Despite the title I’ve given this post, it should be considered Paperback Book Versus 7″ Tablet, Part Two (see Part One).
Steve “Chippy” Paine of Carrypad did a live video review of the HTC Flyer 7″ Android tablet this afternoon.
And he tested the Google Books PDF I always use — Success: A Novel [Google Books; Google Docs] — in both Adobe Reader X and in the PDF Viewer that is bundled with the Flyer.
Results after the break.
With both programs, rendering each page took about a second or so, but with Adobe Reader X it looked slower.
Adobe Reader X
Paging with Adobe Reader X is done by swiping horizontally, right to left.
Zooming via pinch-out/in was a miserable experience, with it being both laggy and sometimes totally unresponsive!
PDF Viewer
With the PDF Viewer that is pre-installed on the Flyer, navigating through pages is done like a scroll, with a swipe from bottom to top.
Zooming via pinch-out/in was snappy and responsive. I was actually impressed, especially after the horrible performance from Adobe Reader X.
Chippy said the PDF Viewer icon looks like it’s a Foxit product. But the Foxit site has no mention of any such Android PDF reader.
I was very impressed by the entire review of the HTC Flyer. I was never keen on the feel, slabby design, or lackluster screen of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The HTC Flyer seems to be superior in every way.
A US$499 pricetag is very hard to justify, though. Especially since that’s the price of a WiFi-only version — minus the Magic Pen at Best Buy. The Magic Pen is another $80 expense — and it’s needed because that’s the only way to take a screensnap! An unlocked GSM 3G Samsung Galaxy Tab is also US$499.
And then, of course, there’s the 8.9″ HP TouchPad that starts at US$499 too for a WiFi-only model. But I really shouldn’t compare an 8.9″ screen to a 7″ one, since portability is also valuable.
More for me to think about now.
If you haven’t been tuning in to these live reviews, you’re missing the hottest tech ticket in town — for free! They’re in-depth with a chatroom where live questions can be asked. Follow @chippy and @carrypad on Twitter to be notified. YouTube videos of portions of this live session — and other ones — are now available here.
In the meantime, here is a video done separate from the live review that shows a brief demonstration of the included PDF Viewer with the test Google Books PDF. The PDF Viewer demo begins at about 3:33 in (stay tuned afterwards for the customized pen-enabled Kobo eBook app!).
Previously here:
Paperback Book Versus 7″ Tablet, Part One
Size Comparison: Kindle 3 Vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab
PDF And ePub On Asus Eee Note
eInk Nook Reading Google Books PDF
Mass Market Paperback Vs. Tablets
Photo: Samsung Galaxy Tab Vs. NookColor
More PDF Action On Rooted NookColor
Video: PDF And ePub On Archos 101 Android Tablet
Google Books PDF On Rooted NookColor
NookColor Handling Office Files
Google Books PDF Smackdown: NookColor Vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab Vs. iPad
Kobo Reader Vs. Mass-Market Paperback
Mike Cane’s xBlog 
Thanks for the mention Mike.
The Pen section of the live session is now available on YouTube.
https://www.foxitsoftware.com/products/sdk/embedded/android.php
Foxit Confirms HTC Flyer Uses Foxit PDF Core Technology
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/announcements/201105175606.html
Great! Thanks for the link.
In case anyone was wondering how to share those annotated PDFs…You have to get a file manager (like ASTRO for example) to find the PDF on your device and then send via e-mail. Once a file manager is installed, you can attach from GMail app too, it’ll prompt you. Or of course open up the file manager itself to then send a file via GMail app (up to you, either way same result).
The really cool thing is, your scribble/annotations/highlighting is NOT flattened when you just “save” the PDF. You CAN flatten it if you wanted, but a normal save keeps everything layered. So when you open up that PDF on a desktop computer, you can remove and edit those markings you made with the magic pen.
I’m just using Adobe’s free PDF viewer…If there’s a different program for your desktop computer maybe that then can toggle show/hide those extra layers with annotations (or if Adobe’s viewer can do it) then that would be even cooler! But I imagine you can always save down the original un-marked version too.