I pad mini can't cope

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by UKPFC

Ok, so my solution was to use Dropbox. Put a copy of ebooks in Dropbox then run the app on the iPad mini. Then I find the book I want and it will open in whatever reader I want. It's wort noting that Marvin will only take 1k ebooks.

It's also worth noting that it's not a Mavin limitation, but a Dropbox limitation. Marvin will take any number of books. That limit only applies to the listing of Dropbox books directly within Marvin. You can load any number of books into Dropbox, and side-load any book from Dropbox into Marvin using the Dropbox app. (The "Open in..." option.)

Me, I don't use Dropbox for e-books at all... (Just not enough space for books there for me.) I store books in Calibre, which is mirrored in SugarSync, and I load books into Marvin from the SugarSync app on iDevices. That's fast and hassle-free.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by jswinden

This is an often discussed topic around here. Why would you want 3000 ebooks on a device?

If you truly suffer such lack of imagination that really prevents you from understanding that anyone could have use patterns or needs that differs from yours, then maybe you should should check out the recent thread here about why so many of us would like having our entire large libraries available to us.

Or is that the Apple fanboi line, that if Apple doesn't do it well, then nobody needs to do it?

(That last was just to tick off Andrew H. )

[UKPFC]

Well said Apk. So about sugerSynk, is it easy to set up?

[Faterson]

SugarSync is easy to set up, and so is Dropbox or Copy.com or Box.net or any other cloud software. Load any number of books into your cloud software (3 thousand or 30 thousand, doesn't matter), and they are then a tap away from you on any of your iDevices. (And sorry if I disbelieve that any of you guys use any of your iDevices offline for long stretches of time.)

If you insist, you can store thousands of books directly on your iDevice, but it seems such a waste... when any book is only a tap away from you in a cloud app at any time.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Faterson

(3 thousand or 30 thousand, doesn't matter)

Of course it matters. Files take up space, and Dropbox only has 2 gig on the free service. That would hold less than 1/3 of my library, and I don't have 30,000 files. Yet.

Why should I pay $9.99 a month to upgrade Dropbox, when I have a 32G Ipad Mini that can easily hold my 7 gig collection?

And apparently you haven't traveled where I have, because wifi is an iffy thing. I've stayed at hotels that advertise having it, but it was so weak I couldn't get a connection. (Not even when I went to the counter and tried. And the staff didn't know anything about it, so couldn't help except to keep giving me the password.)

While I could go 3G on my phone, I don't read on it. That's why I have eReaders and tablets. I'd go blind reading on my phone.

It just makes no sense to think that using space you've already PAID FOR on a device is going to waste if you fill it with what you want. Leaving it empty for no reason would be what wouldn't make sense!

[Faterson]

DuskyRose, you're arguing with strawmen there, not with me. If you wish to carry 30 thousand books directly on your iDevice, by all means do so! It's just not a practice I would generally recommend.

I use free Dropbox, and I have 11.4 GB of space there. As you know, there are easy ways to extend your free Dropbox space.

I also have 50 GB of free space in Box.net. And another 50 GB of free space at Copy.com. It's easy for iDevice owners to make use of such promotional offers when they appear.

PS: I trust you know you can easily access your phone's 3G connection on your tablet.

[MeSue]

If you don't want to use the cloud, you can always use any number of file storage apps (like Filebrowser, suggested above) to store your 3000 ebooks on device and then keep a smaller number in your preferred ereader app if it can't handle all of them at once.

[49Kat]

Originally Posted by Faterson

PS: I trust you know you can easily access your phone's 3G connection on your tablet.

But for those of us who travel internationally or who have data limitations on our 3G phone plans, that's not always a good idea.

I agree, counting on being able to have a decent internet connection for our iPads isn't always possible. I have my libraries on my iPads. I don't usually read on my phone, although when I tried, I found it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. On my phone, I will only carry the book I am currently reading and remove it from the phone when I'm done. I would rather keep the file space for pictures.

Faterson, I see you're from Europe. I travel in Canada and the U.S., and the roaming fees for data between these 2 countries is utterly absurd...(And that's a whole other rant I could go on which has nothing to do with this thread, so I won't go there, LOL!) I'll have to have my phone's data plan turned off when I even get near the U.S. border.

[Faterson]

Rest assured 3G roaming fees are outrageous in Europe, too. For longer stays abroad, it's better to buy a local (foreign country) SIM card and insert it into your 3G/LTE iPad. That's why I keep the SIM-card slot of my iPad empty when I'm at home; I use my iPhone's 3G connection on the iPad. When abroad, I can reverse the process: use the iPad's 3G connection on the iPhone.

[49Kat]

Ah, great ideas, Faterson. This isn't an option for me right now, but maybe when DH and I are in the U.S. more, we'll find it worthwhile to purchase unlocked phones and get SIM cards to use there.

As for keeping a large library on the iPad mini, I do want all my books on mine. I don't know how many I have, I've never actually counted, since they're spread across different formats and readers. I just like not being dependent on an internet connection to choose what I decide to read in any given moment. I do have the files on a PC and in the cloud as well. I guess we each do what works for us and according to our preferences.

This thread has provided some great ideas for handling ebook libraries and files.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by 49Kat

maybe when DH and I are in the U.S. more, we'll find it worthwhile to purchase unlocked phones and get SIM cards to use there.

Yes... even a very cheap phone capable of simply serving as a mobile WiFi hotspot might serve that purpose.

iPads are typically sold unlocked, at least here in Europe, so I prefer to buy them in their 3G/LTE versions, so that they can serve as those mobile WiFi hotspots for me whenever I'm abroad.

(The European Commission says they want to outlaw the current outrageous data roaming charges, but I'm afraid it may take quite a few years before that happens... And if it does, it will only apply to E. U. countries.)

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Yes... even a very cheap phone capable of simply serving as a mobile WiFi hotspot might serve that purpose.

iPads are typically sold unlocked, at least here in Europe, so I prefer to buy them in their 3G/LTE versions, so that they can serve as those mobile WiFi hotspots for me whenever I'm abroad.

(The European Commission says they want to outlaw the current outrageous data roaming charges, but I'm afraid it may take quite a few years before that happens... And if it does, it will only apply to E. U. countries.)

Rather that a phone with a wifi hotspot why not a mobile disk drive that can serve as a hotspot. Some phone companies charge even for hotspot use. No charges for a disk drive and lots of GIGs of storage. They can also stream movies if desired.

Dale

[kyteflyer]

The main reason I dont carry all mine is a limitation of the device. I only have 16GB devices and there are many other purposes I put them to, so theres a limit to how much I am prepared to sacrifice to books. I can (and do) access from calibre or the cloud any time I want, but I can't afford the space on the device to store them.

[Faterson]

My main reason for not carrying them around is that I have several reading devices (such as an iPad and an iPhone), and I would find it super-incovenient having to separately load each and every book onto every device I own, having to worry about keeping the various devices in sync manually.

With cloud software like Dropbox, SugarSync, Box.net, Copy.com or Google Drive, you load every book only once, and it's up to the cloud software to keep every book in sync on every device and computer. If I can let a machine perform something I would otherwise have to perform manually, I'll let the machine do it 10 times out of 10.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Would you please keep your ill-informed and content-free anti-Apple postings out of the Apple forum? You post enough Apple articles in "News" and "Discussions"; I don't see why you have to come here and try to stir up trouble.

Given that you don't own an Apple device and seem to have little understanding of them, I really don't understand know why you have *so many* postings about Apple in the first place. But please take them somewhere else.

Probably before you were born, I started out as a technician. I still have it in my blood, so I am always interested in technical matters of all sorts and have a certain pride in my abilities.
You are right, I don't own an Apple product myself but I have bought many for relatives, and of course then there is always the "Hey Dad, or Hey Dear, look at this!" "What do you do here?"

I never blinked when a kid surprised me and didn't get the new Mac I offered for a big birthday but kept the old one and got a new iMac desktop box for his home.
Nor at a request for a iPod Touch 4th generation. A 5th generation was offered.
Likewise I provided a Nexus 7 from Google to another.
And many other devices.

I might question some of these machines specs or not having removable media or awful prices, but still I paid the bill, and helped on the difficult problems when I could.

I still have somewhere on one of my computers some subroutine that keeps trying to load Safari, iTunes, and Quick Time. You see I had iTunes on the computer when I first set up the iPod.

I don't consider myself an expert, but I certainly know more than I wish about Apple products.

So I consider that I know enough to comment occasionally. If you disagree with what I say, then correct me if you can, otherwise go find someone who wants to engage in mutual character attacks with you. That is not the kind of person I am. Life is too good and full to take time to kick up muck.