Hi again.
The ePub proof of my book came back looking a bit strange again, so I decided to take the bull by the horns and download a few e-readers for comparison. Hope you folks (who know way more about e-readers than I do) find this information useful.
Out of all of them, the only one which didn't screw with my carefully organized computer was the Calibre. This gets it a big 'hooray' for starters. Bear in mind, though, that I'm a total newbie with regard to any e-reader technology, and that's the perspective from which I make these comparisons.
- Mobipocket: As you know from the thread I've had problems with this, but at least it was easy to find, easy to install and will be easy to delete. Not impressed.
- Sony Reader PC: Chopped the bottom off the cover image. Apart from that, excellent. Probably the best looking display out of the five. Wants me to sign in to some account or something whenever it loads, which is unnecessary.
- Kindle PC: Not bad. Takes a long time to load (presumably interrogating Amazon or something). Operation not as intuitive as the others. Okay, but a little 'clunky'
- Calibre: Very good user interface, lots of options. Aspect ratio of the cover image changed a couple of times, which was odd. Dead easy to use.
- Adobe Digital Editions: Nice, tidy interface but a bit too 'corporate' for me personally. Nonetheless relatively easy to use and some good options.
If I was to use any permanently (remember I'm just reviewing proofs of my book) it would be a toss-up between Sony Reader PC and Calibre. I'm not some kinda software tech guru, so this choice is really just based on how I feel about them. However, the fact that I can assign my own directory location for content with Calibre is a massive plus.
There you go, hope I haven't egregiously insulted your favorite software.
Cheers,
Xander.