Disadvantages of Doukan firmware

intunachintu · 04-02-2011, 11:13 AM

I know it's advantages. New file formats, improved mp3 and pdf. Beside this pros I'm interested to know what are it's disadvantages ?

JMikeD · 04-02-2011, 11:37 AM

I find the fonts not nearly as readable as the ones for the Kindle books.

Plus, I have a continuing problem with the Home Page listing all the books twice, but only one of the entries will launch the book.

It's still a worthwhile application if you don't want to convert books from ePub.

Barty · 04-02-2011, 12:17 PM

Can't you just put in your own fonts?

Mark Rehorst · 04-02-2011, 04:05 PM

It uses about 80MB of memory. Some of the fonts aren't great. The help file is only in Chinese. That's all I can think of.

Oh yeah, why doesn't anyone offer better collection management on these devices? It's nice to have 3 GB of storage available, but if I put more than 50 or 60 books in the device finding any given book starts becoming a problem.

silasgreenback · 04-02-2011, 04:13 PM

Unless it has changed, the ever-present title bar while reading is a big minus.

baccilus · 04-03-2011, 02:37 AM

It cant read the books you have bought off Amazon. That is the biggest problem according to me. And I can not find any easy way to make collections. Additionally, periodicals do not automatically go into the periodicals folder like they do in the Kindle. The only good reason to use it to read journal PDF articles because non-DRM ePubs can be converted with Calibre any way.

silasgreenback · 04-03-2011, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baccilus

It cant read the books you have bought off Amazon. That is the biggest problem according to me. And I can not find any easy way to make collections. Additionally, periodicals do not automatically go into the periodicals folder like they do in the Kindle. The only good reason to use it to read journal PDF articles because non-DRM ePubs can be converted with Calibre any way.

When I first got my Kindle, I was managing books by placing them in folders according to genre and managing collections on the Kindle interface with Kindle Collection Manager. This system of sorting (sans KCM) worked pretty well with Duokan too...everything was easy to find through folders.

Eventually, I saw the light and started managing my device completely through Calibre and the collections plugin. (It's true, Calibre's greatness doesn't end at file conversion!)

Duokan might be fun to tinker around with, but for me, can't hold a candle to the Kindle's own firmware, especially when Calibre is part of the picture. What really puts my experience with Duokan into perspective is that even though I've installed it a couple different times, I haven't read a book or even a short story with it.

pendragginp · 04-03-2011, 07:56 PM

It only handles open epubs, doesn't it? Not drm.

If it could handle library books straight from download it would really be something.

apastuszak · 04-05-2011, 10:18 AM

Can you easily go back to 3.1 once you install it? Can Amazon tell you've been running it?

baccilus · 04-05-2011, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apastuszak

Can you easily go back to 3.1 once you install it? Can Amazon tell you've been running it?

Yes you can. There is in fact an option in Doukan itself to go into Kindle. I do not think amazon can tell or cares about this. They would have if Douokan was awesome. It is a good effort but not really great enough to replace the Amazon Kindle firmware. For me where it really shines is its handling of journal articles.

Starko · 04-06-2011, 07:09 AM

There is only one thing that i noticed straight away - every time you move to the next page you can see ghost of the previous one. The white space of the screen looks like a matrix of small grayish dots.

I have not finished a single book on Duokan either... hard to say why. It is similar to me trying Linux every year and going back to Windows.

Mark Rehorst · 04-06-2011, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starko

There is only one thing that i noticed straight away - every time you move to the next page you can see ghost of the previous one. The white space of the screen looks like a matrix of small grayish dots.

I have not finished a single book on Duokan either... hard to say why. It is similar to me trying Linux every year and going back to Windows.

On the first page of the Duokan settings there are a few options listed for Page-Turns. One of them is "Full Refresh(Pages)". That number tells Duokan how often you want to screen to refresh. The default is every 6 pages. If you set it to 1 the screen will refresh with every page turn (normal mode in the Kindle firmware).

There is also Page Flip option "Instant mode" and "Normal mode". I don't see any difference between the two. Maybe they are getting ready to add that feature in a future release.

baccilus · 04-06-2011, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starko

There is only one thing that i noticed straight away - every time you move to the next page you can see ghost of the previous one. The white space of the screen looks like a matrix of small grayish dots.

I have not finished a single book on Duokan either... hard to say why. It is similar to me trying Linux every year and going back to Windows.

Please do not compare Doukan with GNU/Linux. GNU/Linux just does things differently, not necessarily in a more difficult way. It is difficult to use Doukan for any length of time because its not good enough yet.

Mark Rehorst · 04-06-2011, 07:48 PM

I use Linux and Duokan. Both seem good enough to me.

baccilus · 04-07-2011, 11:01 AM

Well then maybe I need to spend more time with Doukan.

04-02-2011, 11:13 AM	#1
intunachintu Banned Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3	Disadvantages of Doukan firmware I know it's advantages. New file formats, improved mp3 and pdf. Beside this pros I'm interested to know what are it's disadvantages ?

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04-02-2011, 11:37 AM	#2
JMikeD Evangelist Posts: 475 Karma: 15000 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Various and sundry	I find the fonts not nearly as readable as the ones for the Kindle books. Plus, I have a continuing problem with the Home Page listing all the books twice, but only one of the entries will launch the book. It's still a worthwhile application if you don't want to convert books from ePub.

04-02-2011, 12:17 PM	#3
Barty doofus Posts: 2,543 Karma: 13089041 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Voyage	Can't you just put in your own fonts?

04-02-2011, 04:05 PM	#4
Mark Rehorst was engr, now dentist Posts: 143 Karma: 18558 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Riverside, Ca Device: Kindle DXG	It uses about 80MB of memory. Some of the fonts aren't great. The help file is only in Chinese. That's all I can think of. Oh yeah, why doesn't anyone offer better collection management on these devices? It's nice to have 3 GB of storage available, but if I put more than 50 or 60 books in the device finding any given book starts becoming a problem.

04-02-2011, 04:13 PM	#5
silasgreenback New Leaf Turner Posts: 260 Karma: 1026664 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Hadestown Device: Kobo Glo	Unless it has changed, the ever-present title bar while reading is a big minus.

04-03-2011, 02:37 AM	#6
baccilus Enthusiast Posts: 47 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Chandigarh, India Device: Kindle 3 WiFi	It cant read the books you have bought off Amazon. That is the biggest problem according to me. And I can not find any easy way to make collections. Additionally, periodicals do not automatically go into the periodicals folder like they do in the Kindle. The only good reason to use it to read journal PDF articles because non-DRM ePubs can be converted with Calibre any way.

04-03-2011, 07:56 PM	#8
pendragginp Guru Posts: 985 Karma: 4567263 Join Date: May 2009 Location: The End Of The Earth Device: Several	It only handles open epubs, doesn't it? Not drm. If it could handle library books straight from download it would really be something.

04-05-2011, 10:18 AM	#9
apastuszak Fanatic Posts: 509 Karma: 125599 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Bensalem, PA Device: Kindle Scribe, Nook Glowlight 4, Apple iPad Pro 12.9"	Can you easily go back to 3.1 once you install it? Can Amazon tell you've been running it?

04-06-2011, 07:09 AM	#11
Starko Zealot Posts: 123 Karma: 998177 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle 3	There is only one thing that i noticed straight away - every time you move to the next page you can see ghost of the previous one. The white space of the screen looks like a matrix of small grayish dots. I have not finished a single book on Duokan either... hard to say why. It is similar to me trying Linux every year and going back to Windows.

04-06-2011, 07:48 PM	#14
Mark Rehorst was engr, now dentist Posts: 143 Karma: 18558 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Riverside, Ca Device: Kindle DXG	I use Linux and Duokan. Both seem good enough to me.

04-07-2011, 11:01 AM	#15
baccilus Enthusiast Posts: 47 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Chandigarh, India Device: Kindle 3 WiFi	Well then maybe I need to spend more time with Doukan.

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