PDF versus Paper?
I like my hardback and softback book. I like having a physical library of roleplaying books. But I just got paid and I want to buy a number of indie RPGs. I can’t get them all from the one website and in fact two of them are only avaliable in PDF. So I started to consider which ones I’d take as PDF… and ending up considering buying them all as PDF.
So what are people’s opinions of buying and reading PDFs as opposed to printed copies of books?
Personally, I’ve started to get used to reading long articles online, but I’m still turned off by reading whole novels and books… and I’ll never use a laptop in bed before I sleep either.
Guest
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:20 am
I read quite a few ebooks. I used a Handspring visor first, then a PalmV, then a Tungsten E and now I use a Nokia 770. The 770 has an extremely high quality screen, with decent pdf readers and general text readers.
For the best in current ebook reading technology though, you want an eInk device. The Sony Reader and Irex Iliad are the two big ones at the moment. The Iliad is the best one, but expensive. There are lots of reviews out there.
Gav
Guest
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:44 am
I don’t mind PDF or books but …despite having lots of PDF games, I really need physical copies for running games. Which means a fortune on the d/s laser printer.
Administrator
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:01 am
Hi Gavin,
I have a T5 Tungsten PDF, but I had zero plans to use it to read any of the PDF content I was planning to download, tbh. The reason is that most roleplaying books are highly dependant on layout and often use multi-columns on an A4 page and also use large coloured or black and white images. They rarely offer a optimised for readability format, but it’s an interesting thought. One I’ll look into, though I’m not big on the idea of buying a dedicated device for it. I already have a PDA, DS and Mobile and to have another high end gadget! Do you recommend any particular PDF reader for the Palm series?
Administrator
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:07 am
Hey matt,
I agree, for running games, you need physical copies.
The consensus on livejournal though is that small RPG books and supplements are fine as PDFs but anything bigger than say 30 pages, is better printed or as a hard copy. The thing is, if you ever want to have a printed copy of the book, it’s cheaper to just buy the printed copy in the first place. The price of printing 100 pages or more and getting it bound is probably equal or more than the price of ordering and delivery. And with the expensive of some of the PDFs ($12 - $15 for the PDF version of a $20-$30 printed copy), I don’t see it being useful.
A good bundle though, that if you buy the printed copy and for an extra $5 you get the PDF as well… that’s cool.
The only advantage with PDF is that you can get the books straight away.