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Does anyone use the Kindle for technical books? If so, how does it fare? For the $79/$99 it's not a big price to pay, but I have 10s, if not 100s of PDFs that I

by raju 15y ago

Does anyone use the Kindle for technical books? If so, how does it fare? For the $79/$99 it's not a big price to pay, but I have 10s, if not 100s of PDFs that I would like to keep and read (reading on the iPad isn't working out for me). Any thoughts? Update: Just saw fribblerz's comment about the DX. But I am still curious about the other Kindles.

yatsyk 15y ago
Kindle uses 600x800 screen. eInk HD which is used on new Sony and iRiver readers would be better for pdf reading.
gte910h 15y ago
I use kindle technical books, but read them on the iPad and Mac. The small kindles aren't really appropriately sized for them, and the Kindle DX isn't cheap enough to me not just buy another iPad.
raju 15y ago
Sounds like a Kindle is then a no-no for tech books :(. Thanks for the words of wisdom, HN.
bretthoerner 15y ago
I love my Kindle, but I think it's awful for anything with graphics, tables, code, etc. Basically: if it's not free-flowing text you're not going to enjoy it on an e-ink Kindle, imo.
- tom_b 15y ago
  Second that code is awful (it wraps funny, even in landscape mode). But . . . I hate buying dead tree books that expire in two versions. Admittedly not a huge concern, but still.
tom_b 15y ago
I actually read PDFs pretty frequently on my Kindle. I usually set it to landscape mode. I used briss to convert some big pdf books (On Lisp and I think a free version of SICP) so they would be a little more readable. briss does some clipping of the margins. I love tech books in print form, but I prefer a tech book I can drop on the kindle now. The raw convenience of the kindle wins out for me. If the DX gets cheap, I may be forced to grab one. I won't be upgrading to the new color device.
- runn1ng 15y ago
  I agree. It works fine enough in landscape mode.
sliverstorm 15y ago
You basically need a DX for PDF's. The smaller screen requires more zooming and navigating, which is a pain due to the performance lag. Of course, this can be avoided if they are not PDF out of neccesity. If the book is all text, not heavily formatted, and you just have it in PDF for convienience, look into getting an eBook copy. Note: I use a 2nd gen Kindle. The newer models might be a little snappier.
- radu_floricica 15y ago
  Nope, still need a DX for PDF and images. Even zoomed, it's hard to make out small notations in graphs and pictures.
- wladimir 15y ago
  This is not a problem of the device, though. The scrolling and zooming makes sense as (most) PDFs use A4 page format and PDF cannot be reflowed to other screen sizes, which epub etc can. Unless you generate a PDF with smaller pages somehow, it isn't even possible to display it on a small screen with all the details without zooming/panning.
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jamesbkel 15y ago
I have a Kindle 3. It's fantastic for fiction/nonfiction/Instapaper. Technical papers are my one major gripe. It's essentially hit or miss, but mostly miss. I've found that most technical PDF papers are non-trivial to convert to Kindle. It would be one thing if they were scaled down to a format that only required vertical scrolling, but as it stands unless the author/publisher makes an effort, most technical PDFs require horizontal and vertical scrolling. Certainly possible, but hardly convenient.
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chollida1 15y ago
I do but I use the DX. I had posted a similar comment earlier today about this. I love the keyboard for note taking when reading technical books on the kindle. That way I can come back months or years later and just read my notes to refresh my memory. The hi-lighting option is also great for this. It's like instant cliff's notes. if you don't want to read the book then you can just search amazon for the hi-lights that people have made public for the book and you've got your cliff's notes without having to read the text yourself:)

by raju 15y ago

yatsyk 15y ago

Kindle uses 600x800 screen. eInk HD which is used on new Sony and iRiver readers would be better for pdf reading.

gte910h 15y ago

I use kindle technical books, but read them on the iPad and Mac. The small kindles aren't really appropriately sized for them, and the Kindle DX isn't cheap enough to me not just buy another iPad.

raju 15y ago

Sounds like a Kindle is then a no-no for tech books :(. Thanks for the words of wisdom, HN.

bretthoerner 15y ago

I love my Kindle, but I think it's awful for anything with graphics, tables, code, etc. Basically: if it's not free-flowing text you're not going to enjoy it on an e-ink Kindle, imo.

tom_b 15y ago
Second that code is awful (it wraps funny, even in landscape mode). But . . . I hate buying dead tree books that expire in two versions. Admittedly not a huge concern, but still.

tom_b 15y ago

I actually read PDFs pretty frequently on my Kindle. I usually set it to landscape mode. I used briss to convert some big pdf books (On Lisp and I think a free version of SICP) so they would be a little more readable. briss does some clipping of the margins. I love tech books in print form, but I prefer a tech book I can drop on the kindle now. The raw convenience of the kindle wins out for me. If the DX gets cheap, I may be forced to grab one. I won't be upgrading to the new color device.

runn1ng 15y ago
I agree. It works fine enough in landscape mode.

sliverstorm 15y ago

You basically need a DX for PDF's. The smaller screen requires more zooming and navigating, which is a pain due to the performance lag. Of course, this can be avoided if they are not PDF out of neccesity. If the book is all text, not heavily formatted, and you just have it in PDF for convienience, look into getting an eBook copy. Note: I use a 2nd gen Kindle. The newer models might be a little snappier.

radu_floricica 15y ago
Nope, still need a DX for PDF and images. Even zoomed, it's hard to make out small notations in graphs and pictures.
wladimir 15y ago
This is not a problem of the device, though. The scrolling and zooming makes sense as (most) PDFs use A4 page format and PDF cannot be reflowed to other screen sizes, which epub etc can. Unless you generate a PDF with smaller pages somehow, it isn't even possible to display it on a small screen with all the details without zooming/panning.

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jamesbkel 15y ago

I have a Kindle 3. It's fantastic for fiction/nonfiction/Instapaper. Technical papers are my one major gripe. It's essentially hit or miss, but mostly miss. I've found that most technical PDF papers are non-trivial to convert to Kindle. It would be one thing if they were scaled down to a format that only required vertical scrolling, but as it stands unless the author/publisher makes an effort, most technical PDFs require horizontal and vertical scrolling. Certainly possible, but hardly convenient.

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chollida1 15y ago

I do but I use the DX. I had posted a similar comment earlier today about this. I love the keyboard for note taking when reading technical books on the kindle. That way I can come back months or years later and just read my notes to refresh my memory. The hi-lighting option is also great for this. It's like instant cliff's notes. if you don't want to read the book then you can just search amazon for the hi-lights that people have made public for the book and you've got your cliff's notes without having to read the text yourself:)