The Student Room Group

Tablets for reading academic journals

Hello!

Browsing through journals on a computer is a real eye strain and printing them off is expensive. iPads look like the best option but in all honesty, they are expensive and offer much more than what I'm really looking for.

Have any of you found a good tablet for reading them? Perhaps a Nexus 7 or Kindle?
I've got an IPad and I love it. Yes, its not just good for journals. I'm doing my dissertation and when I purchased my IPad I got this Livedrive cloud thing that syncs the files on your computer to any other internet connected device (eg IPad) so I can actually read my files or create a new file and have it sent to my laptop. I like to type notes on my dissi journals so I can type them on the IPad and hey presto, on my computer :smile:

Can't comment on the others, but I love my IPad and wouldn't be without it :smile:
Reply 2
I've used the iPad before and they're great! Lots of situations they'd be helpful - especially when studying. But, don't think I'd bother buying one just to view journals.
Nexus 7 or nexus 10 are better options than an ipad. If your worried about a retina display the nexus 10 had a better screen than an ipad.
Reply 4
Original post by sudospider
Nexus 7 or nexus 10 are better options than an ipad. If your worried about a retina display the nexus 10 had a better screen than an ipad.



Have you used them for journals?
Yes, and I can tell you for reading stuff the nexus 10 is brilliant because of its amazing screen.
Reply 6
Thanks :smile:
Reply 7
If you get eye strain from reading on a computer screen, why wouldn't you get it on a tablet's screen?
Reply 8
Original post by sudospider
Nexus 7 or nexus 10 are better options than an ipad. If your worried about a retina display the nexus 10 had a better screen than an ipad.
The Nexus 7 is not a great device for pdf files, since 16:10 is not a good screen dimension for reading, especially on a display that small. The ipad mini has a far more sensible display (4:3, and an extra inch on the diagonal, meaning the screen is about 30% larger) but you should play with it in store to check that the lower pixel density doesnt bother you.

A 10 inch tablet (either nexus 10 or ipad 3) would be better due to the retina display and larger screen, but they are also quite heavy and require two-handed use (and even then arent especially comfortable unless youre resting it on something), so its a trade-off.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 9
If you want no strain on your eyes, go for the Kindle.

You can easily put pdf files onto it so academic journals would work.
í have a samsung galaxy tab, i don't know the exact model, i think it's 10.1 or something, and it is very good too. just as good as an ipad, but not as expensive
Reply 11
Original post by danny111
If you want no strain on your eyes, go for the Kindle.

You can easily put pdf files onto it so academic journals would work.


Kindles (as in the e-readers, not the tablets) are horrendous for PDF files though. I absolutely love mine for reading books on, but it can't display PDF files well, at all. It lacks zoom levels, so I have to zoom right in, and pan left and right to read a full line, and due to the low powered processor it takes a fair while to do so.

If the main aim is for reading a lot of PDF files a tablet will be far, far better than a e-reader of any sort.
Reply 12
Original post by Dan1909
Kindles (as in the e-readers, not the tablets) are horrendous for PDF files though. I absolutely love mine for reading books on, but it can't display PDF files well, at all. It lacks zoom levels, so I have to zoom right in, and pan left and right to read a full line, and due to the low powered processor it takes a fair while to do so.

If the main aim is for reading a lot of PDF files a tablet will be far, far better than a e-reader of any sort.


That's odd, I have read pdf files on one without any problem?

Granted I don't have one, but a friend does and he showed me and he had more pdfs on there than actual books, and they worked fine.
Original post by GooglyEyedMonster
I've got an IPad and I love it. Yes, its not just good for journals. I'm doing my dissertation and when I purchased my IPad I got this Livedrive cloud thing that syncs the files on your computer to any other internet connected device (eg IPad) so I can actually read my files or create a new file and have it sent to my laptop. I like to type notes on my dissi journals so I can type them on the IPad and hey presto, on my computer :smile:

Can't comment on the others, but I love my IPad and wouldn't be without it :smile:

So like basically any other cloud service? Dropbox does the same. As does google's service, I believe microsoft does one and there's another relatively popular one called sugarsync.

Original post by poohat
The Nexus 7 is not a great device for pdf files, since 16:10 is not a good screen dimension for reading, especially on a display that small. The ipad mini has a far more sensible display (4:3, and an extra inch on the diagonal, meaning the screen is about 30% larger) but you should play with it in store to check that the lower pixel density doesnt bother you.

A 10 inch tablet (either nexus 10 or ipad 3) would be better due to the retina display and larger screen, but they are also quite heavy and require two-handed use (and even then arent especially comfortable unless youre resting it on something), so its a trade-off.

You're not that smart. Just saying. Remember the earlier versions of the kindle? I'm talking 3rd gen. They were 6" screens and were absolutely fine, so why, with a 7" screen, would a Nexus 7 be too small? I used a kindle for a while, the screen wasn't a problem and there's a zoom if you want to see more detail. Where's the logic when it comes to the screen ratio? Neither is technically perfect when it comes to a full size page being viewed on each device.

Also, calling propaganda on that picture, it's not to scale so an unfair comparison of the two tablets. Not to mention that there was a reason why google went for that size, for the small form factor tablet market. Apple seemed to have missed the whole point of the small form factor tablet market. On a side note, anyone who thinks screen size is a sign of how advanced a device is is obviously a fool. Just saying. You wouldn't think people would think that but I think you'd be surprised.


OP, go to a shop or shops that stock the various tablets and try them out. That'll probably be the best way to find out if a tablet is too small or too big for you. Ignore the fanboys/girls who keep telling you to get an overpriced device with little to no objectivity. It depends on what you want out of it. As a tablet the hardware is undoubtedly superior in the Nexus 7 and it's at a very reasonable price but it's down to personal taste. The iPad mini is using tech which has been used in a tablet that in March will reach it's 2nd birthday for, according to the apple site, only slightly less. That device is the iPad 2. You'd be paying only a little less for a tablet that is almost 2 years old and only a touch smaller. Do you really want to pay from £269 for a device that is 2 years out of date?
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 14
Original post by danny111
That's odd, I have read pdf files on one without any problem?

Granted I don't have one, but a friend does and he showed me and he had more pdfs on there than actual books, and they worked fine.


Which kindle does he have?
Reply 15
Original post by Dan1909
Which kindle does he have?


No idea tbh.
Reply 16
Original post by alexs2602

You're not that smart. Just saying. Remember the earlier versions of the kindle? I'm talking 3rd gen. They were 6" screens and were absolutely fine, so why, with a 7" screen, would a Nexus 7 be too small? I used a kindle for a while, the screen wasn't a problem and there's a zoom if you want to see more detail. Where's the logic when it comes to the screen ratio? Neither is technically perfect when it comes to a full size page being viewed on each device.

Also, calling propaganda on that picture, it's not to scale so an unfair comparison of the two tablets. Not to mention that there was a reason why google went for that size, for the small form factor tablet market. Apple seemed to have missed the whole point of the small form factor tablet market. On a side note, anyone who thinks screen size is a sign of how advanced a device is is obviously a fool. Just saying. You wouldn't think people would think that but I think you'd be surprised.?

PDFs dont rescroll text when you zoom in so comparing it to an ebook makes no sense; the text on a PDF is in a fixed place and so screen size becomes more important. Reading a PDF on a screen as thin as the nexus7 is not pleasant, so youre going to have to hold it two handed in landscape mode all the time which defeats the point of a small tablet. Also two column layouts are going to be horrible regardless of how you hold it.

The rest of your post is just android fanboyism; the picture is perfectly to scale, the mini screen is 35% bigger in terms of viewable area (do the basic maths), and the devices are physically the same size except for the mini being 0.5 inches wider, its just that the nexus has a much wider bezel and on-screen buttons to reduce the screen size further, while the mini has an extremely thin bezel and most of the device is just the screen.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by _Jonny
Hello!

Browsing through journals on a computer is a real eye strain and printing them off is expensive. iPads look like the best option but in all honesty, they are expensive and offer much more than what I'm really looking for.

Have any of you found a good tablet for reading them? Perhaps a Nexus 7 or Kindle?



Original post by Dan1909
If you get eye strain from reading on a computer screen, why wouldn't you get it on a tablet's screen?


^^^This chap has a point OP, tablet screens are pretty much the same tech you will find in a conventional laptop or monitor. The only advantage is the higher pixel density on the iPad and Nexus 10, so unless the issues are having to squint at smaller text you're unlikely to find a tablet mitigates your problems.
Reply 18
Original post by danny111
If you want no strain on your eyes, go for the Kindle.

You can easily put pdf files onto it so academic journals would work.


Sorry, I wasn't clear. What I mean is that sitting on a desktop and reading at length isn't so comfortable and a handheld device would be a nice compromise.


OP, go to a shop or shops that stock the various tablets and try them out. That'll probably be the best way to find out if a tablet is too small or too big for you. Ignore the fanboys/girls who keep telling you to get an overpriced device with little to no objectivity.



Haha. Well, I've now tried/seen the Nexus 7 in action for what I'm wanting to do and it seems like the best option.

Thanks for the feedback...
Original post by _Jonny
Sorry, I wasn't clear. What I mean is that sitting on a desktop and reading at length isn't so comfortable and a handheld device would be a nice compromise.




Haha. Well, I've now tried/seen the Nexus 7 in action for what I'm wanting to do and it seems like the best option.

Thanks for the feedback...

Good to hear. I'm assuming you mean the screen size is big enough and if that is the case then I personally would definitely agree. Pretty great bang for buck, if you ask me.

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