Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Readers > Which one should I buy?

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 02-11-2011, 08:35 AM   #1
ignis
Member
ignis began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 18
Karma: 10
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Norway
Device: Kindle 3
Lack of ePub support a big problem?

Hi,

Seeing as that I'm having enormous trouble finding where to buy a Sony Reader from, I'm starting to consider Kindle as an alternative. I'm even willing to overlook the absolutely (in my opinion) unnecessary and useless keyboard. What I can't come to grips with, however, is the lack of ePub support. I've been reading ebooks for close to 10 years now, and during that time have a amassed a rather extensive collection of ebooks in ePub format.

Yes, I know that calibre can convert ePub to other formats. What remains to be seen, however, is the quality of such conversions. I like to read my ebooks in style, with table of contents, illustrations (where applicable), paragraphs, hyphenation, footnotes, etc. In my previous experience with some calibre-converted books, it fails miserably on most of those fronts.

I'm sure it's possible to set it up right and then spend god knows how much time manually editing the book files, but then I may as well pay $150 extra and get PRS-650 instead?
ignis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 09:37 AM   #2
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
Why not try a few conversions and see how they look with the Kindle for PC app? My experience is that they generally work extremely well.
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 09:55 AM   #3
ProfCrash
Tea Enthusiast
ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProfCrash ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
ProfCrash's Avatar
 
Posts: 8,554
Karma: 75384937
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Somewhere in the USA
Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
Why not try a few conversions and see how they look with the Kindle for PC app? My experience is that they generally work extremely well.
+1

I have never converted to EPub from Mobi or vice versa. The posts I have read on this site seem to indicate that the conversions end up looking just fine the vast majority of the time.
ProfCrash is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 10:11 AM   #4
chyron8472
Groupie
chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
chyron8472's Avatar
 
Posts: 180
Karma: 558490
Join Date: Jan 2011
Device: Kindle 5, Amazon Fire 5th Gen, Moto Z Play Droid
There is another program from Amazon called Kindle Previewer which mimics what a book will look like on a Kindle, without having to register K4PC as a new device and stuff.

I find it to be faster and more useful than Kindle4PC.

Last edited by chyron8472; 02-11-2011 at 01:57 PM.
chyron8472 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 02:48 PM   #5
MacEachaidh
Browser
MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MacEachaidh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
MacEachaidh's Avatar
 
Posts: 745
Karma: 578294
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD
Quote:
Originally Posted by chyron8472 View Post
There is another program from Amazon called Kindle Previewer
That's a great find, chyron8472 - thank you !!
MacEachaidh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 03:51 PM   #6
jocampo
Layback feline
jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
jocampo's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,034
Karma: 6980745
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Device: Oasis 2nd gen, Sony DPTS1, iPad Pro 10.5"
Speaking by experience here,

I've done lot of conversions from ePub to Mobi and Mobi to ePub with zero problems all the time. The common factor is that most of them have been pure text or novels with just a couple of pictures, but still zero problems after conversion. I've even converted two SQL books (they usually have some graphics and complex formats) and everything looks fine.

My suggestion would be, check the biggest online store in your area or country and compare to Amazon. If you can find more of your favorites titles in Amazon, go for it, and get a Kindle 3. For a pure text book the differences in display between ePub and Mobi are zero! They look exactly the same, native and converted, that's my personal experience.
jocampo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 04:45 PM   #7
Care
Aes Sedai
Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.
 
Care's Avatar
 
Posts: 659
Karma: 46166
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Canada
Device: Kobo Aura and Kobo Mini, had a Nook, NOOKcolor, Nook STR.
I have had good experience converting from azw to epub. The flow is usually pretty similar, but these are text, no pictures. The hardest part is stripping the drm if that needs to be done.I don't liketo do it though if I don't have to.

My reason for needing epub is fr library books. If I didn't use the library I wouldn't really mind as much. So if you only plan to get drm free books or buy mobi ebooks you should be fine.
Care is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 06:43 PM   #8
Grimm
DRM killer
Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Grimm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Grimm's Avatar
 
Posts: 471
Karma: 793120
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Just northeast of Atlanta, GA
Device: ASUS Transformer Prime (Sold: Nook, Kindle 3, Nook Color, Nook STR)
Why bother with a Kindle if you already have epubs in huge quantities? Grab a Sony or a Nook.
Grimm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 06:57 PM   #9
aagstn
Evangelist
aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.aagstn ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 422
Karma: 1004351
Join Date: Jun 2007
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 3, iPad mini 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimm View Post
Why bother with a Kindle if you already have epubs in huge quantities? Grab a Sony or a Nook.
Exactly. Why limit yourself when you can get devices that are just as good as a kindle and that support the format used by pretty much everyone but Amazon.
aagstn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 06:58 PM   #10
jocampo
Layback feline
jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jocampo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
jocampo's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,034
Karma: 6980745
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Device: Oasis 2nd gen, Sony DPTS1, iPad Pro 10.5"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimm View Post
Why bother with a Kindle if you already have epubs in huge quantities? Grab a Sony or a Nook.
The OP is not living in USA I believe, hence Sony or Kindle would be a better choice. Those two has better international support.
jocampo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2011, 08:43 PM   #11
Care
Aes Sedai
Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.Care has every book they ever wanted in electronic form on their reader.
 
Care's Avatar
 
Posts: 659
Karma: 46166
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Canada
Device: Kobo Aura and Kobo Mini, had a Nook, NOOKcolor, Nook STR.
The OP said they were having a hard time finding a sony. Maybe somebody knows where to order one internationally? That way all the epubs can be loaded on with no conversions or hassle.
Care is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2011, 12:01 AM   #12
chyron8472
Groupie
chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chyron8472 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
chyron8472's Avatar
 
Posts: 180
Karma: 558490
Join Date: Jan 2011
Device: Kindle 5, Amazon Fire 5th Gen, Moto Z Play Droid
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimm View Post
Why bother with a Kindle if you already have epubs in huge quantities?
Because:
  • stripping DRM is relatively simple with the right tool;
  • Calibre makes converting epub to mobi fairly painless;
  • Amazon has a huge online bookstore;
  • Amazon has wonderful customer service;
  • Amazon has the greatest likelihood coming out on top and staying there in the ebook reader business, as evidenced in part by the fact that BN is discontinuing the Nook 3G;
  • current gen Sony PRS is more expensive than K3;
  • K3 has the option of free 3G which, more than buying/dl'ing books can even access websites (such as this one);

and more reasons, but I think I made my point thus far.
chyron8472 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2011, 05:49 AM   #13
Poppaea
Lucifer's Bat
Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Poppaea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Poppaea's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,536
Karma: 19491715
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Earth/Berlin
Device: Kobo Libra 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by chyron8472 View Post
Because:
  • stripping DRM is relatively simple with the right tool;
  • Calibre makes converting epub to mobi fairly painless;
  • Amazon has a huge online bookstore;
  • Amazon has wonderful customer service;
  • Amazon has the greatest likelihood coming out on top and staying there in the ebook reader business, as evidenced in part by the fact that BN is discontinuing the Nook 3G;
  • current gen Sony PRS is more expensive than K3;
  • K3 has the option of free 3G which, more than buying/dl'ing books can even access websites (such as this one);

and more reasons, but I think I made my point thus far.
  • stripping DRM may be illigal in your country (the OP comes from Norway)
  • Sony has a huge bookstore and the same prizing as Amazon and you can shop in all the Norwegian ebook stores too
  • others have wonderful customer services too
  • Sony has the greatest likelihood of staying on top in Europe
  • current K3 features a cheap keyboard whereas the Sony has IR touchscreen
Poppaea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2011, 06:11 AM   #14
EowynCarter
Wizard
EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.EowynCarter ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 4,332
Karma: 4000000
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Paris
Device: Cybooks; Sony PRS-T1
The one ePub i turn into a mobi, didn't go that well. Way too large margins.

Publishers in norway uses ePub don't they ? Spare yourself some mess, get a reader that can read epub. Have you looked at bookeen and pocketbook ?

Quote:
stripping DRM is relatively simple with the right tool;
I do that anyway. But at least you can use the book with drm if you're out of time.

Quote:
Calibre makes converting epub to mobi fairly painless;
Converting might be easy, not having to convert is even easier.

Quote:
Amazon has a huge online bookstore;
Only in the US.

Quote:
Amazon has wonderful customer service;
Amazon have good customer service, but sending a package to the US is long and expensive.

Last edited by EowynCarter; 02-12-2011 at 06:13 AM.
EowynCarter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2011, 07:35 AM   #15
Cpl Punishment
Guru
Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Cpl Punishment ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Cpl Punishment's Avatar
 
Posts: 682
Karma: 4156546
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: On The Move
Device: Ipad 103rd Gen
If a have a ton of PDF's trying looking into an IPAD...Expensive for sure, but it sure does work.....Conversions are easy via Calibre...

*Geez, soory about, that I see you said, Epub not PDF..Conversions are still easy....

Last edited by Cpl Punishment; 02-12-2011 at 07:37 AM. Reason: Read the question....Better !!
Cpl Punishment is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
kindle, prs-650, sony reader

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
PRS-600 brand new and big problem ? twistedprs600 Sony Reader 16 08-23-2010 12:30 PM
lack of scrolling for some downloaded epub bl1none Onyx Boox 0 05-13-2010 06:45 PM
Big problem Beppo Sony Reader 35 03-25-2009 03:12 AM
Big problem MikiBroki Sony Reader 3 10-07-2007 09:34 PM
Palm Digital Ereader support, or lack of it! Trep Reading and Management 4 02-01-2005 02:05 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:43 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.