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

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41–50 of 147 posts

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

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried a tablet? I'm really happy with my iPad for academic paper reading. Yes, eInk is very nice, but today's tablets are good enough for reading as well. Plus, it's a different kind of reading compared to, say, a novel. I tend to read academic papers quite quickly to glean the main bits of information. For leisurely reading, paper or Kindle would be better.

just realized there's also https://getremarkable.com , which looks promising. Has anybody tried it?

First shipping of product is planned for September, but not holding my breath. Will see how/if it will turn out.

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

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried a tablet? I'm really happy with my iPad for academic paper reading. Yes, eInk is very nice, but today's tablets are good enough for reading as well. Plus, it's a different kind of reading compared to, say, a novel. I tend to read academic papers quite quickly to glean the main bits of information. For leisurely reading, paper or Kindle would be better.

just realized there's also https://getremarkable.com , which looks promising. Has anybody tried it?

That's very interesting. It's what the Kindle should be. It bothers me that we've had Kindle's for so long and there's been barely any real advancement in the technology — just tiny iterations.

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

#45

Sorry for nitpicking: shouldn't the question be What device do you use to read academic papers? or What device do you read academic papers with? Non-native speaker here, so my nitpicking might actually be useless.

I mean, technically you're correct. But at the end of the day as long as a sentence is reasonably understandable it doesn't matter too much.

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

#47
post #19

If you've tried the Kobo Aura One (7.8" screen) would love your feedback.

I've been using this e-reader to read papers last semester. In short, the screen is still a bit small to read A4 sized papers without zooming, but it is actually possible, while I didn't do so with the smaller Kobo's I had before (Aura HD/H2O).

I much prefer the e-reader over a laptop (14" Thinkpad), but there are some downsides. Taking notes on the e-reader is clunky (so I don't do that), and the battery life is less than that of the earlier models (still workable, though).

The color-adjustable backlight is quite nice. The only e-reader I've seen that's better for this kind of thing is the Sony DPTS1, but then you are talking about a completely different price class.

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

#48
post #40

this device looks nice: https://getremarkable.com/

But $400? Seems incredibly expensive for a device that is just able to display text and take notes.

e-ink based. I would totally buy it if I could test it first, but not going to drop the money for something that ships in september.

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

#49
post #46
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But $400? Seems incredibly expensive for a device that is just able to display text and take notes.

Have you seen how expensive e-readers are?

I'm not saying it's overpriced compared to other e-readers, but overpriced compared to printing and tablets.

I really like the idea and hope that it takes off when they release it, hopefully scale could make them cheaper.

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

#50

Kindle DX, the discontinued one with the really big screen. It fits a whole page nicely. One day its battery is going to die, and I have no idea what I'll do then.

I imagine there are ways you could replace the battery. It might not be pretty, but surely it could be done.
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