Ask HN: How do you read technical books?

I am reconsidering my setup for reading technical books in the most efficient (i.e. knowledge retaining) way. I am wondering what other people on HN do.

I normally read books on my kindle but this doesn't work for technical books with graphics and the need to go back/forth between pages. Normally when I know I won't be implementing anything I will use my iPad to read a PDF, but I've found that reading technical books without keeping notes isn't very useful. This means my laptop would be the best way to read and write down notes, but I would rather not sit at my desk even more than I already do.