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TonyB wrote:with the author getting 7.5%

Is that a typical amount? Crikey, no wonder it's hard to make it as a writer.

I love real books too much to be a convert to e-readers, but I can see they have some advantages. Travelling, for instance.

Can any of the existing readers display PDFs "properly", as they would appear on Adobe Reader, pictures and all (even if only black and white)? Or do they just show whatever text they can extract from a PDF file?

Robbie wrote:I love real books too much to be a convert to e-readers, but I can see they have some advantages. Travelling, for instance.

Can any of the existing readers display PDFs "properly", as they would appear on Adobe Reader, pictures and all (even if only black and white)? Or do they just show whatever text they can extract from a PDF file?

Pictures and all in grayscale.

Nightfall wrote:

Robbie wrote:Can any of the existing readers display PDFs "properly", as they would appear on Adobe Reader, pictures and all (even if only black and white)? Or do they just show whatever text they can extract from a PDF file?

Pictures and all in grayscale.

I realise they're all only greyscale, but which reader(s) can display true PDF?

Robbie wrote:

Nightfall wrote:

Robbie wrote:Can any of the existing readers display PDFs "properly", as they would appear on Adobe Reader, pictures and all (even if only black and white)? Or do they just show whatever text they can extract from a PDF file?

Pictures and all in grayscale.

I realise they're all only greyscale, but which reader(s) can display true PDF?

Sony Reader does (Adobe® PDF, JPEG, RTF, and TXT formats natively supported. Viewing Microsoft® Word (PC must have Word installed), HTML, and other files requires transfer to Reader through supplied Reader Library software. ) and I've seen it (don't own one but thinking of buying me a nice Xmas present) displaying a pdf great. I guess Kindle too.

Nightfall wrote:I guess Kindle too.

Apparently not on the older versions. They need to be converted to be displayed on the Kindle.

New ones offer full PDF support though, so if you're getting one new, should not be an issue.

I know a couple of people with the kindle and they all love it. Unless this is a gift for someone else, I would wait a little while at least till spring '10. I think by then there will be a lot more options.

Hmm, cool. Thanks for answering. I'm in no hurry, but an e-reader is something I might think about getting in a few years' time, when the price comes more within reach.

In the meantime, my so-cheap-it's-brandless MP4 player can display plain text files, and I'm assembling some memory chips full of selected books from Gutenberg.

I've been using a Pocket PC for years to read E-books in pdf or MS Reader format. I much prefer real books, though.

Barry

The Sony reader displays PDFs but because of the size of the screen they are often too small to read without a magnifing glass. You need to convert the PDF and then you lose pictures, formating, etc.

Having said that, I have always loved books - the feel of the paper, the smell of it, everything about them. I thought that an electronic device would never match that experience. I was wrong. The sony reader, despite my reservations about the screen and the battery life, is brilliant.

I much prefer real books, too. The feel, the smell, everything. And you don't have to worry about batteries! And they're usually OK if you drop them.

Not in any hurry to buy new technology. I have a terrible track record of backing the wrong horse, if not actually killing off bandwagons by jumping onto them. Including, off the top of my head:
Kodak Disc camera
Betamax video
Texas Instruments TI/99-4 and -4a computers
Amiga 500 computer

So it's safer for all of us if I stay out of the e-book tangle until one sure-fire winner emerges with so big a lead that not even my participation can damage it.

The Amiga 500 did pretty well from what I remember; both Amiga and Atari had a peaceful co-existence. It just so happens that computers started to get more standard and everything went PC/Windows

I know next to nothing about ereaders, but it wouldn't surprise me if you couldn transfer ebooks from one model to another. Tech manufacturers are starting to learn their lessons from past mistakes and things are generally compatible with each other and backwards compatible with older standards. Can anybody who owns an ereader confirm this?

Dear Amazon; please please can you make your Kindle available in UK stores so that I can play with one and see if I want to buy one or not? Love, Kolm

I use a netbook and get all my free books from Here. (Over 100,000 free books)

P.S. They have lots of free audio books too for the visually impaired or plain lazy.

I've also heard some good things about the Cool-ER reader. Relatively cheap (though not actually cheap), very small and light, and relatively sturdy. It might end up being the one I get, eventually.