Anyone have a digital magazine subscription?

I'm looking at a subscription fro Racecar Engineering. In paper form it's annually ~$100 (yikes), in digital form it's $35.

I really like the content of this mag, but what I like about magazines is reading them in bed, on my lunch break, on the can etc. What's everyone's experience with the "reading experience"?

I don't want to buy an e-reader BTW.

What sort of hardware were you planning to read it on? Laptop?

If its a magazine, I need to flip pages.

I have a subscription to Model Railroad Hobbyist. It's the only one I get like that, and I can't say I mind it as much as I expected. This may be due to them designing this specific to web viewing vs making a PDF of a paper magazine. It fills the computer screen properly, is easy to page through and has numerous clickable links. Pretty slick, plus they can add video and 360 rotational photos within it also. If I had to read a PDF where the pages did not fit fully on the screen, I wouldn't do it.

BoxheadTim wrote: What sort of hardware were you planning to read it on? Laptop?

Right. Lap top, desk top or possibly print out.

I printed a sample and it's not as high-res as the paper magazine, Not a huge deal, but when it's a technical photo the higher resolution helps.

ddavidv wrote: I have a subscription to Model Railroad Hobbyist.

Wow, thanks for that!! A subscription? It seems to be free? I just downloaded as many issues as they had.

I'll be up late tonight...

mikeatrpi wrote:

ddavidv wrote: I have a subscription to Model Railroad Hobbyist.

Wow, thanks for that!! A subscription? It seems to be free? I just downloaded as many issues as they had. I'll be up late tonight...

Yeah, it's free. How cool is that? The ads pay for the magazine. Their marketing strategy is unique to say the least. I make it a point to click any ads that I'm interested in so the product keeps coming.

I had a sub to European Car, mainly because it was 8 bucks for the year...I didn't mind it. I probably would have picked up at least two of those issues from the news stand, and this way, it saved me a few bucks. I didn't renew though, that was about a year ago...

mtn wrote: If its a magazine, I need to flip pages.

+1

One of the things I enjoy about magazines is their tactile quality. I will never give up my hard copies. Ever.

I thought this was humorous but well handled by the fine folks at Make.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/08/how-to_hack_the_make_digital_editio.html

I have a digital subscription to Racecar Engineering. Works nicely for me. It's a straight digital version of the print layout, so you're not missing anything other than a different movement of your body to change to the next page. I have no complaints yet about the resolution.

I get National Geographic both online and on paper. I figured it would be a 50/50 split with me, but I'm spending more time with the paper version. I have to say, their digital version is slick, though.

I have digital subs to Classic Porsche and evo magazine. CP is an electronic version of the print layout whereas evo has a purpose-built iPad layout and is thus easier to read on the iPad.

In both cases, the main reason for going electronic was the substantial discount over getting the print edition shipped from the UK, plus it also avoids the usual "connection issues" between foreign mail carriers and USPS that make my two print subscriptions from Europe so much fun.