You're going to have to convince me......

manda243 · 08-21-2010, 12:30 AM

My husband is a devoted Kindle user but after waiting so long for the K3, I caved and bought the Kobo reader instead. I must say that I love it, mainly for the fact that I can read epub's borrowed from my library. Now that the K3 is coming out for the same price i paid for the Kobo, I am contemplating switching but am scared of losing my epub readability.

Is there any way to convert epubs to a format usable by the kindle, or am I stuck using pdf's? Because after reading this forum, I don't know if it's worth the switch.

carld · 08-21-2010, 01:10 AM

The actual conversion is trivial, using either Calibre or Mobipocket. The tricky part is stripping the DRM, which you'll need to do unless your books are DRM-free. I haven't kept up on it, so I don't know how difficult that is at the moment.

Alisa · 08-21-2010, 01:25 AM

It is easy but in some countries it is debatable how legal it is so the question arises as to how comfortable the user is with that. So far, no one here in the US has been pursued for the act of stripping DRM without redistributing that but I wouldn't advise someone that it is completely risk-free.

neilmarr · 08-21-2010, 02:39 AM

Good to have your new company, Manda. Calibre will do a good job -- and very simply -- of converting ePub top Mobi for Kindle. As Carl says, though, books you buy or borrow from a library tend to be padlocked by Digital Rights Management devices so that you can't convert and move them at will from device to device. It's possible to strip DRM, but it's only border-line legal and we can't discuss the subject here. At the risk of inciting a riot by our Kindle-lovers, I'd suggest you stick with your Kobo ... especially as there's already a Mobi-reading Kindle in the house. Best wishes. Neil

superstitious · 08-21-2010, 03:01 AM

I just preordered the Kindle 3 to compare with my Nook to see which one I would like best. So I began experimenting with stripping drm with the epub books I have either from Sony store or kobo. I found it is easier than I thought. Will use Calibre to convert them to mobi to try them on Kindle once it arrives in about a month.

brecklundin · 08-21-2010, 04:17 AM

why are people never happy with what they have? I don't intend to be mean in writing that. Rather a find it pretty fickle to be always on the hunt for the "best" everytime new "shiny" comes into view. We all tend to fall into the trap no matter how much we try not to...but in this case you have a device that works just fine.

Are there Kindle books you want that you cannot get in epub? That would be the only justification I could see...now if you can sell your Kobo for essentially what you paid, then sure why not? Of course ya do lose the legal ability to checkout library books.

You could look at it this way, with two readers, your Kobo and the hubby's Kindle you have all the bases covered. Of course trading devices might onvolve prying the Kindle out of the hubby's cold dead fingers before the cops arrive. hehehehe...

Really, do what makes you happiest as long as you can afford it. You are not a bad person for being distracted by unproven "shiny"...because, well, it's "shiny"...

manda243 · 08-21-2010, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brecklundin

why are people never happy with what they have? I don't intend to be mean in writing that. Rather a find it pretty fickle to be always on the hunt for the "best" everytime new "shiny" comes into view. We all tend to fall into the trap no matter how much we try not to...but in this case you have a device that works just fine.

I admit, I asked myself the same thing. I normally don't like "shiny" it's just that my mom offered to buy the new Kindle and take my old Kobo, as I would be able to take advantage of wifi/3G more than she would.

I'm going to try to Calibre some of my epubs right now onto the Kindle. I'll let you know how it goes!

Ea · 08-21-2010, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manda243

I admit, I asked myself the same thing. I normally don't like "shiny" it's just that my mom offered to buy the new Kindle and take my old Kobo, as I would be able to take advantage of wifi/3G more than she would.

I'm going to try to Calibre some of my epubs right now onto the Kindle. I'll let you know how it goes!

You have the advantage of having a Kindle right there to try out and compare. Unless you feel you get something more out of switching to a Kindle, I would suggest keeping the Kobo
(though I noticed it was your mother's suggestion ... sometimes it's just better to say yes, please, thank you to something mother suggests

It can be easier all around)

Juliette · 08-21-2010, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manda243

I admit, I asked myself the same thing. I normally don't like "shiny" it's just that my mom offered to buy the new Kindle and take my old Kobo, as I would be able to take advantage of wifi/3G more than she would.

I'm going to try to Calibre some of my epubs right now onto the Kindle. I'll let you know how it goes!

I'd do as Ea say and obey mum

after all, you can try it out for a while, if the K3 doesn't turn out to be ok for you you can always return it.

Ea · 08-21-2010, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juliette

I'd do as Ea say and obey mum

after all, you can try it out for a while, if the K3 doesn't turn out to be ok for you you can always return it.

You, too, Juliette?

6charlong · 08-21-2010, 01:58 PM

There is lots of good advice here but one thing no one mentioned is that if you get a second Kindle and register it to the same account on Amazon as the one your husband is using, you will be able to buy a book once and both read it on your own device without having to arrange "Kindle time" with each other or having to strip the DRM from the Kindle edition and convert to ePub.

SensualPoet · 08-21-2010, 02:01 PM

Not long ago, the Kindle 2 was $259. Now, a Kobo + a Kindle 3 can be had for $288 or less. Why not just get one of each?

You're right: the Kobo is a very nice reader in itself and provides easy access to ePub books that may not be available in Kindle format and to the public library. That's enough for me to keep it around.

Plus, I love the Kindle 2 and will replace it with a Kindle 3. I get all the advantages of the Kindle in an updated device.

So, keep both! And enjoy the best of all worlds.

JSWolf · 08-21-2010, 02:56 PM

The Kindles only handle PDF with no DRM. So you'd have to strip the DRM from the library PDF to be able to use them. And to be honest, PDF from the library won't be very nice on a 6" screen.

catsittingstill · 08-21-2010, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Kindles only handle PDF with no DRM. So you'd have to strip the DRM from the library PDF to be able to use them. And to be honest, PDF from the library won't be very nice on a 6" screen.

I'm not quite sure how DRMed PDF and password protected PDF intersect, but in case they do--the K3 will supposedly be able to read password protected PDFs.

PDFs in portrait view come out needing "little teeny eyes for reading little teeny print" but when I switch them to landscape on my K2 they are quite readable--at least for me. Half a page at a time (and an irritating 2 lines at the end of the page, sigh) but not hopeless.

Juliette · 08-22-2010, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ea

You, too, Juliette?

Why not

08-21-2010, 12:30 AM	#1
manda243 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	You're going to have to convince me...... My husband is a devoted Kindle user but after waiting so long for the K3, I caved and bought the Kobo reader instead. I must say that I love it, mainly for the fact that I can read epub's borrowed from my library. Now that the K3 is coming out for the same price i paid for the Kobo, I am contemplating switching but am scared of losing my epub readability. Is there any way to convert epubs to a format usable by the kindle, or am I stuck using pdf's? Because after reading this forum, I don't know if it's worth the switch.

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08-21-2010, 01:10 AM	#2
carld Wizard Posts: 2,698 Karma: 4748723 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	The actual conversion is trivial, using either Calibre or Mobipocket. The tricky part is stripping the DRM, which you'll need to do unless your books are DRM-free. I haven't kept up on it, so I don't know how difficult that is at the moment.

08-21-2010, 01:25 AM	#3
Alisa Gadget Geek Posts: 2,324 Karma: 22221 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)	It is easy but in some countries it is debatable how legal it is so the question arises as to how comfortable the user is with that. So far, no one here in the US has been pursued for the act of stripping DRM without redistributing that but I wouldn't advise someone that it is completely risk-free.

08-21-2010, 02:39 AM	#4
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Good to have your new company, Manda. Calibre will do a good job -- and very simply -- of converting ePub top Mobi for Kindle. As Carl says, though, books you buy or borrow from a library tend to be padlocked by Digital Rights Management devices so that you can't convert and move them at will from device to device. It's possible to strip DRM, but it's only border-line legal and we can't discuss the subject here. At the risk of inciting a riot by our Kindle-lovers, I'd suggest you stick with your Kobo ... especially as there's already a Mobi-reading Kindle in the house. Best wishes. Neil

08-21-2010, 03:01 AM	#5
superstitious Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 7270 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: K3 wifi	I just preordered the Kindle 3 to compare with my Nook to see which one I would like best. So I began experimenting with stripping drm with the epub books I have either from Sony store or kobo. I found it is easier than I thought. Will use Calibre to convert them to mobi to try them on Kindle once it arrives in about a month.

08-21-2010, 04:17 AM	#6
brecklundin Banned Posts: 1,906 Karma: 15348 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: mine	why are people never happy with what they have? I don't intend to be mean in writing that. Rather a find it pretty fickle to be always on the hunt for the "best" everytime new "shiny" comes into view. We all tend to fall into the trap no matter how much we try not to...but in this case you have a device that works just fine. Are there Kindle books you want that you cannot get in epub? That would be the only justification I could see...now if you can sell your Kobo for essentially what you paid, then sure why not? Of course ya do lose the legal ability to checkout library books. You could look at it this way, with two readers, your Kobo and the hubby's Kindle you have all the bases covered. Of course trading devices might onvolve prying the Kindle out of the hubby's cold dead fingers before the cops arrive. hehehehe... Really, do what makes you happiest as long as you can afford it. You are not a bad person for being distracted by unproven "shiny"...because, well, it's "shiny"...

08-21-2010, 01:58 PM	#11
6charlong friendly lurker Posts: 896 Karma: 2436026 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: US Device: Kindle, nook, Apple and Kobo	There is lots of good advice here but one thing no one mentioned is that if you get a second Kindle and register it to the same account on Amazon as the one your husband is using, you will be able to buy a book once and both read it on your own device without having to arrange "Kindle time" with each other or having to strip the DRM from the Kindle edition and convert to ePub.

08-21-2010, 02:01 PM	#12
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	Not long ago, the Kindle 2 was $259. Now, a Kobo + a Kindle 3 can be had for $288 or less. Why not just get one of each? You're right: the Kobo is a very nice reader in itself and provides easy access to ePub books that may not be available in Kindle format and to the public library. That's enough for me to keep it around. Plus, I love the Kindle 2 and will replace it with a Kindle 3. I get all the advantages of the Kindle in an updated device. So, keep both! And enjoy the best of all worlds.

08-21-2010, 02:56 PM	#13
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,258 Karma: 145488788 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The Kindles only handle PDF with no DRM. So you'd have to strip the DRM from the library PDF to be able to use them. And to be honest, PDF from the library won't be very nice on a 6" screen.