Diesel Ebooks repost. BAD INVESTMENT - Page 2

zelda_pinwheel · 06-10-2008, 07:43 PM

i'm sorry you had such a bad experience with diesel. i never bought anything from them, but it was because they gave me a bad impression early on.

a lot of people around here seem to consider fictionwise to be a reputable site, with good customer service. and i'm sure there will be other suggestions. i hope you find the book you want ; don't give up on ebooks because of diesel, that would really be a shame. maybe there is even a way to fix the one you have, so it won't be lost. post a thread about it, you never know.

Lemurion · 06-10-2008, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybermonk

I am a very avid reader. I normally read paper books. My first Ebook was purchased from Diesel Ebooks a few days ago. It has been a terrible experience and I am considering just sticking with paper books. I downloaded my book without problem. However after reading half of the book the Adobe Digital Editions icon turned into a generic icon and book would not open. I reloaded Adobe Reader and Digital Editions but then could not open the book. I tried to redownload the book but kept getting this oops......... message when trying to download from my bookshelf. I contacted their customer support and that has been a far less than satisfying experience. I don't even think they read my problem and just send a response that they see I have downloaded my book and everything's peachy. So here's my question. Is Diesel Ebooks a particularly crappy company or is this the norm? I don't mind wasting ten dollars but the frustration of this experience is turning me off Ebooks in general. I really want to read this book so I'll just order it from Amazon. Can anyone recommend a reputable Ebook company with a wide selection that might change my mind about giving up on the Ebook idea?

Fictionwise has great customer support, and I've heard good things about Books on Board too.

Baen is good as well-- so long as you like SF/Fantasy.

cybermonk · 06-11-2008, 02:24 PM

Thanks I'll have a look at these alternatives.
I'm not sure if kindle is available in central Canada yet.
It looks like a great reading tool.

cybermonk · 06-11-2008, 04:15 PM

I've found the book I wanted and another by the same author on Mobipocket.com.
It's worked great and I like their reader. I can't get Kindle in Canada yet. Maybe if Kindle doesn't come to Canada I'll try to find a cheap tablet pc and put Mobireader on it. Thanks for the good advice.

bbusybookworm · 06-11-2008, 04:50 PM

Hmm, if you want a reader that can read Mobi files, you also have the alternative of getting a Cybook Gen3 which is available right now. While you don't get access to the kindle store, Amazon does own mobiPocket, so most of the books should end up there eventually.

And if you are willing to wait a little, Astek is coming up with a new E-book device that is promised to be much cheaper sometime in July. One of the versions is going to support Mobipocket.

However neither of the alternatives is going to have wireless (wifi or wispernet) so if that is important to you then a tablet or the Illiad is the best alternative.

Alisa · 06-11-2008, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybermonk

I've found the book I wanted and another by the same author on Mobipocket.com.
It's worked great and I like their reader. I can't get Kindle in Canada yet. Maybe if Kindle doesn't come to Canada I'll try to find a cheap tablet pc and put Mobireader on it. Thanks for the good advice.

Mobipocket.com generally has much higher prices than places like Fictionwise and Books on Board.

JSWolf · 06-12-2008, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybermonk

I've found the book I wanted and another by the same author on Mobipocket.com.
It's worked great and I like their reader. I can't get Kindle in Canada yet. Maybe if Kindle doesn't come to Canada I'll try to find a cheap tablet pc and put Mobireader on it. Thanks for the good advice.

You can get a Sony Reader PRS-505 in Canada. And I've done a lot of conversions from MS Reader and Mobipocket formats. So I can purchase at Fictionwise or BooksOnBoard,

Now as to your problem with Diesel.. The problem is not Diesel. The problem is you purchased PDF. DRM protected PDF is the worst format to purchase an eBook in. Now if it's something you cannot get in any other format then fine. But if you can, then you are buying trouble you don't need.

cybermonk · 06-12-2008, 12:44 PM

Thanks for the heads up on pdf. I'll stay away from it. I've looked at the Sony Reader and the Cybook. They both look like interesting readers. My worry is that I tend to read a lot of unpopular titles like the Nag Hammadi Library which I'm not likely to find anywhere but Amazon. I'm almost tempted to get a Kindle and try to find a way to buy and download Amazon books. I can't think of an easy way to get around the USA credit card and address thing. I don't think the Kindle is the best reader but it has the best selection of titles.

Patricia · 06-12-2008, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybermonk

My worry is that I tend to read a lot of unpopular titles like the Nag Hammadi Library which I'm not likely to find anywhere but Amazon. .

Not so. See here for more Gnostic texts than you can wave a stick at:
http://www.gnosis.org/library.html

Choisya · 10-10-2008, 06:45 AM

Thankyou for the recommendation to Booksonboard after the problems I had with Diesel. I managed to log on and download the book I wanted within minutes BUT although it is in the Adobe format by Ectaco Jetbook requires, the ACSM file is not being recognised! What does this mean? Please explain in very plain very simple English as I am an elderly ignoramous in these matters! (I previously downloaded Adobe Reader 9.0 BTW.)

FireFeather · 10-10-2008, 11:07 AM

Hi Choisya, I'm actually familiar with this issue as I've been through the same thing! The underlying issue is a change on the Adobe technology side of things and not with any of the ebook stores themselves.

It's a bit frustrating indeed, but you can solve it fairly quickly. BooksOnBoard actually put together a good help document for this issue: New Adobe Software Help Installing Adobe's Digital Editions software should fix this issue for you.

wallcraft · 10-10-2008, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Choisya

I managed to log on and download the book I wanted within minutes BUT although it is in the Adobe format by Ectaco Jetbook requires, the ACSM file is not being recognised! What does this mean?

So far as I can tell, the Jetbook does not supports Secure Adobe ebooks. Some sellers call these Secure Adobe PDFs, others say Secure Adobe Reader 7.0 ebooks, and Books on Board calls these Secure Adobe Digital Editions. Whatever they are called, they are PDFs but the "Secure" part is encryption that Adobe has added to prevent you from reading them except with the appropriate software. This software is only available from Adobe, and only some Adobe software works. Windows Adobe Reader version 7.0 was the last version of Adobe Reader to handle these files, and the only current software to do so is Adobe Digital Editions.

The bottom line is that you can't read them on the Jetbook, and it is going to be challenging to get any "Secure" ebook to work on the Jetbook.

You can read your Secure Adobe ebook on a Windows or Mac PC using Adobe Digital Editions, but you may want to return it instead.

BoB confirms that the Jetbook can't read their ebooks, see format help.

Choisya · 10-17-2008, 04:32 AM

Daffy4u: Those of us in the UK cannot buy a Kindle without having an account in the US. I would gladly buy one and eagerly await their release in the UK. Perhaps the current financial problems will make them think about finding a new market here and stop being so d***** exclusive!

Slite · 10-17-2008, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Choisya

Daffy4u: Those of us in the UK cannot buy a Kindle without having an account in the US. I would gladly buy one and eagerly await their release in the UK. Perhaps the current financial problems will make them think about finding a new market here and stop being so d***** exclusive!

It's not a question about beeing exclusive. It's a purely logistics reason the kindle havent been released in Europe as of yet. The reason beeing that they need to sign up whispernet operators in every single country in Europe before they can launch it here. Otherwise it is pointless to buy a Kindle in Europe, and then take a trip to, say Belgium which doesn't have a signed whispernet operator, and your Kindle is useless in that country.

HarryT · 10-18-2008, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slite

It's not a question about beeing exclusive. It's a purely logistics reason the kindle havent been released in Europe as of yet. The reason beeing that they need to sign up whispernet operators in every single country in Europe before they can launch it here. Otherwise it is pointless to buy a Kindle in Europe, and then take a trip to, say Belgium which doesn't have a signed whispernet operator, and your Kindle is useless in that country.

"Useless" is putting it a little strongly - you can upload books to the Kindle via USB, just like you can any other device. I do agree, though, that the wireless download of books is the key factor that differentiates it from other devices.

06-11-2008, 02:24 PM	#18
cybermonk Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: PC	Thanks I'll have a look at these alternatives. I'm not sure if kindle is available in central Canada yet. It looks like a great reading tool. Last edited by cybermonk; 06-11-2008 at 02:27 PM.

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06-10-2008, 07:43 PM	#16
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	i'm sorry you had such a bad experience with diesel. i never bought anything from them, but it was because they gave me a bad impression early on. a lot of people around here seem to consider fictionwise to be a reputable site, with good customer service. and i'm sure there will be other suggestions. i hope you find the book you want ; don't give up on ebooks because of diesel, that would really be a shame. maybe there is even a way to fix the one you have, so it won't be lost. post a thread about it, you never know.

06-11-2008, 04:15 PM	#19
cybermonk Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: PC	I've found the book I wanted and another by the same author on Mobipocket.com. It's worked great and I like their reader. I can't get Kindle in Canada yet. Maybe if Kindle doesn't come to Canada I'll try to find a cheap tablet pc and put Mobireader on it. Thanks for the good advice.

06-11-2008, 04:50 PM	#20
bbusybookworm Tech Junkie Posts: 1,027 Karma: 10080 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Earth Device: iPad, MotoXStyle, OnePlusOne	Hmm, if you want a reader that can read Mobi files, you also have the alternative of getting a Cybook Gen3 which is available right now. While you don't get access to the kindle store, Amazon does own mobiPocket, so most of the books should end up there eventually. And if you are willing to wait a little, Astek is coming up with a new E-book device that is promised to be much cheaper sometime in July. One of the versions is going to support Mobipocket. However neither of the alternatives is going to have wireless (wifi or wispernet) so if that is important to you then a tablet or the Illiad is the best alternative.

06-12-2008, 12:44 PM	#23
cybermonk Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: PC	Thanks for the heads up on pdf. I'll stay away from it. I've looked at the Sony Reader and the Cybook. They both look like interesting readers. My worry is that I tend to read a lot of unpopular titles like the Nag Hammadi Library which I'm not likely to find anywhere but Amazon. I'm almost tempted to get a Kindle and try to find a way to buy and download Amazon books. I can't think of an easy way to get around the USA credit card and address thing. I don't think the Kindle is the best reader but it has the best selection of titles.

10-10-2008, 06:45 AM	#25
Choisya Member Posts: 16 Karma: 42 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Kindle	Thankyou for the recommendation to Booksonboard after the problems I had with Diesel. I managed to log on and download the book I wanted within minutes BUT although it is in the Adobe format by Ectaco Jetbook requires, the ACSM file is not being recognised! What does this mean? Please explain in very plain very simple English as I am an elderly ignoramous in these matters! (I previously downloaded Adobe Reader 9.0 BTW.)

10-10-2008, 11:07 AM	#26
FireFeather Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Texas Device: Dell Axim / Apple iPhone	Hi Choisya, I'm actually familiar with this issue as I've been through the same thing! The underlying issue is a change on the Adobe technology side of things and not with any of the ebook stores themselves. It's a bit frustrating indeed, but you can solve it fairly quickly. BooksOnBoard actually put together a good help document for this issue: New Adobe Software Help Installing Adobe's Digital Editions software should fix this issue for you.

10-17-2008, 04:32 AM	#28
Choisya Member Posts: 16 Karma: 42 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Kindle	Daffy4u: Those of us in the UK cannot buy a Kindle without having an account in the US. I would gladly buy one and eagerly await their release in the UK. Perhaps the current financial problems will make them think about finding a new market here and stop being so d***** exclusive!