Clie as full-screen (320x480) PDF reader

[dex]

Is it good enough for comfortable reading of large manuals and tech. documentation (as a permanent PDF storage/reading solution)?
What reader software is would you recommend?
Any comments would be very much appreciated! TIA!

dex from Holland

[n2ifp]

RepliGo, very nice, requires conversion, included on desktop.

Picsel, native document viewer.

[hansschmucker]

Isilo, since RepliGO has problems with huge documents and so has Picsel.

Generally, it all depends of the source formating. If it's just like a book with a standard formating, look for an ebook reader like isilo. You will loose some formating info, but it will generally be more readable.

If you've got big tables and such stuff, you need a Postscript reader like Repligo or Picsel

[michael1960]

For viewing PDF files I would tend to recommend RepliGO. I checked out both RepliGO and the Acrobat Reader for Palm OS.I converted a PDF document of about 400 A4 pages for my test.

Acrobat Reader has the advantage of being Freeware and it recognizes certain details of the document structure. I.e. you can use the table of contents and jump directly to the chapters and pages from there. First you have to use a special Desktop software to convert the PDF document into something that is readable for the Acrobat Reader for Palm OS. It takes quite a while and to my surprise the resulting document was bigger than the original document. Viewing the document on the NX70 is a bit slow and it cannot make use of the 320x480 resolution.

RepliGO works a bit differently. To convert a PDF file, you just open it with the Acrobat Reader on your PC and then print it to a "virtual printer" which is actually a software that converts the document for RepliGO. I found the resulting files to be smaller than the original PDFs. When viewing the files on the NX70 there was an initial delay when RepliGO loads them from the Memory Stick. Afterwards viewing is fast. You can use the full 320x480 resolution, switch to landscape, see a whole page, zoom in or change to flowing text etc.

RepliGO has the advantage that you can basically view every type of document on your PC as long as you have the required reader on your PC and it supports printing. :)

[aenox]

I know this is slightly off topic but for somereason I cannot post a new thread.

Is it possbile to use the Adobe eBook reader on a clié. Adobe has quite possibly the greatest collection of eBooks on the market... that is, new books that are recently released. Is it possible to find a palm version of their reader. Or can the pdf's be converted so that they can be viewed on a clie, keeping in mind that it is an ebook pdf so i do not believe it is the same file type.

[pcolin]

REPLIGO is definitively a very nice choice, if you know the following :
- To install RepliGo, your PC needs to have a LPT1 port. That seems obvious but I have a tiny A5 Fujitsu laptop without LPT1 printer port (USB only) so I can not install RepliGo. Works fine on my desktop though
- Advantage is you use Repligo as a printer : you just print your document on Repligo. But your document printing setup shouldn't not be scaled (typical case on Excel when one zoom in or out to fit the doc on one page) Best then is to print it fist on Acrobat then on Repligo.
Beside the above Repligo is great : I have tranfered about 2000 pages of technical documentation, a 3 kg package when carried as a binder !!!

[nx70]

How do you get iSilo to read pdf? Natively or is there a converter out?

[turcic.com]

So far only with converters. Check here for an ongoing discussion:
http://www.turcic.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=478

[SwissDan]

hey, THE PICSEL VIEWER just does THAT !!!! you can install it and... voilà !!!

[dex]

Is Picsel viewer factory pre-installed on the NX or included on the Clie CD?

Is there any PDF reading solution pre-installed on NX, so I can try it in the store?

Thanks a lot for your answers!
dex

[pcolin]

Picsel is pre-installed on the NZ (or on the CD), not on the NX (not pre-installed neither on the CD)

[nx70]

To turcic.com:
thanx for the help.
I was on vacation some days over easter.
Happy easter to everybody as well!

[Chanbingo]

MobiPocket is also a nice reader.

You can convert most of the PC docs using the Mobipocket Puplisher, I haven't tried convertion PDF files though.

Supports HiRes screens

Chan

[McGus]

Originally posted by pcolin
REPLIGO is definitively a very nice choice, if you know the following :
- To install RepliGo, your PC needs to have a LPT1 port. That seems obvious but I have a tiny A5 Fujitsu laptop without LPT1 printer port (USB only) so I can not install RepliGo. Works fine on my desktop though



I have a solution for people with subnotebooks and ultraportables that don't have hardware LPT ports, and are running Windows 98SE or ME:

I was able to use a Keyspan "Mini Port Replicator" model UPR-112 connected to the USB port on my Sony Vaio PCG-SR17 to provide an LPT port which would allow the Repligo installer to complete its setup. The Targus port replicators did not work because of the way they implement the software LPT port. The Keyspan product added the port differently, and LPT1 is actually shown in the Device Manager with real LPT1 resource properties; not just a spoofed port.

I hope this helps someone. Pcolin: you can put Repligo on your Fujitsu now!

Cheers
McGus

P.S. My first post. I was waiting until I had something to give back to all of you who have solved so many of my problems without even knowing it.

[Eclipse]

Picsel all the way! Works most excellent on my NX-60.

[pcolin]

Originally posted by McGus



I have a solution for people with subnotebooks and ultraportables that don't have hardware LPT ports, and are running Windows 98SE or ME:

I was able to use a Keyspan "Mini Port Replicator" model UPR-112 connected to the USB port on my Sony Vaio PCG-SR17 to provide an LPT port which would allow the Repligo installer to complete its setup. The Targus port replicators did not work because of the way they implement the software LPT port. The Keyspan product added the port differently, and LPT1 is actually shown in the Device Manager with real LPT1 resource properties; not just a spoofed port.

I hope this helps someone. Pcolin: you can put Repligo on your Fujitsu now!

Cheers
McGus

P.S. My first post. I was waiting until I had something to give back to all of you who have solved so many of my problems without even knowing it.

Hey thanks ! I'll see if I can find that where I live, in Japan :)

[pcolin]

Originally posted by Eclipse
Picsel all the way! Works most excellent on my NX-60.

How does Picsel work ? You have to go through a converter or do you just transfer you PDF to your MS ?

[Eclipse]

Drag-and-Drop, thats the beauty of it. Also, if you are viewing it in your browser and you have your clie mounted as a drive you can "save as" directly to your ms.

[pcolin]

OK, but where can you get it from ?

Picsel site does not over any download or purchase.... Neither does Palmgear.

[benixau]

anyone willing to zip u the copy from an NZ90 CD for us?? Maybe just send us the PRC file or something like that.

how bout you post in the NZ90 forum and see what happens. I don't mind just trying to help with a solution.
<begin sarcasm> I dont need a viewer like this, i use my AUD1349 NX70 just as an address book </end sarcasm>

[papa_picsel]

Originally posted by pcolin
OK, but where can you get it from ?

Picsel site does not over any download or purchase.... Neither does Palmgear.

You can buy the Japanese version from Sony.

[n2ifp]

You can try RepliGo, very nice HiRes+ viewer for all kinds of documents. See the link below for samples.

http://www.cerience.com/samples/index.htm

[gyffes]

I like Mobipocket largely because of the ability to switch to landscape mode. Not many programs read in landscape mode -- and with our 480 screens, it's a shame that more programs (HINT FREEEKIN' HINT, iSilo and Handstory) don't allow switching to landscape.

Mobi's also nice if you have purchased the office companion, which allows for amazingly fast translation of MSWord (or any HTML'd doc) files.

[pcolin]

Originally posted by n2ifp
You can try RepliGo, very nice HiRes+ viewer for all kinds of documents. See the link below for samples.

http://www.cerience.com/samples/index.htm
I HAVE RepliGo ;) See earlier posts. The only problem I have with Repligo is I can not install it on my subnotebook since there is no LPT1 port... But I got some help on this issue as well. Actually there is another problem with Repligo on my system : when I print on Repligo from Acrobat, once the file is generated Acrobat won't respond anymore. I have to terminate it and start it again. It is not a major issue for me as I do not generate new files everyday but am I the only one with that problem ?

[pcolin]

OK I can buy Picsel from SonyStyle, but I'd like a trial first ! Has anyone been tested both Repligo and Picsel ? What about the time to generate the files and the size of them then ?

[apccpe]

As a reply to this thread i could say that from my point of vue picsel is the best reader i've seen on my clie. May be there is memory limitations to open some huge documents but the program graphics are very nice and designed for the clie's (and their price).

Personaly i've got a nx70v, i found picsel on the internet from a TG50 (works better) and put it in ram with mcfile.

I didn't buy it ok, but i explain myself : when i see the price i paid for my nx70v, the possibility for the new models to have picsel, the ability of the nx70v to have picsel installed without any problems, i can't understand with sony didn't proposed as an upgrade a program that seems essentials actually for the users. I always bought each programs i was using, as a respect for programmers. But i have not that kind of respect with the commercial politic of sony : just think about the CF driver you have to buy. And About picsel, even if i must admit their program is very well done, i think it is unbelievable to see that they don't propose a demo of their software. May be they earned enought money with sony ?

[pcolin]

Bon on peut continuer en francais, non ?

Le fait EST que tu as copie illegalement une propriete intellectuelle ! OK, le NX70 n'est pas une machine bon marche mais Sony livre ses Clies avec la meilleure offre logicielle du marche. Les Palms n'ont pas autant de softs sur leurs CDs !!!

Finalement je n'ai pas de reponse a ma question, ou plutot je crains d'etre amene a faire comme toi : copier Picsel quelque part pour faire un essai. C'est le comble...

[gyffes]

C'est amusant que tu veut parler francais de japan sur un "board" americain...

Et je trouve le NX70 (et aussi le NX60) tres bien marche, merci beaucoup.

[apccpe]

Oui moi au moins je suis honnete avec les gens (au moins ca hein !)

[nx70]

Messieurs, est-ce vous peut parlez/ ercrie on l'anglais? C'est t'un board americaine, au fond on parle l'anglais, comprenez vous?
merci.

[pcolin]

Originally posted by nx70
Messieurs, est-ce vous peut parlez/ ercrie on l'anglais? C'est t'un board americaine, au fond on parle l'anglais, comprenez vous?
merci.
Jahwoll mein herr !;)
Your right ! Will do from now on. For the one who wants to write in french, may be the use of private message is the best !

[pcolin]

Originally posted by apccpe
Oui moi au moins je suis honnete avec les gens (au moins ca hein !)
Well, looks like we'd better keep on in english.
Honest with people, not with the law !
Back to the subject : would be great to be able to test Picsel but apparently it is not possible. Bottom line is people like me went to RepliGo... Too bad for Picsel.
Repligo is fast enough, files are reasonnably compact, and functions are convenient : zoom, text "flow" for easy reading,... I wonder what are the avantage of Picsel versus Repligo. Again, if somebody had the chace to test both I'd love to get an opinion.

[pcolin]

Originally posted by gyffes
I like Mobipocket largely because of the ability to switch to landscape mode. Not many programs read in landscape mode -- and with our 480 screens, it's a shame that more programs (HINT FREEEKIN' HINT, iSilo and Handstory) don't allow switching to landscape.

Mobi's also nice if you have purchased the office companion, which allows for amazingly fast translation of MSWord (or any HTML'd doc) files.
RepliGo does offer lanscape as well...

[Eddy]

Originally posted by pcolin
OK I can buy Picsel from SonyStyle, but I'd like a trial first ! Has anyone been tested both Repligo and Picsel ? What about the time to generate the files and the size of them then ?

There's a link where you can download it from, not sure if it's still active. http://leggnet.com/clie/pics.zip (get it while you still can, it's an English Version of it). I have it running great on my NX, but since I use Japanese OS, still searching for somebody who is kind enough to get me the complete package. :)

P.S. I should've paid more attention during my 4 years of French course in High School! :D

[Eddy]

complete package in Japanese that is. :D

[pcolin]

Originally posted by gyffes
C'est amusant que tu veut parler francais de japan sur un "board" americain...

Et je trouve le NX70 (et aussi le NX60) tres bien marche, merci beaucoup.

Merci. Was just answering to a post from France, but got my finger tipped : looks like french (fries ?) is unwanted here, so I switch back to english. Frankly, quite normal on this board.

Isn't the NX70 a great machine ? I love it, especially since I got the CF driver : a 512mb CF card filled-up with MP3 and e-books. The ONLY way to commute decently:)

[Eddy]

Originally posted by pcolin
Isn't the NX70 a great machine ? I love it, especially since I got the CF driver : a 512mb CF card filled-up with MP3 and e-books. The ONLY way to commute decently

yeah, I love my NX, with all the things it can do, it's second to none. The CF driver was a breakthrough as well! I use CF card more often than I do with my Wireless Lan card. :D

[pcolin]

Originally posted by Eddy
complete package in Japanese that is. :D
Thanks. Got it downloaded and I shall try it asap. Got a Japanese NX as well.
What kind of clips are you playing ? I got some Friends and Seinfeld clips on Xolox and it works OK. Wouldn't say great but I think the origianl file I downloaded are not of excellent quality. Too bad becaue I think those type of series are perfect for being watched on a small screen : mostly inside scenes, and actors close-up plan,... Won't even try Starwars on my NX, and movie trailers are boring.

[Eddy]

Originally posted by pcolin
Thanks. Got it downloaded and I shall try it asap.
......and movie trailers are boring.

tres bien..., reading the previous posts got me thinking about going for some revision on my French. :D Why? I actually understood some of them! :D
Well good that you got the original version of the Picsel Viewer in time, save yourself some money. heheheh
You might need another application called McFile to install the PicselViewer into the RAM, that you can just grab off the internet.
The *.zip file you got consist of 2 different version I think, I've installed the TG version & is working normally, though I can't read other documents other than English, would like to read Japanese docs too.

Trailers..... hmmm.. I have a few of them running in my NX, well, I do have to admit that they're only good for a short time, just waiting to go into the waste bin once outdated. But I do keep the MatrixReloaded trailer, & some MTVs from my CDs (one of them is a Korean Clip, mini MTV story), I like to have visual & sound over just music alone. :D

I've got the Animatrix DVD set (9 episode of animated series). Don't ask me how I got it, just help from a good friend. So I used VirtualDub & got one of the episodes "Final Flight of the Osiris" (a complete CG based mini story) in my NX running off the CF in HighQuality Mode. :D really nice as a WOW factor!

Also some Japanese racing clips I got off a few VCDs of mine, you should know how crazy they're with car modification & racing movies... you're located in Japan. :)

[nx70]

pcolin: Nande? Domo arigato.
Wasn't there a thread dealing with a Picsel version for the NX?
I downloaded a Picsel version from Hansschmucker. Thanx to you. But unfortunately my NX doesn't recognize it. And does not list it.

[Eddy]

Originally posted by nx70
But unfortunately my NX doesn't recognize it. And does not list it.

nx70, so you still don't have PicselViewer working in your NX? Do a BACKUP!!! then install it with McFile, that's what I used, also I got the same file off Hansschmucker myself. All you need to copy into RAM are 3 files only (I know they come in 5 but doesn't matter).

Picsel Viewer.prc
Picsel Viewer Core.prc
English Language Pack.prc

I've read posts with users able to run it off PowerRUN but then it seems that PowerRUN suggest to have "document readers" applications to be in RAM becoz of probable system error.

reason for the backup is for the safe side, after you install the PicselView icon should show up. otherwise give it a soft-reset. I've done it several time with install & un-install just 2 days ago, because I was trying to get a Japanese version to work but then failed. oh well.

Oh also use the TG version, that seems to be better. (personally)

[nx70]

I have tried both. But when installed it is fixed in RAM and can't be deleted, without a hard reset. Also a debug reset doesn't work(hard up key pressed). I made a backup for security reasons (BTW I make a backup every 2nd day- you never know).

I give up now..
Thanx for your help. Maybe it is because of a multi-language version like mine??

[Eddy]

err.... nx70 did you say multi-language ver? you meant your NX or the PicselViewer? If you're talking about the PicselViewer I'd surely like to try that out. :D

[nx70]

Ähem, nope. I meant my Clié. Sry.

[Eclipse]

Whats the difference between the tg version and the nz? can the tg version have the silkscreen minimized?

[Eddy]

Actually it's just personal preference with the NZ/TG PicselViewer.

there isn't much difference between the two, just the package from the NZ has wierd filenames (eg.. English%01Pack.prc) whereas on the TG series the filenames looks more decent (eg. EnglishLanguagePack.prc)

[wyattwong]

Eclipse, how do you make Picsel works in your NX60 ? I want to get it for my NX70V

[wyattwong]

I finally get Picsel Viewer downloaded to my NX70V, however I found that sometimes clicking on the cube icon on the lower right corner has no effect (the cube icon seems not responding) and I have to go back to Home and then start Picsel Viewer again. Anyone has such problems ?

[Eddy]

cube icon on the lower right corner has no effect

yes, this happens to me sometimes, exactly the same. I just activate the Virtual Graff writing area then hide it back then the cude icon works again. Don't know if this has any difference since I use the TG version. :D

[wyattwong]

I also used the TG version. It seems to be a "bug" in TG version ?

[Eddy]

that's what I thought myself too. but hey, it's free so what can I expect? :D Or perhaps will test the NZ files, but I'm still trying to look for a Japanese version myself. :D

PS. nice to see somebody living in HK :D

[wyattwong]

I found that reading a document is not so easy, need to adjust a suitable zoom window and pan left, pan right all the time when reading the words from left to right.

I learnt a lot of tips and tricks from this forum even after joining for a few days. I LOVE Sony CLIE and this forum !