Technical Content on the eSlick Reader

A while back Dave Thomas wrote about the state of technical content and ebooks. He provided several screenshots of a sample book on the Kindle. Sadly, the device didn’t hold up too well and it looks like version 2 isn’t much better.

The problem, at least for me, is that most of the content I would like to read on an E Ink device is in PDF format. The Kindle doesn’t natively support the display of PDFs. Instead, you have to first go through their conversion process which can clip and distort the information you’re trying to see. Other devices, like the Sony eReader, can read PDFs natively. However, the software doesn’t seem to be getting much praise. The Iliad eReader seems to have much better support, but it comes at a steep price of $700.

The eSlick Reader, on the other hand, was made for displaying PDFs. I haven’t actually seen the device, but given Foxit’s track record I have high hopes. As such, I recently emailed their support and asked them to provide some pictures of the same PDF that Dave Thomas tested with the Kindle:

As you can see, the device handles the document well. The source code doesn’t get clipped, the small text is readable, and the images look pretty decent. Now, there are some disadvantages. The device is quite basic. It doesn’t have any wireless support and the MP3 player seems like more of a gimmic than a useful addition. However, for $259 the eSlick looks like one of the best options out there for reading technical PDFs away from the computer.