K4 Mac or PC Silly K4PC question

[bfollowell]

This is going to sound silly and I'm pretty sure I know the answer but I'm hoping someone here will know for certain. My brother-in-law has asked for a Kindle for Christmas and is fairly certain he's getting one. If not, he'll probably buy one himself soon after. His/our question is, can he go a head and buy books now using the Kindle app for PC and then use those same books on his Kindle once he gets it and registers it to his account?

I'm pretty sure the answer is yes but I'm not 100% certain how this works and don't want to tell him yes until I hear it from someone more knowledgeable than myself.

Thanks guys.

- Byron

[Leep]

The answer is yes if his new Kindle gets registered to the same account where he is purchasing his K4PC ebooks. He, of course, also has the option of removing the drm from his K4PC ebooks and then can read them on any reader he chooses.

cheers

[desertgrandma]

Absolutely!

When he gets his kindle, he can go to his account, and download the books bought from Amazon to his Kindle..

[desertgrandma]

Funny.......Leep and I posted at the same time!

[KarenH]

Yes, he can definitely do that. All he will need to do is re-download the books to the Kindle, which is pretty much automatic the first time he turns on the Whispernet. I've been buying books from Amazon since right after K4PC became available, and just got my Kindle about a month ago - finally!

[bfollowell]

Thanks guys.

I was pretty sure that was the case but I hated to tell him yes and have him buy books on just my "pretty sure".

I appreciate the info.

- Byron

[tm3]

buy books now, read on PC, buy kindle later, load onto kindle ... check.

suppose at some later date one gets another type of ereader and wants to do DRM removal from the kindle books already purchased and load onto the new ereader. is this possible?

for some reason i was under the impression that if you wanted to remove DRM it had to be done with the initial download via K4PC, but after reading some more threads that doesn't make sense to me.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by tm3

for some reason i was under the impression that if you wanted to remove DRM it had to be done with the initial download via K4PC, but after reading some more threads that doesn't make sense to me.

This might have been true for very early implementations. Now the K4PC Calibre plug-in makes it almost transparent.

However, I suggest removing DRM immediately. That way you know that the DRM-free backup is available even if you are currently in a Kindle-only environment. Amazon could update the K4PC DRM at any time.

[bfollowell]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

This might have been true for very early implementations. Now the K4PC Calibre plug-in makes it almost transparent.

K4PC Calibre plug-in?! I haven't even heard of it. Assuming I can't find it with a quick and easy Google search, where might I find this handy tool?

This makes me wonder, what other sorts of Calibre plug-ins are there out there that I might not be aware of? Is there a repository somewhere or a thread discussing the various plug-ins?

Thanks.

- Byron

[bfollowell]

Found it. Thanks anyway!

I think I'd had an older version and just didn't realize that it had Calibre scripts included with it as well.

[FF2]

Can I seek some clarification on the alchemy of Kindle books I have purchased and using them on other platforms.

1: If I backup my K3's Documents folder on my PC (windows), can I remove the drm from those books?

2: Do I need to actually have k4pc and download the books for that platform to remove the drm?

3: Can either format of the books I PURCHASED be liberated?

Thanks in advance.

[ATDrake]

1. No. Amazon made some changes starting with the 2.5 firmware and no one has yet figured out how to liberate files sent to a Kindle that's 2.5+.

2. Yes. That's the only way it'll work, unless you have an iPhone/iPad app. You can now also do Mobipocket (but not Topaz) books via Kindle for Mac, thanks to some nice people who managed to figure things out in the past month or so.

3. Yes. Both Mobipocket and Topaz, though if you want to convert Topaz to another format, there are some extra hassles involved.

[tm3]

let me see if i have this correct ...

the best plan is to purchase the book, then download to PC and remove DRM (if one wants to do DRM removal). the result is a DRM free copy on the PC.

is the next step to import said DRM free copy to the kindle, or can you just use read a kindle format version on the kindle, saving the DRM free PC copy for future use if needed?

i think what is confusing me some is once a book is purchased, one can apparently read it on their kindle, their PC, their iPhone, etc.

thanks for helping me understand all of this.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by tm3

let me see if i have this correct ...

the best plan is to purchase the book, then download to PC and remove DRM (if one wants to do DRM removal). the result is a DRM free copy on the PC.

is the next step to import said DRM free copy to the kindle, or can you just use read a kindle format version on the kindle, saving the DRM free PC copy for future use if needed?

i think what is confusing me some is once a book is purchased, one can apparently read it on their kindle, their PC, their iPhone, etc.

thanks for helping me understand all of this.

1) Correct.

2) You can just read the Kindle format one on your Kindle, assuming that your Kindle and your Kindle4PC app are assigned to the same account. But you can also read the DRM-free version on your Kindle if you copy it by hand over USB (also called 'sideloading'). Both will work.

3) Yes, you can, if the Kindle and the different Kindle4... apps are assigned to the same account (up to six devices, I think). The DRM-free version will work anywhere, also with non-Kindle apps that read MobiPocket format or readers that do.

[tm3]

excellent! i think i understand now.

thanks for helping.