Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Readers > Which one should I buy?

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 01-29-2008, 01:18 AM   #1
Knittingfor4
Junior Member
Knittingfor4 began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 8
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Still Shopping
Shopping: ebooks, converting, need help.

I never knew these things existed! I'm so excited I just posted an intro here

So, I'm not very technically inclined, dh will be doing all the computer stuff for this little project. He's gotten some free ebooks, but I have no idea what they are. Basically I have no ebooks of my own. I read novels with no pictures. I would just like access to more than one ebook store. I don't "dig" Kindle or Sony because of this, but I think Sony can be worked around if I understand right. So, what is the most popular ebook format, Mobipocket? That can be converted to use on Sony right? So basically can you tell me where to get ebooks, and the converters for them. Then dh can do the techy stuff and I can get the Sony, which is a very nice device, I tried it out! I cannot use computer screen type devices, I'm very limited on my screen time before my eyes bleed. I NEED e-ink screens. A dictionary would be a cool novelty feature at first, but no big deal one way or the other. Don't need to search text. Don't need lights. Don't need internet or whatever those letters are, I will buy books from my pc and use the plug to put them on the reader, like a camera kwim.

So, I'm gonna poke around here some more in the morn. In the meantime - thanks for any advice!
Knittingfor4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-29-2008, 02:37 AM   #2
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
No, you can't convert MobiPocket books for use on the Sony. If you want MobiPocket books, I'd suggest the CyBook Gen3.
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 01-29-2008, 10:41 AM   #3
Knittingfor4
Junior Member
Knittingfor4 began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 8
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Still Shopping
I don't know exactly what I want. Well, I just don't want to be too limited, and I want to be able to shop around for prices on books and also have dh get free ones.

BTW, I'm in America and haven't decided on a budget yet, that will depend on which reader I'm getting, obviously. I'm incredibly resistant to the Kindle for a couple reasons, but I could be forced if necessary LOL.

Sony seems to be the favored one. Dh thought we could put some stuff on our card and take it in and actually see how it would act. I think we'll do that! Unfortunately that's the only reader we have physical access to.

Where do you buy/get free ebooks? I found booksonboard and fictionwise in addition to sony, amazon, project gutenburg. I just want to get a feel for how much content will be available to me.
Knittingfor4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-29-2008, 01:39 PM   #4
Gudy
Wizard
Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Gudy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Gudy's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,154
Karma: 3252017
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Germany
Device: Pocketbook Touch Lux (623)
Shopping around for prices on books pretty much implies Mobipocket, as it's the most widely available format. This, in turn, essentially rules out the Sony Reader and points heavily towards the Cybook.

As for e-books, if you like Science Fiction and Fantasy, Baen has about a hundred available as a free download and many more to buy. There's also the Baen CDs available as a download from Fifth Imperium, which raises the number of freely available Baen e-books to roughly 200.
Gudy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-29-2008, 02:34 PM   #5
AnemicOak
Bookaholic
AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
AnemicOak's Avatar
 
Posts: 14,391
Karma: 54969924
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Minnesota
Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +
Quote:
Originally Posted by Knittingfor4 View Post
Where do you buy/get free ebooks? I found booksonboard and fictionwise in addition to sony, amazon, project gutenburg. I just want to get a feel for how much content will be available to me.
For free pd books look here at MobileRead, Feedbooks, Manybooks...

For buying books...

The only place to buy books for the Sony is from the Sony ebook store or Multiformat books from Fictionwise (note some small publishers/indie authors offer Sony too). Baen also sells their stuff in RTF which works on the Sony or LIT (without DRM) which takes 30 seconds to convert.

For the Kindle the sources are similar to the Sony, except replace Sony in the paragraph above with Amazon. There is also a hack out that lets you read Mobipocket books on the Kindle.

For the Cybook Gen3 or iLiad you can buy Mobipocket books from pretty much any ebook retailer (see below).


For any of the above the best choice IMO (some will disagree) is to buy MS Reader (LIT) format books, break the DRM & then convert it to whatever format your device needs. For Sony you'd use libprs500 (lit2lrf) and for Kindle, Cybook or iLiad you'd use Mobipocket Creator. Either conversion takes very little time and you'll be able to convert to something else later if you switch devices.


Some stores...
Fictionwise
Books On Board
Simon Says
ebooks.com
Baen (webscription.net)
AnemicOak is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 01-29-2008, 04:19 PM   #6
DaleDe
Grand Sorcerer
DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
DaleDe's Avatar
 
Posts: 11,470
Karma: 13095790
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnemicOak View Post
For free pd books look here at MobileRead, Feedbooks, Manybooks...

For buying books...


For the Kindle the sources are similar to the Sony, except replace Sony in the paragraph above with Amazon. There is also a hack out that lets you read Mobipocket books on the Kindle.

For Kindle all non-DRM eBooks in MobiPocket format will work fine without any hacking. The hack allows DRM eBooks purchased at some site to work with the Kindle. (allows registering the Kindle as a MobiPocket reader.)

Note that most Mobipocket readers also read PalmDoc files but the Kindle will not read those. All pure PalmDOC files are DRM free.

Dale
DaleDe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-29-2008, 04:30 PM   #7
JSWolf
Resident Curmudgeon
JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
JSWolf's Avatar
 
Posts: 73,645
Karma: 127837858
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
You can purchase eBooks for the 505 from the Sony eBook Story. Also you an purchase MS Reader format eBooks and remove the DRM and then convert to LRF for reading on the 505. It's very easy to do once everything is installed properly.
JSWolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-29-2008, 04:34 PM   #8
DaleDe
Grand Sorcerer
DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
DaleDe's Avatar
 
Posts: 11,470
Karma: 13095790
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf View Post
You can purchase eBooks for the 505 from the Sony eBook Story. Also you an purchase MS Reader format eBooks and remove the DRM and then convert to LRF for reading on the 505. It's very easy to do once everything is installed properly.
It should be mentioned that a PC is required to purchase LIT eBooks.
DaleDe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-29-2008, 04:47 PM   #9
Knittingfor4
Junior Member
Knittingfor4 began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 8
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Still Shopping
Sooo, with the ability to convert stuff, the Cybook loses it's advantage over the Sony right?

So if I buy the Sony and buy books in MS Reader (.lit) and convert them, I should be set for awhile. Also, didn't I see where Sony was going to release an update for pdf to make them easier to read? How often do these devices get upgraded? Do you think I won't have to buy a new one for 2yrs, or will I need a new one next year? I mean as far as ebook formats are concerned, not new features.
Knittingfor4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
iPad Converting ebooks for iPad to swap over? ebook_novice Apple Devices 9 04-15-2010 10:33 PM
Cannot create table of content when converting my ebooks ghostyjack Calibre 10 07-05-2009 09:28 PM
Converting Stageplays to eBooks? kit444 Workshop 3 03-04-2009 05:03 PM
How easy is converting ebooks? madmandegge Netronix 5 09-23-2008 02:08 AM
Converting DRM'd ebooks to LRF harrynewman Sony Reader 7 03-29-2008 07:59 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:19 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.