I guess I'm not a tree hugger. I like real computer books more. And no, I don't think Kindle is suitable for any complex technical books including most computer books I read.
Marius Burz
2009-10-20 01:31:10
+1
A:
I don't care about trees used to make traditional books. Please elaborate :)
frou
2009-10-20 01:34:53
It's all about jumping(nothing beats a real book at this chapter), display size and resolution.
Marius Burz
2009-10-20 01:38:02
+2
A:
E-readers are useless for reading programming books, Source codes are messed up and it's almost impossible to understand anything. I'm never using E-reader for reading technical books.
rachvela
2009-10-20 06:49:54
Yes, I've tried PRS-700, and friend of mine is claiming same problem for Kindle
rachvela
2009-10-20 07:50:16
I've just upgraded from the PRS-505 to a Kindle DX (with the recent PDF improvement - DX graphite). Sony's PDF support is OK (albeit hard to read on a 6" screen), it goes badly wrong when zoomed (e.g. anything other than fit-to-page).The Kindle DX is a joy for technical books (PDF), zooming keeps the structure (without reflowing) and changing the orientation to landscape gives a type of quick-zoom facility. Perfect for my technical book needs, I'm still keeping my PRS-505 for putting in my pocket and reading 'paperbacks'.
Ray Hayes
2010-07-22 08:41:52
@Ray: Agreed; the DX is the perfect size for reading technical content / PDFs. Though it does not compare with paper books for quick flipping through and jumping between chapters.
Sridhar Ratnakumar
2010-08-05 06:49:23
@Sridhar which is why I still buy paper books too. Although when on the road, the advantage of having a whole library for the weight of one reader is enough for me to offset the inconvenience of "flicking". The DX is way faster at changing pages than my old Sony, so actually, I do flick more than I used to (just a handful of pages though).The new DX software due soon (as in Kindle 3) will add better bookmarking and notes in PDFs!
Ray Hayes
2010-08-06 11:45:34
+23
A:
I love my Kindle for non-technical books, but the programming books I've tried were hard to read. Code samples were sometimes poorly formatted. You couldn't see a diagram and the text at the same time. Personally I'm often flipping back and forth between pages to go back and look at a previous example and I found that hard to do.
I also don't read technical books cover to cover very often. They are usually more skim and then refer back kinds of books to me. Kindle has decent enough bookmarking but it isn't the same as post it notes and dog earing.
I have no tried a Kindle DX(larger screen), but I still think it would have issues. I just like the fast flip back and forth I can get with paper for technical books.
I travel a lot so the Kindle is fantastic for non-technical books. I can carry a bunch of books at a time in such a tiny package. The battery lasts a very long time if the wireless off. It keeps track of where I am in each book.
Mike Two
2009-10-20 07:01:57
Got it. I don't think I'll buy the Kindle, then, but I'll keep an eye on how the e-ink readers evolve.
frou
2009-10-20 23:09:20
I have this exact same experience. Novels on the Kindle are amazing, but technical books just aren't the type of books to read end-to-end. And the points about diagrams and special formatting are absolutely correct too.
Ricket
2010-07-29 16:29:49
+1 -- exactly my experience also (but with Cool-er reader rather than Kindle).
Dr Herbie
2010-10-07 12:42:04
@Mike Two - well put. My one experience matched what you described. I won't buy other tech books in this format.
dbasnett
2010-10-07 12:44:54
+7
A:
For me the biggest issue was trying to flip back and forth between pages. I wanted to get some ASP.net knowledge and was getting ready to go on vacation so what better way to spend 5 hours on a plane than with my Kindle 2 and computer open and learning.. For the first few introductory chapters it worked great. Much easier than flipping pages in an analog book on a plane... Even reading the coding samples wasn't that bad at all. I have the text on the smallest setting and it followed would I would assume to be the same formatting as the analog book. The issues came in later chapters when I wanted to reference something that was back a chapter and come back. Where I might stick a finger in the current page and fan back through the pages to find something only to flip the pages back in a quick second wasn't easy to do at all and definitely not as fast.
Now, when I want to use the book for reference, I can search through based on keyword and find something easier than browsing through. However, a good index would suffice in an analog book, though I think a digital book works better in this regard.
Overall, I'm really torn. While I like being able to flip back and forth in a book, I also like having it available on my Kindle or iPhone immediately and like the word search for later reference. It really comes down to the way you read books. I'll probably stick to analog books for programming topics for now because of the ability to flip back and forth quickly.
audioeric
2009-12-08 15:59:04
+1
A:
I don't think I'd be happy with the Kindle as the form factor is limiting. However, as soon as the Kindle software is made available for the Mac, I'll be trying a number of the available computer texts via free samples on my laptop and my desktop with a large screen.
If it worked, then the laptop would fulfill my portable requirements for technical documentation, and the desktop would help with denser diagrams. My only concern is that, as @rachvela indicates, formatting (such as for source code) gets ignored/scrambled. But that's what I'll find out!
Don Wakefield
2009-12-08 16:04:32
+1
A:
Most programming books are available as PDF from O'Reilly safari, Manning Early Access program and Apress. I don't know how many are available in Kindle format and the Kindle's handling of PDFs is limited. And if color catches on (as in SAMS unleashed WPF books) the Kindle is going to have a harder time.
I think I would get a netbook, if you are using this for programming books then you are probably going to be near power at least some of the time and the battery life of a SSD netbook should be good enough.
Martin Beckett
2009-12-08 16:09:37
Kindle just released an update that allows zooming in on pdfs. This a HUGE step forward.
jle
2010-07-29 16:33:39
The July 2010 update has added better zoom functionality (without resorting to Sony's reflow trick).
Ray Hayes
2010-07-22 08:43:34
+1
A:
Has anyone actually done a side by side comparison of the Kindle2 vs. the DX on a specific programming book? I do a lot of reading/coding during my lunch hour, away from my desk, so in most cases I'd have both the kindle and my laptop out, reading and copying code examples. Obviously the screen size of the DX is better, but I do non technical reading as well, and the whole ideal is to not have to carry something the size of a hardcover bestseller to the beach. Is the Kindle 2 that difficult to "study" from?
I absolutely get the reference point and flipping through pages, but to not have to carry ASP.Net 3.5 Unleashed would be awesome.
Kelly
2010-05-26 16:42:37
Kindle 2 works fine for me for everything with PDF zoom it is MUCH MUCH more useful though
jle
2010-07-29 16:35:23
+1
A:
Has anyone actually done a side by side comparison of the Kindle 2 vs. the DX on a specific programming book? Is the Kindle 2 that difficult to "study" from?
Paulo Cassiano
2010-07-29 16:28:19
+1
A:
If you get .prc format for the ebook then its very good. But .pdf and .txt files have their limitations. Text files have formatting issues and PDF files have zomming issues.
Best way is to convert your .chm/.pdf files to .prc files and then put into your kindle manually from PC.
psvm
2010-08-09 10:47:20
+1
A:
kindle latest edition support pdf well. It's not too comfortable to read pdf on 6" devices because you must zoom in and out repeatedly between pages, but with a dx device it's really good. My favorite device!
zeroboo
2010-10-21 04:53:15