Viewing PDFs on iPad?

[V23]

Hi guys,

I have a PDF file which is quite large (7.17 MB). When I view it on my iPod Touch 4 it lags quite badly and often takes 5-10 seconds to move or zoom when I swipe. So my question is if I buy an iPad 1 will it be much better or will it still lag (same ram, is the iPad processor faster than the touch?) and also how much of a difference would an iPad 2 be over an iPad 1?

Also I'm currently using the free USB Disk app to view the file, is there a better app that would be much faster to load it?

Thanks.

 

[dmaul1114]

Goodreader works great for PDFs on the iPad.

I've not noticed much lag etc. when using it on my girlfriend's iPad. Not sure if I've played around with any PDF files that large though.

It will be one of my main iPad uses when I get an iPad 2 though as I read a ton of PDFs of scholarly research journal articles.

 

[Diane B]

I just looked at a 56MB pdf and the pages move about as fast as I can swipe them. I've never had any issue with Goodreader and large pdfs.

Dianr

 

[V23]

Thanks for the answers. I really wish there was a lite version of goodreader in the app store so I could test it out before hand.

 

[donka]

Hi guys,

I have a PDF file which is quite large (7.17 MB). When I view it on my iPod Touch 4 it lags quite badly and often takes 5-10 seconds to move or zoom when I swipe. So my question is if I buy an iPad 1 will it be much better or will it still lag (same ram, is the iPad processor faster than the touch?) and also how much of a difference would an iPad 2 be over an iPad 1?

Also I'm currently using the free USB Disk app to view the file, is there a better app that would be much faster to load it?

Thanks.

What are you currently using to view PDFs? Godoreader is an excellent app for this purpose - if you read a lot then you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy.

 

[normanj]

Goodreader is only $1.99 - it's worth getting.

 

[Hasty]

Really rate GoodReader and use it daily.
They have a small win7 app which lets you drag and drop files onto the iPad without iTunes syncing. Very fast in use.
Best of all they continue to update the app on a regular basis.


Check out the features on their website:
goodiware.com :: products :: GoodReader

 

[chiffchaff]

I use GoodReader all the time too. It has great PDF annotation tools.

 

[freebirdforever]

Goodreader.

 

[kramrengaw]

Didn't know that you needed an app to read PDF's on an iPad. iBooks display's PDF's just fine. I am also able to view PDF's in Dropbox. They are both free.

 

[rsmin]

Goodreader for me as well! Worth every penny.

 

[chiffchaff]

Didn't know that you needed an app to read PDF's on an iPad. iBooks display's PDF's just fine. I am also able to view PDF's in Dropbox. They are both free.

You're right, there are lots of ways to read a PDF and those are two good ones. But if you have a lot of PDFs or need to make notes on them, then an app with well designed file management and annotation tools (like GoodReader) is invaluable.

 

[zorah]

Stanza is another free option. It's a reader that will also read PDF files.
I use it interchangeably with iBooks and GoodReader when I want to view PDFs. I like them all kind of equal for viewing, but for annotating I use Noterize. Even though GoodReader has annotation capability, I don't like it and got a separate app for annotation. I do also have Docs to Go which views PDFs but I have that for multiple functions and don't use it as a viewer.

 

[dmaul1114]

How is that iAnnotate app for annotation of PDFs compared to Goodreader?

 

[biobunny]

Or you could turn the PDF file into a ePub file and then put it into iTunes so it'll be Bookish. I use Calibre.