New PB360 Owner

[bowiegirl1982]

Hello all!

I finally took the plunge and ordered a PB360 as my first ebook reader. Now I just have to wait (not very) patiently for it to arrive. I've downloaded Calibre to organize the ebooks I already have and am organizing them while I wait.

Is there anything that I should know in advance of my PB360 arriving that would help me out?

Where does everyone get their ebooks from, bought or free? I've become acquainted with Project Gutenberg already.

Thanks for any advice!

[bowiegirl1982]

Also, should I convert my ebooks to epubs for the reader? Most are currently pdfs

Thanks!

[anabelee]

Pdfs can be read by the pb 360, but I'd recommend you to convert them, by Calibre to epub, or by Mobipocket, to prc. The Mobireader, for example, can convert pdf fast and acceptable.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by bowiegirl1982

Also, should I convert my ebooks to epubs for the reader? Most are currently pdfs

pdf is NOT an e-book format.
pdf is a layout representation format, so if you print the document out, or view it on 24 inch monitor it will look the same on all systems. Most pdf files are formatted for Letter or A4 paper, An A4 paper measures 14 inches diagonally, screen on your reader measures 5 inches. How can you display (and read comfortably) an A4 page on a 5" screen that has less than 1/8 of an area?

PocketBook can read many of popular e-book formats without conversion and I prefer not to convert e-books that are directly readable on my device without conversion.

There is no good way of how to convert pdf file nicely. When I have a pdf document I really *really* need and want to read on my device I usually end up running it through an OCR program and saving it as rtf.

Try reading your pdf files directly on PocketBook. They should be useable, but other formats are much better.

As for the source of books.
There are PLENTY of places. Even here, if you look at the top of this page you will see E-Books link.
Also have a look at our wiki
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Free_eBooks
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_stores
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EBook_Lending_Libraries
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Nota..._at_MobileRead

last but not least, look at this subforum:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=26

[brainycat]

Originally Posted by kacir

When I have a pdf document I really *really* need and want to read on my device I usually end up running it through an OCR program and saving it as rtf.

IIRC, you're a fellow linux geek... What are you using for OCR?

Thanks!

[kacir]

Originally Posted by brainycat

IIRC, you're a fellow linux geek... What are you using for OCR?

[hungs head in shame]
I use Readiris software I have installed at work on a Windows computer. [/hungs head in shame]
The Readiris OCR came as a bundle with a cheap printer/copier/scanner/fax combo from HP.

I have tried ALL OCR programs that can be installed from package or compiled with reasonable effort on my Mint Linux (Ubuntu based) distribution.
I have even tried to install a few Windows based OCR programs under wine, but since I need an OCR program for my private use only very seldom I gave up ... for now.

[brainycat]

Fair enough, I have access to win32 machines too. I haven't really run into a situation where I need an OCR, but I thought if there was a good one I'd check it out and try to find a use for it