Handheld PDF Reader

herWter · 01-01-2009, 10:13 PM

I'm one of those people that cram 100's of PDF files in my documents folder just because I like to read electronic books, but not on a computer. I have been recently been looking for a handheld PDF viewer for convienence. The only problem is most of the ones I find do not actually support it but some crappy proprietary format instead. Does anybody know of a nice handheld PDF viewer that's available?

cyberfish · 01-01-2009, 10:29 PM

Most obvious question -
What platform?

brewbuck · 01-01-2009, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberfish

Most obvious question -
What platform?

What does the platform matter? The question seems to be what sort of DEVICE is handy for viewing PDFs... As in, an e-book reader or some such

cyberfish · 01-01-2009, 10:40 PM

Oh.

I thought s/he meant a PDF reader (a program) for a handheld.

cyberfish · 01-01-2009, 10:50 PM

How about... a tablet PC? I use mine for reading e-books all the time. Handheld, too =). Of course the downside would be the size and weight.

I tried to read on a PDA, but it was a lot more tiring, due to the short lines (and so the eyes have to "seek" to the beginning of the next line frequently). Also, if the book occasionally contains figures or tables (probably not a problem for novels), they are almost inaccessible due to the small screen, especially if the e-book is not designed to be read on a small-screen device.

AFAIK, the problem with supporting PDF documents is that they have fixed layouts (page sizes, for example, which in turn determines the length of lines), unlike formats like HTML where the program can determine where to break lines up.

That is to say, even if you can find one that supports PDF, it probably won't work with "regular" e-books (unless you don't mind horizontal scrolling for every line).

stevesmithx · 01-02-2009, 12:33 AM

I read about Sony Reader on our local newspaper the other day.
But I haven't personally seen it or worked with it so i can't say whether it is nice or not.
Besides Sony Reader there seems to be other readers too.
Weigh your options carefully before purchasing them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Reader
http://www.labnol.org/gadgets/comput...k-reader/1888/

matsp · 01-02-2009, 03:31 AM

Nokia N-series phones have pdf-reader in them. As does many of the lower series phones - I've got a Nokia 6220 Classic, and it has a PDF reader.

--
Mats

cyberfish · 01-02-2009, 03:34 AM

Quote:

Nokia N-series phones have pdf-reader in them. As does many of the lower series phones - I've got a Nokia 6220 Classic, and it has a PDF reader.

But does it work (how?) with regular e-books in PDF, though? Without needing to scroll horizontally constantly.

zacs7 · 01-02-2009, 03:58 AM

I use my mp3 player for such a purpose (Toshiba F20 with rockbox). It doesn't have a pdf-viewer as such, but I just convert the pages into jpegs and view them that way, searching is made possible by dumping the text to a text-file (so I know which jpeg to look at). A bit of a hack, but it works well.

matsp · 01-02-2009, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberfish

But does it work (how?) with regular e-books in PDF, though? Without needing to scroll horizontally constantly.

Yes, that may be a problem - a netbook or some such is probably a better choice...

--
Mats

herWter · 01-02-2009, 10:10 AM

Is there a way to convert a pdf to other formats like html or just plain text? If you can then I will probably go with the sony reader.

brewbuck · 01-02-2009, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herWter

Is there a way to convert a pdf to other formats like html or just plain text? If you can then I will probably go with the sony reader.

Sure... http://pdftohtml.sourceforge.net/

herWter · 01-02-2009, 12:15 PM

Thank you brewbuck but does anybody know how well html looks on handhelds like the sony reader? I'm afraid HTML won't be any better than pdf.

stevesmithx · 01-02-2009, 03:37 PM

Why do you want html, anyways?(Are you having e-books in the compiled html format?)
I don't think html is supported by sony reader.
It is not listed under the "formats supported" in wikipedia.
Only 300,000 units have been sold according to wiki since its launch.
So i am guessing it could be expensive.
Once again,be sure to check whether it suits your needs before making a deal.

brewbuck · 01-02-2009, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herWter

Thank you brewbuck but does anybody know how well html looks on handhelds like the sony reader? I'm afraid HTML won't be any better than pdf.

Why did you ask about converting pdf to html, then?

01-01-2009, 10:13 PM	#1
herWter Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 126	Handheld PDF Reader I'm one of those people that cram 100's of PDF files in my documents folder just because I like to read electronic books, but not on a computer. I have been recently been looking for a handheld PDF viewer for convienence. The only problem is most of the ones I find do not actually support it but some crappy proprietary format instead. Does anybody know of a nice handheld PDF viewer that's available?
herWter is offline

01-01-2009, 10:29 PM	#2
cyberfish Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 1,997	Most obvious question - What platform?
cyberfish is offline

01-01-2009, 10:40 PM	#4
cyberfish Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 1,997	Oh. I thought s/he meant a PDF reader (a program) for a handheld.
cyberfish is offline

01-01-2009, 10:50 PM	#5
cyberfish Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 1,997	How about... a tablet PC? I use mine for reading e-books all the time. Handheld, too =). Of course the downside would be the size and weight. I tried to read on a PDA, but it was a lot more tiring, due to the short lines (and so the eyes have to "seek" to the beginning of the next line frequently). Also, if the book occasionally contains figures or tables (probably not a problem for novels), they are almost inaccessible due to the small screen, especially if the e-book is not designed to be read on a small-screen device. AFAIK, the problem with supporting PDF documents is that they have fixed layouts (page sizes, for example, which in turn determines the length of lines), unlike formats like HTML where the program can determine where to break lines up. That is to say, even if you can find one that supports PDF, it probably won't work with "regular" e-books (unless you don't mind horizontal scrolling for every line).
cyberfish is offline

01-02-2009, 12:33 AM	#6
stevesmithx and the hat of copycat Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 417	I read about Sony Reader on our local newspaper the other day. But I haven't personally seen it or worked with it so i can't say whether it is nice or not. Besides Sony Reader there seems to be other readers too. Weigh your options carefully before purchasing them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Reader http://www.labnol.org/gadgets/comput...k-reader/1888/ __________________ Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted - Albert Einstein. No programming language is perfect. There is not even a single best language; there are only languages well suited or perhaps poorly suited for particular purposes. - Herbert Mayer
stevesmithx is offline

01-02-2009, 03:31 AM	#7
matsp Kernel hacker Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Farncombe, Surrey, England Posts: 15,686	Nokia N-series phones have pdf-reader in them. As does many of the lower series phones - I've got a Nokia 6220 Classic, and it has a PDF reader. -- Mats __________________ Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them! Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.
matsp is offline

01-02-2009, 03:58 AM	#9
zacs7 Woof, woof! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 3,288	I use my mp3 player for such a purpose (Toshiba F20 with rockbox). It doesn't have a pdf-viewer as such, but I just convert the pages into jpegs and view them that way, searching is made possible by dumping the text to a text-file (so I know which jpeg to look at). A bit of a hack, but it works well. __________________ "I.T. gets the chicky-babes" - M. Kelly bakefile \| vim
zacs7 is offline

01-02-2009, 10:10 AM	#11
herWter Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 126	Is there a way to convert a pdf to other formats like html or just plain text? If you can then I will probably go with the sony reader.
herWter is offline

01-02-2009, 12:15 PM	#13
herWter Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 126	Thank you brewbuck but does anybody know how well html looks on handhelds like the sony reader? I'm afraid HTML won't be any better than pdf. Last edited by herWter; 01-02-2009 at 12:18 PM.
herWter is offline

01-02-2009, 03:37 PM	#14
stevesmithx and the hat of copycat Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 417	Why do you want html, anyways?(Are you having e-books in the compiled html format?) I don't think html is supported by sony reader. It is not listed under the "formats supported" in wikipedia. Only 300,000 units have been sold according to wiki since its launch. So i am guessing it could be expensive. Once again,be sure to check whether it suits your needs before making a deal. __________________ Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted - Albert Einstein. No programming language is perfect. There is not even a single best language; there are only languages well suited or perhaps poorly suited for particular purposes. - Herbert Mayer
stevesmithx is offline

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