Question re PB360

[mcrmama]

Hi, I am looking at the PB360 for our first reader and had a question about the DRM. I have read so many forums this week but have not found anything on the display of the E-pub files with DRM. I know the PB360 will display them with Adobe Digital edition but wondered how they looked since there are not as many options as with fbreader. We have mostly files so far with DRM that I have been reading on my ipod touch and I found the site for our public library and they have quite a bit there. I have been reading a lot while nursing my 4 month old and think the reader will be great for that since I go from reading in my left hand to right hand regularly.

Any thoughts on what colour as well? Oh, my dh loves Star Wars books. Is there a good place to get those types of books to load up for him?

Thanks!

Jodi

[fjtorres]

I use the hacked ADE that lets you use a userstyle stylesheet to customize the display of ePub files. See the attached for how I read.
(It's page 1 of Rick Cook's WizBiz2 from Webscription.net. The entire series is highly recommended. Lots of premium SF and Fantasy there and in their free library.)

Color? A matter of taste. Mine is the "black" (actually a very dark brown, rather like dark chocolate). Note that the texture pattern varies with color.

[darkforce]

Star Wars books? I've seen them on BookOnBoard, with DRM.

[Mickey330]

Originally Posted by mcrmama

Hi, I am looking at the PB360 for our first reader and had a question about the DRM. I have read so many forums this week but have not found anything on the display of the E-pub files with DRM. I know the PB360 will display them with Adobe Digital edition but wondered how they looked since there are not as many options as with fbreader. We have mostly files so far with DRM that I have been reading on my ipod touch and I found the site for our public library and they have quite a bit there. I have been reading a lot while nursing my 4 month old and think the reader will be great for that since I go from reading in my left hand to right hand regularly.

Jodi:

I use my public library a lot for e-books, both ePub and PDF - although I try to avoid PDF if I can. That's because to read PDFs on the PB360's 5" screen, you need to re-flow them. And, while the PB360 does re-flow well, you lose all the formatting the book originally came with.

That said, I've not really had any trouble with either format. I can read the text, which is all I ask for "free" books. And, it is great to be able to easily/regularly switch hands to read. I do it all the time (I never turn off my g-sensor) and I get a week+ on my reader with 5-8 hours reading daily.

Also, as fjtorres said, use the ADE hack to be able to control your library ePubs better (formatting and such). It does make for a better reading experience for the library's DRM'd books. See the conversation about it here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&highlight=css

Oh, and check out the Fairfax County Public Library and the Free Library of Philadelphia. You can get out-of-state cards from them for $27 and $15 a year, respectively. You just mail in your application, plus the check. Gives you more choices for library books.

Any thoughts on what colour as well?

Any answer is completely subjective. I'm gonna stay out of that argument ... other than to say I have the black one 'cause all my other electronic devices are black or silver.

Oh, my dh loves Star Wars books. Is there a good place to get those types of books to load up for him?

If you go to inkmesh.com and run a search on free Star Wars ebooks, you'll see many sites have such ebooks (see: http://inkmesh.com/search/?qs=Star+W...nd+Free+Ebooks). If you run the search for just any Star Wars books (free or purchased) - the list is much bigger. There are many, many sites and Inkmesh is just one. I like it for a starting search.

I also know that Amazon has the four "Lost Tribe of the Sith" books for free on their site. I imagine they are DRM'd, so you'd have to figure out how to remove it should you want them. Only tip I can give you there is - Google is your friend.

Lastly, welcome to MobileRead! And, thanks for letting me have yet another chance to talk about the most marvelous e-reader (IMNSHO) - the Pocketbook 360°! Good luck with your search & decision.

Marilyn

[mcrmama]

Wow! Thanks so much for all the info. That looks great! I will check it all out. I am in Canada and to think this all started because I saw the kobo and thought that might be a neat thing to have since I was reading so much these days. I think this would be a nice fit for me though. My dh will likely not be able to set it up, but I think I could for him and then teach him how to load books or have him tell me which ones. That is what we do with our ipods. Now, I have to decide if we each get one or get one and see how we like it. I know I will use it for sure. My dh really enjoys reading though so I'm sure we would be fighting over it, lol.

[lila55]

Originally Posted by mcrmama

Any thoughts on what colour as well?

I was asking the same question before I bought my PB, and was told by happy owners that I should go for the pearl one, since with that one there is less contrast between frame and screen, so that the eyes don't get distracted while reading. So thats the one I got and I am more than satisfied with it.
But in the end, I think, it is a matter of personal preference.

[tvpupsik]

Originally Posted by mcrmama

I have been reading a lot while nursing my 4 month old and think the reader will be great for that since I go from reading in my left hand to right hand regularly.

Very true. Confirmed by personal experience of many including myself

[mcrmama]

Thanks all. I just put in my purchase. Hopefully, I will be able to sort out how to do all the updates etc. I don't know a lot but am pretty good at following directions with electronic things so will give it a shot. Hopefully, we will enjoy reading with the new PB.

Jodi

[Marcy]

Originally Posted by mcrmama

Thanks all. I just put in my purchase. Hopefully, I will be able to sort out how to do all the updates etc. I don't know a lot but am pretty good at following directions with electronic things so will give it a shot. Hopefully, we will enjoy reading with the new PB.

Jodi

Hey, I know I'm too late since you already ordered, but thought I'd add that I used to nurse all the time with my PB360. I have to admit switching recently to my iPhone so I can nurse my son in the dark, but I loved how easy the PB360 worked for this.

I personally found the contrast on the ivory reader to be less than the black. Comparing them side-to-side I really see a noticeable difference. I don't know if there is something mildly awry with my ivory reader. It is still readable, and I never would have noticed if I didn't have the black one as well.

-Marcy

[Ulli]

I think the contrast is influented by the color of the eReader.

Have you ever tried to pur a sheet of paper around your device (better said around your display) and comparing those this way?
I got experience with black and ivory on my own and could not tell anything about a difference of the contrast. For me it sounds like an optical illusion. But just try to do the test and please report in.

P.S.: Have you ever tried a cliplight for your 360?

[Mickey330]

Originally Posted by mcrmama

Thanks all. I just put in my purchase. Hopefully, I will be able to sort out how to do all the updates etc. I don't know a lot but am pretty good at following directions with electronic things so will give it a shot. Hopefully, we will enjoy reading with the new PB.

Jodi

Jodi -

As you probably are aware by now, we love talking about our PB360s and giving help where we can.

If you ever have a question about what to do when you get your Pocketbook, please, just ask and you'll get help right away.

Yeah, this forum is awesome like that!

Hope your wait for your device is not tooooooo long!

Happy reading.

Marilyn

[mcrmama]

Thank you so much everyone. It really is amazing the help here. I really appreciate it.

Marcy, thanks for the suggestions, I am reading with an ipod touch right now when I nurse which I really like and is what got me to thinking I should be considering an e-reader. I was getting a little worried that it can't be great for my eyes to do that so much and I don't want to go back to work with my eyes worse when this is the year I get to have a break from being in front of a computer all day every day at work. I generally read when I nurse during the day so there will be light in the room for that. At night, I tend to lie down to nurse since we have our spare bed in the baby room since all the rooms are full now so I don't tend to read then (having three boys does that to a house, lol)

Thanks all for the info on contrast etc. Since I didn't want to share, we have a black one coming for my dh and an ivory one for me. He doesn't know that yet, so hopefully he will be okay with that surprise. Now, I can't spend any more money like that for the remainder of my year off, so I will have to just get things set up and read!

Marilyn, I really do appreciate everyone's help here. It is so nice to have that. I have done small adjustments to config files etc. on my computer when I was installing little things on photoshop elements on my computer a while ago, so hopefully that will help. I will start by following the directions I've seen here and might ask for help as I go if something doesn't work. I tend to be one the digs and researches to figure things out so I can remind myself that there are people here to help when I need it. Since I'm doing two, I figure once I have one set up, I should be able to do the second a lot faster.

My order said to expect arrival around August 3rd so I will now wait. I am going on a plane August 6th with 2 of my boys so maybe I can get it in time to take it with me. Of course, I will be flying with a 4 month old on my lap and an 8 year old beside me so I may not get much reading in although maybe at the airport. Perhaps my 8 year old might read a bit. I noticed our public library has all the magic tree house books on epub so I will load a couple of those on for the trip.

Jodi

[Logseman]

Actually you'll be surprised about how little set-up the device(s) need(s). It's none. Since the device is recognised as a normal USB stick, you and your husband can simply plug the devices, load the books and read them. No more is needed.

[mcrmama]

Thanks! It does look like it won't be too difficult, especially once I get firmware, buttons etc. set up the way I want. It looks like mine is now scheduled to arrive a little earlier, on the 30th of July instead of August 3rd. My dh's appears to be backordered so we will have to wait for his. When his arrives, I should have mine all sorted out, lol.

Jodi