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Old 09-02-2010, 07:05 PM   #1
loopeylisie
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annoyed with ereader limitations...

hello

I am new to this forum, I stumbled across it whilst researching ereaders as I've decided to invest in one. However, I'm feeling a bit narked about how they mainly seem to be tied into one retailer to purchase content. I initially was favoring the new kindle, but then I checked and found out that our library loans ebooks, but that the format they provide them in, Epub, is not supported on the kindle. So after the kindle I favored the bebook neo (despite the large price difference) but now I realise that you can only purchase ebooks from amazon to use on a kindle. I would really like to be able to purchase ebooks from amazon as they seem to have a huge selection that (after a brief comparison) appears to be the cheapest. But I also really want to be able to loan ebooks from my library. I've read suggestions that people buy a cheap secondhand kindle to get round this, but for me this is missing the point. I can only afford one device (birthday present) and I think i would only want one anyway, as for me the idea is that you have all your books available in on one device. Not spread across two. i have a small budget so I ideally would like to be able to purchase books as cheaply as possible and when I have no spare cash I'd like to be able to fall back on the library collection. I'm just so confused now

Any advice from seasoned users? I can't make a decision either way at the mo. I just can't believe that amazon are forcing people to only be able to buy content through them/buy their technology. It seems so shortsighted and surely misses the point of ereaders? If you were able to use the library format on the kindle i would happily buy one, but this has thrown me.

Sorry about the moan, if I am getting it wrong (which i hope I am) please enlighten me, but if I am right, why oh why oh why?!

for reading

Lisa
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Old 09-02-2010, 08:47 PM   #2
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With Amazon their game is to get all of your business. I have finally decided to get the kindle. But I can also use my netbook to read kindle for pc or epubs using Adobe digtial edition. If I had a library that I could get loaner books I can use my netbook for that.
Why did I decide on the Kindle they normally have the ebooks I want and there are very large numbers of classic books for free and that is mostly what I read. If I find a non drm ebook that I like that is not in the format that I need I use calibre to convert it.

And there are ways to remove the pertection from drm ebooks but at this time I am not in to that but maybe latter on I will be.

Chuck
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Old 09-02-2010, 09:06 PM   #3
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Amazon isn't short sighted; they know exactly what they are doing and doing well for themselves. 50% world market share (minimum) says what they're doing is working.
Two things to keep in mind:
1- Kindle came out before ePub.
2- Amazon is in the book *selling* business. And the reason Amazon has the lowest-priced premium reader is because of their walled-garden business model. If you want one, you get the other; that's the deal.

Now, if you *must* have epub library access and you want access to the Kindle store, you have three roads to take:
1- Get a Tablet PC and install Kindle for PC and Adobe Digital Editions. Viliv (among others) makes some sweet Tablet PCs with 5in and larger screens.

2- Get a smartphone, Android Tablet, or an iPod touch. Add the Kindle app and the upcoming Overdrive reader app. You'd be covered.
http://www.overdrive.com/aboutus/get...cleID=20100519
If you don't mind reading on an LCD screen and don't require extreme battery life there have been quite a few Android 2.x tablets announced this week that might meet your needs; Archos alone announced 5 models in different sizes. Just make sure its Android 2 or higher; there are a lot of cheap Android 1.x tablets that offer substandard performance.

3- Get an Adept-based eink Reader that also supports Mobipocket format and learn to remove DRM from Kindle for PC books. It's not hard. How legal it is depends on where you live.

Theoretically, if your library offered up Mobi-drm'ed ebooks you could get those to work with Kindle but it's not a sure thing.

It's early in the ebook business and many of the players are still trying to figure out a business model that works for them. Amazon, however, figured out a model that works for them so while the others experiment and explore, Amazon has been growing their business and raking in the dough.

What comes next is anybody's guess but for now, what we have is what is.
We pick our poison and hope for the best.
Good luck!

Last edited by fjtorres; 09-02-2010 at 09:12 PM.
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Old 09-03-2010, 01:23 AM   #4
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It's very easy to buy Amazon books for Kindle for PC, remove the DRM, and then convert to ePub format. Takes about 1 minute to so. That perhaps gives you the best of both worlds. The Neo is an excellent reading device.
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Old 09-03-2010, 01:42 AM   #5
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I am one on the budget so I can't have more than one device either. Although I kept wanting to switch to newer device. I would take on Harry advice and buy the ereader that support Adept epub for library borrowing purposes. Then learn how to remove drm from Kindle for PC books and convert away. I have to second that removing drm isn't time consuming or hard to do. I used to think so until I looked into experimenting. Result is good. Good luck with your decision.
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Old 09-03-2010, 04:04 AM   #6
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An epub reader does seem to be what you need.

When buying a commercial epub e-book, it does pay to shop around, since the price can vary quite a lot: some major retailers are:

Waterstones.com (my experience is that it is often one of the more expensive retailers)
WH Smith (currently selling some titles quite cheaply)
Pickabook
BooksonBoard (they have both a UK and a USA site)

There are also other USA based retailers, but often I have found publisher restrictions stop them selling many of their titles to a UK resident.

My experience is that the Amazon UK site offers a greater selection of books and, all too often, cheaper (sometimes, a lot cheaper) than any of the epub retailers above.

So, as Harry and Superstitious have said, buying from Amazon using Kindle for PC, stripping the drm and converting to an epub starts to look attractive and worth the effort.

If you get in to stripping, I suggest you strip any drm from any epubs you buy so that, in the future, you are not restricted to what your subsequent e-readers may be.
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Old 09-03-2010, 06:55 AM   #7
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thanks all for the feedback!

I agree that amazon are very successful and obviously know what they are doing in terms of market share and revenue, but for the users it seems a bit unfair that they have cornered the market to such a degree. Or at least that is how it seems to me. It's interesting to hear that the kindle format has been around for longer than the epub, but surely if the epub is a format that is used by libraries amazon should incorporate it onto their device? although admittedly that would mean potentially loosing income for them so i guess i've just answered that one myself. I just feel that if i buy something I want to be able to use it how I want to use it, not how a company dictates I should use it. I was going to say I wouldn't buy a computer if I was tied to one format but I guess I kind of have although at least if i wanted to and could be bothered I could wipe the os of this and install a different one.

I think I'm going to have to learn how to strip drm and convert the format as almost all have advised - i read somewhere else about this but wasn't sure if it would be too complicated or applicable. It's nice to hear from someone that the neo is a good reader as I'd read elsewhere that people felt it was flimsy. I guess though that even if it is I have no frame of reference so won't know the difference! I just wish I could actually handle one before buying, but no shops near me seem to stock it.

Thank-you all so much for your advice, I was wavering towards the neo but you have pushed me over and helped me make the decision now i just have to wait for the end of the month when my family gives me the money before i can actually buy it it's going to be a looong wait.

Lisa
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Old 09-04-2010, 03:18 PM   #8
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I just had to boast somewhere... after deciding that i needed to learn about removing drm and converting ebooks i had a day of false starts (skindle won't work on my pc and i was being an idiot and not downloading python right) I just managed to do it! yay! And it is simple when you know how. Thank-you all, now i know i can do this I can happily get the bebook and still access amazon. best of both worlds xx
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Old 09-04-2010, 03:22 PM   #9
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Old 09-05-2010, 01:19 AM   #10
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I was thisclose to getting a bebook neo. I would've loved to have been able to take notes with the stylus! But, I went with the nook, which I am very happy with, because no e-reader had every single thing I wanted and to me that one had the most of what I wanted - though the neo was very close.

Anyway, I'm commenting to say that from the research I did on bebook neo, it seemed like a very nice device and with so many formats supported, probably about the only store you'd have to strip the DRM from would be Amazon.
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