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Through the PDF wilderness with the Cybook
June 26, 2005 | 6:49 am
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By David Rothman
Last night I finally got around to trying a beta of the PDF reader for the Cybook.
Yes, it works. The bad news is that you’re stuck with one font size, which is too small even on a ten inch screen (although the final version of the software will offer a zoom feature). Also, just as fellow Cybook user Ellen Hage discovered, the present beta is running slowly. Meanwhile, take it from me. Through the Brazilian Wilderness is vastly more enjoyable with uBook or Mobipocket than with PDF.
At any rate, now that PDF is actually running, this should be good for Cybook sales–even if the machine still can’t display DRMed PDF books in that format; in other words, most best-sellers. Yo, Adobe! Why the devil aren’t you helping out Bookeen with the usual reader adapted for the Cybook? Too expensive, because Cybook isn’t HP in size? If so, that’s one more argument for a common e-book format.
The positive: You can easily install new software from the memory card, so you don’t have to mess with the hated ActiveSync.
Tip: Like other CE machines, the Cybook lets you pick up TrueType fonts from your desktop. I’m trying out Bodoni right now, and it displays great. Just copy the fonts from your desktop into the Windows directory of the Cybook.
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Comments:
[...] ck out this message on the Cybook group for details.
David from Teleread isn’t entirely impressed with the present beta (there’s no zoom feature yet and the software runs rather slow), but at leas [...]
I agree that being able to install without Activesync is a great plus. In fact, I hardly ever use Activesync. I think my initial install snag was related to how much memory I had dedicated to storage vs programs.
Also thanks on the tip about Fonts. I will definitely play around with some of my favorite ones on the Cybook.
Great, Ellen! As with the Juice Box, please share with us the results of your font research–I’ll run a separate item on it.
Meanwhile I’m tickled that Laurent & friends have finally done the beta PDF reader, and I know that the final version will be much better. No suspense. It’s clear, based on Laurent’s interest in readability.
While I’ll never be the biggest fan of PDF, I’m hoping that the Bookeen will make it somewhat palatable for us Cybook users–given the size of the screen.
Here’s the question no one has been able to answer yet: will it display image-based pdf files?
I have a number of old pulps that I scanned before they completely fell apart. Will compressed pdfs made with Adobe v5 and v6 display correctly?
Excellent question, Richard. I don’ t have the answer. Why not write Bookeen and let us know the answer? – David
[...] As readers of ebooks know, there is not a good portable device for reading PDF files. (The cybook beta pdf reader seems to be the best option available). [...]