need a pdf reading tablet

[T2urtle]

I find a lot of my textbook's online in PDF form either downloaded from the proper sites or in the form of online etext when connected to wifi. For the last 2 semsters i've taken my GF's ipad2 and used it. I didn't use it for anything else other then the PDF.

I was using my laptop at first but it only have me 3 hour of battery life ( sometimes i'm near an outlet and sometimes i'm not) but the interface was not as good. I couldn't view the whole page on the laptop VS using the ipad. I loved the battery life was 8+ hours. I could make it 2 days w/o charging.

So now she took her ipad back, i'm kinda forced to get a tablet or use my laptop. I rather use a tablet honestly. I glanced at the new Nexus 7, thought about it for a bit, not sure if thats the one. Specs are great, price is good but 7 inch.... maybe if the nexus 10 was like that.

I just bought a galaxy S4 so i have a good sized screen. I dont think the 7 would be a good fit, i could be wrong. I'm an idiot when it comes to specs on tablets. I never owned one or played with them other then this ipad2. All i do is look at battery life and price. Seems ipad2's are in the $250-275. Should i just get one of those?

I'm not an IOS type of person. While i have a itouch its just mainly for music at best. I wonder if the ipad mini would be large enough to read a textbook page.

I dont have exactly a budget but obviously I need it reasonable. A single textbook can cost $400 or so. I can sell it at the end for $200-250. A etext online code normally runs $100. So i dont save too much but its easier to carry and i prefer this method.

Any suggestions on what to try out? Should i give the ipad mini and nexus 7 a shot or just go for current ipad3? Is the 4th around the corner since the laptops are due in sept. I dont mind waiting a little bit.

Also a friend offered me his Asus tab A100 8gb for $85, was told it has a short battery life of like 3-5 hours. Worth a shot?

 

[cronos]

If you want an iPad, get an iPad. iPad Mini is less than 8" screen so it's at the same ballpark with Nexus 7 and all the other 7-8" screen tablets. I don't think you'd like any of them, especially having an S4 as a phone.

Just to clarify, Apple is currently only selling the iPad 2, iPad Mini, and iPad 4 (the current generation, released late 2012). iPad the third generation was released early 2012 and was erased without a trace from Apple's website. The next generation of iPad would be the 5th.

Forgot to include a recommendation. If I were you I'd wait for iPad 5th generation, or buy the 4th generation right after the 5th generation is released (if budget is a concern).

 

[Necrolezbeast]

I'd recommend the new Nexus 7, if you can get your hands on one in store you could prolly check to see if the size fits. While you're there check out the iPad mini, as I think strictly for reading pdf's these are probably the best. I recommend the new Nexus 7 based on resolution and theoretically having crisper text. Yet again, check them out in person to see what you think.

You could get an iPad 4 or wait for the 5th generation, but I think the size is a little uncomfortable for long term reading if you're going to be holding it for a good portion of the duration. I also assume since you're looking at battery life as a main concern, that you will be holding it?

I'm making some assumptions on your usage, but if you're planning on holding it get an iPad mini or New Nexus 7... check both of those out to see which one suits your needs for size and text clarity... I'd say both are nice devices that you'd probably not be dissatisfied with.

Good luck!

 

[TheStu]

Go to Best Buy and try them all out. Just find a website or email yourself a PDF to open on each tablet and compare them that way. Won't be quite 'side-by-side', but close enough.

 

[you2]

I would second the new nexus 7; the battery life is a bit shorter (7ish hour) than some of the better 7 inch tablets (9 ish hours) and it lacks an sd slot; but otherwise it is dirt cheap.
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You could also consider a kindle or kindle hd or some of the mono-chrome book readers. Most of them are fairly inexpensive as they expect you to buy books
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There are also the nooks @ sell out prices - really not a bad option as well as the asus me-go (it is ab it slower than the nexus 7 but has longer battery life; lower resoution screen - which is fine for pdf reading - and an sd slot if that matters to you).

 

[T2urtle]

I would second the new nexus 7; the battery life is a bit shorter (7ish hour) than some of the better 7 inch tablets (9 ish hours) and it lacks an sd slot; but otherwise it is dirt cheap.
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You could also consider a kindle or kindle hd or some of the mono-chrome book readers. Most of them are fairly inexpensive as they expect you to buy books
-
There are also the nooks @ sell out prices - really not a bad option as well as the asus me-go (it is ab it slower than the nexus 7 but has longer battery life; lower resoution screen - which is fine for pdf reading - and an sd slot if that matters to you).

The monochromes might not be good as my etexts require downloading and some pictures.

I haven't been in a best buy in years.

For the comment on if I want a iPad get an iPad, I know an iPad works for the purpose I need. Now if that's overkill and or not is what I'm asking. Because I'm only needing for a primary reason.

I will not be holding it much. Sitting on the desk is mainly it.

I'm leaning on going with that current ipad, time to check out rumors of when the next iPad might be released.

 

[cronos]

For the comment on if I want a iPad get an iPad, I know an iPad works for the purpose I need. Now if that's overkill and or not is what I'm asking. Because I'm only needing for a primary reason.

The reason I'm saying that is because you seem to have gotten used to the iPad, and looking for a replacement for that. The only way you're getting a consistent experience with the iPad, is.... with another iPad. It's of course okay if you want to experiment with something else, but don't expect that it'll feel the same.

Do what TheStu said above, go to the store and test them all yourself and find what you like the most.

Also, I understand that the Nexus 7 is a very good buy right now, and that's why a lot of people are suggesting it, but please don't underestimate the difference in size. In my experience if you're used to reading on a 10" screen, going to a 7" screen will be a disappointment no matter what.

 

[Tom]

For low cost and larger size I would look at Barnes and Noble Nook HD+ for about $150 new, or a used ipad 3rd gen for around $300. Either has a better screen than an ipad 2.

For more portable but smaller screen, the new Nexus 7 is great, but not cheap. If the most important issue is screen clarity, the Nook HD or Kindle Fire HD have screens that are also great. And the older Nexus 7 screen is nearly as good.

And any of those 3 bought used should be considerable cheaper than the new Nexus 7. The Nook HD is only $130 new.

Those are the ones I've actually used or own. If your textbooks have graphics I would probably like the larger size and the Nook HD+ is half the price of a used ipad 3rd gen unless you can find a really good deal.

Besides the great screen, my Nook HD+ has great battery life. And in standby mode it stays charged for more than a week or even two, not all Android tablets seem to do that well in standby.

 

[Midwayman]

FWIW when I was looking for a tablet specifically to read PDF
- a 9"-10" is much better than a 7" as you can display a full page at a time and still read it.
- Android tends to have better PDF performance as they have faster CPUs. (Yes, this was after quite a bit of research on forums, etc, not just bagging on Apple.)

If you're looking for a cheap option the nook Hd+ 8.9" version would probably work fantastic for a PDF specific tablet. If you want something more flexible there are other options, but more money of course. 9"-10" and at least 1080p resolution is what I'd be looking for.

 

[cronos]

For low cost and larger size I would look at Barnes and Noble Nook HD+ for about $150 new

Ah yes! I forgot about this. This is an excellent and cost-effective tablet with a good size. It's not quite 10", but at 9" it's much better than your regular 7" tablets. The price is right at $150 and it has access to Google Play Store. Great suggestion.

 

[T2urtle]

Nook HD+ looks good. Hopefully this can be rooted for more fun. Some say "limited selection of apps" this might be a problem since some books need their own apps to view the etext. Its in the play store/apple store.

I guess I'll walk into a best buy this weekend. Since they have many of the tablets.

 

[lopri]

For PDF I have to say 7" isn't adequate. Too much zooming involved. The closer to the size of your native documents (which usually means bigger) the better, IMO.

 

[Tom]

Nook HD+ looks good. Hopefully this can be rooted for more fun. Some say "limited selection of apps" this might be a problem since some books need their own apps to view the etext. Its in the play store/apple store.

I guess I'll walk into a best buy this weekend. Since they have many of the tablets.

The "limited selection of apps" issue is something that's largely gone away because BN opened up the Nooks to the Google Play store a few months ago. Completely changed everything.

Now the main shortcoming is no camera which means its no good for video chat.

As far as rooting, its not too difficult. But even easier is you can install CM 10.1 on an SD card and not have to do any rooting or change anything about the stock os at all.

 

[T2urtle]

The "limited selection of apps" issue is something that's largely gone away because BN opened up the Nooks to the Google Play store a few months ago. Completely changed everything.

Now the main shortcoming is no camera which means its no good for video chat.

As far as rooting, its not too difficult. But even easier is you can install CM 10.1 on an SD card and not have to do any rooting or change anything about the stock os at all.

Guess I'll have to look into the install on SD card. I'm just used to rooting phones and running cm 10

 

[Midwayman]

Get ebookdroid from play. Its the fastest PDF reader I've come across. Its similar to most others on default, but you can drill down into its performance options and up the page cache and number of threads used and it is noticeably faster than the usual reccomendations afterwards.

 

[T2urtle]

Get ebookdroid from play. Its the fastest PDF reader I've come across. Its similar to most others on default, but you can drill down into its performance options and up the page cache and number of threads used and it is noticeably faster than the usual reccomendations afterwards.

Thanks for that. I never did use it on a android tab. But not all my books are downloadable PDF. Some are just online viewings in a specific app.

 

[Zaap]

Look into the Nook HD+. It's a decent enough tablet for general purpose, but it excels as a reader since it has an excellent screen. I use mine with Aldiko Reader for storyboard and scripts on PDF every day. Aldiko with all animations turned off, it's the fastest for displaying complex PDF's and flipping through them at a rapid pace that I've found on any platform. (for a storyboard, smooth scrolling is a setback, I just want the next page displayed in less than an eyeblink when I've got a 300+ page board to go through.)

Anyway, go to a store that sells the Nook (Best Buy, B&N is there's one near you) and check it out against the other candidates. Can't be beat for the price.

 

[Zaap]

Get ebookdroid from play. Its the fastest PDF reader I've come across.

I just tried it with a gigantic, graphics heavy PDF storyboard. It chokes on it and takes a second to render the next page, even with transitions set to none and display single page. Try Aldiko in comparison as a PDF reader. I still haven't seen anything faster- same file, lightning fast.

 

[Midwayman]

I just tried it with a gigantic, graphics heavy PDF storyboard. It chokes on it and takes a second to render the next page, even with transitions set to none and display single page. Try Aldiko in comparison as a PDF reader. I still haven't seen anything faster- same file, lightning fast.

I tried that awhile ago and it was slower for the stuff I was doing. Full color 300-400 page gaming books. Did you dig into the performance settings? It wasn't anything special before I tweaked them. Could just be one of those things that it depends partly on the specific PDF you're viewing too.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Any publicly available examples of giant PDFs that load slowly?

 

[Zaap]

I tried that awhile ago and it was slower for the stuff I was doing. Full color 300-400 page gaming books. Did you dig into the performance settings? It wasn't anything special before I tweaked them. Could just be one of those things that it depends partly on the specific PDF you're viewing too.

Probably does depend on the source.
Yes, I did try messing with the performance settings, though admittedly not exhaustively. (Set the page memory to max, messed with some of the decode priority settings, and even tried SIMD optimization on and off. Any specific setting(s) I should try?

I do like the interface and some of the options. I'm always glad to know about a different app to use, but for now Aldiko performs better for my needs. (Which is odd, since it's not really advertised as a PDF viewer so much as a general ebook reader).

 

[Midwayman]

Just tried Aldiko again. Same result. In ebook droid hit the ebook droid logo in upper left. All settings and then go to performance settings. Same book (Battletech: Totalwarfare) Aldiko drew a page in 2-5s (slow phone here) and the crashed after a couple pages. Ebook droid wasn't a ton faster from a dead stop, but if you stop to read a page for a second it will cache enough pages that you can flip really quick without waiting for a draw.

 

[Midwayman]

Any publicly available examples of giant PDFs that load slowly?

This is pretty indicative of what I normally view. Not as graphic heavy at the battletech book, but its free.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/97110/Heavy-Gear-Blitz-Field-Manual---Core-Rulebook-Revised

 

[Midwayman]

. Any specific setting(s) I should try?

Page cache. Starts at 0. Set it to 16 and you'll run into a lot less waiting.

 

[Zaap]

Page cache. Starts at 0. Set it to 16 and you'll run into a lot less waiting.

Yup, did that.