Which eBook Reader is best for viewing .pdf game manuals?

[Greybriar]

When I think of a game manual, I remember fondly the thick paper ones that came with the MicroProse games. But it seems manuals like those are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Since the  manuals for most games nowadays are in .pdf format, gamers that don't want to Alt + Tab in and out of a game to read the manual don't have many options--either print out the manual or buy an eBook Reader. The manual for Civilization V is 320 pages long, so the former option would require a lot of ink. And that is why I am considering buying an eBook Reader.

But which one? A basic reader that could display .pdf game manuals and the included images (graphs, charts, etc.) would suffice. I would like to have one that is easy on the eyes...and the bank account.

Any suggestions?

[Bison]

Color or eInk (black and white)?

[Greybriar]

Color, since most game manuals I've seen lately contain color images. Black and white could suffice, but I'd really like to be able to see the manual as it was intended to be viewed.

[Bison]

Kindle Fire and the Nook Color both read PDF.  Although the tablet market is starting to field a number of newer lower cost products, I'd most likely go with one of those with strong leaning towared the Fire if the iPad is out of your price range.

[Staggerwing]

Kindle Fire and the Nook Color both read PDF.  Although the tablet market is starting to field a number of newer lower cost products, I'd most likely go with one of those with strong leaning towared the Fire if the iPad is out of your price range.

You may want to wait until the large screen Kindle comes out. Reading PDFs on a 7inch screen can still be an eyestrain. Having said that, an iPad is a great investment if you also want to free yourself up from lugging a laptop around and the iPad2 is still available for about $399 which is less than some of the 'premium' Android tablets out there. Regardless of which you choose I do recommend a bluetooth keyboard if you do a lot of typing. these can be had quite cheap as well. I bought my mother a cover/keyboard combo for about $15 for Mother's day.

[son_of_montfort]

Kindle Fire and the Nook Color both read PDF.  Although the tablet market is starting to field a number of newer lower cost products, I'd most likely go with one of those with strong leaning towared the Fire if the iPad is out of your price range.

I agree with Bison. I have an iPad, a regular Kindle and the wife has a Kindle Fire. The eInk Kindles, while great for regular books, are terrible for books with color or pictures. The Fire is much better in that regard although the screen is a little small.

The iPad is the best, IMHO, for PDF manuals, but I would not use it as a general e-reader because the back lighting creates too much eyestrain and it is a bit too heavy for constant reading. Of course you can do all sorts of other great things with the iPad (all sorts of boardgame ports).

[Nefaro]

I've managed just fine with a basic Kindle eInk reader, for the most part.

There are two issues that can be annoying sometimes:

1) When game creators make a single page of their pdf manual a wide 2-pager.  This may be easier to print and spine-staple together, but when you view those on an e-reader with a small screen, it's compressed way too small to see.  So you have to use the Zoom features on the e-reader which can be a pain if the manual has only one single column of text per page.  In that case you must jockey the view left-to-right & back constantly.  Which breaks your focus.

So this one's chalked up to the publisher's manual layout.

2) When there is too much graphical 'fluff' in manual backgrounds, especially on the larger manuals, it can bog down my E-reader.  You know the kind - the ones with more artistic swirls and crap in the background than actual reading.  >:(  This can cause it long delays in processing every page-over and even cause it to freeze & reboot to the main menu if your battery charge isn't near maximum (for a few of the worst offenders).  This may be less of a problem on a Kindle Fire since it is color and therefore probably doesn't have to do as much processing-intense conversion.

Hrmm.. well that's also something related to the manual layout.  I wish more of them would do a printer/E-reader friendly version, like Matrix often does with it's manuals.

The text being difficult to see often isn't a problem as there's a Contrast setting I can raise on the ones with lighter text or blended into the background art.

[MarkShot]

iPad is really good for PDFs.

GoodReader is a fantastic App for PDFs.  Much better than any PC based PDF applications.  Here is just one example ...  You can configure it to crop (either same or left and right pages separate) for individual manuals.  So, if you have a manual with lots of white space due to design or the scan, you can easily eliminate all of that.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goodreader-for-ipad/id363448914?mt=8

I am throwing out all my printed PDFs (not shipping to Taiwan) and will just use my iPad in the future.

[Bison]

The other advantage of the iPad is the number of pretty decent games that are availible and being produced for it.

[W8taminute]

I recently acquired an ipad with bluetooth keyboard and couldn't be happier.  I have used it mostly for reading books and keeping my game walkthroughs by my side when I'm not using the ipad at work. 

There is no substitute imho.  The great thing about my ipad is that I can use it to remotely control my work laptop thus enabling me to work from anywhere.   

[MarkShot]

What did you select for remote control?

I chose Jump to Desktop.  I was actually using it to interact with my laptop for a few weeks from 13,000 miles away.  It worked real well.  But then, it was an old laptop which was also at a native resolution of 1024x768.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jump-desktop-remote-desktop/id364876095?mt=8

[W8taminute]

^Citrix receiver.  Our company has a custom download version of Citrix in the app store with all the security bells and whistles built in.  You can however get Citrix receiver for yourself.  The great thing about it is it allows you to run Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. on my ipad.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/citrix-receiver-for-ipad/id363501921?mt=8

[Greybriar]

Thanks for your input, everyone. But all I really want is an electronic gadget that will read .pdf files (including images) as well as common text files. I would like it to have some way to input the data, probably a DVD drive or at least a USB port. I would prefer not to have to rely on a battery--I'd rather plug it in. Another consideration is the screen size--7 inches seems too small. I don't need a product with a lot of bells and whistles I most likely would never use.  I could afford to spend several hundred dollars or more on such an electronic reader, but if I'm going to spend that much, I might as well just buy a laptop.

Thanks for your help.

[Bison]

You could look at the android tablets too GB.  There are some larger screens and they are pretty reasonably priced.  I think it really matters what you are looking for in a convience factor.  A tablet would sit nice on your desk and be much more easily managed while gaming on your rig.  The battery issue is sort of moot, because you can use them plugged in with a cord or usb or on battery power.  They act like a flash drive drag and drop files onto the tablet.

[Nefaro]

Thanks for your input, everyone. But all I really want is an electronic gadget that will read .pdf files (including images) as well as common text files. I would like it to have some way to input the data, probably a DVD drive or at least a USB port. I would prefer not to have to rely on a battery--I'd rather plug it in. Another consideration is the screen size--7 inches seems too small. I don't need a product with a lot of bells and whistles I most likely would never use.  I could afford to spend several hundred dollars or more on such an electronic reader, but if I'm going to spend that much, I might as well just buy a laptop.

Thanks for your help.

My very basic 'ole Kindle is a measly $79.   It can read PDFs and text files just fine.  It also uses a USB cord to both charge & transfer files from your computer.

The screen size isn't a problem for me unless a PDF was set to have two pages side-by-side showing at once (for supposedly easier printing of a manual with small dimensions).  In this case I have to use the Zoom feature because those types of small manuals are fitted to the screen by default so they end up being tiny.  When having to zoom on those, there's just more clicking the view around.  I suppose the $99 Kindle Touch would be less of a pain to navigate if you can just slide the screen around by touch instead of using the buttons on the basic model.

I've not really needed color or anything for it; the E-ink still displays pictures just fine but when there's a lot it slows down the processing between page flips or movement.  Most noticeable on manuals with a bunch of artistic crap all over it, in the background of the pages.  The battery lasts a surprisingly long time (the E-ink setup must not use a lot of power  8)  ).  But as I said, it charges through a USB's 5v so you still plug it in.

I'm glad I have one to read all these damn PDF manuals, and User Guide/Tips text docs.   I hate sitting at the PC and reading manuals or books for long periods of time.  It's something I do in bed before passing out, and this has been a godsend for my addiction to reading game manuals.  :P