Asklemmy

I'm a big fan of eink screens. They don't cause the eyestrain that LED displays do. I have the Onyx Boox Nova which I really enjoy. It has the Play Store on it, so I can install any Android app. It also has pen support for annotating.

iPad with the apple pencil. I use PDF Expert which is free and has no ads to write and highlight PDF files. Has a wireless transfer feature on local networks too so you can move files back and forth between the iPad and non Apple devices.

I’m currently in grad school and am reading a ton of PDFs. My iPad and Apple Pencil paired with the app LiquidText has been AMAZING! I actually subscribed to their pro plan so that my papers and annotations would sync between my devices.

I can’t stress enough how much use I get out of the combo and how productive it allows me to me reading, highlighting, and taking notes.

iPad and Apple Pencil will probably be the most versatile. It’s what I’m using now though I wish there’s a “simple” mode on iPad where I can just use it as a notepad/e-reader and nothing else.

Building on this, does anyone use tablets to keep a digital laboratory notebook? I'm picturing keeping one in a capacitive, clear envelope that you could sterilize by spraying with 70% ethanol if necessary, yet still permit you to write with a stylus while wearing dirty gloves

I got a Supernote A5X to read papers - I'm very happy with it and wouldn't want a tablet. I specifically wanted a dumb device dedicated to notes/reading that I wouldn't connect to the internet, which really helps me focus. The eink display is easy to read and is a great break from screens, it feels natural to write on.

However it's not perfect - eink has a small lag in turning pages, so if you intend on flipping through a ton of pages while coding that may be a pain. The searching experience also isn't great, typing takes longer because of the lag. I use it as an advanced notebook rather than a smart device, and I love it from that lens.

Many people here are talking about buying an iPad and the pencil, but if all you're doing is reading papers I think this is a massive overspend. There are many inexpensive android tablets that come with pencils plenty good enough for handwriting or non-artistic drawing.

Of course, you say you have a job so you're likely not to need to buy the cheapest thing possible (even if you don't, you're not forced to buy an iPad, Samsung's tablet software is quite good), but I don't want someone with the same use case, who might just be a student, to get the impression they need to spend a grand to read pdfs.

I ended up using a vertical monitor + Zotero for note taking (allows you to highlight text and write comments). My ereader is small enough to be convenient but too small to read papers well. My tablet, I hate writing on screens and it's also too small

Look into SuperNote or OnyxBoox devices, they work quite good even if there is a learning curve.