technical books in epub

[wang960]

hi,
i notice quite a number of programming books now are being offered in epub format, just not sure how easy to read these kind of book in Sony 505, I have tested novels in epub with sony 505, quite good, how about tech books with some diagrams? is there a free sample available?

[edembowski]

For a free sample, check your local library. Personally, I don't find this type of ebook very useful. I find it much better to have teh paper in my had where I can flip though quickly. I know it's a matter of personal preference, but I don't think reference books in general work in an ebook format. As a PDF on the laptop, that's a whole different story.

- Ed

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by edembowski

For a free sample, check your local library. Personally, I don't find this type of ebook very useful. I find it much better to have teh paper in my had where I can flip though quickly. I know it's a matter of personal preference, but I don't think reference books in general work in an ebook format. As a PDF on the laptop, that's a whole different story.

- Ed

I agree. I like Epub, but there isn't an Epub reader for my laptop that's as capable as Adobe Reader. Adobe DE is a joke.

[dclavey]

Originally Posted by wang960

programming books now are being offered in epub format

I have been converting a few for my own use.

I find those that contain colour coded source code and detailed diagram do not really convert very well. The best results I have got is using PdfLrfWin which converts the Pdf into grey scales screen half screens. You can then extract these pictures from the lrf with Lrf2Lts. Then recombine the pictures into an epub. But I tend to loose the plot when it comes to pages and pages of source code.

Those that are wordy with a few simple "system" type diagrams convert very well. I also have Word versions of several books and these are easy to convert to ePub with a little reformatting of headings to get the TOC working. Using the atlantis word processor