Comments on: Comparing PDF Readers

By: dspearma

dspearma — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:29:46 +0000

I'm VERY particular about my pdf readers because I use pdf's basically for ALL of my reading (I have a habit of scanning EVERY book I purchase to make a digital copy). I LOVED Adobe Reader 2.0 dispite it's compatibility issues with Windows Mobile 6.1 ... BUT for some reason on the Palm Treo 850 the display got all blurry and pixelated and it looked like crap (Does anyone know why that is or if there is a fix?). So, I had to search for alternatives. Based on my specific needs these are the problems I encountered with the various readers.

Adobe Reader LE: PROS; Excellent reader if you just want to view documents (opening documents and searching miniSD is a lot easier). CONS; No auto scroll, but most of all I need to be able to select text and you can't do that with Adobe Reader LE.

Foxit: No reflow = USELESS! In addition I cannot select text.

PocketXpdf: This has been the best alternative that meets my needs. Text only function is a bit funky (no formatting), but usable and I can select text. I'd LOVE to be able to auto scroll, though. Also, you have to hit "Next Page" to advance to the next page which is kind of a pain.

In short, reflow and select text are the most important functions for me. Does anyone know of a better alternative to PocketXpdf or a fix for what looks like a compatibility issue with Adobe Reader 2.0?

By: E@zyVG

E@zyVG — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:43:52 +0000

Even though I haven’t tried the other two, but did few other well recommended ones, I tebd to see that Adobe’s Acrobat Reader is the way to go, even though it uses comparatively more resource, but then with todays new mobiles, having more than 256MB RAM, this is OK.

By: Hoppa

Hoppa — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:57:10 +0000

Adobe Acrobat is VGA-capable, you just have to force it to use the VGA mode, see this site:
http://www.mobilitysite.com/boards/windows-mobile-5/103786-how-force-hi_res_aware-true-vga-windows-mobile-5-0-a.html

It works on my HP HX4700 WM6.1.

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:03:16 +0000

Wow, what a great article! I have been blindly using the Adobe PDF Reader on my PocketPC phone (xv6800), but it looks like it is still the way to go. Especially for free.

By: Kevin1a

Kevin1a — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:16:34 +0000

Good review. I think the most important point for me and other users of VGA Pocket PCs is the VGA compatibility. My biggest gripe with Adobe Reader wasn’t that it was a memory hog, or that it was a remnant from an earlier time :), but rather that it did not support VGA resolution. If you can fit way more data on a screen there are very few reasons you should settle for less.

That is why xPDF gets Kevin1a’s official thumbs up!

By: tapdov

tapdov — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:40:24 +0000

My hx4700 came with Clearvue PDF installed, and I was pretty happy with it, even though its missing many features the other readers have (such as find). Unfortunately when I updated my iPAQ to WM6 I lost the Clearvue viewer, and I couldn’t find a current version which supports VGA. (?) So now I’m stuck with PocketXpdf because it’s the only reader with built-in VGA support.

By: Bar

Bar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:17:38 +0000

Clear View have a PDF reader

By: oldx5advanced

oldx5advanced — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:19:35 +0000

I prefer Adobe Reader LE. It’s fast and has a small footprint.

By: Erik

Erik — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:12:21 +0000

Hello Julie, I am Senior Manager of Sales and Marketing for Foxit Software. Please send me an e-mail at the e-mail address that I put in this reply. Thanks.

No need to publish this comment.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:49:50 +0000

1,does not recognize tagged files(foxit reader V1.2beta could do that)
2, a lot of screen space is simply wasted(V1.2beta could remeber the last view now)
3,text blurs (users could set options,don’t choose Quck draw item,and the text blurs will be change to blank)
4,create a new bookmark (next version)
5, won’t remember your place in the document.(V1.2beata could do that)
6,couldn’t reader fax file(users could send a email to the foxit support for getting the version which could read fax files,it is free).

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 03:15:31 +0000

I’ll have to check out Foxit Reader v1.2. Thanks for letting me know about it.

By: henry

henry — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:24:54 +0000

Foxit Reader V1.2 Beta Version can remember your place in the document. I test it.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 07:00:57 +0000

Foxit reader is good,many problem mention in this comment have been fixed in the V1.2

By: Erik

Erik — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 06:35:30 +0000

This is a really great comparison, although Foxit just released their 1.2 Version on June 3rd. This version has reflow. You might want to compare that version because it has reflow and is the newest version.

By: Fr. Ignatius

Fr. Ignatius — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:28:03 +0000

I have tried Adobe’s and PocketXPDF. I prefer PocketXPDF.