[Synamon]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

-I've never used iBooks. How is it? Does it show up in iTunes (is it the "Books" section) or is it a separate application? I'd love for my music, video, and now books to all be in one simple place.

Yes, books you add to iTunes show up under the Books section. I don't use iBooks particularly, but it's easy to transfer your books via iTunes into iBooks. I've mostly done this with a few PDFs, they load into iBooks as well as epubs.

-My books are all epub; some are Barnes & Noble epub, many are Sony epub and the rest are no-DRM epub. Will B&N and Sony epub work on iBooks? I'd rather just use one app for all my books.

DRM-free epubs load into iBooks directly via iTunes. Those with DRM will have to be loaded into an app that handles the specific DRM. I use the Kindle app since I'd rather email my ebooks wirelessly to my iPad mini from calibre, skipping iTunes. calibre automatically converts any epubs to mobi when it sends.

-This may sound really basic, but I'm not very techy (hence why I love the simplicity of Apple products) and I'm in the mindset of a dedicated e-ink e-reader: So, I think iBooks is basically the pre-loaded "official" reading app, but then I could also add other reading apps such as a B&N nook one or a Sony Reader one or even a Kindle one, correct? And then if I wanted I could switch back and forth depending on the book and format? I'd still rather just use one main app (iBooks) but I'm trying to learn here and understand my options.

Sure, you can load all the other ebook reader apps on your iPad mini. There are even a few non-store based ones. For organizational purposes you might like to use different apps.

-I've watched some youtubes of iBooks on the iPad mini and they answered many questions but there's one thing they didn't answer: How are the dictionaries? Are they pre-loaded, or does it go to the internet for a dictionary definition? I do really love my current dictionary on the Sony 950, the Oxford Dictionary of English, and I'd really love to continue using it on the tablet I get. Is it already pre-loaded as a dictionary, or if not, is there a way I can download it and iBooks would use it as my dictionary?

The apps all have a built-in dictionary, but I don't know specifically which dictionaries they use. I don't think you can add your own dictionary.

-I'm huge on note-taking while reading. It looks very easy from the youtube videos; does anyone here take a lot of notes through iBooks on their iPad or mini? If so, would you say it's good/easy? Do the notes transfer to your computer easily?

I don't do notes, but only the Kindle app syncs notes as far as I know.

-Can I sync the mini with my computer wirelessly? Such as adding new books from one to the other, or transferring notes for safe keeping, etc. Or even syncing music, video, etc.

Yes. I prefer to do this manually though, with a drag and drop when connected to iTunes.

-Finally, cases. I see in the Apple store there's only one, the Smart Cover, which looks great. Any first hand experience with it here? Then I look on other sites and there's a million case options. Any good ones out there? I'm looking for a very light-weight one so the Smart Cover looks good, and I like how you can fold it to stand the mini upright. However, I would like the back protected from scratches. I've heard you can get a protective film for the back, similar to a screen protector? Do those work well?

The Smart Cover is very light, but I found that I mostly use the mini by holding onto it rather than propping it up so I didn't really want the cover. Instead I ordered a silicon skin for the back of the mini to give me some grip, but maintain the sleek and lightweight form factor.