Kindle ....2....?

[detacht69]

Originally Posted by Patricia

If you've been buying from Amazon or the Sony ebook store then your books are almost certainly DRM'd.

Honestly I can't recall.. They're books I got YEARS ago but have held on to unconsciously anticipating a device such as this... I just hope I didn't hang on to them for no reason if they're incompatible, though I'm pretty sure most are in pdf, doc, or lit format.

[Patricia]

Hey, you may be lucky then, detacht69. And lit is one of the easiest formats to convert.

Incidentally, new members may not have encountered our wiki. There's a link at the very top of this page.
It has a page dedicated to sources of free books, here:
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Free_eBooks

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by detacht69

Not trying to argue with you, just sharing my thoughts but... I don't hate amazon and don't really know what anyone COULD hate about them. I'm not sure of the ebooks I have, but I doubt they're DRM protected.. I personally wouldn't collect "books" or any other type of media I couldn't share. and yes.. the Sony is sooo much sleeker looking but the functionality of the Kindle FAR outweighs the 505 and 700 combined...


The "steps back" you mentioned being the lack of expandable memory, rubber grip, and removable battery, correct? Me personally, I could probably overlook these traits. My theory is they removed these characteristics to decrease its thickness by half.


I DO want a reader but if what you're saying is true perhaps I should hold off until the next generation of readers. Or at the least wait till this is released and see the reviews

PEACE!

Don't ask me .... Wolfie is the one who hates Amazon. He thinks Amazon is "evil" ... no, I don't know why, but then much of what he says in incomprehensible to me.

If you purchase any books from either the Sony store or from Amazon, they WILL be DRM protected. There is no getting away from that.

There are ways to break the DRM ... but you should be aware, with either format, what you get in their stores is DRM. You can get unprotected books elsewhere, but not in the Sony or Kindle stores themselves.

I'm sure that's why they removed those things ... to make it thinner. But, I don't find that an improvement. I don't purchase an ebook reader to sit and admire it. I buy it to read books on it. And, for me, being able to carry 1,000s of books on it is a BIG plus.

But, if you are really planning to share the books you buy ... get something other than a Sony or a Kindle. I love sharing my books ... but that's why I purchased three Kindles, so I could loan them out to friends. Neither the Sony nor the Kindle is going to make it screamingly easy for you to share books between your reader and someone else's computer ... that is, not if they are books from each company's store.

I don't think I would necessarily wait, however. We don't know how long it will take the publishing industry to realize that DRM only hurts the consumers, not the pirates. It's taken the music industry one really loooong time to get that straight, so the current state of affairs in ebooks could go on for a long time yet.

[detacht69]

Hey! I just noticed you hail from Texas? What part? I'm in the Coast Guard and just got stationed in Houston last month.

So... With your kindle, does a pc not read it like a normal removable drive that you can drag and drop files to and from? I wonder if the K2 will.

[SpiderMatt]

Originally Posted by detacht69

Hey! I just noticed you hail from Texas? What part? I'm in the Coast Guard and just got stationed in Houston last month.

So... With your kindle, does a pc not read it like a normal removable drive that you can drag and drop files to and from? I wonder if the K2 will.

Coast Guard, eh? I'm in the navy, stationed in Japan. I will say this, e-book readers are great for those of us who travel a lot. Even without the wireless function out here in Japan, I love the Kindle. I had a Sony PRS-500, but the screen broke last summer during my TAD on the USS Blue Ridge. :'( When I got my Kindle, I loved it way more than the Sony. When I first bought the Sony I had a bit of buyers guilt over the price because I didn't think it was worth it. Then I realized how much I love the e-ink screen and the better I got at converting files I already had on my computer, the more I loved it. I was pretty torn up about the screen breaking because I had it less than a year. However, the Kindle was a great investment. I loved it so much, I already have a K2 on order. I've been back to the states, too, and tried out the wireless functions. Pretty much awesome. If you love reading (why would you be here if you don't?), I think you'll be happy with getting a dedicated device. And in answer to your question, that is actually exactly how the Kindle operates. When you plug in the Kindle, it will show up as a drive in My Computer and will have another drive letter associated with the SD card if you have one (so just one drive for the K2).

I should also add that most of Amazon's ebooks use the same DRM scheme as any other mobipocket book, which means the DRM is removable. To me, this makes Amazon's ebooks much more valuable. This means I can buy any of their $9.99 titles and wind up with a DRM-free ebook for less money than it would take to purchase the same e-book elsewhere. LIT files are probably the easiest books to crack and reformat and they arguably have better formatting, so I go with those when I can. However, if Amazon offers a better price, as they frequently do, I will go with their files. Just something to consider.

I'm not going to say what reader is best for you. I can only say I've enjoyed my Kindle much more than the Sony. Everyone has different preferences and priorities for the features they like in such a device, though.

[detacht69]

OH! Another question I thought of (not that it's a deal breaker, just curious) when I was playing w/ the 505 at Fry's (which is what got me here researching) was that you could rotate the pages between portrait & landscape.. Is this possible on Kindles?

[SpiderMatt]

Originally Posted by detacht69

OH! Another question I thought of (not that it's a deal breaker, just curious) when I was playing w/ the 505 at Fry's (which is what got me here researching) was that you could rotate the pages between portrait & landscape.. Is this possible on Kindles?

Unfortunately, no. The Kindle wasn't even designed to be read landscape style. I think the new design might work better this way. And I actually haven't heard anything about landscape with the K2, I'm just assuming they're following the K1's lead by not including it. I have converted PDFs into images to read on the Kindle by splitting the pages in half and showing the images in landscape. The Kindle's email conversion actually does this for PDF documents (although there's a program for it that makes better quality images). You can read landscape just fine this way but I would say reading this way is a better experience on the on the Sony since it was designed to do this. It's worth mentioning, though, that the latest update to the Kindle firmware allows image zoom (which is basically just blowing up any image you click on to fill the screen). I know making images bigger was one of the original reasons a lot of people like the landscape mode on the Sony.

[T1ND3R]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

(although, probably not a Sony, since I think their customer service borders on non-existent).

I agree with you 100% on that comment. I work at a specialty store (part-time) that focuses on video games and our Sony Rep hasn't shown up since July of last year. Our Microsoft Rep comes in almost every other week and the Nintendo Rep makes a visit about once a month. It's even a pain in the ass to call up customer support as well, since automatically assume/believe that whatever happened was not a technical issue and was the consumer's fault.

With that put aside, they do come out with fairly decent products (none of my sony products have ever stopped working for me {digital camera, TV, psp, ps3}) which is ultimately why i chose the PRS-505 over the kindle.

P.S. I am not suggesting that the kindle is made poorly or that amazon has unreliable products, I am simply saying that I have been happy with sony products.

[Lemurion]

One big advantage I see in the Sony is that it's available at retail, which the Kindle isn't. Otherwise I think they're both excellent devices, and unlike Ricky, I do like the look of the Kindle 2 and I wasn't that fond of the K1.

I would like a K2, but I'm more likely to get a Sony just because of price.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

One big advantage I see in the Sony is that it's available at retail, which the Kindle isn't. Otherwise I think they're both excellent devices, and unlike Ricky, I do like the look of the Kindle 2 and I wasn't that fond of the K1.

I would like a K2, but I'm more likely to get a Sony just because of price.

So in a retail store, you play with it for a few minutes before you buy. Then what? What is the return policy at that store? Restocking fee? Will they even take it back?

With the Kindle, you have a 30 day return option, no questions asked.

load as many books as you want. You don't even have to buy any, with the thousands available for free, from here, Amazon, feedbooks, etc.

Then just pay return shipping, and bingo bango........credit card is re-imbursed.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by detacht69

Hey! I just noticed you hail from Texas? What part? I'm in the Coast Guard and just got stationed in Houston last month.

So... With your kindle, does a pc not read it like a normal removable drive that you can drag and drop files to and from? I wonder if the K2 will.

I'm up near Austin, and missing California more and more every day that I'm here.

Yes, my PC reads my Kindle as a drive. I generally organize all of my books on my Kindle in folders (by author), which my PC allows me to do.

I go down to Houston, but only on occasion. We had a nice Mobileread meet-up in the Houston area a few months ago. I went down for that (shared a hotel room with Elsi -- a nice lady).

I think they are planning another one before too long.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by detacht69

Not trying to argue with you, just sharing my thoughts but... I don't hate amazon and don't really know what anyone COULD hate about them. I'm not sure of the ebooks I have, but I doubt they're DRM protected.. I personally wouldn't collect "books" or any other type of media I couldn't share. and yes.. the Sony is sooo much sleeker looking but the functionality of the Kindle FAR outweighs the 505 and 700 combined...

Other reasons one might prefer the 505, two of which are functional advantages:

1. Calibre free newspapers and magazines. Free and larger selection. This is not an advantage if a) you don't mind paying because it's worth it to you to get the wireless delivery, or b) if and when Calibre offers .mobi output.

2. Public Library books. The majority of selections are Adobe Digital Editions, readable on the Sony.

3. Price. $200 with a Sony Visa card.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by jj2me

Other reasons one might prefer the 505, two of which are functional advantages:

1. Calibre free newspapers and magazines. Free and larger selection. This is not an advantage if a) you don't mind paying because it's worth it to you to get the wireless delivery, or b) if and when Calibre offers .mobi output.

2. Public Library books. The majority of selections are Adobe Digital Editions, readable on the Sony.

3. Price. $200 with a Sony Visa card.

I doubt that Calibre will ever offer .mobi output. I know Kovid doesn't care to do it.

There are public library books that are available in something other than ADE.

Sure, but then you have to get a Sony Visa, which I most certainly do not want. About the last thing I need is some company pushing yet another credit card on me. No thank you .... really, a big no thank you on that one.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

I doubt that Calibre will ever offer .mobi output. I know Kovid doesn't care to do it.

I think we've worn Kovid down because Cailbe does have mobi support now and will export to the Kindle specifically (as well as other mobi readers). Yay!

I've played with metadata and as I type this, I'm trying to create my first newspaper recipe (Austin American Statesman for my Mother's new Kindle).

Give it a try... you'll like it!

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

I doubt that Calibre will ever offer .mobi output. I know Kovid doesn't care to do it.

There are public library books that are available in something other than ADE.

Sure, but then you have to get a Sony Visa, which I most certainly do not want. About the last thing I need is some company pushing yet another credit card on me. No thank you .... really, a big no thank you on that one.

1. Post #3, dated 1/10/09, on this thread by Kovid says "Calibre will soon allow you to read them on devices that support the MOBI format ..." That's why I said that. I presume you know later information.

2. No one said there aren't other formats of public library books. The word was "majority." This thread says the "vast majority" are in ADE. My point #2 stands as written. How else could I have worded it? Add (redundantly) that there is a minority in other formats?

3. No one said anyone has to use all these three points in deciding. Some might like to get $100 off in trade for the dis-pleasures of having another credit card. How else could I have worded that point?

I was only trying to add objective points to the list that you presented, so that people could be helped with their decisions, and to partially respond to the original statement you responded to, that "the functionality of the Kindle FAR outweighs the 505 and 700 combined..."

Wow, I have to agree with the other poster. "Directness" is not what your post was about.