Win 8.1 reader that works with Calibre?

[Kritz]

i just got a Surface Pro 3. I've been using Calibre with iBooks but am now looking for a Windows 8.1-compatible reader that Calibre can output to. Otherwise I'll have to import my entire 1300-volume library into the target reader one volume at a time. and as wonderful as Calibre is, as a reader it leaves a lot to be desired.

Thoughts?

[dwig]

I think you'll find that all reading apps on Windows will work only from their own copy of the book. Calibre can work with these quite well, but you'll have to manually remove books from the reader's "library" when you've finished reading them or you will have an ever increasing list of duplicates on you computer. Also, altering the book in calibre won't alter the copy in the reader app's library.

There are two ways to open a book from calibre's library in an "external" reading app. If, and only if, the app supports opening a book that is passed to it along with its system level launch instruction you set up two methods that make it easy to open from calibre. One is to make the reading app the default system app for the book's file extension(s) (e.g. .mobi, .epub, .azw3, ...). You can then simply click on the format in the Book Details panel to launch the reader and open the book. Alternately, you can use the Open With plug in to all manual control of which app is called for each format and can have choice of multiple reading apps for any one format. These can work for almost any "Desktop" reading app.

You may have difficulty using Open With with Modern interface (nee "Metro") apps. If you do, you can simply setup an easy to find folder for calibre to use with its Save to Disk export function and then manually launch the reader app and navigate to that save folder to find the book.

I've been using a Dell Venue 8 Pro (8" tablet running Win8.1) as my ereader for some six months. I have calibre installed with some 1600 books. I've not yet decided which reading app I prefer; each have their advantages. Finding one with the right feature set and good touch behavior is difficult. I've used calibre's ebook-viewer, Amazons Kindle for PC (the desktop version), Book Bazaar Reader (a Modern app from the Microsoft Store), and several others. I find Book Bazaar the most comfortable to use so far, but it lack a number of feature I like.

[JSWolf]

Try the eBook Reader that's part of Calibre.

[Kritz]

Hmm. I think I can live with the extra copies of books (they're pretty small files after all), and the 'Open With' feature should be easy to set up.

Now I need to find a Windows-based reader that holds a candle (or even half a candle) to iBook's efficiency and elegance.

Thanks!

[Kritz]

Tried it. Kinda ugly and kludgy. However, as a part of Calibre itself, it might be the best choice.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kritz

Hmm. I think I can live with the extra copies of books (they're pretty small files after all), and the 'Open With' feature should be easy to set up.

Now I need to find a Windows-based reader that holds a candle (or even half a candle) to iBook's efficiency and elegance.

Thanks!

Um... iBooks is not efficient and it's not elegant once you get to actually reading eBooks. That horrid forced margin is very inelegant. On an iPhone it's just nasty.

[Kritz]

Well, I can't agree about iBooks. I've looked at a lot of eReaders over the last several days, attempting to find a replacement now that I've moved back into a Windows environment, and they all pale by comparison, both in terms of readability and organization of the library.

That having been said, I would never (unless desperate) try to read a book on a phone. I've been using an iPad for the last couple of years, having upgraded from a Kindle.