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UPDATED: 1/15/2014

I originally wrote this post in 2010, when I was looking for alternative ways to store and transport papers. I had my laptop, but due to its weight, limited battery life, and the LCD screen, an e-reader such as Kindle seemed like a good idea at the time. (Also, at the time of the original post, I had never owned a smartphone, let alone a tablet.)

Aside from the Kindle, are there any other electronic tablet or pads, or other devices that you'd recommend for this type of purpose? What are some of your experiences?

As for my self, I purchased a Pocketbook Reader 602 from PocketBook International four years ago. At the time, it seemed like a smart purchase, as it PBR handles a while array of file formats without needing to convert anything. However, I don't use the device as nearly as much as I thought I would.

The device itself works the way it should. It is a bit slow with the page rotation. And as user641 points out, the PBR can be a bit sluggish with larger files. The text-to-speech feature is completely useless when it comes to reading math. I tried utilizing the internet connectivity. While it is amusing to see websites in e-ink, in the end it's too sluggish to be of any use.

Here are a few things that I had originally thought would be convenient, but wound up being an annoyance instead.

  1. Lack of Touch Screen Capability. I purposely chose the model that didn't have a touch screen capability. Reports of glare and the idea of getting smudge on the screen led me to that. However, the alternative is an extremely painful, unintuitive, tedious navigation.

  2. Small Size. I opted for the small size of PBR 602 for its portability. While I have no problem reading novels, for math this is just unbearable. The slow page turn / search interface / zoom makes the problem even worse. Basically, reading anything that requires jumping from one part to another, looking up index or keywords, is extremely painful.

Note that the small size wouldn't be as big of an issue, if the interface was quick and seamless. For instance, I don't find reading math on my smartphone as painful.

I still use my PBR 602 from time to time. In fact, I go through periods where I would use it extensively. Unfortunately, its inconveniences prevents it from regular usage.

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    Actually, this question was _already_ on MO: http://mathoverflow.net/questions/30511/ebook-readers-for-mathematics . Of course, some of the advice might be out-of-date. I think this question might be more appropriate for MO than for math.SE, actually.2010-10-22
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    Thank you! This link is very helpful, and it looks like a number of mathematicians use Kindle DX.2010-10-22
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    I don't understand why you accepted an answer---specially this fast. Presumably you wanted to hear experiences from *several* people, and surely those experiences are not exactly comparable. But you got *one* answer! (This is one of the questions which, if they are not closed, should be naturally CW. Of course, SE.com decided to make that disappear...)2010-10-22
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    Sorry, I'm still not familiar with the way this site works. And I don't really know what "CW" means. I apologize if this offended you, and I'd like to get more responses.2010-10-22
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    CW stands for community wiki. I've heard the kindles have some problem rendering math formulas, but have no personal experience with them myself.2010-10-22
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    @WWright: At least with the several PDFs of math contests that I already had on my Kindle, all the math formulas/symbols and diagrams were rendered just fine. I have no idea what it would do with non-PDF attempts at math formulas.2010-10-23
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    I just ordered a Kindle 3 for this purpose. Ill let you know how it goes.2011-01-14
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    @GottfriedLeibniz - How is the Kindle 3 working out?2011-01-24
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    There are programs that convert pdfs to the Kindle's mobi format. I haven't tried to convert a book or paper with them, but it might be something to look into. They may not work with scanned books, but might work well with recently compiled papers.2011-07-08
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    I am also very interested in this question. I am particularly interested in how .pdf files display - are they all good, or do some look wonky, under different magnification levels, etc.2010-10-22
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    **[Summary]** I am trying to summarize things partly [here](http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/193072/ipad-for-reading-textbooks-and-writing-math-by-hand/204393#204393). It takes time to answer this because there is so many things, anyway now this as a comment.2012-10-14

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