# sony e reader and game related pdfs



## falcarrion (Jun 16, 2009)

Hello everyone,
I recently purchased a sony e reader hopeing to read various gameing products on it. The reason I chose the e reader over the the Kindle was the price and the fact I can load pdf's directly on it. The kindle you need to have the file translated to load on the kindle. 
So with that said here is what I need your help with.

When I load either Kolbad Quarterly or Level up magazine ( I have subscriptions to both and get them in pdf format) they load fine in the small print format. But the print is so small that you almost can't read it. When you increase the print size is scarambles the magazine.

So does anyone know of a way to increase the print size and reload it so it can be read?


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## Eridanis (Jun 16, 2009)

Scooting over to the tech forum.


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## tenkar (Jun 16, 2009)

I'm not sure which model Sony you have but I can speak with experience about the 505.   change the orientation to horizontal. You will only see one half of the page at a time this way but the print size should be more readable.

The kindle 1 and 2 do not play well with converted PDFs that contain tables. The DX handles them fine but the price is admitedly high.


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## falcarrion (Jun 16, 2009)

I'm using a 505 e reader. I tried it in landscape but that din't help.
some of the pages will not size due to the lay out.


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## tenkar (Jun 17, 2009)

hmmm... i forgot that the 505 will reformat the pdf to flow the text.  The Jetbook zooms in on the page, so you are forced to move around, but it keeps the page intact.

now I remember why my 505 is for book reading primarily.

short of sony coming out with a firmware update i don't know of a soluion.


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## Deuce Traveler (Jul 7, 2009)

I also purchased an e-reader 505 for the same reasons you did.  I really like the device, but the best view I can get is by turning it to landscape and zooming once in.


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## tenkar (Jul 10, 2009)

I've been enjoying reading most (not all) of my gaming pdfs on the Kindle DX.  The DX doesn't have a zoom, in order to enlarge the page you have to switch to a horizontal orientation.  Most of my pdfs are readable for my eyes in a vertical orientation, but my GF would be lucky to read it horizontally at all.

The DX is a good pdf reader but far from perfect.


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## Jayson4 (Jan 9, 2010)

I just wanna know if it's any good or not. I read a lot, and my parents are tired of going out to buy books. So they wanna get an ebook reader thingy instead. How good is the Amazon Kindle too, if you can tell me? Or, does anyone know any better ones? Please give reasons why whichever is better or not. Thanks ^-^


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## Felon (Jan 9, 2010)

Jayson4 said:


> I just wanna know if it's any good or not. I read a lot, and my parents are tired of going out to buy books. So they wanna get an ebook reader thingy instead. How good is the Amazon Kindle too, if you can tell me? Or, does anyone know any better ones? Please give reasons why whichever is better or not. Thanks ^-^



According to reports from the CES exhibition, there are a million different readers coming out this year, and there's a big question if there's any real demand for any of them because most folks don't want to carry around a device that only does that one thing. The big buzz that the tech crowd are waiting on is for Apple to announce a tablet device that will kind of make the ereaders seem quaint and obsolete. 

I mention this because I have the Sony ereader touch edition, and after reading one book on it, it's been sitting in its charger for months. Now, part of that is that I like a lot of older authors, and for whatever reason publishers haven't glommed onto the fact that epublishing leaves them without a good reason to leave popular series out-of-print. But the other part of it is just that lugging around the ereader just seems like a bigger hassle than it seemed when I was window shopping, especially since I can download Kindle books directly onto my iphone. 

Having said that, if you're married to the idea of getting an ereader and you need one right now, I'll tell you about what I have expriences with. I like the Sony touch edition. The size is quite good, fitting comfortably in my jacket-lining pocket. The ability to scroll with a finger swipe is very convenient, but there's a bit of glare, which is something you will have to endure on anything with a touch screen. However, it's far less pronounced than in previous models. The battery lasts pretty much forever--ok, maybe not forever, but over a week. 

The Kindle DX is pretty sweet because it's got free wireless connnectivity to the book store, no hotspot required. And the screen is huge. There's a lot to be said for physical buttons too. You need a backpack if you're going to carry it around. The real downside is that you are stuck shopping for Kindle books with Amazon, whereas Sony's readers are open to non-proprietary formats, allowing you to read text files and PDF's. With the Sony, you can buy your books from third-party stores and even check them from local libraries that support books in the ePub format (whcih nobody around me seems to, but maybe you'll be luckier).


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## Aurumvorax (Jan 9, 2010)

Ever since I got a Sony Ereader the thing pretty much stays in my pocket 24/7.  As much as I love dead tree, I can't be arsed to carry around tons of books and I usually find myself on a train, bus, or plane almost every week.

The reason why the print is so small is because of the format.  I have a number of roleplaying books on my ereader but I had to convert them to text.  It removes the pictures and warps the charts but it's still readable and can easily be navigated.

I think in a few years we'll reach the point where Adobe will create an option to modify pdfs specifically for ereader format especially if the big wigs like Microsoft, Apple, and Google get into the ereader business.

In summary, the value of the ereader depends entirely on your schedule and shelf space.  If you don't like lugging books around, travel a lot, or don't fancy yourself a collector I see little reason _not_ to have one.


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## Steel_Wind (Jan 11, 2010)

In a few weeks, we'll see what Apple is about to bring to the gaming table. Might be overpriced dreck... and then again, maybe not.

*Aside:* I had (and still have) a perfectly fine 30 gig Video Ipod with leather case. I used it often. Perfect working order - literally not a scratch on it. It stayed in this custom leather flip over wallet the moment it was opened. The thing is in pristine shape.

For reasons of a miscommunication (I certainly didn't think I needed or even wanted a new iPod), my wife got me a 30 gig 5th gen Ipod touch for Xmas a few weeks ago.

Battery life is longer, playback options for moving through a long mp3 (I listen to audiobooks a lot - so this is nice) are way improved. Of course the video playback is much better with a bigger screen.  But the  whole host of iPhone apps, games, Safari browser , email etc. it can run via wireless access point make the thing WAY cool. Battery life is 4 times as long as my old iPod too.

Same price as my video iPod was three years ago too. Quite impressive technology.

If the new iPod Tablet is anywhere near as good as the iPhone/iPod touch?  That's going to be a -hot gadget with .pdf options and gesture controls which should rock your socks off at the gaming table.


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## Felon (Jan 11, 2010)

Steel_Wind said:


> If the new iPod Tablet is anywhere near as good as the iPhone/iPod touch?  That's going to be a -hot gadget with .pdf options and gesture controls which should rock your socks off at the gaming table.



Yes. And CES debuted quite a few slates. It's funny, tablet PC's have long been considered an evolutionary dead end, and now suddenly they're the Next Big Thing. Guess they just had to get to get the pricing under control. The iPhone/iPod Touch helped too I suppose. 

Say, did anybody else see the Lenovo Ideapad? It's a pretty sharp little netbook/tablet hybrid. The touchscreen monitor detaches from the keyboard and becomes a slate. Among other things, it can be used as an ereader. 

Stuff like that's why the clock is probably ticking on devices dedicated exclusively to ebooks. the "e-ink" is neat, but they gotta find a cost effective way to support graphics and color, or they'll be outclassed even in the one thing they do. I wanna read digital comics and magazines.


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## mpattee (Jan 11, 2010)

The regular kindles can read native pdf's now but it sounds like its identical to the sony in that if you want to get to a decent font size you have to go landscape on it. 

I'm really curious about what Apple is going to bring out more so because of the development potential. I've really enjoyed working on i4e for the iPhone/iPod touch but I'm constantly battling screen size and amount of information I can reasonably show at once. With a reasonably sized tablet I think I could do some even cooler things than what I'm already doing. 

Being that I already own a kindle the development side is really all that appeals to me at the moment with a new Apple Tablet. Although I can't wait to find out more details and I'm hoping that even though the rumors say it won't be released until March, that they'll release the SDK for it when they have their showing at the end of the month.


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## Steel_Wind (Jan 12, 2010)

My bet on the SDK side is that Apple is going to position the new tablet as a bridge between the iPhone and the Macintosh line, with the emphasis for now being on iPhone interoperability.

A few options for Apple fans to embrace, but the emphasis being on stand-alone options for the iPhone's/iPod's MS Windows users to love.

Above all, I expect to see an extended development environment which attempts to have devs create apps for both the iPhone and iSlate (for lack of a better term) at the same time. A move twoards a more unified dev environment, with differenr screen resolutions perhaps, but otherwise, more or less the same capabilities.

If Apple plays its cards right, they will_ own_ the netbook market just as they do the mp3 player market by 2020. If they do it right, frankly, I can even see how Apple can dramatically expand their market share in the coming decade on the PC side, too.  

And it may be that what we think of as a PC, at least in the home, will begin to change substantially as well.

I'm not an Apple fanboi. I'm a MS Windows user and for the most part, always have been (albeit my first computer was an Apple ][+ back in 1985)' everything after that was a MS based PC.  But the stars are aligning against MS in the home market. Given that dedicated PC gaming has essentially_* died*_ as a mainstream home application, one of the greatest advantages MS had over Apple in the home market has now been lost. As that market gives way to portability and usability, I think Apple has just as much - maybe MORE to leverage in the longterm than Microsoft does.

And that's saying something.

I'm not saying that Apple is going to dominate the PC market in the way that MS does -- or has.  But if all of this unspools in Apple's favor over the coming decade, I can easily see a market in 2020 where Apple has a 25% market share of the "PC market". 

Ten years ago - that would have been unthinkable.

That's the problem with being #1. The only way to go, generally, is down.


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## Felon (Jan 16, 2010)

Those sound like some reasonable projections to me, Steel. They should bill the tablet on not just being a bigger iPhone, but a more powerful one too. One of the iPhone's big edges over the competition is its app store--so the conventional wisdom goes anyway. Personally, I don't think 100,000 apps are really necessary, and most people with iPhones are using the same 15 or so apps, most of which Google has or will have.

But anyway, they should ideally strive to position an iSlate as an all-in-one device, and that means not just as a smartphone and netbook, but also as an e-reader, not to mention an alternative to the Nintendo DS or PSP. It doesn't actually have to be able to perform that well in those categories, mind you, such is Apple's blessing that consumers give it a free pass on tangible performances issues and lack of features (like how iTunes software sucks and the iPhone UI sucks and the camera doesn't a flash or zoom and the battery drains like water through a sieve and oh yeah, lots of dropped calls). They're just cool like that.

Btw, folks, you want e-readers? I got your e-readers right here, fresh from CES. Check out that Orizon and that Skiff.

Roundup: new 2010 e-book readers | Fully Equipped - CNET Reviews


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## Mercule (Jan 20, 2010)

The Orizon doesn't really wow me, but I've been following the Skiff since it was announced.  I'd really like a ballpark on the price, though -- I'll probably grab it at $300, but not at $700.

My dream would be the Skiff form factor and flexibility with the Mirosol color.  Since the stainless steel screen is pretty much the reason the Skiff is unique, I don't really see that happening, though.


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