Kindle questions

[Care]

I was looking at getting either a Kobo or a Nook mostly due to size. Now that the new kindles will be much smaller I am now torn even more. My questions for kindle users now are:

1. If I use calibre to load my ebooks (I already own 100's of epubs), do they all show up in one folder, or will they be separate because they are not amazon books? I know it says it supports folders, so can I put any books into my folders?

2. This text to speech thing, does it work for most books? And for non amazon books as well? Not sure if I would use it, but it seems like a cool feature if you couldn't read.

3. Does amazon still charge an extra $2 for Canadians to download their ebooks? If so, my dad is in the US, so could I use his address to get around this, or does it know where I'm downloading from (like ip address) and still charge the $2?

4. when looking through your library, does it show the covers, or do you have to open the book to see it?


Thanks!

Originally Posted by Care

I was looking at getting either a Kobo or a Nook mostly due to size. Now that the new kindles will be much smaller I am now torn even more. My questions for kindle users now are:

1. If I use calibre to load my ebooks (I already own 100's of epubs), do they all show up in one folder, or will they be separate because they are not amazon books? I know it says it supports folders, so can I put any books into my folders?

2. This text to speech thing, does it work for most books? And for non amazon books as well? Not sure if I would use it, but it seems like a cool feature if you couldn't read.

3. Does amazon still charge an extra $2 for Canadians to download their ebooks? If so, my dad is in the US, so could I use his address to get around this, or does it know where I'm downloading from (like ip address) and still charge the $2?

4. when looking through your library, does it show the covers, or do you have to open the book to see it?


Thanks!

I can only address #1 and #4. I have a KDXG, but just preordered to new Kindle WiFi.

1. The KDXG uses Collections and you can place books into one or more Collection. I think, but I'm not sure, that calibre can be used for this, but tags would probably work. The "folder" term is really not appropriate as all books still go into the Documents folder and you don't create new folders. It is more of a tagging thing to make the books look more organized on the K home screen. The new Kindle WiFi and Kindle WiFi + 3G might actually have folders, I haven't read the manual yet. Both Amazon purchased and personal docs show up in collections.

4. Again, I don't know what the new models will do, but on the KDXG you see lists of books--text only no covers. You can view the cover after opening the book.

[ATDrake]

2. Yes, it works on all texts (except PDFs), unless the TTS option has been specifically disabled by the publisher (any book which does this will have a note to that effect on the product page). But there are scripting workarounds for that, which are now legal-ish in the US, as well, as far as I understand the latest DMCA rulings.

3. Yes, there's currently a $2 Whispernet fee on all non-free (0.00 cost promotional or public domain books) for Canadians. You can get around this by registering with a US billing address, and if you're worried about them tracking you by IP and sending a proof-of-residence notice, you can always use one of those US-based VPN proxies when you order stuff, transfer via computer instead of doing the wireless download, and leave the Whispernet off most of the time. Though the latter is probably a moot consideration if you're getting the wi-fi model.

You might want to download Kindle for PC/Mac and start picking up any of the time-limited promo freebies you're interested in from the sticky thread at the top of this forum.

That way you'll have a nice stock of books to load up on your Kindle should you decide to get one.

Hope this helps.

[Care]

That's great, thanks for the replies!

I actually already have kindle for pc ( (my blackberry won't work outside US) and some books on it. I just load them to mobipocket on my phone. I also use Kobo to buy books since they are sometimes cheaper.

So basically I would just have to load all of my books via calibre (for non kindle books) or my kindle app for pc?

[ATDrake]

You can just drag and drop books directly to the Kindle's documents folder, which is exactly what I do.

But a lot of people like to use Calibre to manage their collection, and I understand it can generate a catalogue file with descriptions of your books; useful in those cases where you've downloaded something, but can't remember what it's all about.

Kindle for PC and actual Kindles use different unlock keys for DRMed books, so you'd basically have to download a second copy separately encoded for your Kindle from Amazon's website (free - you don't need to pay again as some people have asked, and it's easily done via the Manage Your Kindle page, which really ought to have a batch download option.)

Do be aware that the Kindle uses a different format (prc/mobi) than the increasingly common ePub that B&N, Sony, and Kobo use, so in order to read your Kobo books on the Kindle, you'll have to strip the DRM and convert, which is not too hard and still legal in Canada, the current efforts of our corporate-crony "Heritage" Minister and his bill C-32 notwithstanding.

[Care]

The DRM crap is what I don't like about the Kindle. I just want to make sure I can use my other ebooks, as well as still buy ebooks from other sources on a Kindle (with the help of calibre of course). I would hate to get it and find out the 100's of ebooks I already own wouldn't work or looked wonky on it.

Another question, Amazon can only touch their files, right? Like the whole issue with 1984? If I already had it in my collection (not from amazon), it wouldn't have disappeared?

[poohbear_nc]

Amazon does not interfere with non-Amazon books you put on your Kindle.

And - after the 1984 debacle - they email you for permission if they want to update an existing version of a book you have purchased from them.

[Zyzomys]

I just want to make sure I can use my other ebooks, as well as still buy ebooks from other sources on a Kindle (with the help of calibre of course).

If the ebooks you already own are DRM free then all you have to do is have calibre convert them to mobi.
From my experience removing DRM is rather simple but is beyond the scope of this forum. Google is your friend.

[Care]

Yep, they are all DRM free now! I already have them converted to mobi, but it's for my phone so the format might be a bit different. I would probably just use calibre to convert them again and add them.

Poohbear, that is nice to know!

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Care

Yep, they are all DRM free now! I already have them converted to mobi, but it's for my phone so the format might be a bit different. I would probably just use calibre to convert them again and add them.

Shouldn't be any need to do anything but add them to the Kindle. I've got tons of Mobi files, many created pre-Kindle and they work just fine on the K2.


The only reason I can think of to reconvert is to get the little chapter markers that Kindle puts in the progress bar if the file is formatted a certain way. I like this feature so I convert all of my books to ePub and make sure they have a good ncx table of contents and then convert the epub to mobi with Calibre. Then I get the chapter marks I like.

[Care]

Hmmm, that sounds interesting. I am not sure about my mobi files, because I don't actually know where they are, lol. I think they are only on my phone and I don't know how to get them out. But I do have the original epub files, so I would have to convert them all over again. I have a few mobi files actually, but not many.