the D20 books for the most part are just as cheap as the downloadable PDFs anyway, so wouldnt it just be better to get the real thing?

there is probably a D20 book out there that relates to this "the deliberations of downloading PDF files" or some such twaddle

Al

Xaxaxe wrote:1. RPGnow was one of the "original" PDF palaces and has a solid reputation, but scan quality can vary. Definitely read the user reviews for any given product.

For $5 you can't really complain, but believe me, all the scanned PDF's are poor quality. The new d20 stuff that is printed to PDF from a desktop publishing package are about as good as you can expect from that medium. I haven't yet seen a PDF that is optimised for viewing on a computer.

Xaxaxe wrote:2. Paizo is slightly less expensive, but uses horrible, terrible, evil, monstrous watermarking that is totally intrusive.

Where abouts are these? I've got quite a few, and other than a tiny line of text at the bottom of the page, I see no watermarking. Is that really what  people are complaining about? On the whole these PDFs are no better than any of the ones at RPGnow.

Xaxaxe wrote:3. DriveThruRPG has a lot of more recent and/or d20 stuff, but tends to be considerably more expensive. However, they do run sales all the time, so a patient shopper can still find some bargains.

See Alan's comments on buying d20 PDFs vs. d20 hardcopies. They are usually about the same price, and the PDFs are optimised fro printing on your home printer, not reading on your PC.