Ereaders

[Tush Hog]

Well, not knowing your price range - but if $500 is way to expensive - I'm guessing you're looking at a couple hundred bucks tops? I've got experience with the kindle and like others have said it isn't that great. However, it does depend a bit on the rpg layout. For example, chronica fuedalis and others with larger type aren't that bad at all. But most of them really cram the text in there and it is just too small. This is probably true with most ereaders - not all RPGs are equal.

Depending on what you find acceptable quality and convenience a net book might work for you. My cousin uses one, but I wouldn't care to make it my primary reader.

[pfloyd]

A while back, I was comparing my Dad's Kindle with the upcoming Nook from Barnes and Noble. For me, if I were to get an ereader, it would be the Nook because it can natively read PDFs, and it has expandable memory with SD cards. So there you go.

Now, for an ereader, I've been using my iPhone... but I have yet to try PDF files on it. Come Monday, when iOS 4.0 is released and I'm updated, I'll be able to put PDFs on it through iBook. I'll let you know then.

[Esoteric]

Adding my two cents here;

I've been reading the DFRPG pdfs on the bus using my Nook. What I'll say is that the text is tiny and it can be a little hard to navigate around the pdf, but for the most part I'm able to handle it (as long as I don't need to flip through different parts of the pdf one after another, which takes some time). So overall, if you have an ereader its ok to use it to read the pdfs, but its not worth buying one just so you can read them on the road 

[Shecky]

Adding my two cents here;

I've been reading the DFRPG pdfs on the bus using my Nook. What I'll say is that the text is tiny and it can be a little hard to navigate around the pdf, but for the most part I'm able to handle it (as long as I don't need to flip through different parts of the pdf one after another, which takes some time). So overall, if you have an ereader its ok to use it to read the pdfs, but its not worth buying one just so you can read them on the road 

Nice! So, as long as you've got good vision, PDFs on the Nook are satisfactory?

[Saedar]

I had tried the DFRPG on a nook and I didn't think it handled it very well. It seemed to have trouble rendering graphics when turning pages and had a tendency to crash. Though, if you just wanted to have a single page up for reference, it could handle that reasonably well.

[Shecky]

This is the kind of info I think our OP will appreciate! Anybody got more info?

[EldritchFire]

I had tried the DFRPG on a nook and I didn't think it handled it very well. It seemed to have trouble rendering graphics when turning pages and had a tendency to crash. Though, if you just wanted to have a single page up for reference, it could handle that reasonably well.

I had the same experience. I bought a Nook for my mother for Mother's Day, and after she got it working, I uploaded DFRPG and Diaspora, and neither of them worked too well. DFRPG caused it to crash if I tried to turn pages too quickly. It's just not made for graphic-intense PDFs.

-EF

[Crion]

Just tossing my own two cents into the mix, mainly because I can:

I bought an Asus EeePC netbook a year ago to be an ebook reader for games and a machine for conferences/conventions, and spent about $300 on it. It isn't the greatest, but it's not horrible. The saving grace is surely the 6+ hour battery compared to the 1-2 hours on my laptops. The scrolling for most RPGs did become a bit of a hassle, and some graphic heavy books were a bit of a problem (Dresden hasn't run very well, honestly), but it's a doable option for you if you are on a tight budget and choose to shop around.

Laptops are also a good way to go in general if you want something that's a bit more versatile than an e-reader while being more powerful than a netbook. As previously mentioned, they are getting cheaper as time goes by, and if you choose to shop around, you can get one at a decent price.

I personally haven't used many of the standard e-readers (Nook, Kindle, or the Sony e-reader) due to having my laptop and netbook, but a friend of mine did say that his Nook fit the bill for him without any major issues. Not sure on the print and readability, nor can I confirm or deny the issues with the DFRPG, but it's a start, ne?

I'm not much of an Apple person, but one of the local gamers I know swears by his iPad for reading a book and having the dice rolling apps on the side, which gives me some hope for the next generation of tablet PCs (such as the HP Slate, which has a softer pricetag than the iPad).

There's also a device that was released not long ago called the Entourage Edge. It's one part e-reader, one part netbook. It's pricetag is also around the $500 range, but the local Instructional Design department seems impressed by it and will be tinkering with them soon enough.


In any case, best of luck with finding what you need!

--Crion