03-21-2012, 07:31 PM | #1 |
Wizard
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Kobo vs Kindle, sideloading and syncing
I currently have a Sony PRS 650 and while I quite like it I feel like I definitely bought it at the wrong time (back when $240 wasn't an outrageous price for an e-reader) and I'm missing out on wifi connection and being able to sync my books. I have an iPhone and an Asus Transformer both with Kindle and Kobo installed on it. I thought it would be neat to get a Kindle or a Kobo Reader so that I could have all my books and bookmarks synced across all platforms so that I could continue reading my books anywhere. I buy most of my books from the Kobo book store but I also get a few from the Sony store and now Amazon.com (thank you VPN!). What I'm wondering is, do both of these devices (Kindle/Kobo) allow sideloading and syncing of books not bought specifically from their stores?
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03-22-2012, 11:41 AM | #2 |
Wizard
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Kindle does not support syncing of sideloaded books, unless you use a plug-in that you can get with Calibre.
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03-22-2012, 12:15 PM | #3 |
Lunatic
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The Kindle Personal Documents Service will allow you to sync non-Amazon books between a Kindle and the iPad/iPhone/iPod Kindle apps. I expect that Amazon will expand this to include other Kindle apps.
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03-22-2012, 01:08 PM | #4 |
Tea Enthusiast
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If you want to read books purchased fromm Kobo on a Kindle you are going to need something like Calibre anyway to remove the DRM and convert the format. So adding the necessary meta data to be able to synch will happen with that process.
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03-22-2012, 02:27 PM | #5 |
gossipy old village lady.
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I have a Kobo Vox. I buy my favorite authors with coupons from Kobo, and I downloaded the Kindle app, and just grab the freebies in the genres I like from Amazon. Love my fantastic little Vox!
Last edited by Mrs. Marple; 03-22-2012 at 02:29 PM. |
03-22-2012, 11:31 PM | #6 | |
Wizard
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Quote:
If I did this and converted all my books to mobi and then say connected a new Kindle touch to calibre and uploaded all my books would those books then magically appear on all my other devices as well? |
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03-23-2012, 08:18 AM | #7 |
Tea Enthusiast
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I don't think you can sync between different types of devices.
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03-23-2012, 09:07 AM | #8 |
Grand Sorcerer
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IMHO, from a sideloading perspective, the Kindle is the better choice. All you have to do to sideload a book is copy it the documents folder on the Kindle and you're done.
AFAIK, both the Kobo app and the actual Kobo store all books in a sqlite database, which means that you cannot simply copy or delete a book without using Calibre or a sqlite manager. |
03-23-2012, 08:52 PM | #9 |
Wizard
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That's not correct. Kobo uses the sqlite database for Kobo e-pubs (kepubs) but you can side load and manage any other non-DRM'ed e-pubs with drag and drop via windows explorer. Most (not quite all) books at the Kobo store are available in their proprietary kepub format or a normal Adobe DRM e-pub.
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03-24-2012, 06:16 AM | #10 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
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Quote:
Quote:
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03-24-2012, 03:19 PM | #11 | |
Wizard
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Quote:
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03-25-2012, 09:53 PM | #12 | |
Living in the past
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Quote:
Last edited by Suzanna; 03-25-2012 at 09:55 PM. |
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03-25-2012, 10:10 PM | #13 |
Wizard
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I have a VPN which I use to fool Amazon into thinking that I'm from the US all the time
I have no concerns about sideloading as I'm sure that I can do that no problem on either device-I just want to make sure that those sideloaded books will then also show up on all my other devices which use either the Kindle or Kobo apps. |
03-26-2012, 06:09 PM | #14 | |
Wizard
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Not having a wifi can be a bit of a disadvantage, but not much, when you consider the capacity of this thing. |
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