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every time I buy a book like a detail and scale book on amazon, they always try to get me to buy a Kindle version of it.
to me this seems really useless for a reference book that has lots of pictures. as far as I know the kindle is only in black and white and the resolution is not the best for images.

 

so has anyone actually downloaded one and have you been able to view the images? or is there another way to view them.

for something like a detail and scale book I prefer a paper copy anyway because other than setting it on fire it will always work.

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Amazon has a Kindle app for almost every platform (iOS, Android, Windows etc.) and once you buy a Kindle book, you can access it on any platform. A desktop computer with a large monitor is the best way to access illustrated reference books with many photos. I have been using Kindle for many years and can't imagine life without it, for both regular fiction/nonfiction books as well as aviation reference books.

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The images on the Kindle versions are in color and are pretty much the same resolution as the printed books. They can be zoomed in/enlarged as well. Originally all Detail & Scale did were e-books. I suggested that they do some sort of printed books again and the idea was turned down. Not long after that they started doing the print on demand format. I personally like the printed hard copies and many people that I talked to at the IPMS Nationals felt the same way. 

 

(I did a lot of their photography and wrote most of the new Hellcat book.)

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Kindle books are only as good as the scan for those not originally digital.  I am disappointed the mispellings I keep finding in Kindle books.  I suppose that's a problem with OCR when turning a scan image of a paper book in to a digitized form.

Edited by Slartibartfast
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Hello Dylan

 

I have the D&S books in Kindle format and use an android tablet and the Windows app for reading them. You will not regret it, the quality of the pictures are amazing, and you can zoom in to appreciate the details; currently, I'm reading the F-100 one in preparation for my next build and, while I read, I also highlight important facts and take notes relevant to the build, directly on the app so I can find them later.

 

D&S books are optimized for the Kindle format, but other modeling or aviation-related books may not. As Bruce mentioned before, some are scanned and don´t have the same quality; download the sample if available to know what to expect.

 

Carlos

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On 11/29/2020 at 1:07 PM, Nigel Bunker said:

When you can open 3 or more e-books simultaneously to compare the information in the books, then they will be a serious reference tool. 

 

Do you mean, like this?  You can open an unlimited number of Kindle Web sessions on your desktop computer to open and compare any number of Kindle reference books.

 

 Sorry, this was the largest monitor in the room I am working right now - I have a triple-monitor setup on my design system and regularly work with 5+ Kindle books open at the same time - merrily reading, comparing, highlighting, measuring images, copying snippets to my online note-taking apps all the time.

 

kindles.jpg

Edited by KursadA
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1 hour ago, KursadA said:

 

Do you mean, like this?  You can open an unlimited number of Kindle Web sessions on your desktop computer to open and compare any number of Kindle reference books.

 

 Sorry, this was the largest monitor in the room I am working right now - I have a triple-monitor setup on my design system and regularly work with 5+ Kindle books open at the same time - merrily reading, comparing, highlighting, measuring images, copying snippets to my online note-taking apps all the time.

 

kindles.jpg

 

That's one L O N G monitor. What size is it?

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9 minutes ago, Mstor said:

 

Nice! 16:9, great for watching movies too :thumbsup:.

 

It is actually 21:9  - I use this for drawing base profiles for decal designs, while I have a multi-monitor setup in another room for coding & decal design. The wide format makes it easier to work on aircraft side view drawings.

 

Nice for multiple Kindle books, too 🙂  Going back to the subject: you can access Kindle books on the Web using a desktop machine, and even an average sized monitor should be sufficient for keeping multiple books open for comparison, note-taking etc.

 

monitor.jpg

Edited by KursadA
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On 12/1/2020 at 4:18 PM, KursadA said:

It is actually 21:9  - I use this for drawing base profiles for decal designs, while I have a multi-monitor setup in another room for coding & decal design. The wide format makes it easier to work on aircraft side view drawings.

 

Ahhhh, yes. Says 16:9 up at the top but down where the details are listed it states 21:9.

 

I always had a dual monitor set up when I worked at home. Could have used a third one but my video card only supported two (was quite a few years ago).

 

Back to Kindle. I have one of the simple e-reader versions. I didn't think I'd like it, always preferred real books, but boy, was I converted fast. Books are cheaper, easy to read. The reader is easy to carry. I also have a Samsung Android tablet that has the reader installed, but I haven't tried using it. Thought it would be better for picture heavy references. Just haven't bought any reference books in a long time so I haven't tried it out yet.

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Books and eBooks have their pros and cons.
Kursada's example of opening lots of eBooks on one monitor isnt all that impressive because to be totally honest they are not as big as the book version would be.

On a 35" monitor you would be lucky to fit 3 books side by side. More like 2 if you are wanting both pages to be displayed IRL book size.

Triple monitors is ok, but it depends on the size, and when you increase the size you increase the over all cost. The monitor he mentions is end of life and is £370 online, which is a lot of money to do that kind of thing with. Sure he probably does more than that with it, in which case looking at books is just a side line, otherwise its a waste.

 

On the other hand its nice to have an entire library of books on an SD card thats no larger than the nail on your little finger.

 

I prefer books myself, I can leave them open on one page for days and costs no electric. Its always readable, its always there when ever I want its the one constant.

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Agree; both have pros and cons; fortunately, each person can get what they like the most.

 

The most advantageous thing, I believe,  for digital books related to our hobby is availability, or at least it will be in the future if enough of us got into it; I invite people to give it a try and judge by themselves.

 

Hopefully, more publishers could get on board in the future if they see a trend; the kind of Reid Air, Valiant Wings, Kagero, to name a few. Maybe one day, when we start that kit, we can get the books we need for references and, if the printed version is not available at the time, at least the digital one is.
 

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On 12/5/2020 at 7:50 PM, cruiz said:

Agree; both have pros and cons; fortunately, each person can get what they like the most.

 

The most advantageous thing, I believe,  for digital books related to our hobby is availability, or at least it will be in the future if enough of us got into it; I invite people to give it a try and judge by themselves.

 

Hopefully, more publishers could get on board in the future if they see a trend; the kind of Reid Air, Valiant Wings, Kagero, to name a few. Maybe one day, when we start that kit, we can get the books we need for references and, if the printed version is not available at the time, at least the digital one is.
 

I think going into the future that will be the biggest advantage of digital books too.

Not any digitalisation but availability. 

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