First my original message, followed by votes for types of readers, and then a selection of comments. If the comments seemed to be repeats, I did not place them here. Feel free to email me if you have questions (or additional comments), but for the most part, what you see here is what I know.
iPad seems to be the winner, unfortunately out of my Grad student salary range. Thanks to all who participated. -- Ed ORIGINAL MESSAGE: Does anyone have an e-reader/e-ink device they recommend for journal articles? The ability to make highlights and/or notes is very desirable. Thank you, Ed Krynak ekry...@uwo.ca VOTES: iPad x 7 Kindle x 3 Sony x 2 Nook x 2 ECTO Jetbook x 2 Samsung Galaxy Tab x 1 Onyx Boox M92 x 1 iPhone x 1 COMMENTS: KINDLE and a comment for Ectaco Jetbook and Kyobo Mirasol (see Samsung Galaxy tab for additional comment on the kindle DX) -- I have the Kindle DX which is the largest screen (approx. 8" x 10"). I really like it. I think for pdf files/figures you need the largest screen. Yes you can take notes, but I have found that it is easiest for me to write notes elsewhere (or imbed them in the pdf itself). The real difference with a lot of ereaders is the technology. The black and white Kindles (not the fire) use actual ink and the screen really looks like a printed page. Other ereaders I think are better if you'd like to use it for more than just reading (or reading in color). Just keep in mind that the resolution of the pdf is a function of the file itself not the ereader, and therefore the journal articles rarely look as crisp as books, etc. Definitely ereader is the way to go, mine has hundreds of articles (and some books, including textbooks) and weighs less than a pound. -- I have used the Amazon Kindle Touch for looking at journal pdfs and I would NOT recommend it. It is difficult to find a good resolution to be able to easily read the text and also scroll through the paper. Moving around on the pdf and flipping pages is also very buggy with the e-ink device. You CAN highlight and make notes on it. I have not personally used the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, but have colleagues who have, and they give it good reviews. It has all of the features you mentioned, but is about twice the cost. -- I was really interested in this topic and did a wide review. All the economical ereaders (nook touch, kindle touch, kobo, etc) are really jumpy/flashy when handling pdfs, and certainly lack "pinch zones" and smooth scrolling. IMO, this really distracts from the reading experience, having suffered the Nook 1st gen for a long time and its deplorable pdf abilities. For much more $$$, the Ectaco Jetbook and Kyobo Mirasol (both colour E-inks) seem to be the ultimate solution. I've no experience with either, but the few youtube reviews show dazzling pdf abilities (smooth, fluid scrolling). -- I haven't looked into the Nooks, but I currently have a Kindle Touch that seems to be the best of the Kindle family for reading PDFs. Other versions have trouble zooming and moving PDFs left and right to view. There are limited highlighting and note-taking capabilities, and I've heard that it's possible to transfer the notes with the PDF back to your computer, though I haven't figured out how to do that yet. SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB (with Kindle DX comment) -- I use dropbox to keep .pdf's available on the tablet and my office computer and laptop. Usually I download the files from my desktop as it's easier to manage being connected to the library etc. and then drag them into the dropbox folder, things sync nicely. The tab is a backlit and has pretty vibrant colors which is good for me as a lot of the papers I read have maps with color gradients etc. that you need the full color for. I've read papers on a Kindle DX and the formatting was occasionally off and if I wanted color figures I was out of luck. With the Samsung tab I read papers using the free adobe reader app which you can use to highlight text and type in annotations. Typing on the touchscreen is a bit cumbersome if you want to make anything more than a short note, but it is getting more reasonable as I've gotten accustomed to it. It fits into a jacket pocket and seems really durable (it's no worse for the wear after 3 months of pretty regular use and mild abuse), the 7" size and backlit screen may be hard on the eyes if you're really looking for e-ink. IPAD 3 -- It is a bit expensive, but the iPad 3 is probably the best for viewing science articles. You can highlight and save notes, just like on your computer. Plus, when you sync with a computer, it saves all of your notes in a common folder. --I've been very happy with my first gen iPad and the app GoodReader. It has good file management with various cloud access for easy transfer of pdfs. The annotation tools are robust, from simple highlighting to notes. It's probably the most used app on my iPad. SONY --When I was researching this question a year or two ago, the overwhelming consensus on the messages boards I looked to for suggestions about this question was to use the Sony Reader Daily Edition, as other e-readers (nook, Kindle) had a really difficult time with pdf files to the point that they were practically useless for journal articles (I have heard they've both improved somewhat since then). I've been very happy with it. You can highlight and take notes directly on the e-reader, and it has built in 2- and 3-column zoom modes that make it easy to scroll directly through the whole article without having to manually move it back to the top of the page to read the next column. The two other Sony Reader models available at the time had the same capabilities, but the Daily Edition had the biggest screen (7") That said, Sony has since gotten rid of the three models it has and replaced it with one model, the Sony Reader Wi-Fi. I would assume that it does as well or better with PDFs than the one I have, but I would see if you can do some research on it or test it out first before you make that decision --I have a Sony ebook/e-ink reader that I use for reading academic papers. It's not perfect, but it handles pdfs well and has a mode for scrolling by column which is really handy. It can do highlighting and handwritten notes while reading, but as far as I know you can only see those notes on the reader - I don't know how to export them if you wanted to see them on your computer later. NOOK --I use a Nook Color to read PDFs of academic papers. It can highlight and take notes easily. Sometimes, it can be glitchy when zooming in or out of the PDF properly or rotating the screen, but overall, I recommend it. The more advanced Nook Tablet may be even better, but I don't know for sure. ONYX BOOX M92 with comment on ectaco jetbook (see KINDLE for additional jetbook comment) --In my search for the perfect e-reader that could handle pdf journal articles, I too have read every review out there. My main conclusion was that the only way to view 2 column articles properly is on a 9.7 inch screen (with other words, no scrolling). Two of the most promising 9.7" e-readers are the Onyx Boox M92 (or Icarus eXcel, a rebrand) and the Ectaco Jetbook color, which has colour e-ink and is distributed to educational institutions in Russia for use in classrooms. I eventually bought the Boox M92 and I am extremely satisfied. Page turn speed is very decent, pdf handling is excellent and a 2 column article page can be displayed and read on the screen without zooming (the 'hide margin' option is very useful). In addition there's an annotate option and freehand notes can be written in the margins with the stylus. PDF READING PROGRAMS --I like Papers (http://www.mekentosj.com/papers/) in general, and they've recently come out with an app version for iOS (iPad-Phone). The computer version allows you to highlight and make notes, and it also does citations/ref managing. I ditched Endnote about a year ago and am pleased with papers. --On my ipad I use GoodReader and love it. Noterize is also nice. On my computer I used to use Skim but haven't used it in a while. --I use Mendeley, it´s for free, you can highlight, add notes, and you can access all your downloaded papers entering in your account form any computer. You can also create a link between Mendeley and MS Office or OpenOffice to introduce and manage the references when writing a paper yourself. I haven't used the e-reader version, but I know Papers does have the capabilities mentioned.
