What should I get?

[sand_hero]

I know this might sound dumb ,but can anyone tell me what format ebooks come in? Are there any programs out there to covert any ebook I buy to "any" ebook reader I buy? I just want to read "any and all" ebooks I buy, no matter where or what format there in.

I also just want a "Great" ebook reader with a 7 to 9" screen and takes a program that does what I mentioned above with a removable battery.
heeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllpppppppp!!!!!
sand_hero
"again"

[wallcraft]

Encrypted files formats (e.g. files with DRM) are not transferable, and most new books are only availabe with DRM. Fictionwise supports several formats and has a good reading software and devices FAQ. There are some formats not coverred by Fictionwise. EbookMall has a similar Device Comparison with a few more formats. The Sony Reader only reads DRM e-books from the Sony store.

If you don't have any e-books yet, the nearest thing to a "future proof" e-book with DRM is probably MobiPocket. This is already supported on many devices, and MobiPocket is now part of Amazon. The iLiad is expensive, but it includes MobiPocket Reader and also FBReader (which reads many kinds of e-books without DRM). Otherwise your MobiPocket choices will come with a LCD (rather then E-ink) screen. However, the Amazon Kindle (if it is ever made commercially available) will be a less costly MobiPocket compatible E-Ink device.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by sand_hero

... can anyone tell me what format ebooks come in?

The answer is that they come in about a dozen formats that are currently in active use (i.e. you can currently buy stuff in those formats), and probably several times that of formats that are no longer in active use.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that can convert from any format to all formats, in fact many of the formats are 'dead-ends' in that you can't get the content back out of them once you've got it in.

This is what we mean when we refer to the "Tower of e-Babel" -- it's arguably the largest remaining technical obstacle to e-books moving into the mainstream.

So the short answer to what you're asking for is that the only thing that would approach those functions would be a laptop/tablet/UMPC with several reading software apps to cover the various e-book formats. Of course, if the laptop/tablet/UMPC were what you were looking for, you'd probably have stopped looking by now.

The good news is that you don't need something that can convert [i]everything[i] to anything, you only need tools to convert what you can get to what you can use. What you need will, of course be fixed by what reading device you go to, and once you decide that, you can narrow down your field of formats to acquire books in based on available tools. Others here have suggested that .LIT format is a good choice to buy books in, because the content can almost always be extracted for conversion to another format. For me, the important thing is can I get the content into RTF format, because I can pretty much get into whatever format I like from an RTF.

If you want a 7~9" screen, the iLiad is the only current choice for e-ink, but I believe there are a number of older devices that are in that size range (I claim only a passing acquaintance with the older stuff, however). There are, of course, a few others that are due out before long that will broaden the selection of available devices.

I know it's not the answer you want to hear, but it's the only answer that's correct at the moment.

[sand_hero]

I thank u all! I belive u have saved me sooooo much trouble. I now know what I finally want. Have a great day guys.;0}

sand_hero

Now it's all books,books,books!

[RWood]

Originally Posted by sand_hero

I thank u all! I belive u have saved me sooooo much trouble. I now know what I finally want. Have a great day guys.;0}

sand_hero

Now it's all books,books,books!

OK, tell us what you decided?

[NatCh]

Yeah, it's not nice to tease!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Encrypted files formats (e.g. files with DRM) are not transferable, and most new books are only availabe with DRM. Fictionwise supports several formats and has a good reading software and devices FAQ. There are some formats not coverred by Fictionwise. EbookMall has a similar Device Comparison with a few more formats. The Sony Reader only reads DRM e-books from the Sony store.

The Sony Reader will read PDF, TXT, LRF, and RTF. RTF does not display graphics. PDF does sometimes need some cleaning up with PDFRead. LRF can be read with and without DRM and there are a number of tools now to convert content into LRF formated files. Such a Book Designer, Libprs500 (which includes html2lrf) and a few others. So yes you can make LRF format books easily. And if you purcahse DRM protected LIT files you can use CLIT 1.8 to strip the DRM and then load the LIT file into Book Designer to convert to LRF with no DRM. It's actually not diffcult to do so. I've done it with LIT books I have purcahsed. So the Sony is not a DRM only nightmare. Because of the work of some talented people, it's quite open ended overall.

If you don't have any e-books yet, the nearest thing to a "future proof" e-book with DRM is probably MobiPocket. This is already supported on many devices, and MobiPocket is now part of Amazon. The iLiad is expensive, but it includes MobiPocket Reader and also FBReader (which reads many kinds of e-books without DRM). Otherwise your MobiPocket choices will come with a LCD (rather then E-ink) screen. However, the Amazon Kindle (if it is ever made commercially available) will be a less costly MobiPocket compatible E-Ink device.

If you already have books in MobiPocket format for say a palm device, then the Iliad might be a good choice. If you are starting fresh, then look at the Sony Reader as well.

Jon