Calibre super newbie

[iggysprint]

Hi all,

Sorry if this sounds pretty basic.

I have a few qns about the whole ebook concept. I am totally sold about the using an ebook reader and currently my choices are between the kindle 2, Sony prs700 and Bebook.

I use a MAc mini however and I would like to know if calibre is able to convert mobi pocket books to either kindle or sony formats?

Thanks a bunch

Iggy

[NASCARaddicted]

I don't know exactly what formats kindle or sony uses. Calibre can convert to mobi pocket, epub and lrf.

However: I think I heard something like that Sony readers (at least the PRS 505) don't work with Apples. Is that correct ? So if you use a Mac, I would make sure that the Sony works with it.

Personally, I decided to go with the BeBook. The Bebook can read most of the current formats like mobi, epub, pdf, txt, html, etc ...

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by NASCARaddicted

However: I think I heard something like that Sony readers (at least the PRS 505) don't work with Apples. Is that correct ? So if you use a Mac, I would make sure that the Sony works with it.

My guess is that you are getting confused by the fact that the Sony supplied software does not work with anything except Windows. If using calibre this is not an issue as it works fine with Sony Readers on the mac.

[iggysprint]

Yeah from reading the threads i gather that the sony reader can be used on the mac through the calibre program.

I think my issue is that i am not in the US and do not really own a US credit card. However due to some of the intrinsic benefits of the kindle / sony ie looks, contrast, aesthetics ... I like to purchase either one.

As such, the only possible ebooks that can be bought would be ebooks such as mobipocket.com etc. I was wondering if it was possible to convert the format of those ebooks bought from external website other than amazon and sony and be used on the kindle or sony reader.

Thanks for all the help..

Iggy

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by iggysprint

Yeah from reading the threads i gather that the sony reader can be used on the mac through the calibre program.

I think my issue is that i am not in the US and do not really own a US credit card. However due to some of the intrinsic benefits of the kindle / sony ie looks, contrast, aesthetics ... I like to purchase either one.

As such, the only possible ebooks that can be bought would be ebooks such as mobipocket.com etc. I was wondering if it was possible to convert the format of those ebooks bought from external website other than amazon and sony and be used on the kindle or sony reader.

Thanks for all the help..

Iggy

Mobi works fine on the Kindle anyway. You just have totake care to buy books not hanicapped by DRM.

Calibre converts Mobipocket books to LRF and Epub and both of these formats are supported by the Sony 505.

[emellaich]

There are definitely smarter people than me on this, but let me try spelling out some stuff that I understand. Hopefully someone out there will correct my mistakes.

First you need to understand DRM: Digital Rights Management. It is used to make sure that you don't buy a book and then give it away to millions of people on the internet. I understand and support the rights of intellectual property owners to protect their property.

Unfortunately, books that are protected by DRM have limitations that make it difficult for consumers to use the books they actually purchase. Some people describe purchasing a DRM book as 'renting' the book. This is because you might lose access to the book if you change to a different reader in the future, or if your book provider goes out of business.

Calibre can convert books to mobi (to be read on the Kindle) and LRF to be read on the Sony. However, it can only be used to convert books that are not copy-protected (ie, have no DRM).

There are several sources of DRM-free books:
- If you like 'classics' (those copyrighted before 1923 and some other books) then you can get all the books you want here (mobilread) as well as gutenberg.org .
- Baen.com is a wonderful source of books published by Baen. I love them; they are a science fiction and fantasy publisher.
- Many independent writers publish DRM-free.
- Some business books and educational books -- but not most.

However, in general most best sellers and most books published by name-brand publishers are copy protected (ie, have DRM). These books are generally only available if you buy them from the Amazon or Sony stores, respectively.

There may be an additional option. There are programs available that can remove the DRM so that ebooks can be easily moved between devices. One would use one of these programs to remove DRM, and then use Calibre to convert them to the correct format.

However, removing DRM is not legal in some?/many?/most?/all? areas. Therefore this is something that can not be explicitly described here on mobilread.

If you are interested in popular books, and you are not able to remove DRM, then you do need a reader that can access a proprietary book store and you may find yourself 'renting' books instead of buying them.

[iggysprint]

Hey emellaich,

Thanks so much for the info. It was very useful for sure. Yeah i guess i pretty much understood all of it. Sadly as I am out of the US, and do not own a US Credit card, buying from sony and amazon is not really an option


Would you happen to know if the books sold on mobipocket .com are DRM free?

THanks so much

Iggy

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by iggysprint

Hey emellaich,

Thanks so much for the info. It was very useful for sure. Yeah i guess i pretty much understood all of it. Sadly as I am out of the US, and do not own a US Credit card, buying from sony and amazon is not really an option


Would you happen to know if the books sold on mobipocket .com are DRM free?

THanks so much

Iggy

You will need to do some searching around here on mobilread to find out about this. I don't purchase from mobipocket, so I have read the posts on this issue, but they haven't 100% stuck in my memory.

As I understand it, most of the mobipocket books you would be interested in do have DRM. Specifically, for the Kindle there was/is a process to find a PID (unique number) that you could enter into mobipocket so that the books would work on the Kindle. However, I **think** I've read discussion that mobipocket doesn't allow Kindle format PID's anymore??

This would leave you with only the option of removing the DRM.

Alternatively, some overseas folks have discussed the option of using gift cards on Amazon. Look in the kindle forum. I believe it works by purchasing a gift card in one account and having it shipped to another account.