MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Help me get started please - Kindle vs. BeBook vs. Sony PRS-505

InlawBiker · 03-05-2009, 12:54 AM

I wanted a 505 but ended up with a Kindle, I picked it up used today. The market is currently flooded with used K1's, mainly from people buying K2. I saved a lot of dough and I'm very pleased with this Reader.

I'm secretly a little happy I can zap a new book to my Kindle from Amazon. When I walk into a book store I do not browse the hard-bound books. I figure there are millions of paperbacks I've never read so why pay a premium? But $10 isn't a big deal for a new release in digital format.

I've run a few conversion tests so far with Calibre...

First off, the Linux version crashed almost instantly trying to import my e-books. I may have to work on that one. So I rebooted in Vista and it worked much better. I hate Vista but oh well.

So far - I have a .LIT book converted. I have the hardbound book, .LIT and Kindle (MOBI) side by side. They are virtually identical. The conversion was very fast too. I suspect .LIT is a well defined file format and easy to convert.

Next I converted an RTF. It took a LOT longer. Eventually it finished (~15 mins?). When I first opened the book it was tiny and unreadable, and wouldn't respond to font resize. I closed and re-opened and it looks fine, and fonts resize too. No chapters, etc., but from an RTF I didn't expect it to.

Next I'll do some PDF's (not optimistic), DOCs and TXT files.

Thank you all for your help in answering my questions. I doubt I'd have bought the thing without the advice, and now I'm glad I came here to ask. Thanks!

Greg.

03-05-2009, 12:54 AM	#28
InlawBiker Connoisseur Posts: 94 Karma: 544 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Seattle WA Device: Kindle 1.0	I wanted a 505 but ended up with a Kindle, I picked it up used today. The market is currently flooded with used K1's, mainly from people buying K2. I saved a lot of dough and I'm very pleased with this Reader. I'm secretly a little happy I can zap a new book to my Kindle from Amazon. When I walk into a book store I do not browse the hard-bound books. I figure there are millions of paperbacks I've never read so why pay a premium? But $10 isn't a big deal for a new release in digital format. I've run a few conversion tests so far with Calibre... First off, the Linux version crashed almost instantly trying to import my e-books. I may have to work on that one. So I rebooted in Vista and it worked much better. I hate Vista but oh well. So far - I have a .LIT book converted. I have the hardbound book, .LIT and Kindle (MOBI) side by side. They are virtually identical. The conversion was very fast too. I suspect .LIT is a well defined file format and easy to convert. Next I converted an RTF. It took a LOT longer. Eventually it finished (~15 mins?). When I first opened the book it was tiny and unreadable, and wouldn't respond to font resize. I closed and re-opened and it looks fine, and fonts resize too. No chapters, etc., but from an RTF I didn't expect it to. Next I'll do some PDF's (not optimistic), DOCs and TXT files. Thank you all for your help in answering my questions. I doubt I'd have bought the thing without the advice, and now I'm glad I came here to ask. Thanks! Greg.