Help me get started please - Kindle vs. BeBook vs. Sony PRS-505 - Page 2

rana · 03-01-2009, 11:08 PM

So can the DRM'd PDF be converted to something that either the Hanlin or Kindle can read ? May be by maintaining the same PID of the device, so that I am not not really removing DRM but making it work for my situation

sigma8 · 03-02-2009, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rana

So can the DRM'd PDF be converted to something that either the Hanlin or Kindle can read ? May be by maintaining the same PID of the device, so that I am not not really removing DRM but making it work for my situation

That works for reading mobi's on the Kindle, I think, because Kindle's native format is basically a slight variant of mobi. This wouldn't work if the Kindle didn't support a DRM'ed variant of mobi.

With the Hanlin, I don't think you can just change a PID in the file, because the Hanlin has no support for the DRM used in PDF's (which I'm 99% sure is different than the DRM used in mobis). I think the only way to go here, would be to strip the DRM from the PDF entirely. Then you'd be able to read it fine on the Hanlin or any number of devices with PDF support. That is generally not legal, of course.

And of course, the Kindle can't even read PDF's, so even if you stripped the DRM entirely, the Kindle wouldn't know what to do with it.

johanm · 03-02-2009, 01:39 PM

Answers:
1. BeBook (Hanlin) probably supports the most formats.
2. Quality depends on the type of ebook. Different ebook readers have different strong points. BeBook offers an overall good quality.
3. Buying an ebook without DRM, very unlikely. Either you buy an ebook with almost 99% certainty it will have DRM, you download a pirated copy or you download from the overwhelming abundance of freely (legally) available ebooks. There are some emagazines that do not have DRM, see point 5.
4. A bit naive. If you buy a Sony, buy lots of DRM'ed ebooks and than think of switching to another brand and still be able to access all your legally bought ebooks, I am afraid that if the current situation continues you are going to be very disappointed in near future.
5. If by PDF you mean A4 or Letter sized ebooks or emagazines none of the ones you mentioned qualifies. Buy an iPod Touch or double your budget and go for an iLiad. But ask someone with an iLiad to test some of your PDF ebooks (largest page size, smallest print, ...). Some very helpful people on this forum.
6. The only conversion I have done is from TXT, RTF and HTML to optimized PDF using OpenOffice Writer. Very good.

I have written 2 reviews, one for BeBook and one for the iPod Touch.
http://blog.johan-mares.be/ict/gadge...o-read-ebooks/
http://blog.johan-mares.be/ict/gadge...-month-review/

Hope this helps.

Johan

Alisa · 03-02-2009, 05:00 PM

Are there any other features that matter to you besides format support? For instance, dictionary lookup, content search, the ability to load your own fonts, content organization, or annotation.

rana · 03-02-2009, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alisa

Are there any other features that matter to you besides format support? For instance, dictionary lookup, content search, the ability to load your own fonts, content organization, or annotation.

Thanks for asking that ! I missed covering this earlier.

Dictionary lookup is not terribly important for me, but I would find ability to search the content to be quite useful. If absolutely necessary, I can live without content search, but would really prefer to have it.

Ability to load my own fonts would be VERY nice ... especially if people have tried many different fonts and there are some recommendations for what works well and what doesn't.

Content organization is also another really nice things to have ... but if I had to live without this, I could.

Annotation is not important for me.

To summarize, here are the list of features in rough order of priority (for me)

Content availability -- more the better
Support for a large number of formats (with PDF and Mobi support pretty high on the list)
Ability to "really own" the books I purchase and be able to read them on multiple devices (current and future generation)
How the books "look" on the device (this includes both how the display quality is, as well as the formatting of the contents)
General usability of the device -- button placements, stability of firmware, regular bug fixes etc.
Weight of the device
Cost
Ability to search contents
Battery Life
Size of the screen (bigger the better, upto about 8-10 inches)
Touch screen support (but not at the cost of clarity of display ... I understand none of the devices I am looking at right now will support this)
Ability to load customize the device (custom fonts fall under this, plus the more ways I can customize the device, the better)
MP3 playback

Things which are nice to have, but not very important

Dictionary lookup
Annotation
WiFi support
Ability to purchase content right from the device ... I am perfectly happy to hook up the device to the PC once a while to get content

Thanks again !

patroman · 03-02-2009, 10:06 PM

hey

I'm reaaally new to the whole e-book concept myself but love to read and figure this can really only do wonders for my reading life. Still kind of undecided on what is best for me as far as what device to get, but just out of curiosity: is the kindle the only ebook device that allows for subscriptions to newspapers and magazines? I don't really care about the blog subscriptions though I guess if you get the former the latter will likely be available?

sigma8 · 03-03-2009, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patroman

is the kindle the only ebook device that allows for subscriptions to newspapers and magazines? I don't really care about the blog subscriptions though I guess if you get the former the latter will likely be available?

The short answer is: yes, the kindle is the only device that subscribes to newspapers and magazines. The subscriptions cost a couple dollars per paper/magazine for a month, I believe.

The long answer is: not exactly, because with non-Kindle devices (well, and also with the Kindle) you can use a desktop application (Caliber, for one) to grab RSS feeds (and accompanying full articles) free off of the web.

I'm sure the Kindle experience is probably a bit more slick, since it automatically shows up on your device, and is custom-formatted by the content provider. Caliber does a nice job formatting, but its formatting is more homegrown. It's not "as intended by the publisher". In some cases, perhaps many cases, you might actually like Caliber's formatting better.

I know I've been preferring caliber over normal RSS feeds

InlawBiker · 03-03-2009, 12:33 PM

I also find myself in the same boat, not sure which device to buy. I'm not terribly excited about any of the Readers but I have pretty much decided on the prs-505, with a used Kindle 1 a close second. If I find a cheap one I might just grab it.

My main goal is to read free books and to convert my collection of .LIT books with Calibre. That's it. Since that's 95% of my goal I'd prefer to ignore the other features and spend as little as possible

The Kindle is a close 2nd only because I could easily see myself buying a book now and then from Amazon. The temptation to impulse buy is scaring me a little. The fact that it's a little goofy looking is a minor annoyance with me. I imagine I'll make some enemies with that statement but oh well.

Surfing over to Sony, buying a book with my credit card then syncing my device is so "2007." I cannot believe how whiny that sounds.

Other random thoughts/reasons/justifications...

I'm a professional network geek working at a large telecom. I have a huge library of technical ebooks/pdf's that I'd prefer to just leave on my computer. They're indexed and searchable where they are.

The PRS-700 and Kindle2 are too expensive for my needs.

Newspapers and magazines... I'm happy reading those on my laptop. Or even on paper while they're still printing.

A prs-505 with light wedge case is ideal for night reading. Almost all of my reading is done at night, so this is a big deal for me.

Mp3's - everything seems to play music these days. I have 2gb of music on my phone I never even listen to. I'll stick with the ipod for music. All I want to do is read on the thing.

I'd be interested to hear what you end up getting. Now I'm looking for a prs-505 or Kindle1. If anybody has one to unload just PM me

Greg in Seattle

rana · 03-03-2009, 03:18 PM

Thanks to all the suggestions here ! I have made up my mind (for now at least

) and I am going with a dual reader solution. Picked up a used Kindle 1 (from the flea market here) for $200 and was able to buy a new Sony PRS-505 for $210 (had a coupon).

So for a little bit more than what a Kindle 2 would cost, I *think* I have a solution that needs most of my needs for now.

I am relying a lot on the conversions I can do with Calibre, and am expecting I will use the Sony device more on day to day basis.

Having the Kindle 1 will give me access to the Kindle store, so I will be able to buy books from there ... and hopefully be able to convert them so I can read them equally well on the Sony.

Thanks for ALL the responses here (as well as the many other threads where I picked up more info). You people are truly fantastic

Now wish me luck

Tattncat · 03-03-2009, 04:13 PM

Good pick. I love my 505, and wouldn't have upgraded to the 700 except for the note taking and search functions. I use my Touch for anything I find and don't yet know how to convert to my reader. The Touch makes a suitable reader for those few instances.

Spad · 03-04-2009, 07:06 PM

Using third party free software, such as Stanza and Calibre, almost any format can be read on any of these devices by a very simple conversion process that takes only a couple of minutes. I own both the latest version of the Sony PRS-505 and the new Kindle 2. If I had to chose between them I would prefer the Kindle by a wide margin.

Compatibility simply isn't much of an issue and remember, the Kindle has that 240,000+ library that continues to grow by leaps and bounds. For me it's a no-brainer. Another consideration is that Kindle books can now be read on the iPhone/touch with no additional cost--and with two way sync.

Spad · 03-04-2009, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rana

Having the Kindle 1 will give me access to the Kindle store, so I will be able to buy books from there ... and hopefully be able to convert them so I can read them equally well on the Sony.

You will be able to convert non-DRM Kindle volumes, but not those you buy from the Kindle store.

That was a good price on the PRS-505. Be sure it has the latest firmware when you get it. This will allow it to read EPUB files which is a big plus.

I don't know how you feel about fully justified text, but I hate it. I like left justification, and for this reason I prefer RTF files on my 505. Also, I often save an entire book in boldface to improve the contrast.

Good luck!

InlawBiker · 03-05-2009, 12:54 AM

I wanted a 505 but ended up with a Kindle, I picked it up used today. The market is currently flooded with used K1's, mainly from people buying K2. I saved a lot of dough and I'm very pleased with this Reader.

I'm secretly a little happy I can zap a new book to my Kindle from Amazon. When I walk into a book store I do not browse the hard-bound books. I figure there are millions of paperbacks I've never read so why pay a premium? But $10 isn't a big deal for a new release in digital format.

I've run a few conversion tests so far with Calibre...

First off, the Linux version crashed almost instantly trying to import my e-books. I may have to work on that one. So I rebooted in Vista and it worked much better. I hate Vista but oh well.

So far - I have a .LIT book converted. I have the hardbound book, .LIT and Kindle (MOBI) side by side. They are virtually identical. The conversion was very fast too. I suspect .LIT is a well defined file format and easy to convert.

Next I converted an RTF. It took a LOT longer. Eventually it finished (~15 mins?). When I first opened the book it was tiny and unreadable, and wouldn't respond to font resize. I closed and re-opened and it looks fine, and fonts resize too. No chapters, etc., but from an RTF I didn't expect it to.

Next I'll do some PDF's (not optimistic), DOCs and TXT files.

Thank you all for your help in answering my questions. I doubt I'd have bought the thing without the advice, and now I'm glad I came here to ask. Thanks!

Greg.

HarryT · 03-05-2009, 04:17 AM

Any reason you're not considering the CyBook? It has the best MobiPocket support of any device, and MobiPocket is probably the most wide-spread and prevalent format in use today.

larisa0001 · 03-10-2009, 10:18 PM

Can I jump in? I'm also facing the same choice - thinking about which e-reader to acquire, and contemplating these three options. My priorities are a bit different, though. One important one is that I need the reader to display Cyrillic text. Many of my .txt format e-books are in Russian. Another one is that I own a lot of PalmReader e-books with DRM; can any of the readers display those? (yes, I can read them on the Palm, but the screen hurts my eyes after a while) One of the reasons I really don't want a Kindle is because I don't want any more #&$#$& DRM in my e-books. I already have $100 worth of books that can only be displayed on one device.

Also, do any of the readers have an automatic page-turn feature? I like to read as I practice the piano, and it's very convenient to set the Palm in front of me and set it to auto-scroll. Would be nice to do that with a better screen.

View Poll Results: What reader would you recommend for me ?
HanlinV3/BeBook/EZ-Reader	12	17.39%
Kindle 2	17	24.64%
Sony PRS-505	37	53.62%
Something else (please mention below)	6	8.70%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 69. You may not vote on this poll

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03-01-2009, 11:08 PM	#16
rana Gadget Freak Posts: 113 Karma: 312 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: SonyPRS505,Kindle1,NokiaN810,VilivX70, SmrtQ7,JoinTechJE100,NookColor	So can the DRM'd PDF be converted to something that either the Hanlin or Kindle can read ? May be by maintaining the same PID of the device, so that I am not not really removing DRM but making it work for my situation

03-02-2009, 01:39 PM	#18
johanm Member Posts: 18 Karma: 26 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Belgium Device: BeBook (Hanlin v3) and iPod Touch	Answers: 1. BeBook (Hanlin) probably supports the most formats. 2. Quality depends on the type of ebook. Different ebook readers have different strong points. BeBook offers an overall good quality. 3. Buying an ebook without DRM, very unlikely. Either you buy an ebook with almost 99% certainty it will have DRM, you download a pirated copy or you download from the overwhelming abundance of freely (legally) available ebooks. There are some emagazines that do not have DRM, see point 5. 4. A bit naive. If you buy a Sony, buy lots of DRM'ed ebooks and than think of switching to another brand and still be able to access all your legally bought ebooks, I am afraid that if the current situation continues you are going to be very disappointed in near future. 5. If by PDF you mean A4 or Letter sized ebooks or emagazines none of the ones you mentioned qualifies. Buy an iPod Touch or double your budget and go for an iLiad. But ask someone with an iLiad to test some of your PDF ebooks (largest page size, smallest print, ...). Some very helpful people on this forum. 6. The only conversion I have done is from TXT, RTF and HTML to optimized PDF using OpenOffice Writer. Very good. I have written 2 reviews, one for BeBook and one for the iPod Touch. http://blog.johan-mares.be/ict/gadge...o-read-ebooks/ http://blog.johan-mares.be/ict/gadge...-month-review/ Hope this helps. Johan

03-02-2009, 05:00 PM	#19
Alisa Gadget Geek Posts: 2,324 Karma: 22221 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)	Are there any other features that matter to you besides format support? For instance, dictionary lookup, content search, the ability to load your own fonts, content organization, or annotation.

03-02-2009, 10:06 PM	#21
patroman Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: none	hey I'm reaaally new to the whole e-book concept myself but love to read and figure this can really only do wonders for my reading life. Still kind of undecided on what is best for me as far as what device to get, but just out of curiosity: is the kindle the only ebook device that allows for subscriptions to newspapers and magazines? I don't really care about the blog subscriptions though I guess if you get the former the latter will likely be available?

03-03-2009, 12:33 PM	#23
InlawBiker Connoisseur Posts: 94 Karma: 544 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Seattle WA Device: Kindle 1.0	I also find myself in the same boat, not sure which device to buy. I'm not terribly excited about any of the Readers but I have pretty much decided on the prs-505, with a used Kindle 1 a close second. If I find a cheap one I might just grab it. My main goal is to read free books and to convert my collection of .LIT books with Calibre. That's it. Since that's 95% of my goal I'd prefer to ignore the other features and spend as little as possible The Kindle is a close 2nd only because I could easily see myself buying a book now and then from Amazon. The temptation to impulse buy is scaring me a little. The fact that it's a little goofy looking is a minor annoyance with me. I imagine I'll make some enemies with that statement but oh well. Surfing over to Sony, buying a book with my credit card then syncing my device is so "2007." I cannot believe how whiny that sounds. Other random thoughts/reasons/justifications... I'm a professional network geek working at a large telecom. I have a huge library of technical ebooks/pdf's that I'd prefer to just leave on my computer. They're indexed and searchable where they are. The PRS-700 and Kindle2 are too expensive for my needs. Newspapers and magazines... I'm happy reading those on my laptop. Or even on paper while they're still printing. A prs-505 with light wedge case is ideal for night reading. Almost all of my reading is done at night, so this is a big deal for me. Mp3's - everything seems to play music these days. I have 2gb of music on my phone I never even listen to. I'll stick with the ipod for music. All I want to do is read on the thing. I'd be interested to hear what you end up getting. Now I'm looking for a prs-505 or Kindle1. If anybody has one to unload just PM me Greg in Seattle

03-03-2009, 03:18 PM	#24
rana Gadget Freak Posts: 113 Karma: 312 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: SonyPRS505,Kindle1,NokiaN810,VilivX70, SmrtQ7,JoinTechJE100,NookColor	Thanks to all the suggestions here ! I have made up my mind (for now at least ) and I am going with a dual reader solution. Picked up a used Kindle 1 (from the flea market here) for $200 and was able to buy a new Sony PRS-505 for $210 (had a coupon). So for a little bit more than what a Kindle 2 would cost, I think I have a solution that needs most of my needs for now. I am relying a lot on the conversions I can do with Calibre, and am expecting I will use the Sony device more on day to day basis. Having the Kindle 1 will give me access to the Kindle store, so I will be able to buy books from there ... and hopefully be able to convert them so I can read them equally well on the Sony. Thanks for ALL the responses here (as well as the many other threads where I picked up more info). You people are truly fantastic Now wish me luck

03-03-2009, 04:13 PM	#25
Tattncat Bookworm Posts: 673 Karma: 1029391 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Device: Nook Tablet, Samsung Galaxy Tab3, Sony PRS700, Sony PRS505	Good pick. I love my 505, and wouldn't have upgraded to the 700 except for the note taking and search functions. I use my Touch for anything I find and don't yet know how to convert to my reader. The Touch makes a suitable reader for those few instances.

03-04-2009, 07:06 PM	#26
Spad Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Las Vegas Device: Kindle 2, PRS-505, RocketBook, Palm TX, iPod Touch 2G/32	Using third party free software, such as Stanza and Calibre, almost any format can be read on any of these devices by a very simple conversion process that takes only a couple of minutes. I own both the latest version of the Sony PRS-505 and the new Kindle 2. If I had to chose between them I would prefer the Kindle by a wide margin. Compatibility simply isn't much of an issue and remember, the Kindle has that 240,000+ library that continues to grow by leaps and bounds. For me it's a no-brainer. Another consideration is that Kindle books can now be read on the iPhone/touch with no additional cost--and with two way sync.

03-05-2009, 12:54 AM	#28
InlawBiker Connoisseur Posts: 94 Karma: 544 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Seattle WA Device: Kindle 1.0	I wanted a 505 but ended up with a Kindle, I picked it up used today. The market is currently flooded with used K1's, mainly from people buying K2. I saved a lot of dough and I'm very pleased with this Reader. I'm secretly a little happy I can zap a new book to my Kindle from Amazon. When I walk into a book store I do not browse the hard-bound books. I figure there are millions of paperbacks I've never read so why pay a premium? But $10 isn't a big deal for a new release in digital format. I've run a few conversion tests so far with Calibre... First off, the Linux version crashed almost instantly trying to import my e-books. I may have to work on that one. So I rebooted in Vista and it worked much better. I hate Vista but oh well. So far - I have a .LIT book converted. I have the hardbound book, .LIT and Kindle (MOBI) side by side. They are virtually identical. The conversion was very fast too. I suspect .LIT is a well defined file format and easy to convert. Next I converted an RTF. It took a LOT longer. Eventually it finished (~15 mins?). When I first opened the book it was tiny and unreadable, and wouldn't respond to font resize. I closed and re-opened and it looks fine, and fonts resize too. No chapters, etc., but from an RTF I didn't expect it to. Next I'll do some PDF's (not optimistic), DOCs and TXT files. Thank you all for your help in answering my questions. I doubt I'd have bought the thing without the advice, and now I'm glad I came here to ask. Thanks! Greg.

03-05-2009, 04:17 AM	#29
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,547 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Any reason you're not considering the CyBook? It has the best MobiPocket support of any device, and MobiPocket is probably the most wide-spread and prevalent format in use today.

03-10-2009, 10:18 PM	#30
larisa0001 Member Posts: 21 Karma: 108 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: PalmPilot	Can I jump in? I'm also facing the same choice - thinking about which e-reader to acquire, and contemplating these three options. My priorities are a bit different, though. One important one is that I need the reader to display Cyrillic text. Many of my .txt format e-books are in Russian. Another one is that I own a lot of PalmReader e-books with DRM; can any of the readers display those? (yes, I can read them on the Palm, but the screen hurts my eyes after a while) One of the reasons I really don't want a Kindle is because I don't want any more #&$#$& DRM in my e-books. I already have $100 worth of books that can only be displayed on one device. Also, do any of the readers have an automatic page-turn feature? I like to read as I practice the piano, and it's very convenient to set the Palm in front of me and set it to auto-scroll. Would be nice to do that with a better screen.