Any disadvantages of printing reference books (glover/sleva) instead of having the physical book?

I believe there would be no problem me bringing these books in a 2" binder instead of the hardback would there? I just think it would be easier to tab and "lay flat" if I'm digging up protection problems or TL problems. Also I thought it might making the sticky tabs easier and lay flatter. 

Anyone have any feedback on printed vs bringing the hard copy? 

The only potential issue would be if there are any copyright laws broken by making the print and/or someone legally getting a PDF version but then selling it to other people. 

^what they said plus a hardbound book takes up less space in your bag/box than a binder. I have a bunch of binders and I'm looking at binding some of the materials.

Also, binder rings fail. I ended up taping 2 of mine closed. 

LyceeFruit said:

^what they said plus a hardbound book takes up less space in your bag/box than a binder. I have a bunch of binders and I'm looking at binding some of the materials.

Also, binder rings fail. I ended up taping 2 of mine closed. 

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I second this.  I found a used abandoned 3" binder and started using it as my "go-to" for all my different sections and practice exam problems/notes.  The rings are already starting to fail and "catch" when I flip between sections, so I will probably buy a brand new binder and transfer the notes before the exam so I don't have problems with it.

youngmotivatedengineer said:

The only potential issue would be if there are any copyright laws broken by making the print and/or someone legally getting a PDF version but then selling it to other people. 

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Forgive my ignorance, but if there was any copyright laws broken by printing materials would that be something you've heard of/seen during an exam that they verify? I'm just curious because between some friends I know we have older versions of some text books/nec etc. 

MEtoEE said:

I second this.  I found a used abandoned 3" binder and started using it as my "go-to" for all my different sections and practice exam problems/notes.  The rings are already starting to fail and "catch" when I flip between sections, so I will probably buy a brand new binder and transfer the notes before the exam so I don't have problems with it.

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I just did 2 loops of electrical tape to close the gap but it's annoying. Since it's not my main main binder, I'm not going thru the exercise of swapping it out 

ETA: but mine is an abandoned binder too!

SparkyBill said:

Forgive my ignorance, but if there was any copyright laws broken by printing materials would that be something you've heard of/seen during an exam that they verify? I'm just curious because between some friends I know we have older versions of some text books/nec etc. 

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You really don't want older versions of the NEC or NESC.

Make sure you have the latest copy being used by NCEES. That is currently 2017 for both aforementioned standards. 

SparkyBill said:

Forgive my ignorance, but if there was any copyright laws broken by printing materials would that be something you've heard of/seen during an exam that they verify? I'm just curious because between some friends I know we have older versions of some text books/nec etc. 

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Older text books can be useful,  but code references should match the exam specs. There could be easy 'look up' questions on the exam that you could potentially get wrong if code requirements changed from the version you bring and the version in the test specifications.  In terms of risking bringing an 'illegal' version of a document, that is something you would have to evaluate on your own.