Reading Technical Books on Kindle?

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Reading Technical Books on Kindle?

technicaljoe

248 posts

Master Geek

#76350 1-Feb-2011 08:41

Hi guys,

I'm seriouly considering to get a Kindle.

My usage scenario would be a mix of:
1) Primarily for technical books (software development related) - 50%
2) Business related books - 25%
3) Non work related paperbacks - 25%

Would people recommend an Kindle 3 or DX or something else?

Thank you for your time :)

Joseph

1 | 2

1925 posts

Uber Geek

#433527 1-Feb-2011 09:05

I've been trying to read a bunch of Architectural manuals/textbooks and they're quite tricky on my Kindle 3. It's screen is just a fraction too small to read them. I think this is primarily due to them being PDF's which are a little tough to read on the device anyway through their lack of dynamic formatting of text (resizing text to fit on one page e.t.c.) These books are full of images and diagrams which i need to zoom in to see rather than have them appear 100%.

But realistically i'd probably be better off with a DX thanks to its larger screen.

hairy1

3332 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#433550 1-Feb-2011 09:41

My folks got a couple of kindle 3's and I thought it would be ideal for my manuals for work (3000 + pages of PDF's updated monthly). My impression is:

I agree with Disrespective. Great for text only. No good for anything with diagrams. The zoom works but it is a real pain and not user freindly to zoom in for each page. Normally the page refresh speed is not an issue but when zooming and moving around a zoomed page it gets to be a pain.

Cheers, Matt.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

hairy1

3332 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#433553 1-Feb-2011 09:43

Can you hold out for a Nook color? That would be cool. Not available in NZ yet....

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

redjet

299 posts

Ultimate Geek

#433582 1-Feb-2011 10:22

I've got an iPad and use it for mainly reading technical books and it's excellent. The only down-side would be it's weight as it can get heavy after a while. Personally I think you should wait until the 2nd gen iPad comes out as it's bound to be lighter.

Red Jet Web Services
- Affordable websites for small businesses
- Google Email setup and Migrations

technicaljoe

248 posts

Master Geek

#433814 1-Feb-2011 18:08

Thanks guys!

Can someone read Kindle books entirely without owning a Kindle? I mean using PC, iPad, WP7, etc?

And any rumour on when Nook Color or iPad v2 might come out?
Not exactly up-to-date with non-Microsoft technologies :)

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#433855 1-Feb-2011 18:56

B&N have said (to me at least, via support email) they aren't planning on releasing or shipping the nook to NZ. You'll have to buy it off someone called "bluephoton" on amazon. (I haven't bought from that company personally, but a friend has).

zenourn

271 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#433866 1-Feb-2011 19:22

I've found a Kindle DX great for reading technical and scientific books/papers (i.e., currently reading the IPv6 Second Internet freely available PDF on it, Python ebooks, classic Physics books, ...). Only issue was that as they don't ship to NZ so I had to ship to my brother in Aussie and get him to bring it over (he comes over every month so wasn't an issue).

Found the iPad horrible for reading for long periods (also didn't like it how it didn't automatically zoom so no white margins, not sure if this has been improved or works in 3rd party app now) and not a fan of reading books on computer. Can read Kindle for hours with no issues and even had the odd occassion when I try to 'turn' the kindle to turn the page.

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

technicaljoe

248 posts

Master Geek

#434005 1-Feb-2011 23:09

Again, thanks for the input. :)

Sounds like Kindle DX may be more suitable for my purpose.

I've heard quite a bit about iPad not being a suitable e-reader.

Are there any other e-reader or tablet I should keep an eye out for? Or is there a new Kindle version coming in near future?

iamaelephant

90 posts

Master Geek

#434114 2-Feb-2011 09:39

I'd like to expand on the OP's questions, because my use case is very similar to his (not trying to hijack the thread, I suspect the OP would like to hear this too).

How is the Kindle with books that have a lot of code? Is it generally formatted correctly? Do the fixed-width fonts look right? What about text wrapping, does it get messed up?

Also, if we convert the PDFs to a different format using something like Calibre, will the formatting be retained? Would this work better than standard PDF for code? How about books that come in multiple formats? For example, Manning books come in epub, mobi and PDF format. Which would be preferable?

Thanks.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79250 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#434140 2-Feb-2011 10:26

technicaljoe: Can someone read Kindle books entirely without owning a Kindle? I mean using PC, iPad, WP7, etc?

Yes you can. I was reading Kindle books on an Android handset before my Kindle arrived. You can read on any Kindle app, even without a Kindle device proper.

zenourn

271 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#434179 2-Feb-2011 11:40

How is the Kindle with books that have a lot of code? Is it generally formatted correctly? Do the fixed-width fonts look right? What about text wrapping, does it get messed up?

I've found the Kindle DX excellent with PDFs with a lot of code and mathematics. Fonts all look correct as well. Just displays the PDF as intended so no messed-up text wrapping (different story with other formats).

Also, if we convert the PDFs to a different format using something like Calibre, will the formatting be retained? Would this work better than standard PDF for code? How about books that come in multiple formats? For example, Manning books come in epub, mobi and PDF format. Which would be preferable?

I haven't had much success converting PDFs with code/mathematics/figures/tables to other formats and keeping any of the more technical parts formatted correctly (text body is generally OK although still bad wrapping at times).

I generally stick with PDF on the Kindle DX. Have tried epub and mobi formats when supplied but have always found issues.

iamaelephant

90 posts

Master Geek

#434190 2-Feb-2011 11:49

I didn't ask about the Kindle DX.

zenourn

271 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#434200 2-Feb-2011 11:58

iamaelephant: I didn't ask about the Kindle DX.

You asked about the Kindle and the Kindle DX is a Kindle ;-)

Anyhow, for the Kindle 6" I've found it not ideal for technical material. Too small to handle most PDFs and there are formatting issues with other formats (either when supplied from the publisher or converted from PDF).

iamaelephant

90 posts

Master Geek

#434238 2-Feb-2011 12:48

Oh I have one more question :P Does the Kindle have a "search" feature to allow me to search for a passage in a book?

zenourn

271 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#434300 2-Feb-2011 15:05

iamaelephant: Oh I have one more question :P Does the Kindle have a "search" feature to allow me to search for a passage in a book?

From the Kindle page on Amazon ;-):

Search
Kindle's keyboard makes it easy to search within a book, across your library, in the Kindle Store, or even the Web. To use the Search feature, simply type in a word or phrase you're looking for, and Kindle finds every instance in your book or across your Kindle library. Looking for the first reference of a character in your book? Simply type in the name and search. You can extend your search to the Kindle Store to find related titles you may be interested in. Explore even further by searching Wikipedia and the Web.

1 | 2