04-01-2013, 01:49 PM | #1 |
Abibliophobe
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Setting up iPad 1 for ebooks
Later this week I'm going to be helping a friend who wants to read ebooks on her first gen iPad. I'm a long-time Mac and Nook user, but don't have an iPad myself, so some of this will be new to me.
She is not at all "techie" and won't want to use Calibre or convert books to other formats. She mostly wants to read library books and download free books from Amazon and B&N. Can I just set up the Kindle, Nook, and Overdrive apps for her? Does she need ADE, or does the Overdrive app have that built in? Do I get these apps via the Apple Store, and where does iTunes fit in? Is there a site (maybe here on MR) that has all the information I need in one place, to make this easy for me to set up and easy for her to use? Thanks! |
04-01-2013, 03:47 PM | #2 |
Guru
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What I like to do is use iBooks as a reader.
It'll sync nicely with iTunes. Just convert books to ePub, drag in to iTunes and sync. You can also send ePubs to her email address, she'll tap on the ePub and it's inside iBooks. |
04-01-2013, 05:36 PM | #3 |
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This sounds great! Will it work for books from Amazon and B&N that presumably have DRM?
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04-01-2013, 06:00 PM | #5 | |
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The previous suggestions all require stripping DRM, something you indicated is beyond your friend's interest and tech skills. Last edited by Synamon; 04-01-2013 at 06:03 PM. |
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04-01-2013, 06:04 PM | #6 | |
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Quote:
iBooks is not going to work for what your friend wants to do. |
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04-06-2013, 06:59 PM | #7 | |
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If brightness poses problem to her, for further reduction of brightness she should use native iBooks reader (for reading epubs and pdf's) because other apps are just faking brightness reduction by dimming the colors or do not have brightness controls at all. For pdf's and comic books she might like some of these: http://www.ipadforums.net/ibooks/801...pdf-too-2.html Last edited by markom; 04-06-2013 at 07:20 PM. |
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04-06-2013, 11:24 PM | #8 | |
A Hairy Wizard
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The features on Marvin far outweigh anything on iBooks.....but....you would be limited to ePub format. If tossing a book at Calibre for its very simple conversion is too much, then I would agree with Wolf and go the bluefire/kindle/nook route. Good luck! |
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04-07-2013, 03:09 AM | #9 | |
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I did not try Marvin on iPad 1 though, because i still use iOS 4.3 and Marvin needs 5.1 . Last edited by markom; 04-07-2013 at 03:33 AM. |
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04-07-2013, 02:14 PM | #10 | |
Nameless Being
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Quote:
The glare can be overcome. Unfortunately the low resolution of the iPad 1 screen cannot be improved by any app I've ever seen. It is what it is--a really low 130 ppi (apprx.) screen which many people find too pixelated for long term reading. But if that doesn't bother her, and it doesn't bother everyone by any means, then she can easily download books from any major eBookstore and read them without needing a technical background. |
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04-07-2013, 02:38 PM | #11 | |
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Not true at all. It is true that you would have to strip DRM from any books that have DRM on them to use Marvin. But there are a good many books, especially the free ones you said you were interested in, that do not have DRM on them in the first place. Plus there are more mainstream publishers jumping on the no-DRM band wagon... You can point Marvin's catalogue system at free sites to download non-DRM free books directly. Most non-DRM books would already be available in ePub format. However, since you are setting up the computer/ipad for her, you could easily set up Calibre to automatically convert any downloaded books to the ePub format. Then in Marvin set the "Catalogue" to point to your Calibre library, and all your books would be available without her having to touch calibre at all...She clicks download....then goes in to marvin and selects the book to read.... Cheers! |
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04-07-2013, 02:50 PM | #12 |
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Bluefire does support turning down the brightness. iBooks on a small screen is awful. The wasted screen space is just not good at all. Bluefire is currently the best reader for an iPhone/iPod Touch.
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04-08-2013, 05:37 AM | #13 | |
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04-08-2013, 12:25 PM | #14 |
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Although Stanza is the best ereader application on iPad, as your friend wants no fuss, tell her to just download her Kindle purchases in Kindle app, library books in whatever app handles them and don't worry about much else. If she is one of the lucky minority (looking at this board, we are a minority) who don't mind backlit screen, she'd be all right. I despise eink (cheap and nasty) but love reading on my sleek, responsive and brilliant iPad!
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04-08-2013, 01:23 PM | #15 | |
Abibliophobe
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Thanks, everyone, for all your help with this. I set my friend up with the Kindle and Overdrive apps, and that was really as far as she wanted to go. But the advice I got here made the installation/teaching process go very smoothly.
And since I'm considering getting an iPad myself, it will help me in the future too. Quote:
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ebooks, ipad, kindle, overdrive |
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