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Society players know this issue best. We are the ones spending days at cons, three rounds on Saturday. That is why I asked in the Society messageboard.
I am trying to decide what to buy for reading paizo PDFs.
Anyone care to advise/warn what devices do it well or poor?
I wanted to buy a cheap netbook on black friday but they are not carried/advertised much anymore in stores and I do not want to make an online purchase for this item. When I checked netbooks out last night. They were both weaker and more expensive than when i looked them over several months ago. Crazy but that was the case. Maybe an effort by the store to make people want to spend even more for a laptop or tablet? I was leaning to a netbook because of their long battery life. Something that could last me most if not the whole day at a con with three slots. I have no worry about them being weaker than a laptop. Laptops are way too short on battery life and more expensive. Now I am leaning towards the Ipad2 but it is damn expensive itself. At least it has a long battery life unlike a laptop. Thinking the 7 inch screen on a nook or kindle fire may be too small. I also do not know how well they can increase text size and/or zoom on a paizo pdf.
I figure the savings on paizo PDFs are strong enough to payoff the cost of a cheap netbook or tablet in a short time. It would take too long to pay off an Ipad2. Even if I buy more than I expect and save maybe $150 a year that would take at least 4 years to pay off that Ipad2 after: black friday sales(shallow), tax, and presuming no accessories(which I doubt), plus the cost of rebuying PDFs of paper books I already own. Since I do not see myself using the Ipad2 for much beyond rpg PDFs, that makes the high cost hard to swallow. Still, I am getting tired of carrying the bulk and weight of all the paizo hard covers plus a few soft backs. Also, from the research and advice I have gotten so far, the Ipad does seem to be the best device for the job.
Thanks for any advice on any and all products people want to advise/warn on.
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I really prefere the Nook Color (Rooted). Battery life will pretty much last me all day, and then some, I'm not really sure, honestly, I've never drained it.
I have tried one of the newer Ipads, and was not a fan for my needs. I don't beliede the older Kindle's will handle PathFinder PDF's. Look down in the Technology threads, and there is one with a similar question and a lot of advice. What we really need is to know a little more on what exactly you want the device for.
In all honesty, I would almost always suggest a Netbook over the Ipad or most other PDF/Book Readers (if you want the price, movies, music, and basic stuff like that.)
The screen isnt much an issue to me, it zooms very easily, and I also realy suggest EZ PDF reader app, for any device. I have all my PathFinder PDF's on it, (has 5 gig internal storage and takes miniSD cards), you can get online with the Nook Color and direct download from them, and Paizo has also begun selling Epubs (Nook format) for their novel lines. You don't need to rebuy any PDF's you already have and it can read just about any pdf, like ones you make. It also does not change the fonts and really has no issues even with Pathfinders larger books, except a delayed load time (5 seconds at most). I got it just for my deployment, and I am happy so far.
Note, that in order to do this, you must Root the Nook Color. (Google search, I'm not technilogically adept, but I found a walkthrough and was done in about 10 minutes. The way it was explained, this is not illegal and also DOES NOT void the warrenty, though I'm not sure how true that is.)
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I have an ipad2 and it processes all PDFs quickly with the Goodreader app. It also has a 10 hour battery life. Also with the 3G, I get Internet just about everywhere. Finally, on long plane flights with wifi, I can access my Netflix app and watch movies during the flight. My wife has a kindle and a netbook and neither work well with PDFs. I also was able to transfer all my songs from my iPod over to the iPad.
I did buy the 64gb so it was pricey but I haven't carried my laptop or iPod since I purchased the iPad. I just haven't needed to.
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Society players know this issue best. We are the ones spending days at cons, three rounds on Saturday. That is why I asked in the Society messageboard.
I am trying to decide what to buy for reading paizo PDFs.
Anyone care to advise/warn what devices do it well or poor?
I wanted to buy a cheap netbook on black friday but they are not carried/advertised much anymore in stores and I do not want to make an online purchase for this item. When I checked netbooks out last night. They were both weaker and more expensive than when i looked them over several months ago. Crazy but that was the case. Maybe an effort by the store to make people want to spend even more for a laptop or tablet? I was leaning to a netbook because of their long battery life. Something that could last me most if not the whole day at a con with three slots. I have no worry about them being weaker than a laptop. Laptops are way too short on battery life and more expensive. Now I am leaning towards the Ipad2 but it is damn expensive itself. At least it has a long battery life unlike a laptop. Thinking the 7 inch screen on a nook or kindle fire may be too small. I also do not know how well they can increase text size and/or zoom on a paizo pdf.
I figure the savings on paizo PDFs are strong enough to payoff the cost of a cheap netbook or tablet in a short time. It would take too long to pay off an Ipad2. Even if I buy more than I expect and save maybe $150 a year that would take at least 4 years to pay off that Ipad2 after: black friday sales(shallow), tax, and presuming no accessories(which I doubt), plus the cost of rebuying PDFs of paper books I already own. Since I do not see myself using the Ipad2 for much beyond rpg PDFs, that makes the high cost hard to swallow. Still, I am getting tired of carrying the bulk and weight of all the paizo hard covers plus a few soft backs. Also, from the research and advice I have gotten so far, the Ipad does seem to be the best device for the job.
Thanks for any advice on any and all products people...
The Playbook has decent battery life, the ability to view PDFs and the 16G is $199.00 from now until Monday.
Have a look at it.
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I have the original Ipad - 64 GB - using GoodReader. It lasts a full day gaming as GM - these are 3 slots. I hardly ever print out scenarios - ahem - just spend the last 45 minutes for the Beginner Bash material but honestly it isn't for me - I'm just organizing.
Off course an Ipad only makes sense if you use it for more as just Pathfinder pdfs.
Any shortcomings? You can't spontaneously print unless you have a wireless printer. I have now a copy of my whole PFS scenarios on a memory stick as it is more likely to find a computer with attached printer as an option to link up.
Doesn't matter for gaming - but is awkward in case you need spontaneously some chronicles or mission sheets.
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I am not great with brands, but a cheap netbook, 80$ will likely be good enough.
when I tried to use an older KIndle I did not like it for paizo pdf's. if you don't need any other functions I would go for a net book. I would stay away from tabs unless you are looking for 300$ or more. Google tabs are still racing to implement OS features setting tabs apart from the basic smart phone.
I bought a Toshiba thrive about four months ago. I had a free replacement after a month due to a motherboard issue. I have also had weekly updates for it. As the months went by I have liked it more and more. Key PFS. points for the thrive attaching a HDMI cable to a flatscreen and inviting a player to a game in japan over Skype.
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Added the text below to a post here.
Has anyone had any experience with the Cruz T301?
A 7" android 2.2 color tablet 256 MB with SD slot (32 GB max). I'm specifically interested in page turning speed and zoom/scroll capabilities for Paizo PDFs.
I found it at Best Buy for $80.
Looks like there is a refurbished unit with 2 GB internal memory for the same price.