Ereaders

[Shecky]

I beg to differ. I have a Kindle DX, which is just fine for reading my roleplay PDFs, graphics heavy or otherwise.
It does have difficulty with the rare PDF, but the DFRPG ones read and display just fine.

Sure... for $500, which I believe would not fall within the OP's parameters of "not supremely expensive", as it's the same price as the iPad. Please read the original post so you're certain to respond to the request as stated.

[Shecky]

any laptop in an iPad's price range.

Really? If it were double my wife's netbook's 8-hour battery life, I'd be inclined to agree that it's MAYBE worth the extra $250... if it could run more than one program at a time, had a keyboard, etc. Fold it closed and carry it around without having to deal with a separate case/sleeve to protect an exposed screen? Not more portable.

[Ravangames]

Really? If it were double my wife's netbook's 8-hour battery life, I'd be inclined to agree that it's MAYBE worth the extra $250... if it could run more than one program at a time, had a keyboard, etc. Fold it closed and carry it around without having to deal with a separate case/sleeve to protect an exposed screen? Not more portable.

gah netbook comparison....  on the battery life, I'll get back to you on that.  Pure reading and web-browsing?  As for the multitasking the new OS should take care of that.  Keyboard on the touch screen aint bad.  About the same as the netbook, just no clicky clack.  There is a nice flip case/screen thing that works well and doesn't add too much to it and its a lot better than a backpack of a laptop bag.  If I had the choice of netbook or iPad, I'd get an iPad (short screen kills me and the device doesnt stream videos very well in my experience).  If it was a decent laptop (I can run games on) and iPad I have indecision.

on a side note...

Netbooks are CHEEP!!! If you can get around the short screen then its definite doable for a web-browser / e-reader.  Get one for a new contract and $199 at your local wireless store.

Also you can probably get an outdated laptop from a refurbish store for around the same price as well.

[Shecky]

*shrug* Depends on the use to which you're putting it. If you're a media maven and Just Have To watch streaming videos all the time , then either an iPad or a top-end netbook with killer GPU. If you type a lot and have been typing for a long, long time on regular keyboards, then a netbook/laptop is the way to go.

Personal preference/need, really. I have a lot of gaming PDFs stored on my wife's netbook, which we take to RPG nights. While yes, the "short screen" is something of a weird thing at first, it's no better on anything that doesn't have a portrait-oriented screen that's bigger than the pages in your RPG book, and it took about 5 minutes for me to get used to the scrolling and such. So while it would be nice to have a full-page, portrait-oriented screen (and the iPad isn't quite a full page that I've seen, but it does have killer resolution and clarity to make up for that partially), it just ain't necessary as such.

Plus, when it comes down to it, my mobile computing needs aren't big but they're very specific. I RARELY find myself in a situation where I don't have a horizontal surface (table, desk, etc.) nearby and need to hold my computing device up, and when I do have said horizontal surface, I prefer the ability to adjust my screen so it's perfectly perpendicular to my direction of view, which can't happen with a tablet without actively holding it up.

Don't get me wrong. I VERY much like the iPad for what it is. But what it is is an expensive toy. And it doesn't fulfill the requirements of the OP at $500.

[Tush Hog]

Yup. The iPad is a toy. A pretty, pretty toy, but a toy nonetheless at the price.

It is pretty, but I would argue it is no more of a toy than a laptop.

I was on my laptop for at least 2-3 hours a day before I got an iPad. Now, I sometimes go days without ever getting it out of my backpack. The iPad has proved more useful and flexible than I ever dreamed it would be.

[xiaolung]

Have to agree with the iPad users. I own a net book, laptop and iPad and am very happy with the iPad. Sure it is more expensive, but I think it is worth it. The PDF's are gorgeous and the iPad is so easy to carry around and navigate through PDF's. I had many problems scrolling through PDF's on my net book and refresh was horribly slow. The iPad just sings. It has changed how I compose. Also, in a few months, the iPad gets multi-tasking and the ability to put PDF's in iBooks.

[Shecky]

Let's get back to staying on-topic as defined by the OP, shall we? I think we've all (myself definitely included) strayed off-topic too long; a netbook/laptop is definitely what he'll be wanting within the parameters that he's set.

[Korwin]

I beg to differ. I have a Kindle DX, which is just fine for reading my roleplay PDFs, graphics heavy or otherwise.
It does have difficulty with the rare PDF, but the DFRPG ones read and display just fine.
Oh, and the battery lasts a week and a half of daily use if the 3G wireless isn't switched on

Funny I was looking at the Kindle DX and wanted to post/ask how good you can read RPG-PDF's on it. 

Thanks.

So I'm thinking about buying one, Amazon says up to 3.500 books. How much is that in MB/GB? (Since PDF's are way bigger than *.epub Format...)
Can you upgrade the memory with an SD-disk or somesuch?

[Shecky]

Some readers take SD cards and the like for expanded memory capacity; look at the specs for readers that interest you to see if they do.

[Ravangames]

Let's get back to staying on-topic as defined by the OP, shall we? I think we've all (myself definitely included) strayed off-topic too long; a netbook/laptop is definitely what he'll be wanting within the parameters that he's set.

Fine.     However the OP has not stated his price range yet, so we really cannot give him a big picture.  there might be an E-Reader out there that is in his price range.

I kind of like the fact that people have been giving 1st hand opinions on devices they have used for PDF reading even if it is out the the price range of the OP.

[svb1972]

I've tried reading RPG pdfs on the Sony Reader Touch.  And the problem I run into is that no matter what I do, I can't 'zoom' very effectively so I'm stuck reading a full page on my screen.  The screen is 6" display.  An RPG book is usually 9-12" diagonal reading space.  So it's really TINY.

The Kindle (regular) does basically the samething.

[Starbeam]

I've tried reading RPG pdfs on the Sony Reader Touch.  And the problem I run into is that no matter what I do, I can't 'zoom' very effectively so I'm stuck reading a full page on my screen.  The screen is 6" display.  An RPG book is usually 9-12" diagonal reading space.  So it's really TINY.

The Kindle (regular) does basically the samething.

I have the Kindle 2, and I wouldn't even attempt putting the DFRPG pdfs on there.  I only have one since the update to make pdfs readable, and I have to change the orientation from portrait to landscape to make the font readable because it doesn't let me change the font size.  Could possibly be something with the file, but it's so much trouble I haven't tried any others. 

From what I've seen of any other ereader, they're all comparable to the Kindle 2 in size, other than the DX which was made more for pdf and newspaper reading.  Other than that, I think the only other comparable type things are what everyone else has said--laptop, netbook, and iPad.  So nothing really cheap.  Oh, and the 16G wifi iPad is relative in price to the DX--both just under $500.

[Shecky]

Fine.     However the OP has not stated his price range yet

He certainly has, as regards the price of the iPad. So we can assume that $500 is definitely too much, and we can work well below that, shall we? While avoiding (yet again) the iPad and other things that are in that price range?

Folks, if we want to discuss the iPad or anything else outside what the OP is asking for, let's make another thread.

[svb1972]

And I think we've stated that no E-Reader will fit the bill for his price range.

Basically sounds like his price range is roughly $300.
This means that his only real option is a cheap netbook.

[Shecky]

And I think we've stated that no E-Reader will fit the bill for his price range.

Basically sounds like his price range is roughly $300.
This means that his only real option is a cheap netbook.

Right. Which is why I was responding to posts continuing to talk about the iPad and other things in that price range. And $300 is not necessarily a cheap netbook. You can get pretty good ones for that price if you're patient, do the research and watch a few good websites for sales/discounts/price reductions, especially tigerdirect.com and newegg.com. I particularly like and respect those two.