kind of hate reading on my iPhone, and I never really liked it on a tablet (asus TF-Prime). For some reason I always got headaches and my eyes strained. Would you recommend some type of e-Reader like e-Ink?

Or should I just buckle down and purchase the books?

Or another person recommended just print out every page and put into a 3ring binder!!

What you guys take from personal experience?

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Comments

ande0255

It'd be much cheaper to go to a Kinko's and print off the PDF, use the triple hole puncher, and smack those pages in a 3-ring binder than buying the books

ratchoke

lol I guess I might do that, that is what someone else recommended already.

Do you think a 2" binder would do? Or I'd have to get the big ass ones.

ratbuddy

Not all of the books are regular pdf, some of them are proprietary formats and they only show you a page at a time, to prevent what you're talking about. I've learned to hate those ones, and may or may not have resorted to alternate means to acquire those texts.

J_86

If it's a subject that I think I might read over again for use at work, I usually just buy the book. I know what you mean about e-readers, I have a hard time too. I recently bought a kindle paperwhite and I do like it for reading something. It's less glair and almost like reading a real paper book.

ratchoke

J_86 wrote: »

If it's a subject that I think I might read over again for use at work, I usually just buy the book. I know what you mean about e-readers, I have a hard time too. I recently bought a kindle paperwhite and I do like it for reading something. It's less glair and almost like reading a real paper book.

Does it really feel like a book?

Like if I DL a PDF and read it on there, it will feel like I'm turning a regular page? That is what I'm looking for if possible.

I might have to check it out if so.

srabiee

Every course is different, but the material provided is more than sufficient. Some courses have video and lab based training, and don't even use e-books ( I personally prefer that type of training). Some are PDF based e-books, some are proprietary learning formats like someone else mentioned, and some I skipped altogether in favor of CBTNuggets or TrainSignal which I opted to pay for myself.

I think you are worrying too much about this. And depending on your level of IT knowledge, you may end up testing out of certain courses without even having to read the provided course material. My advice is to wait until you gain access to your Student Portal, and then take it course by course.

ratchoke

srabiee wrote: »

Every course is different, but the material provided is more than sufficient. Some courses have video and lab based training, and don't even use e-books ( I personally prefer that type of training). Some are PDF based e-books, some are proprietary learning formats like someone else mentioned, and some I skipped altogether in favor of CBTNuggets or TrainSignal which I opted to pay for myself.

I think you are worrying too much about this. And depending on your level of IT knowledge, you may end up testing out of certain courses without even having to read the provided course material. My advice is to wait until you gain access to your Student Portal, and then take it course by course.

I do appreciate your feedback but I feel the strain that reading online can have on my eyes is a legitimate/fair concern to have. I am just trying to prepare for when the time comes, which is Jan.

Normally when I read online, and I do a lot of it already, I start to get headaches so will have to take breaks. I think it's due to brightness or w/e it may be, the less breaks, the more reading. And for whatever reason it only happens when reading......If I'm watching movies, just scanning forums, scanning articles -- NADA. Just when I do hardcore reading to to learn something.

I don't get this same strain on hardcopy books.

joehalford01

I've had to suck it up and buy the books. In some cases, I try to read the material on the screen but usually it's just easier for me to buy the book. The good news is that on a lot of texts, they don't force you to use the latest edition and you can usually pick them up used for a couple of bucks on amazon. I picked up the science text for $15 versus $90. Having paper helped me speed through it in a couple of weeks.

J_86

ratchoke wrote: »

Does it really feel like a book?

Like if I DL a PDF and read it on there, it will feel like I'm turning a regular page? That is what I'm looking for if possible.

I might have to check it out if so.

it does to me. Check out some reviews of it on YouTube.

ratchoke

So an update

according to my transfer pre eval i've xfered in 24 classes, so excited about that.

And i ended up picking a kindle fire hd for 139 with 15 gift card so thought it was worthed. The 7inch feels perfect for reading on, and it does a little extra. Plus amazon prime sounded way too cool to pass up, especially if i could find some of the books that would be better used to study for the certs are in there.

I did a lot of research and not a lot of people get eye strain on it because its small, anti glare, and higher resolution. So hopefully it holds true.