12-25-2012, 06:16 PM | #1 |
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Nook Touch/Calibre/Questions
I have a Nook Classic .. I love it .. mostly .. my mom has an STR and I've had my eye on a Glow.
I was all set to get a Glow after Christmas, but my mom was over today with her STR and I played around with it a little ... I'm concerned about library management, which I see from the forums is an issue. On my Classic, I use the shelves extensively. She also uses shelves, but I can't see that there is a way to see A. what shelf (s) a book is currently on and B. what books are NOT on a shelf at all. On my classic, I can see the unshelved books and in the "shelving" section, I can see what shelves an individual book is on. It doesn't look like the STR can do that ... am I missing something? how do you know what books you haven't shelved? Now, as near as I can tell, the library inadequacies are "solved" by using Calibre. With my Classic, I never saw the need to use anything other than Nook and ADE (for non BN books). So, Calibre questions ... Do I need to "root" ... I'm not so interested in that ... Will Calibre work with : B&N books (obviously, yes); secure eReader (I have a bunch of books from Fictionwise and I use ADE to sideload); ePub (from the library, I also use ADE to sideload) Will I need to strip the DRM from the secure eReader or library ePub books? Again, not sure I want to ... (can you tell I'm not a big rule-breaker ?) I think I can see that using Calibre requires me to download the B&N books and sideload them, but does that mean I would never really use the Wifi ... I wouldn't want B&N to automatically download a new book I had just sideloaded .... A bunch of questions, I know ... as I said, I was all set until I saw the library on Mom's ... I do think that would bug me A LOT ... maybe if I started that way, but even mom is getting a bit frustrated with it .. |
12-25-2012, 09:20 PM | #2 |
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Sony PRS-T2
I had a Nook Classic for a while, and it was good for shelves and all, but I went to the STR for the better screen and longer battery life.
Got those things, but everything else was not so great.. If you have a big library adding books to the shelves you create is a laborious process, but you already know that from looking at your mom's reader. In the end I ended up giving my STR to my own mother. I made sure it was good and organized but that took more work to do than I ever want to again on a library. If you want good organization I'd say go with the Sony's PRS-T2. You can find one for about a hundred dollars in Best Buy sometimes. With Calibre you take your books, making sure they are still in EPUB format, lump them in the series columns with names like-Brooks, Terry (Sword of Shannara Series)-and sideload the books into the Reader. It will become a collection you can access immediately without having manually create it on the Reader. Best part is if you do multiple shelves the Reader will even slot them in alphabetically. As for stripping DRM there is a place on the internet suggests ways to do it. Hint-old show starring a furry brown alien. Think of him as an apprentice of sorts. Still I really do recommend the T2. No rooting necessary. I have 4k books in my library now, and with Calibre I was able to load all of it into the Reader divided up into about 450 collections. Even better is that I bought my wife the same reader, purchased a memory card for it, cloned my memory card onto the new one, and loaded it into her Reader. Instant Library Duplication with no extra work. The Nook STR is a great reader, but the ability to manage collections or shelves from a computer was what really sold it for me on the Sony. Your mother's frustration about the Nook's shelving system is not unique. With no 'Add to Shelf' feature paging through your entire library to add one book becomes a nightmare. |
12-29-2012, 05:15 PM | #3 |
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Ok, but assuming I DO get a Touch with Glow ... can Calibre run on it WITHOUT rooting the device and can Calibre work with Nook books, secure digital and ePub from the library?
The Sony PRS-T2 doesn't have a built in light ... one of the things I'm after ... touch, built in light and good library management. Last edited by Catsnkites; 12-29-2012 at 05:19 PM. |
12-29-2012, 08:02 PM | #4 |
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Nook ST Glow + Calibre = very good thing stock =)
I have used Calibre for years now, and just got a new NSTGlow for xmas. Calibre works fine with the ST. Its a life saver. A sugestion if I may, if you have favorites that you go back to over and over etc. (for me Im working thru several versions of the Bible right now) Instead of making a shelf, make a directory of the books etc you want, then move that directory to one of the alternate material "types" directory on your nook. IE ... I made a directory of all my bible related books, named it "bible" and copied to the "document" folder on my nook. That way when I want to reference those books quickly, instead of opening up my "books" folder, I open up the "document" directory and get what I want directly. I really do wish they would make organizing shelfs better / easier. You should be able to add a book to a shelf while browsing your directories and remove one form a shelf buy looking at the shelf. You shouldnt have to sort thru your entire collection of books to add / remove something ( ggeess i have over 2k books .. thats insane to try and do ) |
12-30-2012, 08:23 AM | #5 |
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I think I'm about to recommend the same approach as Askyn. Please forgive any duplication.
I owned 2 different Sony Readers before joining the Nook family with a NST and, later, a Nook Tablet. I ended up returning a Sony T1 before making the switch to Nook because I was fed up with the bugs and general lack of support from Sony (IMHO, anyway). However, the one redeeming quality of the Sony line was the flexibility to manage collections on the Reader with Calibre's use of tags. The Nook shelving process is atrocious. Frankly, I'm surprised that B&N seems to have ignored the consistent feedback on that for so long. What does work for me, though, is Calibre's excellent ability to create a catalog of my library. If you haven't explored this feature of Calibre, you should. It's worth your time. The catalog can be customized to your liking. I have my catalog indexed to show books by title, author, and series. (Series really being the most important to me.) If I'm trying to remember what's next on my reading list or deciding what to pick up next, I simply open the catalog on my device and browse. While I still have to go back to the device's library to select the book once I've made my decision, I think it's still a much better option than filling Nook shelves book by book. This has worked well for me- hope it helps! tl;dr Create a catalog in Calibre and sideload that on your device Last edited by MooseFam5; 12-30-2012 at 08:28 AM. Reason: fixing a typo! clearly, not enough coffee yet this morning |
12-30-2012, 10:19 AM | #6 | |
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Quote:
I agree--with a Nook Touch/Glow--a calibre catalog, and the search function is the best way to find a book. bernie |
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01-01-2013, 09:45 AM | #7 |
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Not related to topic but I was wondering if anyone can tell me if Nook touch and Nook Glow have side buttons for flipping pages?
I'm considering buying a epub reader and I find the idea of flipping though pages only through screen tap repulsive. |
01-01-2013, 11:06 AM | #8 |
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Yes, Touch and Glow both have side buttons for page turns.
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01-02-2013, 12:46 AM | #9 |
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01-04-2013, 11:37 AM | #10 |
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OK, so it sounds like my idea will work ... STR Glow + Calibre.... A few more brief, I hope! , questions ...
I don't have to "root" the STR Glow to use Calibre? Currently, if I buy a book from Barnes and Noble and I turn on the Wifi, the B&N book automatically downloads ... I know that, using Calibre, I would sideload the B&N books ... BUT, will they show up again when I turn Wifi on? Or would I just never turn on the Wifi? askyn spoke of creating a folder for related books while MooseFam5 spoke of a catalog ... but still having to go back to the Nook Library to choose a book to read ... I guess that wasn't really a question, just confusion.... And one last question ... if I start using Calibre on my Nook Classic, can I go back if I don't like it? That may be the best thing to do ... use it for the reader I have to see if it like it ... |
01-04-2013, 02:09 PM | #11 |
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Introduction/Understanding
Why don't you visit calibre.com and view the introductory material. It is pretty good. Then, if you have questions, you will have a better basis to frame them.
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01-04-2013, 11:11 PM | #12 |
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First, I also support JKenP's recommendation to start with the basics. Calibre really does have a gentle learning curve and this forum makes it even easier.
A couple of points: Books you purchase from B&N will download when you turn on the wifi. Very easy. Also, you can sideload books you've acquired elsewhere (highly recommend Calibre for this). Sideloading- with or without Calibre- does not require rooting. You can sideload books right out of the box. Sideloading is for non-B&N purchased books. The good news is that regardless of how the book got onto the device, all books (B&N and sideloaded) appear in the same library. Think of the library as one giant shelf with every book on the device listed there. From the library, you can select a book and start reading it. The Nook will let you view by Author, Title, or Most Recent. It will also search for Title or Author if you have a lot of books using an onscreen keyboard. The catalog I referred to is a capability within Calibre. Calibre can, at your direction, create a new ebook with information you choose about the books in your Calibre library. You can then load that ebook (the catalog itself) onto the device and flip through the book as a semi-workaround for the lack of collections in the Nook interface. I used Calibre for some time before stumbling onto the catalog capability. Again- start with Calibre's online documentation and come back with questions! Good luck! Last edited by MooseFam5; 01-04-2013 at 11:12 PM. Reason: clarity |
01-05-2013, 09:38 PM | #13 | |
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Quote:
This is something B&N gets absolutely right: it's very easy to get access to the ePub files themselves and it's very easy to get them off your device without actually deleting them from your account. |
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