An application like Kindle for PC, but for EPUBs!

[Arrghus]

I love reading on the Kindle for PC app as it's so easy to adjust brightness, background colour (I like the sepia tone that's offered), adjust page width and font, and so on.

But all my books (in the main) are in EPUB format! I use the K4PC app to read samples, and I've grown to liking reading on my ageing laptop (despite having a Sony Reader - my travelling companion).

What alternatives are there? I've tried Stanza Desktop, Cool Reader, and EPUBReader, the latter of which I use to sample public domain EPUBs (but the Firefox extension has limited functionality when it comes to adjusting the appearance of what's on screen). None of them are what I'm looking for.

Ideally, I'd like an application just like K4PC, but which could read other book formats. Does such an app exist?

P.S. It's probably obvious, but just in case - I'm a Windows user (XP).

[Ron.]

I wish there was, I have tried every epub desktop app I can find and none compare. I just convert the file to mobi to read on my PC.

[VicLavigne]

If all your ebooks are on your PC, you can use Calibre. It will open all formats and let you read them from within the program. I don't consider it the best program for just plain reading, but probably the best if you want to read multiple formats.

Vic

[GreenMonkey]

Couldn't you use the Nook app the same way you do the K4PC app? It's available on PCs, Android, etc.

[wallcraft]

See Reading Adobe ePub on the Desktop for three alternatives all based on mobile Adobe Digital Editions. I like NOOKstudy the best. There is also a new version of Desktop ADE which is a big improvement over the original, see Adobe Digital Editions 1.8 preview now available.

For maximum flexibility, it is hard to beat FBReader. It allows you to adjust practically everything about the reading experience. It does not fully support ePub CSS though. In my experience ePubs are always readable but some formatting and graphics may be lost.

[Hellmark]

Try Calibre. It keeps things organized, will connect to your reader (although for Sony it won't sync page info, so you'll have to manually change to where you left off if you switch between devices), and is a decent reader too.

I also used to use FBReader a lot. The only problem with that, is it doesn't seem to allow for fancier options. It keeps things pretty simple.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by stevenreed034

Amazon Kindle 2 is the latest eBook reader of Amazon. The company revealed many business men and students are purchasing this eBook reader mostly. This device makes the Kindle 2 a lot more appealing, so long as you don’t need native PDF support. Somewhat cheaper readers are available, but they lack the Kindle 2′s outstanding keyboard, which is very useful and important, particularly for students.

Uhm, your info is a couple years out of date. Kindle 3 is the latest available, and Kindle's have had native PDF support since 2009.

And really how many people use the keyboard? Many kindle users I know don't use it all that much.

As far as students go, well, most text books aren't available in ebook formats that will work with kindle or any epub based readers. Many I've run into have their own proprietary formats, or some screwball one that requires a windows based app. Some publishers have their ebook as more or less a subscription webpage service (McGraw Hill for one).

[wannabee]

Why don't you just convert them in calibre and watch them on your Kindle for PC reader?

[Hatgirl]

OK, the big question is whether the EPUBS are DRM-free or not. If they are DRM-free, there are a number of choices. If you want to read on your PC, but are happy being connected to the internet at the time, I recommend Ibis Reader. If you want to read offline, Calibre is pretty great.

But if your EPUBS have ADE DRM, you are basically stuck with Adobe Digital Editions for the Desktop. I think the Kobo Desktop application will also let you read ADE EPUBS, but I haven't used it myself.

[EowynCarter]

Really, calibre ??

I haven't used calibre's epub reader in a long time, but last time i did, it had bad css support and horrible lag.

[VicLavigne]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Really, calibre ??

I haven't used calibre's epub reader in a long time, but last time i did, it had bad css support and horrible lag.

I use the Calibre reader on occasion, just to screen my outputs after conversion. I don't have any problems with lag. In fact, the reader has one great advantage that I haven't seen in any hardware reader - you can just perform continual scrolling instead of turning pages. It also synchronizes, so when you open a book again it goes to the last page you were on.

Vic

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by VicLavigne

I use the Calibre reader on occasion, just to screen my outputs after conversion. I don't have any problems with lag. In fact, the reader has one great advantage that I haven't seen in any hardware reader - you can just perform continual scrolling instead of turning pages. It also synchronizes, so when you open a book again it goes to the last page you were on.

Eink's slow refresh rate is part of why you don't see many readers with continual scrolling. When it gets faster, you may see it pop up on readers.

Also, you can use the signature feature, so you don't have to type your name after every post.

[Arrghus]

Originally Posted by Ron.

I wish there was, I have tried every epub desktop app I can find and none compare. I just convert the file to mobi to read on my PC.

I suppose this isn't a terrible solution - I could keep both an EPUB and Mobi copy of all my books (I don't have thousands of public domain titles; I generally just download/purchase with each individual book I read).

Thanks for your reply.

Originally Posted by VicLavigne

If all your ebooks are on your PC, you can use Calibre. It will open all formats and let you read them from within the program. I don't consider it the best program for just plain reading, but probably the best if you want to read multiple formats.

I have Calibre already, and I use it (ironicaly enough) to convert Mobi to EPUB (if I've purchased from Amazon), but I also store all the files I download from here and Feedbooks in a neat directory. That directory is Dropboxed so I can access my books from any browser!

Calibre is superb, but it's reader is not. It's fine for cursorily checking if a conversion was a success, but I cannot stand it's continuous scroll feature, with no real option to have proper pagination. I like to be able to hit arrow keys to move from page to page (like you kind in the Kindle for PC app).

Many thanks for your reply though!

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

Couldn't you use the Nook app the same way you do the K4PC app? It's available on PCs, Android, etc.

I shall try the Nook app later. I'm from the UK so I hope I don't encounter any problems (I can't actually buy books from the Nook store because of my location).

Originally Posted by wallcraft

For maximum flexibility, it is hard to beat FBReader. It allows you to adjust practically everything about the reading experience. It does not fully support ePub CSS though. In my experience ePubs are always readable but some formatting and graphics may be lost.

I have an older copy of FBReader on my computer, but I never got to really using this as I didn't want to create another library (I have already a Calibre library after all). Can you just load up individual files; or alternatively, can I link it in some way to my Calibre library, via say ODPS?

Originally Posted by Hatgirl

OK, the big question is whether the EPUBS are DRM-free or not. If they are DRM-free, there are a number of choices. If you want to read on your PC, but are happy being connected to the internet at the time, I recommend Ibis Reader. If you want to read offline, Calibre is pretty great.

But if your EPUBS have ADE DRM, you are basically stuck with Adobe Digital Editions for the Desktop. I think the Kobo Desktop application will also let you read ADE EPUBS, but I haven't used it myself.

All my files are DRM-free as I strip 'em! I shudder at the thought of using Adobe's software. Every time I launch Digital Editions it tells me that a 'download has not completed'. It then asks me to finish whatever that download is/was. It's clunky.

Hellmark, and everybody else: many thanks for your replies too.

Keep the suggestions coming!