How well does the iLiad support HTML and mobi files? + FBReader

[Ea]

I've read what I could find on the wiki and the forum, and I'd like to hear some hands-on experience - especially with regards to html.

What I read is mostly in html format (files saved from the Internet - in a variety of code quality, usually veering towards bad), and I haven't been impressed with the html support on the CyBook, it's very basic and doesn't handles special characters well (like accents and grammatical characters). For some reason, it supports word codes better than character codes...

I suppose I could install FBReader. I know it doesn't support tables, but I can live with that. How good is it in other respects?

Can I install my own fonts? (this is sort of a big deal).

So what's it like on the iLiad? I don't know if I can wait for the 9 inch Astak and I'd really like a larger screen than the Cybook

And if mobi and html is no good at all, even on FBReader, I don't mind creating PDFs. I've been doing it already for the CyBook, but it had a tendency to crash once every two-three hours of reading.

And for what it's worth; I have an iMac, but also runs Windows in VMWare.

[wallcraft]

I suggest trying FBReader and Windows MobiPocket Reader under Windows. To get the closest to the iLiad, use Deja Vu Sans as the font in both. FBReader supports single-file HTML well. MobiPocket Reader will import single-file HTML and export a .MOBI file, which is readable by FBReader and MobiPocket Reader on the iLiad. For multi-file HTML, I convert to plucker which is supported by FBReader.

On the iLIad, the MobiPocket Reader only supports one font (Deja Vu Sans), although there are hacks to get an alternative. FBReader supports all the .ttf fonts that are on the device, but there are not many by default. It is possible to add new fonts, but this can hang the device (the iLiad's boot sequence seems to be broken for extra fonts). I add fonts to the CF card, and if a particular font does not work I can recover by removing the CF card (and removing the font) before trying another one. These fonts are usable by FBReader, but not by most other applications on the iLiad.

PDF's formatted for the screen size is a viable option on the iLiad, but I use FBReader almost exclusively. It works very well for ebooks, but it does have a significantly slower page turn speed than the iRex applications on the iLiad.

[Ea]

That was really helpful.

How much slower is the page turn with FBReader? I think I'd get tired of it over time if it was over 3 sec.

I think I'm going to buy an iLiad because I want a larger screen, and I'd be really surprised if Astak get the large Mentor out before next year. But given what you said, I think my best option is to create PDFs. I just now tried to create mobi files from some randomly chosen story files I have saved, and 2 out of 3 didn't really work. In many cases the basis is really bad, automatically generated code and/or with tables. I already spend quite some time on cleaning up the html files - it's quicker to copy into Word or Pages and create PDFs - but they didn't work so well on the CyBook...

[-Thomas-]

Originally Posted by _Ea_

What I read is mostly in html format (files saved from the Internet - in a variety of code quality, usually veering towards bad), and I haven't been impressed with the html support on the CyBook, it's very basic and doesn't handles special characters well (like accents and grammatical characters). For some reason, it supports word codes better than character codes...

The built-in HTML reader is basically a stripped-down Firefox engine called "Minimo". It renders HTML pages pretty good, much better than FBReader does. Maybe you could upload an example file and I would take some screenshots for you

[Ea]

Originally Posted by -Thomas-

The built-in HTML reader is basically a stripped-down Firefox engine called "Minimo". It renders HTML pages pretty good, much better than FBReader does. Maybe you could upload an example file and I would take some screenshots for you

That sounds promising! And thanks for offering to make screenshots I found three files, two of them are quite bad HTML in each their own way, not middle-of-the-road examples, but unfortunately not rare either, which is why I chose them. The last one, badmoon1.html, only misses a DOCTYPE declaration, but it's not the first time I've seen that (it's generated by Frontpage ) If it can handle this resonably well, it can handle everything.

I zipped them and put them up here:
http://www.eacalendula.net/fic.zip
I know images won't displayed and so on - I'm mostly concerned about special characters, line endings, space between paragraphs and so on in the text. I don't care if the header and footer sections are messed up.

[-Thomas-]

Screenshots are attached. I took two screenshots of every page at different font sizes. Paragraph spaces etc. look like in any web browser.

Just a little advise: Adding a short CSS line like "text-align: justify;" to HTML documents gives an even better reading experience.

EDIT: Adding custom fonts works too. You just have to copy them to /usr/share/fonts/truetype/ on the iLiad (you will need developers access and SSH for this) and add something like '<font face="...">' to your HTML files.

[Ea]

you're wonderful
This looks good!
I like justified margins too, but I know myself; once I open the html doc, I'll want to fix this and this and that and that there too. This looks like I can use the files 'as is', which is what I needed.

Thanks for the advise on fonts. I have this favourite ttp font which I'd really like to use (http://www.eacalendula.net/Maiandra.png)

I want an iLiad. Now! Yesterday
I'm going to Hamburg next Tuesday, and I hardly dare order tonight, in case it should arrive during the week while I'm away...

[-Thomas-]

Originally Posted by _Ea_

Thanks for the advise on fonts. I have this favourite ttp font which I'd really like to use (http://www.eacalendula.net/Maiandra.png)

See attached screenshots (Of course it's an HTML file)

I won't tease people waiting for their iLiad.
I won't tease people waiting for their iLiad.
I won't tease people waiting for their iLiad.
I won't tease people waiting for their iLiad.
[...]

[Ea]

I'm THIS close to ordering...

[Ea]

OK... that was it. It didn't even hurt. Got a book ed. btw. Now I can't afford anything until after Christmas

Now I'm waiting... waiting... waiting...

[Ea]

Weeeeeee!!!!!!
It has arrived. And in one hour, the battery has charged the requisite 3 hours so I can start playing with it and trying it out

[serpentium]

Hi,
i tried to open a html but i cannot move around and it shows just the leftmost part...
i made the html from mobileread, to read a forum i was interested in.

Can you explain how does it works?

[Ea]

I'm sorry, but I never got around to installing another browser or doing anything about configuring the device. At the moment I'm just creating PDF docs that fit the screen size, and apparently it doesn't bother me enough to do something about installing another browser (since I haven't done anything about it yet ).

But anyway, that is what I ought to do; install a better browser or FBReader. Try to search the forums for help or create a new thread.

[barney111]

I created some .prc files using Mobi Creator and included the author and cover picture they work great in my Cybook Having just purchased an Iliad I transfered a couple to test all I get is the name of the book no author and no cover picture is this standard?
Help would be appreciated.

Best

barney111

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by barney111

all I get is the name of the book no author and no cover picture is this standard?

I don't use the contentlister for MOBI files, but that sounds right. If you copy the files to your iLiad manually (rather than via Windows MobiPocket Reader) you can put them in a per-author directory or whatever directory structure you want. There are also at least two tools for getting better contentlister behaviour, see A script to make iLiad show mobi metadata. and Another eBook-Catalog.