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E-reader for technical PDF manuals and books.
pericom
11-06-2015
Im looking for a device that is good for reading technical manuals / books.

Preferably E-ink since I spend a lot of time in front of an LCD I dont want more LCD.

Any recommendations ?
IvanIV
12-06-2015
Kindle DX would be good for this, it's ~10'' and you can see whole pages at one go. It's discontinued though. You could still get a used one if you look around. Normal Kindles are 6'' and you have to scroll to see the whole page. Other eReaders (at least Sony which I used) will reflow the PDF text and break the page layout, so probably not good for what you need. A tablet with an LCD screen is a more common choice I'd say, if eInk, try that Kindle DX.
Stig
12-06-2015
Originally Posted by pericom:
“Im looking for a device that is good for reading technical manuals / books.

Preferably E-ink since I spend a lot of time in front of an LCD I dont want more LCD.

Any recommendations ?”

They exist, but cost a lot. This Sony is $800 plus tax.
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/show-di...talpaper.shtml

You will end up buying a tablet. The iPad Air 2 has a less reflective screen, so would be my choice.
Tokyo
12-06-2015
Originally Posted by pericom:
“Im looking for a device that is good for reading technical manuals / books.

Preferably E-ink since I spend a lot of time in front of an LCD I dont want more LCD.

Any recommendations ?”

I got my Kindle DX for $199 last year when it suddenly became available again, you have to keep checking.

http://kindleworld.blogspot.jp/2014/...k-ereader.html
IvanIV
12-06-2015
That Sony reader is beautiful, but I would be able to justify that expense only if I wanted to annotate the documents, otherwise I'd try to get that Kindle. Compared to tablets it has much better battery life. It's a relief that I have to charge mine (6'') only once a week.
IvanIV
12-06-2015
Originally Posted by Tokyo:
“I got my Kindle DX for $199 last year when it suddenly became available again, you have to keep checking.

http://kindleworld.blogspot.jp/2014/...k-ereader.html”

Amazon.com sells used ones for ~$130 and that includes 3G in one case. Not sure if they ship to UK though.
pericom
12-06-2015
Thanks for the advice.

The Amazon Kindle DX looks ideal to spare the hurt on my eyes from LCDs

If I were sent one from another country (japan) can you change the language on them to English.
IvanIV
13-06-2015
My Kindle has a lot of 'normal' languages and two that look like Japanese and Chinese. But they may have a special version with more Eastern languages. If you can have it sent from there you should ask them. Or ask Amazon, they will tell you if English is included.
Tokyo
13-06-2015
Originally Posted by pericom:
“Thanks for the advice.

The Amazon Kindle DX looks ideal to spare the hurt on my eyes from LCDs

If I were sent one from another country (japan) can you change the language on them to English.”

Yes, no glare when I read The Economist on it.


Mine was purchased/sent to me in Tokyo from the US of A so of course everything is in English. Well, almost everything. The dictionary is the New Oxford American English one.
Tassium
13-06-2015
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 has an Super AMOLED screen, basically LEDs. 8.4inch colour display

These screens are nicer than backlit LCD, but still probably not as nice as e-ink. Full colour of course and fast page manipulation. High resolution as well.

About £230 new.
Stig
13-06-2015
Originally Posted by pericom:
“Thanks for the advice.

The Amazon Kindle DX looks ideal to spare the hurt on my eyes from LCDs

If I were sent one from another country (japan) can you change the language on them to English.”

Have you actually used a tablet to discover if your eyes hurt?

Honestly, the only advantages of an e-ink screen are that you can read it in bright sunlight, and low power consumption. A good modern tablet does not hurt the eyes. The Kindle DX has a very low resolution compared to a tablet.
pericom
13-06-2015
Originally Posted by Stig:
“Have you actually used a tablet to discover if your eyes hurt?

Honestly, the only advantages of an e-ink screen are that you can read it in bright sunlight, and low power consumption. A good modern tablet does not hurt the eyes. The Kindle DX has a very low resolution compared to a tablet.”

Yes LCDs do hurt my eyes. I have a few of them already, Ive used my brothers Galaxy Tab and it hurts. If I were to read it for 2+ hours.
TelevisionUser
13-06-2015
Originally Posted by pericom:
“Im looking for a device that is good for reading technical manuals / books.

Preferably E-ink since I spend a lot of time in front of an LCD I dont want more LCD.

Any recommendations ?”

Originally Posted by pericom:
“Yes LCDs do hurt my eyes. I have a few of them already, Ive used my brothers Galaxy Tab and it hurts. If I were to read it for 2+ hours.”

Are any of these technical ebooks in Epub format because some devices won't read them or they will require the use of format change tools?

Secondly, if you do have to use an LCD tablet at any time then this little tweak here http://www.teleread.com/e-ink/wishin...k-now-it-does/ might help.
pericom
13-06-2015
95% are in PDF format. I can convert them if need be.
Tassium
13-06-2015
The reason why LCD screens can be tiring on the eye is because one eye gets a slightly different brightness than the other eye.

It's not to bad when the screen is "laptop distance" from the eyes, but it becomes very obvious with tablets which are held far closer to the eyes.

The AMOLED type screens have a far move even illumination, the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 has such a screen and might be worth looking into. Maybe one can be found on display in some store somewhere.
---------
Another option is the Kindle HDX, although LCD these apparently have a special layer which evens out the illumination for easier reading.

Comes in 7" and 8.9"
IvanIV
13-06-2015
I have Kindle (eInk), tablets, and laptops, too. Those are all rather modern LCD screens and have their use, but I would not use any of them for reading for longer periods of time. Why try to persuade OP to use a tablet if there is a solution that only does one thing, but does it excellently.
Tassium
13-06-2015
In e-ink there is the Kobo Aura HD and the Kobo H2O

Both are 6.8" and feature 1440×1080 screens.

Both about £150
MisterDuck
13-06-2015
Originally Posted by pericom:
“Yes LCDs do hurt my eyes. I have a few of them already, Ive used my brothers Galaxy Tab and it hurts. If I were to read it for 2+ hours.”

I use Lux on my Android phone and tablets - it's a bit fiddly to set up, but with brightness set to -40 or thereabouts for indoor use I don't suffer from eyestrain, even after extended reading periods. It also has an adjustable "night mode" to filter out blue light and avoid messing with your melatonin levels.

E-readers are great for their primary purpose - extended reading of simple text - but in my experience even the best of them are a bit rubbish at handling rich-content PDFs.
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