Text to Speech eReaders and Audiobooks for Droids

StrangeChild · 05-15-2011, 09:15 AM

Hey guys, I posted to the introductory section last night and was encouraged to post specifically about my issue here.

First or all I have a Motorolla Flipout. It's very similar to the Backflip, but it's half the size. It's a little square thing, and the keyboard rotates out from one corner. I love it, but I don't think many other people have one. (I swear there are only 8 of us on the official Motorolla forum for it.)

Anyway, I have very little time to sit down and read right now. I've got a full time job that keeps me quite busy, a 40 minute commute (that's over an hour on the road every day) AND a small craft business that I'm usually working on it the evenings. SO I determined that audio books and text to speech readers are the best way for me to get caught up on my reading. (A few months ago, I read an interview with blind woman about how she reads so I was prepared to be a bit frustrated with situation.)

The good news:
Moon+ Reader Pro will read public domain e-books to me. Overdrive will play MP3 files from the library.

My dilemma:

Audible seems like a great service but I'd much rather a pay per download situation. I have no problem paying for books occasionally, but Audible's 15 bucks a month seems a bit high when I know some ebooks are 7 bucks. Plus many of the books I want aren't available on Audible yet.
Moon+ can't open files that are digitally protected. So I can't buy ebooks and have it read them to me. AND I can't find a way to open books downloaded from the library.
Overdrive can't open WMA files and my library's MP3 selection is tiny. I can open epubs, but it doesn't have TTS.
I'd prefer not to buy a Kindle because I have this really kick ass phone, and don't really need another gadget.
Multiple ereaders are eating up my phone's internal memory and I'm running out of room.

I've been banging away at this for weeks and have come to terms with the fact that I'm going to need to throw money at the situation. A year of Audible is about the same price as a Kindle 3G, but easier on my budget. So I'm leaning in that direction. But before I sign up I wanted to hear if anyone else has found a way to listen to digitally protected ebooks. *crosses fingers*

tubemonkey · 05-15-2011, 04:35 PM

Hey, welcome to the group. Hope you enjoy it here.

As to your dilemma, I'm directing you to this recent thread for some possible solutions:

Audio books - info?

Long story short, Android and WMA don't mix. My suggestion is to use an inexpensive MP3 player for WMA audiobooks from the library. That's what I do. Most of them will handle the major audiobook formats - MP3, WMA, Audible.

StrangeChild · 05-15-2011, 05:31 PM

I swear I searched the forums last night and didn't come across that thread. I was using all the wrong keywords apparently.

I'll go give it a read now.

Jabby · 05-16-2011, 09:44 AM

The last post, in the link above, talks about a SanDisk "Sansa Clip+"(Google it). It covers most formats including Audible and the cost is in the low 40's. Works for me and is tiny.

StrangeChild · 05-16-2011, 09:56 AM

I've got a Sansa, but Overdrive keeps telling me that it won't transfer files to it. I need to investigate a bit more.

tubemonkey · 05-16-2011, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StrangeChild

I've got a Sansa, but Overdrive keeps telling me that it won't transfer files to it. I need to investigate a bit more.

Which model?

StrangeChild · 05-16-2011, 12:39 PM

It's a 2gb Sansa Clip. The transfer permissions on my library book says Apple devices only.

05-15-2011, 09:15 AM	#1
StrangeChild Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Motorolla FlipOut Droid	Text to Speech eReaders and Audiobooks for Droids Hey guys, I posted to the introductory section last night and was encouraged to post specifically about my issue here. First or all I have a Motorolla Flipout. It's very similar to the Backflip, but it's half the size. It's a little square thing, and the keyboard rotates out from one corner. I love it, but I don't think many other people have one. (I swear there are only 8 of us on the official Motorolla forum for it.) Anyway, I have very little time to sit down and read right now. I've got a full time job that keeps me quite busy, a 40 minute commute (that's over an hour on the road every day) AND a small craft business that I'm usually working on it the evenings. SO I determined that audio books and text to speech readers are the best way for me to get caught up on my reading. (A few months ago, I read an interview with blind woman about how she reads so I was prepared to be a bit frustrated with situation.) The good news: Moon+ Reader Pro will read public domain e-books to me. Overdrive will play MP3 files from the library. My dilemma: Audible seems like a great service but I'd much rather a pay per download situation. I have no problem paying for books occasionally, but Audible's 15 bucks a month seems a bit high when I know some ebooks are 7 bucks. Plus many of the books I want aren't available on Audible yet. Moon+ can't open files that are digitally protected. So I can't buy ebooks and have it read them to me. AND I can't find a way to open books downloaded from the library. Overdrive can't open WMA files and my library's MP3 selection is tiny. I can open epubs, but it doesn't have TTS. I'd prefer not to buy a Kindle because I have this really kick ass phone, and don't really need another gadget. Multiple ereaders are eating up my phone's internal memory and I'm running out of room. I've been banging away at this for weeks and have come to terms with the fact that I'm going to need to throw money at the situation. A year of Audible is about the same price as a Kindle 3G, but easier on my budget. So I'm leaning in that direction. But before I sign up I wanted to hear if anyone else has found a way to listen to digitally protected ebooks. crosses fingers Last edited by StrangeChild; 05-15-2011 at 09:16 AM. Reason: forgot to set the notification preferences

05-15-2011, 05:31 PM	#3
StrangeChild Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Motorolla FlipOut Droid	Thanks! I swear I searched the forums last night and didn't come across that thread. I was using all the wrong keywords apparently. I'll go give it a read now.

05-16-2011, 09:44 AM	#4
Jabby Jr. - Junior Member Posts: 586 Karma: 2000358 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Alabama Device: Archos, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Nexus and Samsung tablets in 7,8 and 10"	The last post, in the link above, talks about a SanDisk "Sansa Clip+"(Google it). It covers most formats including Audible and the cost is in the low 40's. Works for me and is tiny. Last edited by Jabby; 05-16-2011 at 09:46 AM.

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05-15-2011, 04:35 PM	#2
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,746 Karma: 158575914 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	Hey, welcome to the group. Hope you enjoy it here. As to your dilemma, I'm directing you to this recent thread for some possible solutions: Audio books - info? Long story short, Android and WMA don't mix. My suggestion is to use an inexpensive MP3 player for WMA audiobooks from the library. That's what I do. Most of them will handle the major audiobook formats - MP3, WMA, Audible.

05-16-2011, 09:56 AM	#5
StrangeChild Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Motorolla FlipOut Droid	I've got a Sansa, but Overdrive keeps telling me that it won't transfer files to it. I need to investigate a bit more.

05-16-2011, 12:39 PM	#7
StrangeChild Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Motorolla FlipOut Droid	It's a 2gb Sansa Clip. The transfer permissions on my library book says Apple devices only.

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