Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Hello,

I spend quite a bit of time reading information (articles, ebooks,
PDFs, etc..) off the Internet -- mostly just plain HTML pages, some
PDF as well as other formasts. I usually print-out the articles and
read them during transit to and from work, or at night in bed.

I find that I end up with mounds of paper for things that I haven't
had time to read, have read but need to keep, have read and need to
pitch etc... Besides being a huge waster of paper (which is important
to me), I figured that there must be an easier way to read information
off the Internet (and therefore organize it better).

I have thought about getting a PDA so that I can easily read content
offline and not waste so much paper. Does anyone have any suggestions
as to what the best PDA would be for this task?

Basically all I want is to read *stuff* off the Internet. Could be
HTML, RTF, PDF, etc... I have programs that can convert between them
all so it could be all in one format if necessary. For example, I
have read elsewhere that PDF is not a good choice for PDAs?

I would prefer to spend as little as possible as I only really want it
for reading content. I don't need to read e-mail, surf the Net, play
MP3s, take pictures (I have a digital camera for that), record sound,
etc... etc.. etc...

All I really want is to read content -- most of the PDAs that I have
looked at contain lots of extras such as MP3s, wireless acccess -- of
which none I need.

However, I realize that most of that stuff comes standard these days
-- but is there a particular PDA that lends itself best to reading
content and minimizes all those extra features (and thereby having a
cheaper price tag)?

I would really prefer just a PDA reader that just reads files, but
from what other people have posted it doesn't seem that such a device
exists.

Thanks so much.

Hugh,

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

a hi-resolution color screen for reading text. you can choose the platform.

if you want to save paper, I would just email the documents to your self. i
used to do the same thing as you. print out all the stuff for later reading.
then, to save paper, i imported all the html in wp and striped (via a macro)
all the html code. now, if available, I go to the "text" version of a web
site and email (i have an email addy just for this) the page to myself. I
read the email on the train.

I believe plucker (isolo too?) has desktop component that will let you pluck
a site to your palm, but I haven't used it.


"Hugh Cowan" <hwcowan@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:46ca81a0.0411290934.55fd2f14@posting.google.com...
> Hello,
>
> I spend quite a bit of time reading information (articles, ebooks,
> PDFs, etc..) off the Internet -- mostly just plain HTML pages, some
> PDF as well as other formasts. I usually print-out the articles and
> read them during transit to and from work, or at night in bed.
>
> I find that I end up with mounds of paper for things that I haven't
> had time to read, have read but need to keep, have read and need to
> pitch etc... Besides being a huge waster of paper (which is important
> to me), I figured that there must be an easier way to read information
> off the Internet (and therefore organize it better).
>
> I have thought about getting a PDA so that I can easily read content
> offline and not waste so much paper. Does anyone have any suggestions
> as to what the best PDA would be for this task?
>
> Basically all I want is to read *stuff* off the Internet. Could be
> HTML, RTF, PDF, etc... I have programs that can convert between them
> all so it could be all in one format if necessary. For example, I
> have read elsewhere that PDF is not a good choice for PDAs?
>
> I would prefer to spend as little as possible as I only really want it
> for reading content. I don't need to read e-mail, surf the Net, play
> MP3s, take pictures (I have a digital camera for that), record sound,
> etc... etc.. etc...
>
> All I really want is to read content -- most of the PDAs that I have
> looked at contain lots of extras such as MP3s, wireless acccess -- of
> which none I need.
>
> However, I realize that most of that stuff comes standard these days
> -- but is there a particular PDA that lends itself best to reading
> content and minimizes all those extra features (and thereby having a
> cheaper price tag)?
>
> I would really prefer just a PDA reader that just reads files, but
> from what other people have posted it doesn't seem that such a device
> exists.
>
> Thanks so much.
>
> Hugh,

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

hwcowan@hotmail.com (Hugh Cowan) wrote in
news:46ca81a0.0411290934.55fd2f14@posting.google.com:

> Hello,
>
> I spend quite a bit of time reading information (articles, ebooks,
> PDFs, etc..) off the Internet -- mostly just plain HTML pages, some
> PDF as well as other formasts. I usually print-out the articles and
> read them during transit to and from work, or at night in bed.
>
> I find that I end up with mounds of paper for things that I haven't
> had time to read, have read but need to keep, have read and need to
> pitch etc... Besides being a huge waster of paper (which is important
> to me), I figured that there must be an easier way to read information
> off the Internet (and therefore organize it better).
>
> I have thought about getting a PDA so that I can easily read content
> offline and not waste so much paper. Does anyone have any suggestions
> as to what the best PDA would be for this task?

I would suggest a Palm, probably a Tungsten E. For lots of reading, a
hilgh-resolution color screen is important. The T|E has that, but no
other bells and whistles, and has decent battery life considering that.
Pocket PCs tend to be heavier, bulkier, and more problematic.

PDF files don't do well on a Palm (or PPC, for that matter) so I would
suggest converting them to something else. For reading html or text,
Plucker is a great choice, but use the Sunrise Desktop for conversion,
because it's much faster and easier to use. You can configure Sunrise
to go out and get any web page you want on any schedule, and then
convert it and have it ready for you to transfer to your Palm whenever
you want.

--
Regards,

Stan

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Hugh Cowan wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I spend quite a bit of time reading information (articles, ebooks,
> PDFs, etc..) off the Internet -- mostly just plain HTML pages, some
> PDF as well as other formasts. I usually print-out the articles and
> read them during transit to and from work, or at night in bed.
>
> I find that I end up with mounds of paper for things that I haven't
> had time to read, have read but need to keep, have read and need to
> pitch etc... Besides being a huge waster of paper (which is important
> to me), I figured that there must be an easier way to read information
> off the Internet (and therefore organize it better).
>
> I have thought about getting a PDA so that I can easily read content
> offline and not waste so much paper. Does anyone have any suggestions
> as to what the best PDA would be for this task?
>
> Basically all I want is to read *stuff* off the Internet. Could be
> HTML, RTF, PDF, etc... I have programs that can convert between them
> all so it could be all in one format if necessary. For example, I
> have read elsewhere that PDF is not a good choice for PDAs?
>
> I would prefer to spend as little as possible as I only really want it
> for reading content. I don't need to read e-mail, surf the Net, play
> MP3s, take pictures (I have a digital camera for that), record sound,
> etc... etc.. etc...
>
> All I really want is to read content -- most of the PDAs that I have
> looked at contain lots of extras such as MP3s, wireless acccess -- of
> which none I need.
>
> However, I realize that most of that stuff comes standard these days
> -- but is there a particular PDA that lends itself best to reading
> content and minimizes all those extra features (and thereby having a
> cheaper price tag)?
>
> I would really prefer just a PDA reader that just reads files, but
> from what other people have posted it doesn't seem that such a device
> exists.
>
> Thanks so much.
>
> Hugh,

With a screen resolution of 320x240, as available on e.g. a iPAQ h2200
series PDA, reading with clear type font is like reading a newspaper
column. No problem here.
Contents can be obtained by seaching to PDA friendly sites and mirrorring
these on your PDA flash memory with e.g. program HTTtrack (freeware
program, GNU General Public License)

--
Veel plezier / Have fun
Bert

Mail via hccnet.nl

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Checkout ebay, selling Palm Tungsten T's for about £100 all the time.

Example:-
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/LuzernTech_Palm-Tungsten-PDA

--
Gerry aka (The MOTH)
SG1 Edinburgh

'Time is short. Life is cruel. Its up to us to change, this town called
malice'
"Hugh Cowan" <hwcowan@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:46ca81a0.0411290934.55fd2f14@posting.google.com...
> Hello,
>
> I spend quite a bit of time reading information (articles, ebooks,
> PDFs, etc..) off the Internet -- mostly just plain HTML pages, some
> PDF as well as other formasts. I usually print-out the articles and
> read them during transit to and from work, or at night in bed.
>
> I find that I end up with mounds of paper for things that I haven't
> had time to read, have read but need to keep, have read and need to
> pitch etc... Besides being a huge waster of paper (which is important
> to me), I figured that there must be an easier way to read information
> off the Internet (and therefore organize it better).
>
> I have thought about getting a PDA so that I can easily read content
> offline and not waste so much paper. Does anyone have any suggestions
> as to what the best PDA would be for this task?
>
> Basically all I want is to read *stuff* off the Internet. Could be
> HTML, RTF, PDF, etc... I have programs that can convert between them
> all so it could be all in one format if necessary. For example, I
> have read elsewhere that PDF is not a good choice for PDAs?
>
> I would prefer to spend as little as possible as I only really want it
> for reading content. I don't need to read e-mail, surf the Net, play
> MP3s, take pictures (I have a digital camera for that), record sound,
> etc... etc.. etc...
>
> All I really want is to read content -- most of the PDAs that I have
> looked at contain lots of extras such as MP3s, wireless acccess -- of
> which none I need.
>
> However, I realize that most of that stuff comes standard these days
> -- but is there a particular PDA that lends itself best to reading
> content and minimizes all those extra features (and thereby having a
> cheaper price tag)?
>
> I would really prefer just a PDA reader that just reads files, but
> from what other people have posted it doesn't seem that such a device
> exists.
>
> Thanks so much.
>
> Hugh,

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Stan Gosnell <me@work.com> wrote in message news:<Xns95B08B5A1B4DBmework@204.52.135.40>...
> hwcowan@hotmail.com (Hugh Cowan) wrote in
> news:46ca81a0.0411290934.55fd2f14@posting.google.com:
>
>
> I would suggest a Palm, probably a Tungsten E. For lots of reading, a
> hilgh-resolution color screen is important. The T|E has that, but no
> other bells and whistles, and has decent battery life considering that.
> Pocket PCs tend to be heavier, bulkier, and more problematic.
>
> PDF files don't do well on a Palm (or PPC, for that matter) so I would
> suggest converting them to something else. For reading html or text,
> Plucker is a great choice, but use the Sunrise Desktop for conversion,
> because it's much faster and easier to use. You can configure Sunrise
> to go out and get any web page you want on any schedule, and then
> convert it and have it ready for you to transfer to your Palm whenever
> you want.

Thanks for the reply Stan. I was looking between getting the Tungsten
E & the Zire 31. The Tungsten has a better screen resolution (320 x
320) but the Zire has a faster processor (200 Mhz).

Which specification is better for just reading ebooks (etc...) I
realize that normally screen would be better -- but I don't know if
the 126 Mhz processor is fast enough for reading ebooks, PDFs, etc...

Thanks again for the information.

Hugh,

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

hwcowan@hotmail.com (Hugh Cowan) wrote in
news:46ca81a0.0411301052.6d21fb8@posting.google.com:

> Thanks for the reply Stan. I was looking between getting the Tungsten
> E & the Zire 31. The Tungsten has a better screen resolution (320 x
> 320) but the Zire has a faster processor (200 Mhz).
>
> Which specification is better for just reading ebooks (etc...) I
> realize that normally screen would be better -- but I don't know if
> the 126 Mhz processor is fast enough for reading ebooks, PDFs, etc...

How fast do you read? A 16MHz processor is plenty fast enough for
displaying book pages. Unless you're reading multiple pages per second,
you shouldn't have any problems. The T|E is plenty fast enough for
almost anything.

--
Regards,

Stan

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

In article <46ca81a0.0411301052.6d21fb8@posting.google.com>, Hugh Cowan wrote:
> Which specification is better for just reading ebooks (etc...) I
> realize that normally screen would be better -- but I don't know if
> the 126 Mhz processor is fast enough for reading ebooks, PDFs, etc...

The original Palms were 16MHz. That can display text faster than
any human can resolve it. Go for the screen, that's the most important
factor by far given what you want to do.

--
Sincerely,

Ray Ingles (313) 227-2317

"Before 9-11 I was a conservative. After 9-11 I'm a radical
liberal... and my opinions haven't changed." - Jeffery McLean

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Ray Ingles <sorceror@dmc22317.local> wrote in message news:<slrncqrgj4.p6.sorceror@dmc22317.local>...
> In article <46ca81a0.0411301052.6d21fb8@posting.google.com>, Hugh Cowan wrote:
> > Which specification is better for just reading ebooks (etc...) I
> > realize that normally screen would be better -- but I don't know if
> > the 126 Mhz processor is fast enough for reading ebooks, PDFs, etc...
>
> The original Palms were 16MHz. That can display text faster than
> any human can resolve it. Go for the screen, that's the most important
> factor by far given what you want to do.

Thanks for the reply and recomendation. I think that I will go with
the larger screen as you (and eveyone else) suggested.

Hugh,