Is there a simple summary of what devices work " out of the box" with calibre

[cybmole]

is there anywhere a simple list/summary of what works flawlessly with calibre for epubs , straight out of the box, on a USB connection.

Prompted by the imminent death of Sony devices , I began looking at a Nook HD, realised that for this & several other devices there are multiple threads detailing all the teething troubles that have occurred since the beginning of time , & that possibly there are still known issues.

All I really want to know if which of the main epub-supporting devices i.e. the Nook & Kobo e-reader & tablet ranges (& anything else I should be considering ), will now work effortlessly, straight out of the box.

By that I mean that I will be able to sideload & read my existing books & collections with no hassles, no jailbreaking, no modding the device, no extra apps to buy... That's all I'm really interested in. ( well that & having covers show up, without having to get down & geeky)

I am not , for now, interested in what can/cant be done with the latest kindles, and I am only considering the Nook/ Kobo options which are currently in the shops, not any older, used, ebay deals.

I'd rather not have to read all the threads in the devices sub-forum, if there is a summary anywhere ?

[jackie_w]

Just a personal opinion, but sideloading DRM-free standard epubs from calibre to a Kobo is very similar to using a Sony as regards, transfer, Collection management, metadata plugboards, current cover as screensaver. There are all sorts of calibre/Kobo bell & whistles, too, if you want to use them. davidfor is very proactive in keeping the calibre Kobo device driver up-to-date and adding extras.

All kinds of Kobo hacks are also available (but not essential), if you want to add even more functionality.

I believe annotations and dictionary are not as good on Kobo as they are on Sony. I don't use annotations so can't really comment further and the dictionaries are adequate for my purposes (I have 5 En-En dictionaries loaded). I also read that Sonys handle very large on-device libraries better than Kobo, but again I only load my TBR list so it doesn't bother me.

[cybmole]

thanks - I'm not fussed about annotations, I don't use them as long term records,only as short term reminders of things to fix/tweak

& I would not shop at Kobo store so not fussed about the kepub issues

the best looking /most tempting Kobo is the expensive aura HD - any known issues with that & calibre ?

at least one for-sale web site confusingly says that the aura HD has a colour screen but I'm 99% sure it is e-ink so not colour ?

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by cybmole

the best looking /most tempting Kobo is the expensive aura HD - any known issues with that & calibre ?

at least one for-sale web site confusingly says that the aura HD has a colour screen but I'm 99% sure it is e-ink so not colour ?

No issues at all with AuraHD and calibre. Beware, it's hard to go back to a lesser resolution screen once you've used the HD for a while

ETA: definitely not colour, though

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

No issues at all with AuraHD and calibre. Beware, it's hard to go back to a lesser resolution screen once you've used the HD for a while

ETA: definitely not colour, though

The Kobo web site I see is a little misleading, its has the word COLOR in big bold on the AuraHD page - but its referring to the plastic around the screen not the screen - can be black or brown :lol:

I'm watching this thread with interest as I am also in the market for a reader, and my requirements are much the same as cybmole's.

The only exception that calibre integration is of little significance to me, probably none. I would only want to keep what I'm currently reading on it (10-15 items). I'd probably prefer to tell calibre to ignore it and maintain its content directly in Windows Explorer.

I was thinking Sony because they seem to fairly straight forward. I'm put off Kobo by all the chatter about firmware upgrades, driver upgrades, device resets, the multitude of plug-ins etc etc.

If there was a device with back-to-displays - e-ink on one side, lcd on the other with ability to attach a keyboard, I'd buy one tomorrow.

BR

[jgaiser]

While I've upgraded the OS on my HD+ to CyanogenMod, the standard OS allows apps from GooglePlay and you can load CalibreCompanion. Haven't connected a usb cable to the HD+ since I installed it and CC works flawlessly, even moving stuff to my SD card, which standard OS doesn't/can't.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

While I've upgraded the OS on my HD+ to CyanogenMod, the standard OS allows apps from GooglePlay and you can load CalibreCompanion. Haven't connected a usb cable to the HD+ since I installed it and CC works flawlessly, even moving stuff to my SD card, which standard OS doesn't/can't.

See, that's not what I mean by out-of-the-box. you've changed the firmware & bought an additional app.
What I am asking here is how well the devices work with calibre if you don't do any of that. so, I assume you mean Nook HD+, how friendly to calibre is it if you don't do that extra stuff ? its advertised as working as a reader but do you have to actually source and add an epub viewer ?

[loximuthal]

With my Nook ST it was pretty much plug-n-play. I have done a few things, but none of it was necessary nor immediately done. The Nook's 'shelf' system is pretty lousy, but it reads just fine. If you've got no more than a handful of books (maybe up to a couple dozen, depending on your tolerance for scanning through titles) on at a time, the bad shelf GUI issue is less of a problem. Some of the other stuff I did was to alleviate the annoying shelf design. I still use the default reader, since once I've got a book open I like it very much.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by cybmole

See, that's not what I mean by out-of-the-box. you've changed the firmware & bought an additional app.
What I am asking here is how well the devices work with calibre if you don't do any of that. so, I assume you mean Nook HD+, how friendly to calibre is it if you don't do that extra stuff ? its advertised as working as a reader but do you have to actually source and add an epub viewer ?

First. Stock Nook HD/HD+ work just fine with calibre, as long as you don't want to access an onboard SD card. At least under Linux.

Second. If all you want to do is read and easy calibre access, I think it makes more sense to get a dedicated ereader (e-ink). All of these tablets are *more* that an ereader and none are particularly friendly with USB connections.

IMHO...

[theducks]

Be aware that manufacturers that are tied to a book store want to make it as hard as possible to bypass the store.

Every release adds another layer of bricks to their walled garden

Can you blame them when they now sell readers at/below cost?
The old 'Kodak' camera strategy. Sell the camera cheap, and make money on Film and processing chemicals. (Inkjet printers do it the same way)

[unboggling]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

...If all you want to do is read and easy calibre access, I think it makes more sense to get a dedicated ereader (e-ink). All of these tablets are *more* that an ereader and none are particularly friendly with USB connections....

Originally Posted by theducks

Be aware that manufacturers that are tied to a book store want to make it as hard as possible to bypass the store.

Every release adds another layer of bricks to their walled garden

Can you blame them when they now sell readers at/below cost? ...

So, tablets and smartphones are out because they're USB unfriendly, unless you bypass that with Calibre Companion for Android device. iOS are out also because they're walled garden. Smartphones are too small and tablets too distracting anyway.

Kindle e-inks are out because they're walled garden and not EPUB capable.

Sony e-inks are out because they're discontinuing.

Nooks & Kobos are out because they're walled gardens.

Is anything left? Onyx e-inks, maybe?

[HarryT]

A garden is only "walled" if you choose to let it be. I read on a Kindle, but buy lots of books from ePub stores, too.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by unboggling

So, tablets and smartphones are out because they're USB unfriendly, unless you bypass that with Calibre Companion for Android device. iOS are out also because they're walled garden. Smartphones are too small and tablets too distracting anyway.

Kindle e-inks are out because they're walled garden and not EPUB capable.

Sony e-inks are out because they're discontinuing.

Nooks & Kobos are out because they're walled gardens.

Is anything left? Onyx e-inks, maybe?

Sounds to me that you need to go back to paper. Everything decent is connected to an ereader bookstore and all the bookstores use some kind of DRM of most of their ebooks.

As HarryT says above, it's only a walled garden if you let it be. I mostly read on a kindle eink or kindle app and I buy both epub and mobi from multiple stores.

[unboggling]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A garden is only "walled" if you choose to let it be. I read on a Kindle, but buy lots of books from ePub stores, too.

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Sounds to me that you need to go back to paper. Everything decent is connected to an ereader bookstore and all the bookstores use some kind of DRM of most of their ebooks.

As HarryT says above, it's only a walled garden if you let it be. I mostly read on a kindle eink or kindle app and I buy from both epub and mobi from multiple stores.

Maybe I'd go with Kindle e-ink if I could jailbreak it and read EPUBs on it in a decent EPUB reader app, without having to convert the EPUBs to AZW3s first. Is that do-able?

Paper. Ah, de good ol' days...

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by unboggling

Maybe I'd go with Kindle e-ink if I could jailbreak it and read EPUBs on it, without having to convert the EPUBs to AZW3s first. Is that do-able?

Why does it *have* to be epub? It takes only a minute to convert from epub->azw3. You've already imported into calibre and removed DRM. You end up with the same features. Are you concerned about calibre's conversion suite? Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I've seen no worthwhile difference between epub and azw3.