Author Topic: eBook Reader alternate to Acrobat? (Read 25526 times)

siouxdax · « **on:** March 06, 2009, 05:25 AM »

Hello all:
Well here I am again, looking to you for some suggestions. I have Adobe Acrobat Professional, and I do a lot of reading PDF files. I'm wondering if there is another PDF reader out there that is more streamlined, slick and easy to use. I really have no problem with Acrobat, but it takes a while to load and can sometimes be sluggish. One thing I adore about Acrobat is the ability to correct the pagination (one of my pet-peeves), but other times it can be a real pain. For example, a lot of PDFs I open ignore my default view settings. I would love to have one of those Amazon Kindles, but there's no way in hell I could shell out the dough for that one. The more I think about it, though, maybe Acrobat is the best thing out there, but I would love to hear what you all have to say about this topic. I spend so much time reading PDFs that I now require an app that makes me smile every time I open it. LOL

As usual, any comments/suggestions, etc are very much appreciated.

bgd77 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 06, 2009, 06:16 AM »

A good place to start is this:

http://www.techsuppo...adobe-pdf-reader.htm

I have no experience other pdf file readers, but you could try those mentioned there, to see if you like one of them.

justice · « **Reply #2 on:** March 06, 2009, 06:35 AM »

Ipod Touch with the Kindle application.

gpetrant · « **Reply #3 on:** March 06, 2009, 08:21 AM »

Foxit rules, dude: http://www.download....2079_4-10313206.html

wraith808 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 06, 2009, 08:38 AM »

Now that I have an iPhone, I use Stanza and Kindle for iPhone.

With Stanza, you can also get eReader format books from Fictionwise. They have a really good rewards program too!

siouxdax · « **Reply #5 on:** March 06, 2009, 09:36 AM »

Uh-oh... Foxit Reader apparently installs toolbars into your web browser; something I (and most people) detest. Yikes. Maybe Acrobat isn't so bad after all. When I open it, I keep it open if I plan on doing any reading for the day. I'll still check out some other options though.

Thanks all!

app103 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 06, 2009, 09:52 AM »

The toolbars are optional. I certainly don't have them and won't add them.

siouxdax · « **Reply #7 on:** March 06, 2009, 10:02 AM »

The toolbars are optional. I certainly don't have them and won't add them.
-app103 (March 06, 2009, 09:52 AM)

Ah. Well I skimmed over a couple of reviews and one guy was furious about the toolbar issue. He probably doesn't know how to leave a checkbox alone. I'll give it a shot!

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #8 on:** March 06, 2009, 11:02 AM »

The only thing you do have to be careful of is that some alternative PDF apps kill Adobe Acrobat Professional and you can end up in DLL hell if you are not very careful.

If you aren't going to use Acrobat any more that is OK but if you plan to use it for editing you may want to make sure you have a backup before you try and alternatives. An example of this is NitroPDF which replaces Adobe's files when you install (and doesn't put them back when you uninstall - unless they fixed them since last time I tried it). I have heard of other apps doing the same.

app103 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 06, 2009, 11:37 AM »

Foxit Reader doesn't do that and you can use the portable version if you'd like, just to make sure.

siouxdax · « **Reply #10 on:** March 06, 2009, 03:57 PM »

After trying out various options, I think that staying with Acrobat 8 Pro is best for me. I should just keep it simple and use just one program, except for when I have to deal with djvu files.

IQLover · « **Reply #11 on:** March 29, 2009, 10:11 AM »

I found this to be very useful!

Tiesenhausen · « **Reply #12 on:** March 29, 2009, 12:16 PM »

It's true, you only need to have one program to read pdf's on your computer, and that program is FoxIt. Aside from being quick, with a very small footprint, it allows you to set and manipulate bookmarks (change order, put in hierarchies, etc.), which is very useful for a big text that is consulted as a reference.

The Yahoo toolbar option is an irritant, because it's a prechecked option every time you update--you have to remember to uncheck it. So far I always have. The program itself is a jewel.

It may not be the best program for a portable device--I don't have one and can't comment.

Tiesenhausen

Doppelganger · « **Reply #13 on:** March 30, 2009, 09:42 AM »

I've used http://www.docu-trac...ge_Tools/pdfx_viewer with satisfactory results.

ewemoa · « **Reply #14 on:** March 30, 2009, 10:00 AM »

I've tried a portable version of FoxIt Reader and I nearly stayed with it. It is quite nice.

However, on starting it up, it appears to insist on setting a file association for .pdf if none is set -- and I did not find a way to get it to stop doing this. I hope there is a way...

For the moment I've decided to stick with SumatraPDF -- which does lack certain features (no text selection and the aforementioned bookmarking), but it is a better-behaved application IMHO.

Paul Keith · « **Reply #15 on:** March 30, 2009, 10:28 AM »

For reading, Foxit is too barebones and quirky for me.

Just use Adobe Lite if you don't want to do the work in configuring Adobe Pro.

wraith808 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 30, 2009, 04:22 PM »

The one thing to mention about Adobe Lite is that it *isn't* sanctioned by Adobe, but just someone that altered the installer (and doesn't say exactly what was altered). Not something that I trust, personally...

fhayes · « **Reply #17 on:** March 30, 2009, 05:56 PM »

Another vote here for PDF XChange Viewer (http://www.docu-trac...ge_Tools/pdfx_viewer). I uninstalled the bloated Adobe Reader and use this one now. I use the free version, which comes with a fantastic set of annotation tools built in that you can do markups with. Lines, arrows, shapes, stamps, highlight, strikeout, etc.. I use these a lot when corresponding with coworkers and find them to be very useful. It's also lightweight and loads up quickly.

Paul Keith · « **Reply #18 on:** March 30, 2009, 06:40 PM »

The one thing to mention about Adobe Lite is that it *isn't* sanctioned by Adobe, but just someone that altered the installer (and doesn't say exactly what was altered). Not something that I trust, personally...
-wraith808 (March 30, 2009, 04:22 PM)

True but that's also why it could be trustworthy enough. It's just basically an installer where the option to lighten it up has been tweaked for the user already as opposed to looking for instructions. As far as I know, no other tweak has been made to it so it's basically the same installer so it's as safe as the default installer. (meaning unsafe with javascript on)

In fact, it's one of the things I wanted other installers to do. It just can get annoying when you don't know how to tweak a program and no one gives you any visual cues. Also it's more practical that way.

wraith808 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 30, 2009, 08:58 PM »

But do you know exactly what he did? That's what struck me when I saw it...

Paul Keith · « **Reply #20 on:** March 30, 2009, 10:06 PM »

No but even prior to the release of this app, there were many tricks in speeding up version 8 of Adobe:

http://www.techieque...der-fast-like-foxit/

http://lifehacker.co...-reader-8-263500.php

ajp · « **Reply #21 on:** April 01, 2009, 08:57 PM »

Just a me-too:
FoxIt rules!
You must ask the intaller NOT to install the IE toolbar, or use the portable version.
FoxIt is fast, light, and doesn't look like crap at all. Just like Adobe Reader used to be before it was a 30 MB download (now it's 80+MB).

MilesAhead · « **Reply #22 on:** April 01, 2009, 10:31 PM »

I use FoxIt. I use a retro V. 2.0 from here:
http://www.oldversio...oxit-PDF-Reader.html

You can even go back to the 1.x versions. Don't know if they'll work on Vista but 2.0 works fine on both 32 bit and Vista64.

vinayakjoshi · « **Reply #23 on:** May 24, 2009, 05:14 AM »

Use the MyScribe reader - It is perfect for reading PDF ebooks.

Get it here - http://download.cnet...2125_4-10754936.html

Curt · « **Reply #24 on:** May 24, 2009, 08:11 AM »

MyScribe reader - It is perfect for reading PDF ebooks.
-vinayakjoshi (May 24, 2009, 05:14 AM)

- not without first registering for membership, it seems.
Does it even work off-line?