Some advice please?

jjjason1 · 11-07-2011, 05:56 PM

Hi, I'm currently wavering between buying a Nook Touch and Kindle Touch. I currently use a 1st gen Nook and, by far, it's best feature is the PDF reflow. But it's kind of old and I was looking forward to something new. I definitely want an e-reader, not a tablet. Also, I have a loud commute on the train so an attached music player (I hate the one on my phone) is nice. And the vast majority of my library is made up of simple text PDF ebooks (just basic books) so PDF support is important and it also means I don't have a lot of attachment to either of the stores.

I've narrowed it down to the NT and KT but can't decide which one to get. The NT has really good PDF reflow but it doesn't have a music player and I don't like it's hardware (the matte plastic all the way around feels cheap to me and it's very square-like, not much like a real book). The KT, on the other hand, has a music player, nice hardware (shape and material), the special offers, and I'd get Prime benefits. However, lack of PDF reflow makes me skeptical. I am well-versed in the use of Calibre but I know it doesn't work 100% of the time and I don't want to miss out on any of my books (most are older or less known books not found in the Kindle Store - I like weird fiction

). I've heard of Amazon's conversion service via e-mail but was wondering how that works. Is it free? How do the books get on my Kindle? Can I send more than one at a time? How good is the conversion?

Sorry for the long post, but I'd really appreciate any advice. Thanks!

susan_cassidy · 11-07-2011, 06:20 PM

You only get "Prime benefits" if you buy a Prime membership. I assume that you are talking about the new book borrowing thing, for Prime members (one book per month).

The conversion service is free (or you can use Calibre yourself to convert). The converted documents get onto your Kindle via wi-fi (or 3G if you have a 3G Kindle, and pay for the service, $.15/mb). For text-only documents, the conversion is usually ok.

I believe that you can attach more than one file at a time for email conversion.

jjjason1 · 11-07-2011, 06:27 PM

Quote:

You only get "Prime benefits" if you buy a Prime membership. I assume that you are talking about the new book borrowing thing, for Prime members (one book per month).

I am a Prime member.

And thank you for the advice!

Any other experiences?

jjjason1 · 11-08-2011, 07:33 PM

Nobody else?

wallcraft · 11-08-2011, 08:00 PM

You can try something similar to Amazon's conversion by importing a DRM-free PDF into Windows MobiPocket Reader. This converts the PDF into a MOBI ebook. Amazon started with MobiPocket's PDF to MOBI software, but may have improved it in some cases (I think it now does a better job of converting non-text pages into images). You can obviously also try Calibre's conversion.

These "full document" conversions have some advantages over Adobe's page by page conversion, but one issue with full document conversion is that it is hard to reliably strip headers and footers from each page. Calibre want you to define a regular expression to identify them - a good approach if you know regular expressions but otherwise a hassle.

If you send your documents to the free e-mail address at Amazon there is no charge, but the download is via wifi only.

11-07-2011, 05:56 PM	#1
jjjason1 Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Nook	Some advice please? Hi, I'm currently wavering between buying a Nook Touch and Kindle Touch. I currently use a 1st gen Nook and, by far, it's best feature is the PDF reflow. But it's kind of old and I was looking forward to something new. I definitely want an e-reader, not a tablet. Also, I have a loud commute on the train so an attached music player (I hate the one on my phone) is nice. And the vast majority of my library is made up of simple text PDF ebooks (just basic books) so PDF support is important and it also means I don't have a lot of attachment to either of the stores. I've narrowed it down to the NT and KT but can't decide which one to get. The NT has really good PDF reflow but it doesn't have a music player and I don't like it's hardware (the matte plastic all the way around feels cheap to me and it's very square-like, not much like a real book). The KT, on the other hand, has a music player, nice hardware (shape and material), the special offers, and I'd get Prime benefits. However, lack of PDF reflow makes me skeptical. I am well-versed in the use of Calibre but I know it doesn't work 100% of the time and I don't want to miss out on any of my books (most are older or less known books not found in the Kindle Store - I like weird fiction ). I've heard of Amazon's conversion service via e-mail but was wondering how that works. Is it free? How do the books get on my Kindle? Can I send more than one at a time? How good is the conversion? Sorry for the long post, but I'd really appreciate any advice. Thanks! Last edited by jjjason1; 11-07-2011 at 06:02 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Need some advice.	whiskeyguy	Which one should I buy?	24	07-20-2011 07:42 AM
Looking for advice!	allie_88	Which one should I buy?	2	09-30-2010 03:42 AM
I need advice!	fox0r	Which one should I buy?	7	04-16-2010 05:52 PM
Hello and Advice	drjrwalton97	Introduce Yourself	7	10-01-2009 09:47 PM
Looking for advice	canditt	Which one should I buy?	7	12-21-2007 04:41 AM

11-07-2011, 06:20 PM	#2
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	You only get "Prime benefits" if you buy a Prime membership. I assume that you are talking about the new book borrowing thing, for Prime members (one book per month). The conversion service is free (or you can use Calibre yourself to convert). The converted documents get onto your Kindle via wi-fi (or 3G if you have a 3G Kindle, and pay for the service, $.15/mb). For text-only documents, the conversion is usually ok. I believe that you can attach more than one file at a time for email conversion.

11-08-2011, 07:33 PM	#4
jjjason1 Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Nook	Nobody else?

11-08-2011, 08:00 PM	#5
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,977 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	You can try something similar to Amazon's conversion by importing a DRM-free PDF into Windows MobiPocket Reader. This converts the PDF into a MOBI ebook. Amazon started with MobiPocket's PDF to MOBI software, but may have improved it in some cases (I think it now does a better job of converting non-text pages into images). You can obviously also try Calibre's conversion. These "full document" conversions have some advantages over Adobe's page by page conversion, but one issue with full document conversion is that it is hard to reliably strip headers and footers from each page. Calibre want you to define a regular expression to identify them - a good approach if you know regular expressions but otherwise a hassle. If you send your documents to the free e-mail address at Amazon there is no charge, but the download is via wifi only.

Advert

Advert