What's the best way to read/study scientific pdfs or textbooks? (Paper, tablet, hybrid, laptop, desktop)

In My Humble Opinion
1

For me, paper is the hands down favorite. I can skim an article on the desktop but if I want to read for comprehension and drill down into the granular details, nothing beats paper and pencil.

Laptops are superior to desktops. Tablets are approximately equal to laptops. I’ve never tried to annotate a .pdf as far as I recall. I’ve never worked with a modern stylus.

Ok, say there’s an article you would like to understand and even mark up or take notes on, but it’s not important enough to print out? What’s the best device, software, and wetware approach/system?

In 2016 I bought an iPad Air 2 with the intention of reading .pdfs on it. The device has been fun, but I rarely read pdfs with it, mostly due to its lame file management and difficulty with moving files to and from my Windows desktop. Admittedly, while I have multiple computers and devices (Windows, linux, and the iPad), I don’t have a home network. I probably should.

I’m thinking of purchasing a used Microsoft Surface. I’m hoping that the touchscreen will help with notation. I’m hoping for fast internet browsing and easy saving into a hierarchical file management system (like eg Microsoft’s File Explorer). I’d like to experiment with a stylus. I hope that the OS will play nice with my desktop, should I ever bite the bullet and set up my home network. Maybe it could even work with my printer. But there’s probably a good case for the far cheaper Google Pixel Tablet (now $380) or the $670 Samsung Galaxy Tab S9. Or maybe a $1200 Samsung hybrid tablet, or a used version of its predecessor.

So… how do you read something that you really have to study? Some people can do that on a desktop, but I find I cannot.

2

So, you do not need any electronics at all if you have it on paper, except to print it out in the first place.

If you prefer to save trees, one can buy e-ink tablets, eg

is pretty good.

3

Remarkable is certainly a contender, though it is black and white only. Reddit says that it’s a little slow with hundred page pdfs. Also:

Reading standard, two-column research papers on A4 size on Remarkable 2 is a frustrating experience. The fonts are too small in portrait mode, forcing you to zoom in. But then, zooming makes it impossible to see the whole page at once. The screen is simply too small for these large PDFs with dense texts.

Remarkable 2 is great for a paper-like reading and annotating experience with A4 PDFs. It’s good for notes but not ideal for text-heavy docs due to its annotation style.

I read and annotate PDFs every workday— academic journal articles and manuscripts. My view is that while it is technically possible to do this on the RM2, it is time-intensive and frustrating. Therefore, it isn’t the device for me for this purpose. I’m waiting to check out the second generation of the Supernote A5X. For now, I’ve returned to my Sony DPT-RPT, for which I have a new appreciation having tried the RM2.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/1bgvmtn/how_good_is_remarkable_2_at_reading_and/

4

I will say, IMHO a nicely printed document is produced at a resolution of 1200 dpi or even 2400 dpi at least. 600 dpi we can regard as some sort of cheapish laser-printer standard.

A lot of those devices, including the Remarkable 2, are below 300 dpi.

5

If I was only reading and taking notes ONCE, paper is king for me, but for anything more than about 10-15 pages, it gets tedious fast.

A tablet, ideally with a stylus and Bluetooth keyboard (or a 2-in-1) would be my first choice for any larger document.

Step by step - if I find a term of the art present I didn’t know, or a link to a secondary article, being able to pull it up immediately (especially if it’s a cellular enabled LTE/5G tablet) is a huge help. Second, with a BT keyboard or 2-in-1 I can type faster than I can write, and more legibly if taking notes. Plus, I can bookmark/highlight sections for easy cross referral. Lastly, being able to do a search is immensely helpful.

Lastly, I can save all of this work on the file to google drive, and then access it whenever and wherever I need it, my phone, the tablet, my desktop, etc. Don’t ask me how often I left a printed copy of some document behind!

ETA - once you know what you want exactly feature wise, it’ll be easier to advise on the right hardware and OS. But if you want seamless integration with Windows (hinted at above), you’re going to be looking at Surface, which is generally a premium product even used.

But if it was me, I’d probably go with a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9FE, $380-$450 range which should be more than enough power, comes with an S-Pen, and easy to get accessories (like a BT keyboard/case combo) for. More than sufficient power, battery life, RAM and storage for the purposes you mention.

Model with or without LTE/5G being a choice for you and probably an additional expense (monthly data plan with carrier) you may not need for your usage.

6

I strongly prefer paper and texts, at least for initial reading. I’ll annotate physical papers, and even though I don’t typically mark in texts (unless I buy a second, cheap paperback copy for that purpose) I can put book arrows and sticky notes to reference back to particular points. While you can technically do that on PDFs, it just doesn’t flow as well. I end up reviewing a lot of papers in PDF and I honestly find that after a few pages I start glossing over paragraphs or spend a lot of time flipping back and forth, whereas with a paper copy I’ll read the first couple of pages with the abstract and introduction, put it down for a few minutes, come back and read the subsequent pages with the first pages just to the side for reference and start to make notes. I just don’t have that flow with electronic documents.

For texts, some PDFs and especially ebook versions often have difficulty with formatting equations and figures, and on top of that there is always the temptation to go look something up in another browser window and fall down a rabbit hole of research instead of just reading the entire paper first and then identifying areas where I need more background or depth. I have shelves of texts–some of them quite expensive and difficult to find in print–which I could get for free on the internet, except I’ll never devote the time and attention to actually read them because they aren’t in a stack of “To Read” books.

Electronic versions are great for searching and clipping figures, and I appreciate it when a publisher will offer both, but I’ve I’m reading the material for the first time I’d much prefer a hardcopy.

Stranger

7

Stranger makes a valid point, and it turns the question back to the OP. @Measure_for_Measure mentioned being unable to do such work from a desktop, but able to do so from a laptop or tablet. Is it the distraction? The form factor? The lack of a stylus option? Eyestrain?

The only specific they mention is the struggle with Apple’s file management, including transferring files back and forth to Windows (thus my comment about the Surface in my prior post) and wanting to try a stylus (still think a BT keyboard is better for me at least).

There are a lot of factors where only they know themselves.

8

I use an ereader, the Boox Max 2 (13 inch), which uses a stylus. I find it quite comfortable for PDF reading/annotating, including export of notes. File management is more obvious than with Apple iPad, it is an Android device.
It is slightly slow for turning pages, it appears that the successor (Tab X) is better in that respect (newer CPU).

9

It’s a matter of speculation even for me, but I’ve noticed this for decades now. The go-to explanation is resolution, but most of it I think is tactile. In practice the desktop monitor is further away than my laptop or tablet, and I’m not handling it as much. There’s something about a book or printout that’s easier to focus on, and I get some of that on a laptop or tablet. Annotation is also an issue, something I don’t do electronically, but might do with a stylus.

I start glossing very quickly on my desktop. I’m not entirely sure why, but that’s my core problem. This is fine for news, but not something I really want to study. I anticipate continuing to use paper, but there are some middle cases where I currently use a laptop without a touchscreen and am thinking that a tablet might work better.

10

A Microsoft Surface IS a PC in every sense of the word. It runs plain ordinary Windows 10 or 11 just like your PC does. Its OS will play nice with any/everything an ordinary Windows PC will play nice with because that’s exactly what it is.

I’ve owned a series of Surfaces since the early days when that wasn’t quite true. But any Surface new enough to be able to be bought used nowadays is just a touchscreen-equipped laptop PC in a smaller, more portable form factor.

The Surface Pro 7 I’m typing on is several years old now, came with Win10 and now runs Win11. Easy peasy. Zero learning curve.

Can highly recommend and have done so many times in various threads.

11

For pleasure reading, you’ll get my hardcopy books when you pry them out of my cold, dead fingers. But for technical reading, there are just too many advantages to electronic formats. You can follow links, or zoom in on diagrams, or copy-and-paste, or have animations, and so on. Not to mention that electronic is the only way to get a lot of these things in the first place, so getting a paper copy requires extra steps, and it’s also a lot easier to keep a folder full of relevant papers on your computer than cluttering up your desk.

12

Based on @Measure_for_Measure’s discussion and uncertainty about the why’s of not using a desktop, I’m going to strongly suggest staying or starting with one of the less expensive options, such as the Samsung Tablet I mentioned. Just because I don’t want you to end up with a $700 plus solution which may not work for you (and even the one I mentioned may be a pricey experiment. Perhaps go to a Best Buy, or other Retail outlet with tablets on display to get hands on first?

Still, as I mentioned, and @LSLGuy also endorsed, you’re going to be hard-pressed to beat the integration of a Surface with your current comfort with the Windows OS. Just you’ll pay something of a premium for it.

13

For the last 20+ years, I have been the TeX editor of an online journal and find it easiest to have one window open to the pfd file and a second open to the tex (source) file. When I want to make a change, I edit the latter and recompile and see how the pdf looks. The Adobe reader does not permit this, so I use something called SumatraPDF as my reader.

Even for reading papers in general, I find reading the pdf file satisfactory. If I want to make notes, I do it on paper or load a text file for the purpose.

14

You can get real nice refurb Surfaces from a gen or two ago on Amazon for not much money. I have bought some of mine new, but most of mine as refurbs.

15

The papers I review these days are only six pages, so I read the pdfs on my laptop - but that is because it is plugged into a large monitor, which makes things so much easier. I make notes in a separate Word document.
The proof of my column comes to me as a pdf, and I’ve become good at correcting it by annotating the pdf. The proof our our book did also, and we pretty much had to annotate in pdf. I didn’t find it a problem. However we also printed a copy of the proof, because we discovered that we found errors in the printed version we didn’t notice in the pdf version.
I have a tablet which I use for contest books, some of which come as pdfs. But I seldom use it otherwise. Just not as friendly as a big screen.
I much prefer paper for technical books, but I don’t read many of them anymore.

16

Worthwhile to note, again, for anyone following along, is that I’d absolutely recommend one of the modern 10" or larger screened tablets for this. The smaller e-reader, or 8" tablets, are, of course, fine, depending on your needs, but especially if you’re used to printed out 8.5 x 11 papers, the larger screen is going to be a big help.

17

We’re all not getting younger, and zoomable larg(er) print is a real boon. As long as your screen is big enough to accommodate it.

18

I’ll probably be buying this device in September, but FWIW I’m currently gravitating to keyboard + 12" android tablet. I’ll make detailed comparisons, starting with Wirecutter and working from there.

What device do you use for electronic reading? Laptop, tablet, hybrid, or desktop?

I read books that I’m not studying on paper, iPad, Fire, and cell phone. Electronic reading for comprehension is mostly done on my laptop.

19

I can’t stand doing anything more than a quick Google on a phone screen, and I don’t have a tablet, because “too big to fit in a pocket, but still not full-sized” is the unhappy medium for me, so laptop or desktop. And in practice, most of the laptops I’ve had have spent most of their time just sitting on my desk.

20

I need paper hardcopy for serious study. That’s an absolute necessity for math or science.

I’m ok with light reading on a tablet or kindle. I use a Kindle frequently for mysteries and fiction.