So i'm looking to buy a few new programming books that are usually in the $40+ range, and I noticed kindle editions are usually 9-10 bucks cheaper. Does anyone have any opinions on them? Do diagrams work alright in the kindle editions? I have no problems actually reading them on my computer, but I just want to be sure that the book isn't worse information wise. The cash difference is enough where I could get 3 books instead of 2, so that might offset some badness. On the other hand it's tremendously useful to have paper copies of books to make notes or what have you.

What are your opinions?

While I personally haven't gone with Kindle versions (other members of my family are using Kindle and loving it) I have bought a few ebooks, in either PDF or ePub format. These books have bee absolutely fantastic due to the price and distribution. Once I buy it I can start reading immediately (which is what I had to do for the "XNA Game Studio 3.0 Unleashed" book required for the XNA 4.0 Workshop). Reading a lot off a screen does strain your eyes, but after some time you adjust to it. If you do have a Kindle then it would be less eye strain but you would have to deal with black/white/greyscale images (pretty sure there is no colour e-ink screens out there in the wild as yet). I've read most of the MSPress Server management books this way as well, and they are pretty good.

PDF's are good for preserving formatting the way it was displayed in the original book. ePubs are good for use on different reading devices as it can modify the formatting to fit widths and heights much more easily. I love ebooks and have a rather large library of them now. I do also buy a lot of dead tree books because there is just no getting away from the tactile and sensory experience of a good book.

An e-book on your PC can be very useful for searching and adding bookmarks etc, but I can't read a book on the PC properly, same goes for iPad or other backlit displays.

However I got a Kindle recently and love the screen, it's really no eye-strain at all. As mentioned you're restricted to black and white but then, most textbooks are also limited this way and it's rarely a problem.
The only issue I'd have on a Kindle is simply that the screen is more novel-size not text-book size. The KindleDX might be better for this but they don't have those in my country.

If you have a kindle you can get free samples of all Kindle books from Amazon so give it a try - even if you don't have a Kindle get the free Kindle application for Windows/Mac and see what you think.

i read programming books on the kindle on my way to work. It works great.

what's a solid site for buying pdf versions of text books? I saw ebooks.com, but are there any other good ones? I think getting pdf versions of text books would be the way to go, but know no sites as everyone is talking about kindle/B&N who have their own formats.

As others have said, Kindle is very easy on the eyes. I would recommend it. It's much nicer than lugging an 800 page programming book around.

what's a solid site for buying pdf versions of text books? I saw ebooks.com, but are there any other good ones? I think getting pdf versions of text books would be the way to go, but know no sites as everyone is talking about kindle/B&N who have their own formats.

I don't know if there are many legal ways to buy PDF versions, unless the publisher themselves do. For instance APress let you buy as a regular PDF, and in some cases give you a free PDF version when you buy the paper one.
However I would suggest a version specially formatted for the smaller screen of an e-reader is better. For instance a PDF on my Kindle shows one page per screen... an A4 page is hard to read in this way and you have to zoom. However, Amazon do have auto-conversion tools where you email the PDF to your kindle and can choose whether it remains as a PDF or is converted to Kindle format.

I don't know if there are many legal ways to buy PDF versions, unless the publisher themselves do. For instance APress let you buy as a regular PDF, and in some cases give you a free PDF version when you buy the paper one.
However I would suggest a version specially formatted for the smaller screen of an e-reader is better. For instance a PDF on my Kindle shows one page per screen... an A4 page is hard to read in this way and you have to zoom. However, Amazon do have auto-conversion tools where you email the PDF to your kindle and can choose whether it remains as a PDF or is converted to Kindle format.

If you do have PDF's, converting to eBook format can also be done using Calibre, however the output is usually a lot worse layout wise than a standard ePub/mobi (Kindle's format). PDF's are laid out for standard publishing as they appeared in print, but as the way2lazy2care stated: "I have no problems actually reading them on my computer", I assume that PDF should be acceptable in this instance.

If you do have PDF's, converting to eBook format can also be done using Calibre, however the output is usually a lot worse layout wise than a standard ePub/mobi (Kindle's format). PDF's are laid out for standard publishing as they appeared in print, but as the way2lazy2care stated: "I have no problems actually reading them on my computer", I assume that PDF should be acceptable in this instance.

But where do you get them? D:

edit: to be more specific. Where do you get them legally? They are pretty widely available illegally as far as I can tell.

But where do you get them? D:

edit: to be more specific. Where do you get them legally? They are pretty widely available illegally as far as I can tell.

Well, the PDF's I've mostly used came from the Microsoft Press books. They happened to be on the CD that came with the Paperback books. I prefer reading the PDF to reading the book (also, it's a lot heavier carrying the paperbacks). Other than that I have some PDF's from Borders. There are others, but usually it depends on the author/distributor as to what formats they allow content to be released in.