New to e-book reader....do I need Calibre

[Smudge]

I am planning on getting a Kindle 3. I am new to e-book readers and trying to learn as much as possible before I settle on my purchase. I plan to read books as well as look at some daily papers (USA Today, Wall Street Journal and NY Times). How does Calibre work and should I download it? What will it do better for me? Thanks

[desertgrandma]

Calibre is a wonderful book organization system.

You can even e-mail any book in Calibre directly to your Kindle.

Here's your link.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

[Smudge]

I would like to be able to read the entire Wall Street Journal or NY Times on my Kindle 3. I know that I can purchase each edition daily via the Kindle Store. Can I also do this via Calibre? If so, what is the advantage of doing it through Calibre vs the Kindle Store? So it it highly recommended that a Kindle user download Calibre?

[dwig]

Calibre can do quite a number of things for you. These generally fit into one of four classes of fucntions:

1. eBook Reader - probably Calibre's least used feature other than to preview ebooks.

2. Library Manager - It can function to manage your library on your PC and download to a reader device. It can also host the library on its own dedicated web server for access from a web browser.

3. News Aggregator - It can be setup to collect news and build ebooks from the downloaded content.

4. Format Converter - The heart of Calibre is a format conversion engine that can convert to and from most ebook formats, provided the source ebook is not restricted with DRM (Digital Rights Management). Format conversion can include making alterations to some of the document structure such as adding chapter breaks, table of contents creation, changing (fixing) metadata (author name, title, ...), adding or changing the cover art, and so forth.

I find it a very handy tool. I use it mostly for format conversion and related functions, often converting to an editable format (usually ePub for editing in Sigil) to make major fixes before converting to MOBI for my Kindle3.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Smudge

I am planning on getting a Kindle 3. I am new to e-book readers and trying to learn as much as possible before I settle on my purchase. I plan to read books as well as look at some daily papers (USA Today, Wall Street Journal and NY Times). How does Calibre work and should I download it? What will it do better for me? Thanks

Break out your wallet.
Shake out some lint. That's what Calibre costs to try and use.

Try it.
If you hate it... Un-install (and put the lint back in your wallet )

Seriously. Try it.

Put some free books into it.
Learn how to convert books to a format your new reader likes (you don't need the reader to do this part).
Read the results with the built in viewer.

Read the FAQ, then ask for help if needed.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by dwig

...1. eBook Reader - probably Calibre's least used feature other than to preview ebooks...

Heck, I get more use from calibre's reader than from my JBL. I use the JBL when away from the house but when at home, I use the calibre reader (my 32" LCD TV is patched into my computer).