Buying from WHSmith - compatibillity?

Erinath · 08-16-2010, 11:59 AM

I was interested in making the most of the half price eBook offer WHSmith currently have, but was wondering which format was best to go for? It states on their help pages that "The Amazon Kindle does not currently support eBooks protected with Mobipocket DRM". I wasn't sure if therefore it made sense to go down the PDF route instead.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm new to this whole eBooks malarky.

shanghaichica · 08-16-2010, 12:04 PM

The majority of the PDF books sold on WH Smith are DRM protected and require Adobe Digital editions management. This type of DRM is not supported by the kindle. WH Smith do not sell books which are compatible with the kindle. The only way you would be able to read books bought from WH Smith on your kindle would be to remove, the DRM first, and then if it were a PDF you could put it directly onto your device. ePUB books would require conversion before you could put it onto your kindle.

It depends if you want to get into the business of DRM stripping.

Erinath · 08-16-2010, 12:20 PM

Is DRM stripping legal?

AnemicOak · 08-16-2010, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erinath

Is DRM stripping legal?

Pretty sure it's not legal in the UK. Many folks have no issue in disinfecting books they've purchased for their own personal use (who's to know as long as you aren't passing the books around), but that's an individual decision.

If you were to strip DRM you'd be best off either buying Mobipocket format books or buying ePub books and converting them to Mobi for the Kindle. Personally I usually stay far away from PDF.

I'd assume the WH Smith sale is in response to the opening of the UK Kindle store. Are the sales prices better than Amazon's prices? The few books I checked were still cheaper on Amazon.

abookreader · 08-16-2010, 12:39 PM

Since you'll need to strip the DRM anyway, I wouldn't recommend you start with the PDF files unless you have no other choice. PDF files hardly ever look great on a 6" screen.

LIT and ePub files both convert easily and of course mobi can be read natively on the Kindle.

Also keep an eye on Amazon to price match whatever books you're looking at - even notify them of the cheaper prices. Amazon.com is pretty aggressive about price matching so I have to think Amazon.co.uk will be too.

Erinath · 08-16-2010, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Many folks have no issue in disinfecting books they've purchased for their own personal use (who's to know as long as you aren't passing the books around), but that's an individual decision.

If I decide to go down the DRM stripping route, which I'm not at all convinced I would, it would definitely only be for my own use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I'd assume the WH Smith sale is in response to the opening of the UK Kindle store. Are the sales prices better than Amazon's prices? The few books I checked were still cheaper on Amazon.

Every eBook is at least half price, so some of the text books I need are available considerably cheaper than Amazon. They are books I'll have physical copies of too, would just like to not have to take a heavy pile of books into uni if I could be carrying just the weight of a Kindle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abookreader

Also keep an eye on Amazon to price match whatever books you're looking at - even notify them of the cheaper prices. Amazon.com is pretty aggressive about price matching so I have to think Amazon.co.uk will be too.

That's something I hadn't thought of. Thanks, I'd much rather have totally legit copies.

loveangel · 08-16-2010, 01:40 PM

not legal in uk

suecsi · 08-17-2010, 03:53 AM

The few books I looked at were about 1 or 2p more expensive that Amazon so very nearly price matching. Good news for those who use EPUBS.

wallcraft · 08-17-2010, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erinath

Is DRM stripping legal?

In the UK, copying ebooks from one device to another without permission is illegal. It does not increase the illegality to strip DRM in the process. This is because the UK's laws are out of date, and the situation is likely to change soon (probably not for the better in most circumstances). See Shakeup of 'absurd' copyright law demanded.

In practice, there is zero chance of anyone in the UK facing legal action for stripping DRM and/or format shifting for personal use ebooks that they bought from (say) WHSmith.

For the Kindle, I suggest buying the ePub version, stripping the DRM and then shifting to MOBI using Calibre. This will typically give you a better ebook than starting from a PDF.

thianliongpatpoh · 08-18-2010, 12:38 AM

My take is:
1. Download mobipocket reader drom mobipocket.com and install it on your pc (i assume youre running pc). this will make life so much easy later on.
2. Understand how to strip ADE epub drm - and only epub - by googling, then find the appropriate utilities to do the process.
3. Start buying epub from whsmith.
4. Strip the drm off your purchased epub.
5. Run mobipocket reader, drop your stripped epub there. The reader will magically convert your epub into mobi format. See, easy. No need to calibre or whatever.
6. Right-click on your boom title in mobipocket reader and choose "show in explorer". You'll see your mobi version ebook, and ready to copy it to your kindle documents folder.

Cheers.

AnemicOak · 08-18-2010, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thianliongpatpoh

5. Run mobipocket reader, drop your stripped epub there. The reader will magically convert your epub into mobi format. See, easy. No need to calibre or whatever.

Except AFAIK Mobi Reader doesn't add the chapter marks (for the Kindle's progress bar) from the ePub's ncx like Calibre does, or does it? Not a huge deal, but I find I like having those marks.

08-16-2010, 11:59 AM	#1
Erinath Shy Philosopher Posts: 99 Karma: 10000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-T1, Nook Simple Touch, Nook HD+ & Kindle Keyboard (wifi only)	Buying from WHSmith - compatibillity? I was interested in making the most of the half price eBook offer WHSmith currently have, but was wondering which format was best to go for? It states on their help pages that "The Amazon Kindle does not currently support eBooks protected with Mobipocket DRM". I wasn't sure if therefore it made sense to go down the PDF route instead. Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm new to this whole eBooks malarky.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
WHSmith problems with purchased eBooks	TreeHugger	Introduce Yourself	11	10-02-2010 10:16 AM
Sony PRS300 for £99 (inc P&P) @ WHSmith	Dark123	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	1	08-27-2010 05:43 AM
Payment methods for WHSmith.co.uk	Croker	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	38	04-21-2009 06:33 PM
WHSmith Ebook store sale	darktower	News	8	01-08-2009 07:33 PM

08-16-2010, 12:04 PM	#2
shanghaichica Guru Posts: 989 Karma: 5782970 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Scribe,Kindle Oasis 3, iPad Pro 11, iPhone 13 Pro Max,iPad mini 6, PW5	The majority of the PDF books sold on WH Smith are DRM protected and require Adobe Digital editions management. This type of DRM is not supported by the kindle. WH Smith do not sell books which are compatible with the kindle. The only way you would be able to read books bought from WH Smith on your kindle would be to remove, the DRM first, and then if it were a PDF you could put it directly onto your device. ePUB books would require conversion before you could put it onto your kindle. It depends if you want to get into the business of DRM stripping.

08-16-2010, 12:20 PM	#3
Erinath Shy Philosopher Posts: 99 Karma: 10000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-T1, Nook Simple Touch, Nook HD+ & Kindle Keyboard (wifi only)	Is DRM stripping legal?

08-16-2010, 12:39 PM	#5
abookreader Wizard Posts: 1,516 Karma: 2567610 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD	Since you'll need to strip the DRM anyway, I wouldn't recommend you start with the PDF files unless you have no other choice. PDF files hardly ever look great on a 6" screen. LIT and ePub files both convert easily and of course mobi can be read natively on the Kindle. Also keep an eye on Amazon to price match whatever books you're looking at - even notify them of the cheaper prices. Amazon.com is pretty aggressive about price matching so I have to think Amazon.co.uk will be too.

08-16-2010, 01:40 PM	#7
loveangel Banned Posts: 137 Karma: 30 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: kindle	not legal in uk

08-17-2010, 03:53 AM	#8
suecsi Rock Chick Posts: 429 Karma: 4965 Join Date: May 2009 Location: near Heathrow Device: Kindle 2i, Kindle DX, Kindle 3G	The few books I looked at were about 1 or 2p more expensive that Amazon so very nearly price matching. Good news for those who use EPUBS.

08-18-2010, 12:38 AM	#10
thianliongpatpoh Zealot Posts: 101 Karma: 218 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: iPad	My take is: 1. Download mobipocket reader drom mobipocket.com and install it on your pc (i assume youre running pc). this will make life so much easy later on. 2. Understand how to strip ADE epub drm - and only epub - by googling, then find the appropriate utilities to do the process. 3. Start buying epub from whsmith. 4. Strip the drm off your purchased epub. 5. Run mobipocket reader, drop your stripped epub there. The reader will magically convert your epub into mobi format. See, easy. No need to calibre or whatever. 6. Right-click on your boom title in mobipocket reader and choose "show in explorer". You'll see your mobi version ebook, and ready to copy it to your kindle documents folder. Cheers.