V2 HanLin eBook Vs Sony (for reading free books)

[Evandor]

Hi all
I am going to use http://www.gutenberg.org ( free books in .txt and .htm formats ) and other free resources from which i already downloaded a huge bunch of books in ms doc and pdf formats.
Will HanLin eBook allow me to read books from resources i mentioned? What about Sony? As i understood , i need to use their connect website to download content for some fee, right?
Is it very tough to transform doc, pdf, txt to WOLF format in V2? If not , why you say Sony is better then V2 HanLin eBook ?

Thanks in advance

[maple]

Hanlin V2 can natively read pdf, doc, txt, html.... which don't need to be converted. So does Hanlin V3, which is the new product of Jinke, it will be released soon.

[RWood]

For the Sony you do not need even the connect software from Sony to download and enjoy books on their Reader. Yes, their software is required if you want to purchase books from their site and read them on the Reader, for all the rest of the books you can either load them directly to an SD card or a memory stick (max 2 GB for each at the moment) directly from your computer or use the linprs500 program to load them through the USB connection.

As for the Sony formats, the native format without Digital Rights Management (DRM) is LRF and there are over 250 books here at MobileRead available for download already formatted for the Sony in that format. While the Sony will also read RTF, TXT, and PDF files; LRF is the easiest to work with once it is on the Reader. libprs500 with its html2lrf program and BookDesigner are the two most widly used applications to convert source material to LRF files for the Reader.

FeedBooks also provides custom PDF files for the Reader as standard letter or A4 sized PDF files are rendered too small for reading on the Reader. There is a program called PDFrasterferian that splits and enhances PDF files for viewing on the Reader.

None of these programs are hard to use and all can be found on the Conversions page of the MobileRead Wiki.

Hope this helps.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Evandor

Hi all
I am going to use http://www.gutenberg.org ( free books in .txt and .htm formats ) and other free resources from which i already downloaded a huge bunch of books in ms doc and pdf formats.
Will HanLin eBook allow me to read books from resources i mentioned? What about Sony? As i understood , i need to use their connect website to download content for some fee, right?
Is it very tough to transform doc, pdf, txt to WOLF format in V2? If not , why you say Sony is better then V2 HanLin eBook ?

Thanks in advance

I cannot say how good the V2 is vs the Sony Reader. But I can say that as far as getting books from Project Gutenberg and converting to read on the Sony, it's not hard at all. We have some excellent tools to use to do the job such as Book Designer. html2lrf, and pielrf. I've converted a few books and it was not hard at all to do. Plus, with the support for such good tools here and the already converted free books, I'd say that makes the Sony the winner in my eyes.

[CommanderROR]

I think waiting just a tiny bit longer for the NAEB reader (modified STAReBOOK) and the lbook V3 could be a good idea.
Otherwise I'd go with the Sony Reader if you can get it (it's still not officially available outside of the USA is it?) because I think that is the device with the best user-base and stable firmware.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

I think waiting just a tiny bit longer for the NAEB reader (modified STAReBOOK) and the lbook V3 could be a good idea.
Otherwise I'd go with the Sony Reader if you can get it (it's still not officially available outside of the USA is it?) because I think that is the device with the best user-base and stable firmware.

Also have to mention that the Sony Reader has the best tools available for convering to LRF. Book Designer, Pielrf, and html2lrf. Plus pdfread and pdfrastafarian (sp?) for deal with PDF not Sony formatted. So overall, you'll be able to get more content over to the Sony then the others.

[ashkulz]

Well, the NAEB reader would have native HTML support so need for tools like pielrf and html2lrf. Also, PDFRead works with any device (just need to add a profile) so it'd be available immediately for that device too :-)

[kovidgoyal]

But I doubt that the performance of the HTML viewer is very good, especially for files with CSS or books split into multiple HTML pages. HTML is not really designed for ebooks.

[Raventhon]

Originally Posted by RWood

use the linprs500 program to load them through the USB connection.

What linprs program?

[kovidgoyal]

libprs500 not linprs500

[Raventhon]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

libprs500 not linprs500

Does this program allow you to load non-eBook files into the flash card, or just eBooks?

[kovidgoyal]

all files via the command line only ebooks via the GUI

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

But I doubt that the performance of the HTML viewer is very good, especially for files with CSS or books split into multiple HTML pages. HTML is not really designed for ebooks.

if I try to load an HTML file with CSS that was converted with LIT Converter, Word barfs at it. The only way to fix it is to load the HTML into Firefox or MSIE and resave it as webpage complete. Then Word will like it. And the real problem I see is that a lot of HTML books are generally not formatted the way I'd like them to be so I don't mind converting them using html2lrf or Book Designer. I've used both and they are both very good for use with the Sony Reader. If you get books from Project Gutenberg with pictures, html2lrf is great to use. I think The issue here is getting things on your reader no matter what reader ina format that you will enjoy. The Sony is easy because of people who have put in their time to make such very good tools to use to convert.

[jimmyzou]

For TXT books, it's no doubt that Sony reader can easily support it without converting.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jimmyzou

For TXT books, it's no doubt that Sony reader can easily support it without converting.

Yes the Sony can handle text files without converting, but unless the text file is formatted well enough, it won't look as pleasing as a quick and simple convert to LRF using one of the easy to use tools we have available. Heck, even a simple clean in Word would do. Just clean the line ends, set the font to 16 point, save as RTF, edit the properties for the file so you get the name and author. Then load onto the Sony and read away. It will look better at a bigger size with proper line ends for sure even if that's all you do.