I wonder if the kindle 1 would work for me

[5010]

My main hobby is identifying wild plants, and I am considering getting a used kindle 1 or sony prs 300 from ebay.  Right now I take cameraphone pics in the field, then go home and try to identify them mainly with a PDF book freely available here:
http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/bio/gdiggs/NCTXpdf.htm

Most of the time, I get stuck and have to go back and get additional info about the plants.  I could buy the book used (it is out of print) but don't want to lug a heavy book out in the wilderness.

So I'm thinking to myself a light weight e-book reader would be great to pack for field study.  I was concerned about the 95F upper temperature (that's not good enough in Texas) but searching around the web people reported using kindles for hours in 100+ temperatures without probs.

But I wonder if e-readers are really best suited for story books and articles.  Is it good for reference books?  I saw a badly converted physics book in Tips and Tricks FAQ however botany doesn't need such equations so maybe that's not an issue.

The PDF files from the above link have a bookmark tree that I can expand for more detail.  Does this work on the kindle?  For example, I might use the bookmark tree to go to a botanical family, or expand to go to a species within it.  Or I might open the last book (the index) and click M to look up a reference beginning with M, see the page number, open the file that has that page, and goto that page number to get to the text.

Or let's say I get to a word I don't understand, I like to open the glossary file, learn the word, then go back to where I was reading.  Would that be do-able on the kindle?

Could someone try putting the above linked PDFs on their computer and reader and see how it compares?

If the kindle 1 is lacking, would a different version be better?

Any experience with how the sony prs would compare in this type of workflow?  I read the user manual for the prs 300 and I don't think the bookmark tree ould work at all for that unit.

[Betsy the Quilter]

PDFs have to be converted to another format to be read on a Kindle 1, and the K1 renders fewer shades of gray than the K2, so it wouldn't be a good option.  My only other eReader is a iPad, which does PDFs quite well but that's a lot of money.  Someone else will be along to help you with the questions as relate to the K2 and other devices...

Betsy

[drenee]

I have no answers, but welcome to Kindleboards.
deb

[Andra]

Where in Texas are you located?
I've downloaded the pdf and will try it on my K2 and DX as well as my Sony PRS 505 (never put a pdf on there - not sure what it's going to do).
If you are somewhere near me, I can meet you somewhere and show you how it look on the various devices.
I agree with Betsy - the original Kindle didn't do pdfs at all and it's sometimes it's harder to navigate menus with it.

And welcome to Kindleboards!

[geko29]

My only other eReader is a iPad, which does PDFs quite well but that's a lot of money.

And also doesn't tolerate heat well.  There have been literally hundreds of reports of iPads throwing an error and turning themselves off when used outside in 80F weather.  In 100+ and direct sunlight, no chance....

OP, I love my K1, but it probably wouldn't suit your needs.  PDF handling is a sore spot, requiring conversion which doesn't always work well and will NOT retain the TOC/bookmarks from the source file.  Both the K2 and DX support PDF natively, but I don't have one personally so I can't check to see how well those specific files work.  Sounds like Andra has you covered there though.

Good luck, and I hope you find something that works for you.

[The Hooded Claw]

I'm unimpressed with how my K2 handles illustrations, and I hear the K1 is worse.  My iPad is much better, even with illustrations in Kindle format, but it is too expensive for the field and may have heat issues.

As a nature photographer I'm eager for ebook field manuals, but I don't think we are there yet.

[5010]

Yeah, the ipad is out of my budget, plus I was looking more at e-ink screens because I can barely see my phone screen in the sunshine.  The most important parts of the reference for identification are the dichotomous keys and cross-referencing glossary.  I can live without seeing the images.  I guess I could just print out the glossary if it came to that, though.  If the keys are readable I think it still might be worth a try.

Also, maybe worst case e-readers are useless for field work, then I could give it to my woman.  She loves reading stories =)

[The Hooded Claw]

Yeah, the ipad is out of my budget, plus I was looking more at e-ink screens because I can barely see my phone screen in the sunshine.  The most important parts of the reference for identification are the dichotomous keys and cross-referencing glossary.  I can live without seeing the images.  I guess I could just print out the glossary if it came to that, though.  If the keys are readable I think it still might be worth a try.

Also, maybe worst case e-readers are useless for field work, then I could give it to my woman.  She loves reading stories =)

The Kindle isn't too hot for illustrations, but I love mine as a text reader for novels and such!

[ricky]

If you are into identifying wild plants, then get a Muntz and Keck, and just carry it around with you, in a daypack, preferably, with a notebook and some pencils and an eraser.

An eReader will not let you go back and forth within the pages like you will need to do in order to ID the plants.

Nor will it let you make notes as fast as the old way, by hand and written word........or will it let you keep your notes forever...

good luck and have fun............

[Ann in Arlington]

.......or will it let you keep your notes forever...

Well, you could keep the notes forever. . .after doing them on the Kindle, the file can be transferred to your computer via the USB connection and edited or transcribed as needed.  The "notes" files are essentially just .txt format. . . . .and it does stay on the kindle associated withe the book the notes were made 'in'.

But I agree about the rest.  If I were going to watch birds and look at plants, I'd use the DX as it's larger and has better screen resolution, a PDF book will display better if that's what you have and the rotation will enlarge images.  I'd probably still take notes the old fashioned way as it IS going to be faster, which, I would guess, is something that would be desirable when the bird could up and fly away on a whim.  BUT the main reason I'd not find it suitable is the high risk for damage to a rather expensive device.

[5010]

Yes, notes on paper.  Yes, reference is all about flipping from one place to another.

What Muntz and Keck reference?  The only thing I could google up was something about California wetlands.

[krystalspin]

My mom and I "do" California wildflower ID walks and hikes every spring (any spring we've had enough rain FOR flowers that is).  I've got big Munz and most of the little (regional) Munz's, and about 60" shelf space of other references.  I've only had my K2i two months (getting it after this year's wildflower trips), but I do not believe the books are there for Kindle, and doubt you or I will see them -- too specialized/low demand and far too difficult to put the necessary features in them.  The looking back-and-forth, the links, the keys, et al. 

PDF's are "native" in the K2 and KDX, in the sense that they open, but they do not retain their clickable/searchable features as someone said above.  The text size is often too small on the K2, even if rotated to 'landscape'.  The new update coming soon will let you zoom on a PDF, but I understand you have to zoom on each piece, not zoom and then scroll the way you would on a computer.  It's sort of like a PDF is treated as an image...

iPad is definitely out, they overheat at much lower temperatures than you get!  The Kindle doesn't really produce heat like a computer... haven't heard of anyone having problems at high heat, only low temperature failure.  I would suggest an Acer netbook, but I'm not sure about real high temp behavior there, either.

But hey!  I'm sure your lady would like a Kindle 2 -- get her a M-edge Leisure Jacket (for sand/dust/splash resistance) and she can keep you company on your field trips!

I just googled 'flora of texas' and there are several searchable web resources. 
Happy Botanizing!  -- k'spin