I guess I have been miss-informed

[jbcohen]

Let me first start off saying that I have an alurtek and have no interest in a higher priced reader, but I do have a question that I think that I have been miss-informed about. I though that all ebook readers could only get books from one source, the company that sells the reader. I thought that the books that you buy for your Kindle had to come from Amazon due to encryption of the books. Am I wrong? Attached is a photo of an Alurtek.

[kathyfitz]

You were misinformed. The Kindle can read DRM free mobi formatted books from anywhere. For that matter, if the book is DRM free, you can convert it form another format to mobi in calibre or other programs.

Other readers are pretty much the same, they read one DRMed format, but will accept books in that format that are DRM free.

[Bikeridr]

There are plenty of places where you can buy books, and also where you can obtain books completely for free. Even make your own books and load it up to your reader.
I have recently got my Kindle 3 and only 11 out of 57 books on my reader are bought off of Amazon. Some are bought at Smashwords, some are down/sideloaded free and then some are formatted/converted by myself and sideloaded to the Kindle 3.

[reech]

Books you buy from the Kindle Store on Amazon, only work on Kindle (whether this is the Kindle device, or the various Kindle applications.)

However, you can purcahse books from other vendors (fictionwise, etc.) in Mobipocket format and read them on the device - you just have to load them using USB. (Note that it's only Mobipocket non-DRM books that you can read.)

Alternatively, the software Calibre can convert a wide range of (non-DRM) ebooks into the format the Kindle uses.

I have a mix of bought-from-Amazon ebooks , and books I've bought from other sources (and free ones from places like feedbooks). The only difference is, that I have to load 'em by USB, and the ones that aren't from Amazon aren't available for me to 'pull down from the cloud' .

[daffy4u]

Kindles use mobi format. Amazon's .azw if a form of mobi. Content my be purchased from any source that sells DRM-free mobi books. DRM-free ePub books may also be purchased and converted to mobi very easily with Calibre.

One may also purchase DRM versions of mobi and ePub books and remove the DRM for use on the Kindle (may or may not be illegal depending on where you live).

If you look around the forums, you may notice people with other readers purchasing books from Amazon, removing the DRM and converting to ePub for their use.

With the number of books available at Amazon, there is rarely need to shop elsewhere. And when Agency Pricing is not involved Amazon likes to charge lower prices.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Let me first start off saying that I have an alurtek and have no interest in a higher priced reader, but I do have a question that I think that I have been miss-informed about. I though that all ebook readers could only get books from one source, the company that sells the reader.

Heavens, no. Most companies that sell eBook readers don't sell books at all!

[Top Tomato]

Originally Posted by reech

However, you can purcahse books from other vendors (fictionwise, etc.) in Mobipocket format and read them on the device - you just have to load them using USB. (Note that it's only Mobipocket non-DRM books that you can read.)

Even better, with the Kindle you can email yourself the DRM-free books, and with the WiFi in the K3 no need for the USB cord!

[curstpriest]

You can also walk the darkside and buy books from any source and remove the DRM and put it on any reader.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by curstpriest

You can also ... remove the DRM and ..

but note - that's MUCH harder than ripping from CD / DVD. There's no user friendly shareware that will do all the geeky stuff for you, AFAIK

[Bikeridr]

Originally Posted by cybmole

but note - that's MUCH harder than ripping from CD / DVD. There's no user friendly shareware that will do all the geeky stuff for you, AFAIK

Oh, but there will be soon.
See, it took only like 3 or so months before the "copy proof" Blu-Ray "protection" was cracked and with the right software it's just to shove in the disk and wait for abt one hour and "violà".

(Yes, I do strip DRM/Copy protection, legally (in Norway), on my purchased software when I find it necessary, such as if I want to listen to music or watch movies over my inhouse network. And yes, I will do the same with books when I find it necessary).

[jgumphress]

Along with reading PDF files on Kindle you can also convert MS Word documents to read on your Kindle.

[kindlekitten]

ok, so you HAVE been misinformed and are now rightly informed. what are you going to do with your new found knowledge?

[Superlucky]

Originally Posted by cybmole

but note - that's MUCH harder than ripping from CD / DVD. There's no user friendly shareware that will do all the geeky stuff for you, AFAIK

I don't think it's harder. It's just running a script.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by Superlucky

I don't think it's harder. It's just running a script.

Hmm - I know we are not really meant to discuss it here but the instructions I have seen seem to require downloading various python programming tools + knowing how to use them + also maybe having to extract IDs from reader hardware.

Compare that with say CLONE DVD or DVDfab which are really simple tools - just try & buy, then it's pretty much a 1 click operation to rip or burn a movie.

we have 2 readers in the house - Sony & Kindle - I'd like a simple way to be able to convert & read stuff bought for 1 device, on the other device.

[abookreader]

I think you need to google around and look at the tools again. They have advanced to the stage of a GUI tool and a Calibre plug-in. It really isn't that complicated to convert either an azw or an epub file.