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

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

#73
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also use Zotero, and use Box.Com for storage/syncing. Zotfile is a wonderful addon. I use Zotero in conjunction with Papership ( http://www.papershipapp.com ) on an iPad. Papership syncs with WebDAV storage, which means that, after syncing, downloaded PDFs are available on your iPad for reading offline. Any annotations are pushed back and available in the Zotero client. It's a great client and really stable. In con…

So if I understand you right, for syncing your bibliography you changed the "Data Directory Location" to a synced Box folder (a dropbox-like system)? I thought about doing so with owncloud, then I decided that paying when I reach the syncing limit would be a nice way to encourage the project. Papership and LiquidText looks really nice, I would love to see such applications for Android. But I presume Apple is a more i…

That might be part of it. Myself I value most the differences in hardware: I used a Samsung Galaxy Note at first for similar tasks and loved it, using Zotfile and Dropsync for keeping PDFs on the tablet. I travel a lot, and I couldn't count on it getting through a day of mixed use. In the end, the excellent power management of the iPad was a big advantage.

Similarly, I made the switch to a Macbook Pro after a bad day in 2011 in which I was first unable to connect my (Linux) laptop to a projector when visiting an institute to give a talk, and then unable to Skype in to a conference call. It was a bad morning, away from base, so I went to the Apple shop at lunchtime. I value the Linux box I use at work, and enjoy working with its tools, but easy collaboration is also important to me.

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

#74

I really tried to use a 6'' kindle for that, but it just doesn't work. I tried it with .pdf, but the screen is just to small and scrolling is not really comfortable. When I tried to convert them to .mobi with calibre, all formulas just looked nasty. Today, I read them on my 14'' ThinkPad with Redshift installed. It does its job well, but it isn't as handy as a Kindle would be.

What is Redshift? (Tried Googling it.)

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

#76
post #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.

try qiqqa

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

#77

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.

Yeah, I have one that I loved for reading papers. My only gripe was that it gets heavy/awkward for "light" reading at night. I wound up switching to reading fiction on my phone and papers on the DX.

It really is perfect for PDFs. I'm sad they never made an updated version. I've stopped using mine as much after grad school, but I do miss it quite often.

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

#78

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.

Native english speaker here, but not a grammar nazi.

Yes - either "use to read" or "read with" is fine. "use to read with" is just awkward. I'd guess it was an incomplete edit.

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

#80

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 looks pretty neat but it also sounds like it's tied to their web service. I would expect a bit more control for something that costs $500.
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