I have a load of books in PDF format. Can you recommend any portable gadget with a USB port that would be suitable for a reader?
Joe Donegan
Many ebook readers will read Adobe PDF books, according to the grid at mobileread.com. From those, the Sony Reader would seem to be your best bet: it can read PDF files, has a USB port, and is available from Sony UK for £199*. However, PDF is a horrible format for books, and your PDF files may not be formatted for the Sony's 6in screen, or any portable ebook screen. Reading full pages at a percentage of the original size will make the type smaller.
Foxit is about to launch its own reader called eSlick, which is now on pre-order for $259.99 (£170), plus $29 for shipping to the UK. The site says: "View all your PDF files as well as convert any printable document to PDF, which can be viewed on the eSlick. Foxit's eSlick comes with free software: Foxit Reader Pro Pack and Foxit PDF Creator."
As an alternative, some portable media players will read PDF files, such as the Archos models, and Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) loaded with Bookr, a free PDF reader. However, these have smaller screens than the Sony Reader, so reading PDFs is likely to be even more inconvenient.
If the books are plain text, and not copy protected, try converting them to a more flexible type of file such as Rich Text Format (RTF). Otherwise, the cost of an ebook reader is not much different from the cost of a basic netbook such as the Acer Aspire One or Asus Eee PC, though you could pay more for an Eee PC 1000H or 1000HE, Samsung NC10 etc, with a bigger 10in screen. A netbook would be bigger and heavier, but you'd get a much more powerful and versatile device for the money.
If you have found a better solution, please let us know.
* Webnote: The Amazon Kindle is not available in the UK.
Backchat: Peter Sinclair says: "the iRex ebook reader allows you to maximise PDFs by turning them sideways to expand the width of pages to the height of the screen". However, it's more expensive.
Ian Clark says you can use the Lib2Go website to convert files to Sony's LRF format, or to the standard EPUB format. Brian Robertson points out that ebooks can't display colours, so he uses a touch-screen satnav with a QVGA colour screen, running Windows CE5. Thanks to all the readers who wrote in.
