Newbie to e-readers

[gfeps]

Hi! I'm new to the forum as well as to e-readers.

I'm currently reading ebooks on my iPad, through both the kindle and iBooks app. Carrying the iPad around is becoming a bother and the battery life is nowhere near ideal.

I'm located in Australia. My google search tells me that Kindle and Kobo seem to be the most popular however I am wanting an e-reader that supports BOTH ePub AND mobi. If I can get all my books in the one place than I'd like to purchase an e-reader. But if I cant, then I'm thinking that an e-reader purchase would be pointless as I could just continue to use the iPad and alternate between which apps I read from. I would also prefer something that will allow me to sort out the books in to collections/folders

Google hasn't been much help as I suppose I don't know enough about e-readers to know what to look for and most sites seem to be based in the US.

Could someone help point me in the right direction?

[meeera]

Welcome to the forum!

Firstly: if you want to borrow library ebooks in Australia, a Kindle won't do. So if that's a dealbreaker for you, you can stop right there.

Mobi converts seamlessly to epub with Calibre, and I'd very strongly recommend doing that if you go with a Kobo. It claims "mobi support", but it's patchy and odd issues arise. The conversion is quick and very easy. I buy books from all over, including Amazon, and once I've stripped any DRM (use the Apprentice Alf plugin for Calibre), the conversion comes out just fine.

Ditto in reverse: buy ADE epubs, strip DRM, and they convert into Kindle format if you have a Kindle.

Since collections are a factor for you also, this leans you further toward Kobo. You can manage Kobo collections with Calibre, instead of painstakingly tapping away on the device itself to categorise your books. This also means that if your device is replaced or needs a factory reset, you don't need to do that collections management over again - just restore it as you re-send your books with Calibre.

Now, Kindle has advantages also. If you wish to sync audiobooks with your text reading, for example, the Amazon ecosystem is the way to go. Some people report better customer service from Kindle, and they do seem a bit more likely to throw a discount at you to make you go away; others have good experiences with Kobo (especially more recently, to my mind). Either way I'd recommend buying from a local bricks and mortar store if at all possible, to facilitate a quick and easy exchange in person if you have an issue.

Back on the Kobo side: you can sideload your own fonts, and the inbuilt font and display options offer many more options and fine-tweaking than Kindle does. Some people care very much about this, and some care not a whit.

There are a few more feature and tweakability differences, but that's a starting point.

Whatever you buy, choose a good protective case at the same time. (This is where Kobo falls down pretty badly, IMO - their cases are mediocre and overpriced. Third party ones are readily available from Ebay.)

[meeera]

And after that we can talk about size, lighting, and waterproofing...

[gfeps]

Hello meeera, thank you so much for the reply!

I don't borrow books from the library, so that's not an issue. I often download from Amazon, through iTunes, or get emailed books from a friend. I also don't use audiobooks.

The kindle app has been a bother to use in terms of collections in comparison to iBooks. I prefer to be able to drag and drop the books where/when necessary.

I'm not very particular about needing to change fonts, text size etc. I just read as is. The only thing I ever fiddle with on the iPad is the brightness level, as I do a fair bit of reading at night.

I've just googled Calibre and it looks like a fantastic program, one I definitely need to get once I've purchased the e-reader.

And thank you re the tip for the case. I've been known to fall asleep whilst reading, and currently have a nice crack through the iPad, so will purchase a case and be extra careful!

[meeera]

Originally Posted by gfeps

Hello meeera, thank you so much for the reply!

I don't borrow books from the library, so that's not an issue. I often download from Amazon, through iTunes, or get emailed books from a friend. I also don't use audiobooks.

I'm not very particular about needing to change fonts, text size etc. I just read as is. The only thing I ever fiddle with on the iPad is the brightness level, as I do a fair bit of reading at night.

I've just googled Calibre and it looks like a fantastic program, one I definitely need to get once I've purchased the e-reader.

And thank you re the tip for the case. I've been known to fall asleep whilst reading, and currently have a nice crack through the iPad, so will purchase a case and be extra careful!

An e-ink reader is significantly more fragile than an iPad, so please do take extra care, as well as purchasing the case. Also don't leave it in cars in the sun, etc. If you've managed to break an iPad, you might need to change the way you do things with an e-ink reader.

I do recommend checking out your local and State library's ebook collection - some of them are really quite good, and also have a system to take recommendations from members for which books to purchase. Your rates at work - you've paid for it, why not use it?

And yes Calibre is terrific. There's a little learning curve but check out the FAQ as you go, the shelves (collections) management sticky thread in the Kobo forum if you buy a Kobo, and ask in the Calibre forum here if you need help. If you get Calibre now and start importing your books, you'll have dealt with the learning curve and have the books ready to go when you have the reader.

If you're interested in using night mode (white text on black), there's a hack for that on Kobo. However, even untweaked, the brightness level on the current frontlit devices goes down dimmer than an iPad does, which is great.

I'd also recommend stopping buying books from Apple, right now. Theirs is the only mainstream DRM system that don't currently have a free, quick, and easy removal tool available.

[gfeps]

I'm leaning towards a kobo, for the sole reason that it's the only one jb hifi sells and both Harvey Norman and good guys don't stock any at all.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by gfeps

I'm leaning towards a kobo, for the sole reason that it's the only one jb hifi sells and both Harvey Norman and good guys don't stock any at all.

Officeworks is another retailer [edit: or used to be - looks like not any more?]. Dick Smith seemed to be the main Kindle retailer, but we all know how that turned out. I think they have Kindles at Big W too, but I'm not sure how current the models are (they used to be quite behind last time I looked into it). You might have to ask JB HiFi to pull one out of a cupboard to show you - their knowledge and setup for demos is badly lacking.

Think about the size you need - Kobo Glo HD or Aura H2O? The difference in screen real estate between the six inch and 6.8 is quite significant. And also about the waterproofing of the H2O (good for accidental coffee spills, sudden rain showers etc even if you don't plan to read in the bath). And I don't think the Glo HD has an SD card slot.

[barryem]

I have both a Kindle and a Kobo and while I prefer the Kindle my reasons are personal, meaning they might not apply to everyone. I do think the Kindle is the better device overall but when both are so very good that's not saying much.

If I could only have one I'd pick the Kindle but if I somehow had to pick the Kobo I wouldn't be the least bit unhappy. It's also a very fine reading machine.

As for cases, I always use 3rd party cases. I have a number of devices actually, not just a single Kindle and Kobo, but several of each, each with it's own cover. I think I paid $12 for one of the covers but most were under $10. I've been using these for a few years and all are pretty much still like new. So they last, they fit and they weigh a lot less than the manufacturer supplied cases.

The cases for my Kobos are every bit as good as the cases for my Kindles. There's no real advantage there.

As for durability of the devices themselves, in the house I don't use a case. Those are for when I leave the house. I'm always loaning them to my neighbors, with cases of course, so they can read a book. I guess I've been doing this for 5 or 6 years and none has ever been damaged with the sole exception of one with a scratched screen when a neighbor's dog scratched it. It was under warranty and Amazon replaced it even though I told them it wasn't a defect.

I think the Kindle does have one advantage that's worth considering, at least in the USA, although this might not be true where you are, and that's Amazon's book store. I buy nearly all my books from Amazon.

I also use Calibre so I can read those books on either device. As Meera said there's a small learning curve but once learned converting a book from Amazon to read on my Kobo takes less than a minute from the time I drag it into Calibre till it's in Dropbox, which I then access with my Kobo to download. Doing all this really is trivial once you learn how and it's not hard to learn how.

Calibre will even put the book on your device for you and that's even faster but it involves connecting a cable and I prefer sending it to Dropbox where I can also access it from my phone.

Barry

[gfeps]

I generally download books through Amazon too, but for no other reason than the recommend books I get emailed to me have it as a download option and I prefer kindle app over the iBook app. I've gone through the last few emails I've received and they generally all have kobo download options too, so I'm not bothered either way in which store I have to purchase and download from.

Calibre is something I'll have to download and get my head around. Hopefully it's not too difficult to learn to use and will make things easier if I need to convert files. I'm still not exactly sure how I would go about extracting the files from my iPad in order to use them on calibre on my desktop to convert, and then to put them on the ereader? The only hesitation I have with a kobo ereader is that I would really like to be able to keep all my current books.

I went to jb hifi today and had a look at the kobo ereaders. You are right - there is a large difference between the 6.8" and 6". And I've become so familiar with reading on the iPad, that they are both miniature (and extremely light) in comparison! I prefer the 6.8" for this reason.

In terms of kindle v kobo, I like that the kobo is waterproof. Always handy with children around. I'm constantly paranoid that they'll accidentally spill something near devices.

One thing I am wondering, which may just be due to my inexperience with the ereader, but on the demo model I couldn't work out how to move books around? For example, I made a collection with three books and they transferred across. Say they were in order of Book 2, Book 1 and Book 3 in a series. I tried to drag and drop Book 1 to the first position so as to be in reading order, but was unable to. I couldn't work it out through the options either. Is this something that's possible to do? This is something that drives me batty with my kindle.

Unfortunately the four closest jbhi stores to me don't carry stock and its a two week wait. But I do have a kobo h2o on hold at a store approx 30minutes away. It seems like a big decision to make when I'm so inexperienced!

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by gfeps

One thing I am wondering, which may just be due to my inexperience with the ereader, but on the demo model I couldn't work out how to move books around? For example, I made a collection with three books and they transferred across. Say they were in order of Book 2, Book 1 and Book 3 in a series. I tried to drag and drop Book 1 to the first position so as to be in reading order, but was unable to. I couldn't work it out through the options either. Is this something that's possible to do? This is something that drives me batty with my kindle.

With Kobos you can use tricks (metadata plugboard) in calibre to get your series books in order on the device. If you're brand new to calibre it may not be something you want to tackle on Day 1 but there will be plenty of help on offer in the MR Kobo forum when you're ready. It's a "set up once then forget about it" kind of task.

ETA: If you've got a 2-week wait on your hands you could use it to get started with calibre. You don't need a reading device to practice adding a few books to a calibre library and playing with some of the features - of which there are many - but you don't need to learn all of them up front.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by gfeps

Calibre is something I'll have to download and get my head around. Hopefully it's not too difficult to learn to use and will make things easier if I need to convert files. I'm still not exactly sure how I would go about extracting the files from my iPad in order to use them on calibre on my desktop to convert, and then to put them on the ereader?

If you have iBooks, as far as I know you have to say goodbye to them (well, not goodbye, just read them on your iPad). Books from Amazon, Kobo, Google Play etc: you need to get them onto your computer via the various means provided, be it Kindle for PC or Mac, or downloading the ADE EPUB from the bookstore site via Adobe Digital Editions, etc. Then you'll need to strip any DRM from those downloaded files - we can't give you detailed instructions for that here, but we can point you to Apprentice Alf's blog. After that it's just a matter of sending with Calibre to your Kobo. This is all quicker to do, once you know how, than it is to type it out here.

Originally Posted by gfeps

One thing I am wondering, which may just be due to my inexperience with the ereader, but on the demo model I couldn't work out how to move books around? For example, I made a collection with three books and they transferred across. Say they were in order of Book 2, Book 1 and Book 3 in a series. I tried to drag and drop Book 1 to the first position so as to be in reading order, but was unable to. I couldn't work it out through the options either. Is this something that's possible to do? This is something that drives me batty with my kindle.

Sorry, but I'm not 100% clear what you're trying to do - sort differently within a collection? Or something else? You can't drag and drop to custom sort books differently, but you can re-sort by date added, title, author, file size, file type, or recently opened. Another option is to use a Calibre plugboard to rename your series books before sending them (search the forum here for details). There are a few tweaks you can do for series handling.

Originally Posted by gfeps

Unfortunately the four closest jbhi stores to me don't carry stock and its a two week wait. But I do have a kobo h2o on hold at a store approx 30minutes away. It seems like a big decision to make when I'm so inexperienced!

Can you order one in to your local store? Pretty sure the website allows that?

[John F]

Originally Posted by meeera

If you have iBooks, as far as I know you have to say goodbye to them (well, not goodbye, just read them on your iPad). ...

I've read in the past that ibooks/fairplay has been cracked, so it may be possible to get the books out of ibooks?

[barryem]

I have the simplest possible solution to collections: I don't keep enough books on my ereaders for collections to matter. I use it for reading. My computer is for storage.

I always have my current book on my reader along with 15 or 20, sometimes as many as 30 books but usually not, that I might read next. That group keeps changing and I nearly always remove a book from it whenever I add one, and I often remove 2 or 3. I want few enough books on board that I don't have to wonder if I have one there. I just know.

I read one book at a time and while I'm reading it I'm trying to figure out what to read next. But I rarely decide on my next book till I'm done with this one. I just don't need that many on my reader.

I understand the attraction of having a huge library of books on the reading device. I love the idea of a library in my hand, but these things just aren't designed with that in mind. Yes they have enough storage but that's a competitive thing. Bigger numbers sell more devices. In fact both the Kobo and the Kindle have extremely primitive cataloging systems. The file/folder system on a PC is far superior and I use that. I just use my reader as a reader.

I keep a bunch more books in my Dropbox account and my Kobo will access that nicely, as will my phone, and that's handy. Unfortunately the Kindle won't but that's okay because it can download directly from Amazon.

Barry