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More thoughts on ebook readers
A lot of very helpful comments are helping me to focus in on what I want.
1. Touch screen - a definite for me now - I hadn't realised that you can turn page with a gentle stroke - and that's ideal for me, less difficulty than a button.
2. Easy way to prop it up - would be very handy - I'm told the case for at least one of the Kindle models folds back like a notebook and means it props itself up. That could be very handy for me as I can't hold things in my hand for long. What other models have this?
3. Font size. I like being able to adjust font size, mainly in case I have the wrong pair of glasses with me. (Is it true that you can't adjust the font if a book has DRM?)
4. I can see Calibre as potentially being a very useful tool both for storing ebooks in the cloud and for converting formats. They also make it easy to find ebooks for sale without DRM
5. Fictionwise and Baen Books are good places to purchase DRM free books. Baen have an interesting selection of free books put up by the authors to allow you to try their work. Project Gutenburg is probably the best place for books that are out of copyright.
6. MOBI is the format for downloading fan fic.
7. The big problem. I currently buy most of my books from Amazon. It seems to be that you have to pretty much decide to either go the Kindle route and buy DRM-locked from Amazon or go DRM free and be unable to buy from Amazon. Have I got that correct? (Or a similar issue with Barnes and Noble) If I go DRM free, will I be able to get the books I want? (format conversion seems to be a bit messy where DRM is involved and I'm not geek enough to enjoy the process) How have people found availability of books they want?
(I think I'd still get my non-fiction in paper form - I like to be able to flick back and forth between sections)
8. I like multiple bookmarks, to be able to record where I am in each book I'm reading and also to have easy access to the books I'm currently reading (the Kobo has a nice feature of moving whatever book you last opened to the top of the list). How do different ebooks compare on this front?
How do touch screen ebooks that you own compare with the thoughts above?
1. Touch screen - a definite for me now - I hadn't realised that you can turn page with a gentle stroke - and that's ideal for me, less difficulty than a button.
2. Easy way to prop it up - would be very handy - I'm told the case for at least one of the Kindle models folds back like a notebook and means it props itself up. That could be very handy for me as I can't hold things in my hand for long. What other models have this?
3. Font size. I like being able to adjust font size, mainly in case I have the wrong pair of glasses with me. (Is it true that you can't adjust the font if a book has DRM?)
4. I can see Calibre as potentially being a very useful tool both for storing ebooks in the cloud and for converting formats. They also make it easy to find ebooks for sale without DRM
5. Fictionwise and Baen Books are good places to purchase DRM free books. Baen have an interesting selection of free books put up by the authors to allow you to try their work. Project Gutenburg is probably the best place for books that are out of copyright.
6. MOBI is the format for downloading fan fic.
7. The big problem. I currently buy most of my books from Amazon. It seems to be that you have to pretty much decide to either go the Kindle route and buy DRM-locked from Amazon or go DRM free and be unable to buy from Amazon. Have I got that correct? (Or a similar issue with Barnes and Noble) If I go DRM free, will I be able to get the books I want? (format conversion seems to be a bit messy where DRM is involved and I'm not geek enough to enjoy the process) How have people found availability of books they want?
(I think I'd still get my non-fiction in paper form - I like to be able to flick back and forth between sections)
8. I like multiple bookmarks, to be able to record where I am in each book I'm reading and also to have easy access to the books I'm currently reading (the Kobo has a nice feature of moving whatever book you last opened to the top of the list). How do different ebooks compare on this front?
How do touch screen ebooks that you own compare with the thoughts above?
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6. I just save fanfic as html, stick it in Calibre and tell it to convert it to ePub. It displays perfectly. I've never tried downloading anything as mobi - I don't even know how you do that.
7. Waterstones sells ebooks in ePub format. But so far all I've put on the Sony are books from Gutenburg and fanfic.
8. The Sony definitely lets you put in multiple bookmarks. But it remembers where you are in any book, no matter how many you've opened. The first page that comes up when you turn it on shows you the last book you opened.
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I'd agree there; touch screens are great. Note that some touch screens (such as the one in the Bebook Neo) require a stylus rather than a finger. Since both types of touchscreen are called "touchscreen", it would be wise to inquire more closely if you prefer one type over the other. With your concerns, I expect you would prefer a touchscreen that uses the fingers. Me, I prefer a stylus because one has more precision that way, which can be important when selecting things from a list.
2. Easy way to prop it up - would be very handy - I'm told the case for at least one of the Kindle models folds back like a notebook and means it props itself up. That could be very handy for me as I can't hold things in my hand for long. What other models have this?
I would assume that most e-book readers offer cases as extra. My impression is that most ebook cases open like a notebook rather than a notepad - they fold at the side rather than at the top. Me, I find just putting the reader flat on the table is fine, I don't feel the need to prop it up at an angle. If you really want it propped up at an angle, you might be better off simply investing in a normal book stand.
3. Font size. I like being able to adjust font size, mainly in case I have the wrong pair of glasses with me.
I usually adjust the font-size on my Bebook Neo to 150%. One slightly frustrating thing I find with that is that one doesn't seem to be able to set a default font size - one has to change the font-size every time one opens a new ebook.
4. I can see Calibre as potentially being a very useful tool both for storing ebooks in the cloud and for converting formats. They also make it easy to find ebooks for sale without DRM
I don't use Calibre myself; I tried and I found it frustrating and annoying, because (a) I didn't like the way it organized my ebooks (by author, in directories with spaces in the names); (b) while it can convert HTML to EPUB, the quality of the conversion left much to be desired. Being the geek that I am, I wrote my own converter.
5. Fictionwise and Baen Books are good places to purchase DRM free books. Baen have an interesting selection of free books put up by the authors to allow you to try their work. Project Gutenburg is probably the best place for books that are out of copyright.
Yep.
6. MOBI is the format for downloading fan fic.
I wouldn't say that. I use EPUB. I get the impression that MOBI is on its way out. I note that Project Gutenberg offers EPUB and Kindle formats, but not MOBI. The AO3 does offer EPUB format as well as MOBI.
If you are interested, I wrote a Perl script which can fetch fanfic from various sites and convert it to EPUB. http://search.cpan.org/~rubykat/WWW-FetchStory-0.1601/
(I think I'd still get my non-fiction in paper form - I like to be able to flick back and forth between sections)
Project Gutenberg can be an interesting resource for out-of-print non-fiction, depending on what one is interested in. I found some old crochet-pattern books and books on knots that I found really useful.
You might be interested in books on Morris dancing, such as this one: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12926
8. I like multiple bookmarks, to be able to record where I am in each book I'm reading and also to have easy access to the books I'm currently reading (the Kobo has a nice feature of moving whatever book you last opened to the top of the list). How do different ebooks compare on this front?
My Bebook Neo can be set to open the last book you were reading at the last page you were reading whenever you start up the reader. I've found that's been enough for me, since I tend to read one book at a time, so I've never investigated further into the bookmarking features.
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http://techsupport.foreverwarm.com/how-to-read-epub-books-on-your-kindle
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Not true on the Kindle at least.
5. Fictionwise and Baen Books are good places to purchase DRM free books.
I think some Fictionwise books might have DRM, depending on the publisher? Otherwise I agree - Baen also sell books from Night Shade Press through their website as well as their own books. I also recommend Wizard's Tower Press and Weightless Books as good sources of DRM-free SF&F. Angry Robot do direct DRM-free sales, as I think do Solaris Books (they sold me some DRM-free files in the dealer's room at Bristolcon by loading them straight onto my Kindle, which was ace).
The big problem. I currently buy most of my books from Amazon. It seems to be that you have to pretty much decide to either go the Kindle route and buy DRM-locked from Amazon or go DRM free and be unable to buy from Amazon. Have I got that correct? (Or a similar issue with Barnes and Noble) If I go DRM free, will I be able to get the books I want? (format conversion seems to be a bit messy where DRM is involved and I'm not geek enough to enjoy the process) How have people found availability of books they want?
I think if you want ebooks from Amazon, you need a Kindle. It is possible to DRM-strip them, but I don't know if you can do it without a physical Kindle? It's not something I've tried, and it may be more effort than you want to put in. I buy the occasional DRMed ebook from Amazon, but what tends to happen is I get those books which are available as DRM-free books from the above stores, and generally buy the ones which aren't available as hard copy or as DRMed ebooks if they're cheap.
8. I like multiple bookmarks, to be able to record where I am in each book I'm reading and also to have easy access to the books I'm currently reading (the Kobo has a nice feature of moving whatever book you last opened to the top of the list). How do different ebooks compare on this front?
Kindle moves books you've just read to the top of the list, and remembers where you are in each one.
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I think your assumption in point 7., i.e. about Kindle DRM is correct. You either live with it (i.e. using or messily breaking) or buy elsewhere.
I don't have a touch ereader, so I can't speak from experience, I have non-touch Kindle 4, which suits me, but I'm aware of its ergonomic limits.
Bear in mind too that there are often a wider range of unofficial cases for most of the big brands of ereader. Just put in "kobo touch case" to ebay.co.uk and you'll see quite a few.
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MOBI, (without DRM, which I assume fan fic is) is easy to convert to ePub, via Calibre or other conversion software. ePub seems to be taking over in the marketplace.
It is possible to de-DRM Kindle content, by downloading onto a PC and then using a stripper. One is available for Calibre that makes it as easy as adding a non-DRM ebook.
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Is it easy for a non-Geek?
I know from experience that what a Geek calls easy is not always so...
Converting Kindle to non-Kindle could be a decider for me on what ebook reader I buy, so I need to be sure on this one...
You might have a point
Once set up it's all easy.
You run the Kindle software on the PC and get the book. Easy.
You use Explorer to drag files from the 'My Kindle Content' folder to Calibre.
Done. Calibre will convert to MOBI and add them as unprotected books to be converted for whatever reader you use (also automatic if you use Calibre to put content on the device.)
Setting this up is a touch more involved, but should only need doing once.
You need to use a specific (old) version of Kindle for PC.
You need to download some files and install them in Calibre as plugins. Step by step instructions are available.
I don't believe it's impossibly difficult, but it will of course depend on your computer skills (or the person you rope in to do it, given it's only done once.)
Hope this is of use.
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3. Kindle allows you to adjust the font size easily and then that's you default size for all books.
8. The Kindle allows you to highlight sections and even add notes. You can then list all highlights and notes, and then jump to any one of them throughout the book. That's multiple bookmarks.
As for DRM, all the advice to publish your own suggests that you shouldn't use DRM. Those I've been following who put things on Amazon don't use DRM and I'm not intending to.
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http://dearauthor.com/ebooks/review-kindle-touch
ETA: oh, and they've done away with landscape mode. That's the Kindle Touch right off my "replacing the Cybook when it dies" consideration list, then.
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Combine the Kindle with Calibre and various methods of stripping Kindle DRM (if you really must) and you can stick pretty much anything on the kindle. Most of the small ebook selers will sell you in Mobi format (I use Deisel Ebooks for a lot of SF). Also - yes most of the big fanfic sites now have a one button convert to mobi button.
You can order the Kindle Touch from Amazon.com (its not on UK yet but its an offical 'you can buy it from .com'
Also the thing about changing the order of the books displayed - Its completely user controled from a system setting.
You may want to consider the Fire if you are going to import - depends on the e Ink preference. It comes down to money - If you look on Ebay (if you dont want to self import) You can get a fire for aroun £150 (US £199 on Amazon.com) the down side of the fire is that you go LCD so can be an issue if reading outside in daylight - the upside is its colour and has comics - Otherwise from what you have said I'd go Kindle touch
I'd seriously advise against the kobo due to build qulaity, software issues, choice and cost of books
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Um and Yes - DRM does not stop you reformating and resizing the fonts ect - its purely a copy lock. I think people are making far to big a deal about the Books being DRM locked.
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Is an interesting review of the pro's and cons of the fire ...