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Old 11-02-2009, 11:12 AM   #1
chough
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Hi - Newbie looking for Advice

Hi, my name is chough and I stumbled across this forum whilst trying to sift through the myriad of ebook "information" that is out there. Seems like a lot is contradictory and confusing

Hopefully, it seems like this is the place for some unbiased advice on what to look for. I am after a multifunction device that is also a good ebook. I nearly bought a Sony PRS505 until I saw some multifunction devices of a similar price and thought one of those might suit me better.

thanks

Chough
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Old 11-02-2009, 12:00 PM   #2
desertgrandma
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Welcome to MobileRead, chough.

A lot depends on where you live.......and what you want to do with your reader. Do you need to see graphs, is it for college texts, or do you just want to read novels?

Are you in the US or not?

Check here for more info.......

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_devices

Good luck with your choice.
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Old 11-02-2009, 12:19 PM   #3
Sfenton103
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Kindle & free books

Greetings!

I am thinking about buying a Kindle. Will I also be able to download free books as well?

P.S. I have never downloaded a free book so not sure even how to do it. :-)
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Old 11-02-2009, 12:36 PM   #4
desertgrandma
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Welcome to MobileRead, sfention103.

You don't even need a device to download the free books here.

You can download mobipocket reader to your computer, (free) then download all the books in .prc (mobi) you want and read away!

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/Downloa...sp?Language=EN

Enjoy.

PS.....there are many other places to download free books, all in public domain.....
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Old 11-02-2009, 12:42 PM   #5
kennyc
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Welcome! There is a lot of advice here, check the wiki pages for the various devices as well. I love my 505 and think it is still one of the best, but it depends on your particular requirements.
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Old 11-02-2009, 12:48 PM   #6
MickeyC
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Hi Chough and welcome to MobileRead. Lots of friendly advice here.
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Old 11-02-2009, 12:49 PM   #7
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Hi Sfenton103 and welcome to MobileRead
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Old 11-02-2009, 12:51 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sfenton103 View Post
Greetings!

I am thinking about buying a Kindle. Will I also be able to download free books as well?

P.S. I have never downloaded a free book so not sure even how to do it. :-)
Almost missed you there. Welcome!

Yes Amazon offers some free books on occasion. There are threads in the Kindle section of this forum..
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Old 11-02-2009, 01:12 PM   #9
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Hello chough, and Click image for larger version

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Old 11-02-2009, 01:16 PM   #10
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Old 11-02-2009, 01:16 PM   #11
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Some very basic info:

1) There are thousands of free ebook sites on the web. Most of them have mostly public domain classics, but there are also plenty with Creative Commons releases, and fully copyrighted works that have been offered for free.

2) You don't need a dedicated device to read ebooks. All of the formats available for ebooks, except a couple of *really* archaic and weird ones, are readable on your computer; I believe they're all readable with free software.

3) The most common ebook types are PDF, ePub, Mobi/PRC, and (eReader) PDB. (That is, if you don't count TXT, RTF and HTML, which weren't created specifically for books.) Less-common include LIT, LRF, FB2, RB, IMP, and FUB. No, you don't need to remember all of those. But you should be wary of any site that talks about "ebooks" but doesn't mention formats.

4) PDF is by far the most common, but is also one of the most troublesome, because it's set for a particular page size, which means if your reader isn't the same size & shape, it can be hard to read. No dedicated ebook reader is great at dealing with PDFs; they're all a matter of compromise about which features matter most to you. This is not a problem with the readers, but with the PDFs, which are generally designed for print, not for reading on a screen.

5) Converting from one format to another ranges from "very simple" to "impossible," depending on technical details. "Impossible" is very rare, but "complicated, with requirement of installing special software" is not.

6) The most obvious differences between multifunction devices and dedicated ebook readers are (a) battery life and (2) screen quality. Do some research to find out how much those matter to you before making a decision. Expect any details written by the manufacturer to be exaggerated, and sometimes slightly inaccurate. (For example, most manufacturer's lists of supported filetypes are somewhat off; they'll say "supports Ebook Type X" when what they mean is "...with our free software that you'll have to install on every computer you use with our device.")

7) The more specific info you can give, the better answers you'll get. Ask lots of questions; we like talking about ebooks.

8) There are controversies about, hm, everything. Filetypes, best devices, worst customer service, legality/ethics of some ebook practices, history of books in general, corporate activities, etc. Don't worry if you get caught up in those; look for the info you need & ignore the drama. Unless you like drama, in which case, the keywords "copyright law" can cause rather large explosions with very little warning.
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Old 11-02-2009, 05:00 PM   #12
chough
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A Thank You

Hi

A big thank you for the warm welcomes and the wise words of wisdom.

I am sure I will enjoy being a member here

Thanks

Colin
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