GURPS PDFs: What e-Book/e-reader?

[revshafer]

I have an iPad and use Goodreader. Got all kinds of GURPS stuff on it, and more on my laptop that I can transfer files to and from at times. There are some very few files that I have had problems with, but SJGames is great for releasing files that are clear to read and easy to cut and paste from.

My only problem is that it is harder to do lookups quickly on an electronic device. You can open a book and flip pages. That is much harder to do on an electronic device. Maps for adventures are also much harder to use. I like having a map to one side that I can look at, while I am reading the descriptions on the other side. When someone figures out how to do a good adventure, with nice maps, in a useable electronic format...they'll have me. I'd like to see something where you have a map, and you can tap on locations to read the descriptions.

The iPad is what I have been waiting for to look at all of these pdfs. Printing out all of these files is a pain, and carrying a bunch of hardbacks onto the ship is even more of a pain. I like what I got!

[giant.robot]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

That feature of goodreader, I didn't know. Still, it needs a computer with WiFi right? or can you plug the iPad in, via a usb cable, and transfer the PDF?

As far as I know that feature only works over wifi. You don't need a network as it will work just fine on an ad-hoc network but the wifi portion I believe is required. There's the Camera Adapter which adds an SD card reader or USB port, I know some apps have used the USB for MIDI stuff but I don't know about reading flash drives.

[Palmer]

Originally Posted by revshafer

My only problem is that it is harder to do lookups quickly on an electronic device. You can open a book and flip pages. That is much harder to do on an electronic device.

Disagree. You can jump to any page number instantly and accurately.
You can use the "find" command to quickly locate relevant text.
And good PDFs already have bookmarks for every section, letting you quickly jump to the right page.

I find PDFs to be about 5 times faster at looking up what I need.

[Democritus]

I haven't read through this entire thread. But I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

The iPad is EXCELLENT for reading game rule PDFs. Up until I bought it last year, I had been wondering what sort of e-reader I would get. Using a laptop for reading PDFs was useful but cumbersome. I tried the Kindle but it is good for reading books but not for reading reference materials like game books. I had been paying close attention to the news about the then-unreleased iPad. But I could not make a decision until I actually tried one out in a Best Buy store.

The iPad is exactly what I've been wanting for the last 30 years. And GoodReader is the app to buy for it. You can search documents and use links embedded within them. I've noticed that in many PDF rule e-books there are direct links in the table contents. But it can be taken a step further with cross-reference links such as "see page 47 for rules on such-and-such." And, of course, index links.

I won't try to defend Apple as a company. All I'll say is that the iPad is a good product. Very shortly there will be other touchpad devices that will compete with it. And perhaps they will be cheaper and better.

[ImperialOne]

Originally Posted by Democritus

I haven't read through this entire thread. But I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

The iPad is EXCELLENT for reading game rule PDFs. Up until I bought it last year, I had been wondering what sort of e-reader I would get. Using a laptop for reading PDFs was useful but cumbersome. I tried the Kindle but it is good for reading books but not for reading reference materials like game books. I had been paying close attention to the news about the then-unreleased iPad. But I could not make a decision until I actually tried one out in a Best Buy store.

The iPad is exactly what I've been wanting for the last 30 years. And GoodReader is the app to buy for it. You can search documents and use links embedded within them. I've noticed that in many PDF rule e-books there are direct links in the table contents. But it can be taken a step further with cross-reference links such as "see page 47 for rules on such-and-such." And, of course, index links.

I won't try to defend Apple as a company. All I'll say is that the iPad is a good product. Very shortly there will be other touchpad devices that will compete with it. And perhaps they will be cheaper and better.

I HATE Apple, but I must admit that their iphones, iPads, etc. are all excellent devices whose abilities, features, and reliability will not be matched by others (hey, its designed as a closed system).

An iPad and GoodReader are the best combination

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by Democritus

I won't try to defend Apple as a company. All I'll say is that the iPad is a good product. Very shortly there will be other touchpad devices that will compete with it. And perhaps they will be cheaper and better.

If it wasn't because apple is as it is, I would already own an iPad. It's only that there are some things I can't stand, and Apple's attitude is one of them. I'm really waiting for some decent competition on the iPad, by the Android tablets. Google isn't white as freshly fallen snow, but their attitude is at least preferable to Apple's.

[Kage2020]

I'm another one that was put off by the iPad by the producing company, though I'm incredibly jealous about the excellent battery life the products exhibit. Everything else, though? Not my cup of tea.

Incidentally, and FWIW, I have:

• HP TX2100 US laptap/tablet. A tad on the heavy side to be used as a true e-reader (to say the least), but then again it's not really designed as an e-reader. Extremely useful for producing visuals since you can use it as a small "GM screen" and then simply rotate the screen to show the group around the table... whatever it was that you wanted to show them. I don't mind reading GURPS PDF on it, though.
• ASUS eePC. Useful for carrying around, though it has largely been superseded by my tablet. Not as useful around the gaming table.
• Kindle 3. Lovely for reading novels and for taking a bunch of them around, but I wouldn't want to use it for reading PDF because of the slow page turn, the small screen size, etc. Not useful around the gaming table, or at least as far as I can assess.
• Pandigital Novel. The 7" screen puts it at the outer limit of readability when it comes to a full page GURPS book, but it's certainly do-able. It represents my emergency backup. Could be useful as a prop, I suppose, but I would have to root it for it to be useful.
• Samsung Fascinate. If I've got nothing else and I just want to bone up on some of the GURPS rules, I'll pull this out (though I only have Campaigns and Characters on it).
• Notion Ink Adam. Perfect for reading PDF and--bonus--I can use it outside on a sunny day. Unfortunately the software isn't that hot, so you basically have to root it and/or flash it to another ROM (which I have done), but once there it's a great tablet. (Honeycomb coming to it soon.) This has basically replaced my netbook in most circumstances. Shame that the battery life sucks, but it also has my full electronic GURPS collection (along with Earthdawn and Shadowrun for my "Shadowrun Apocalypse" setting). The 10" screen means that books are readable without zooming into it, but every now and again my old eyes have trouble with that so the zoom function is rather helpful.

In general, though, I think that the Android is a perfectly acceptable alternative to the iPad/i-gadgets, though is still lacking on power management/battery life. For all of my Android devices (other than the non-rooted PD Novel), RepliGo reader allows rapid navigation around the book, quick-zoom possibilities, annotation and notes, etc.

Just my 2p.