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Ask HN: What device do you use to read academic papers with?

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11–20 of 147 posts

Re: Ask HN: What device do you use to read academic papers with?

#12
A printer.

What I need is an e-ink device that lets me take notes on it and is large and fast and shows the images in color. Zooming would make it superior to paper. It's just not there yet. I tried to read articles in NCBI's ebook format on my kindle but you can't hop back and forward easily on a Kindle and note taking is of course not an option.

Re: Ask HN: What device do you use to read academic papers with?

#13

GoodReader on iPad

Agreed, an iPad with goodreader is the way to go (in particular its notetaking and extensive file management options). I might even go for the 12.9" pro model at some point but the standard 9.7" model is enough for most pdf's.

Re: Ask HN: What device do you use to read academic papers with?

#18
post #10

Mendeley. Not the nicest UX, but it syncs, has tags relevant for academic papers and can export everything as a bibtex file.

I second Mendeley. Highlighting features, sharing. Awesome software

I only wish it had pen support (surface). If I could markup papers as I go with my pen it would be the ultimate tool.

Re: Ask HN: What device do you use to read academic papers with?

#20
A dumb old laser printer that doesn't know I've been feeding it cheap aftermarket toner for more than 10 years.

It's not a waste of paper if paper is the most efficient way to get my work done. Paper has a large viewport and unlimited battery life, while only weighing a fraction of most electronic alternatives.

The only thing that a computer does better is searching, but this problem can be easily solved by having a PDF open on some other device as well. You don't have to choose one or the other.

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