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View Full Version : can a netbook



joelkat
December 5th, 2010, 01:29 AM
work as a amazon kindle?

spoons
December 5th, 2010, 02:22 AM
You could






read PDFs on it, yes.

drawkcab
December 5th, 2010, 03:44 AM
You can read ebooks on any device, in principle.

Jazzy_Jeff
December 5th, 2010, 05:03 AM
You can use the Kindle app on your netbook. If you use Linux you will have to install Wine and download the Kindle for PC app. Good luck to you.

CharlesA
December 5th, 2010, 05:06 AM
Would be more of a pain then not. Besides, unless they make tablet versions of netbooks, it'll be a pain to use it the same way as a Kindle.

kostkon
December 5th, 2010, 05:15 AM
The kindle is an e-ink based device (really good for the eyes), on the other hand a netbook has an 60Hz TFT (not good for reading text for long times, obviously). Thus, they are really two different types of devices. The first for reading, the latter for general computing.

conradin
December 5th, 2010, 05:21 AM
The Kindle is an e-book reader which doesn't read e-books (pdfs) unless something has changed recently.

I'm really not sure what hardware your netbook has so I cant say how well it displays anything.

What you can do is use the monitors program (installed by default with most recent versions of ubuntu) to turn your viewing to one side or the other to view more text on the screen. -- I do that with my wide screen monitors

LowSky
December 5th, 2010, 06:25 AM
The kindle is an e-ink based device (really good for the eyes), on the other hand a netbook has an 60Hz TFT (not good for reading text for long times, obviously). Thus, they are really two different types of devices. The first for reading, the latter for general computing.

people make this claim all the time, but reading on a PC or iPad is not so bad.

just go for it... if you dont like the experience then buy a Kindle they are only $139 now..

Oxwivi
December 5th, 2010, 09:20 AM
The so-called 'ebooks' that Kindle and other readers execute, are they all PDFs? This question has been nagging me for a while...

CharlesA
December 5th, 2010, 12:39 PM
The so-called 'ebooks' that Kindle and other readers execute, are they all PDFs? This question has been nagging me for a while...
The Kindle uses a proprietary (I think?) format:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200375630

Some of them can view PDFs according to that link.

Jazzy_Jeff
December 5th, 2010, 01:35 PM
people make this claim all the time, but reading on a PC or iPad is not so bad.

just go for it... if you dont like the experience then buy a Kindle they are only $139 now..

It is not a claim. It is different for each person. I used to read on a PDA all the time and I would have to take breaks pretty often to rest my eyes. With the e-ink I can read for hours on end without needing to rest my eyes.

One thing I really like about using a reader with e-ink is that I can go 2-3 weeks between charges.

drawkcab
December 5th, 2010, 07:50 PM
The new e-ink screens are much much easier on the eyes than your standard tablet screen and since they are inactive screens you can read thousands and thousands of pages for weeks on one charge.

Ebook readers tend to be designed around file formats that allow them to restructure the text. This is difficult to do with most .pdfs, especially any scanned .pdfs. Some readers, most notably the pocketbook lineup, handle .pdfs better than others because they are based on a linux OS that gives you a choice as far as applications that you can use to read pdfs and ebooks. One of the questions you might ask is whether or not the ereader you are looking at "reflows" .pdfs.

I've read documents on my eepc by rotating the screen and turning it sideways but it is still a pain in the ***.