|
I didn't expect the old thread to get nearly as much discussion as it did. Since it didn't really have a suitable OP or anything, I present to you: The eBook Megathread! eBooks are just what they sound like: electronic versions of books. Through the use of an eBook Reader, people are able to store many eBooks on a single compact unit, allowing for easy transportation and access to a large amount of texts, with the added benefit of not needing to find a place to store hundreds of books in your home. They're basically the reader's equivalent of an mp3 player. eBooks are most commonly used with E-Readers that use E Ink technology. If you want to know how E Ink works, wikipedia has a decent explanation, but the basic gist is that it feels exactly like reading on normal paper. There's none of the eye fatigue that you associate with normal computer screens, making it very comfortable and natural to read on an e-reader. The E-Readers Note: A lot of this information is taken from wikipedia, as is pretty much the entire Sony Reader description. Amazon Kindle  The Amazon Kindle was originally released on November 19, 2007. The most recent version of it, the "Kindle 2", came out on on February 9, 2009. One of the major benefits of the Kindle is that it is linked to the Amazon online store, where you can wirelessly purchase books directly from your Kindle, at which point the books will automatically download to your device. The Kindle never needs to touch a computer. It has a 6-inch display, no touchscreen, and comes with 2-GB memory built in. The original Kindle had an SD card slot, but the Kindle 2 does not. It currently costs $360. Reviews: beergod, wlokos Sony Reader  The Sony Reader has a 6-inch display, 8 levels of greyscale, and (for the most recent PRS-700 model) a touch screen. The reader uses an iTunes Store-like interface to purchase books from Sony Connect eBook store. It also can display Adobe PDFs, ePub format, personal documents, blogs, RSS newsfeeds, JPEGs, and Sony's proprietary BBeB ("BroadBand eBook") format. The Reader can play unencrypted MP3 and AAC audio files. One major downside, though, is that there is no internet capability on the Sony Reader. It currently costs $349. iRex iLiad  The iRex iLiad has an 8.1-inch display with 16 levels of grayscale and both USB connectability and WiFi capabilities. It has 256MBo of internal memory and runs on a Linux-based operating system, allowing for third-party programs to be run on it. One of the major advantages that the iLiad has over other readers is its ability for the user to add notes and drawing into the texts via a tablet and stylus, allowing for a greater level of malleability with the text. However, it has a higher price point than the Sony Reader and the Kindle ($699) as well as having a smaller library of books to choose from. Hanlin eReader  The Hanlin eReader, also known as IBook, Walkbook, BEBOOK, or EZReader, has a 6 inch display, 4 levels of grayscale, 32MB of space, and runs on Linux, allowing for third-party software to be run. It has no wireless capability. The cost is currently $300. Xachariah strongly recommends the use of open-source software with this E-Reader. Foxit eSlick  The Foxit eSlick is one of the cheapest eReaders currently on the market, with a price of only $260. It has the standard 6-inch display, along with 128 MB of internal space and a 2GB SD card. However, it doesn't have any kind of wireless capabilities, so you have to plug it in to your computer to download new books. It has excellent PDF support but doesn't support popular e-book formats. Still, it's the closest thing to a budget eReader that exists at the moment. Do you like free books? If so, read this: In 1971, a guy named Michael S. Hart started a project to create the world's first digital library. Since then, Project Gutenberg has grown to be the single largest source of free texts anywhere on the web. It consists entirely of public domain texts, meaning that every book in the library is completely free and available to you at no cost whatsoever. This is particularly fortunate for those of us with E-Readers. In the past, the only way to take advantage of Project Gutenberg was to read the books on your computer or laptop screen, which is very uncomfortable for the eyes and pretty unpleasant in general for most people. However, with an E-Reader, you can download any of the nearly 30,000 free books directly to your device, where they can be read with comfort and ease. This basically means that an E-Reader is a portable library of every public domain book currently on the web - especially if you get one with wireless online access, allowing you to access the online database of books from anywhere you want. Important links Manybooks (a database of Project Gutenberg books, available for your eReader) Project Gutenberg Free/cheap books available in the Amazon store How to migrate previously purchased MobiPocket books to a Kindle eBook comparison matrix The original thread wlokos fucked around with this message at Dec 01, 2009 around 05:30 |
| # ? May 25, 2009 17:43 |
|
|
|
| # ? Sep 06, 2010 03:55 |
|
|
Reserving this post for later use.
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 17:44 |
|
|
As well as this one. If anybody has suggestions on things I should add to the OP, let me know and I'll be more than happy to do it. Likewise, if anybody wants to write up a more detailed description of any of the E-Readers, that would be great - I only have personal experience with the Kindle, so the others were largely based off of Wikipedia and this article.
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 17:44 |
|
|
Maybe some pros and cons of each reader (obviously these would most be opinions, but I think it'd help). For example, the description of the Sony reader just lists the benefits of e-ink itself (which apply to all the readers anyway). It could be a bit mis-leading because it makes it seem like the Sony one is the only one that doesn't use battery power just displaying a page.
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 18:14 |
|
|
Well, like I said, I only have personal experience with the Kindle (and even then, it's the Kindle 1). Do you have a Sony Reader? If so, could you type up something?
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 18:20 |
|
|
I use a pdf reader for the ipod/iphone and I like it a lot. Screen size is the only downfall.
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 18:42 |
|
|
It's really nice to be able to read without using either hand, like when I'm eating.
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 18:51 |
|
|
I wrote in the other eBook thread an impomptu review of the Hanlin v3 with an open source firmware, you can use it if you'd like, or ignore it and insult my mother.  Not as buy and forget as the other two readers, like any open source thing it needs a little sweat and tears to set things up perfectly, but it definately makes the Hanlin v3 into a contender. Also yeah you can read one handed or no handed if you want. Like eating or furiously masturbating to Twilight. I chose to get the cheapest eInk eBook eReader eDevice thing which turned out to be the Hanlin V3. It was merely OK. It wasn't all that great to be honest, the firmware was buggy, page turns were slow, the total number of pages in a document seemed to fluctuate with every page turn. The battery indicator was a little battery image with like 3 segments which depleted pretty quickly. For £200 quid it was decidedly mediocre. The eInk screen was interesting, but book formatting seemed to be hit or miss. Make no mistake, it does play the largest variety of file formats, but on the whole, decidely lackluster. However it has a couple of advantages over the other eBook reader devices, firstly, the battery is a nokia phone battery and easily replacable, and secondly - it's open source. And so on a whim I loaded up a linux based open source firmware called OpenInkpot on the device, hereby turning it from mediorce to amazing. The 'Bookshelf' part of the book now allows you to cut/copy/paste books about. Page turns are now faster. The formatting of books became completely standardised in terms of font, font size margins, line spacing, paragraph indents and justification. There is now a graphical indicator of where you are in a book. The hard button MP3 volume controls that you never use were repurposed to increase/decrease font size. Taking out the SD card in the middle of a book doesn't cause the book to close. Not to mention the additional shortcuts, such as tapping 2 allowing you to Go To Page, or tapping 3 creating an instant bookmark (long pressing 3 brings up the bookmark list).  As far as I'm concerned, I can't help but unconditionally recommend the Hanlin v3 w/ OpenInkpot. As far as organising books goes, the above setup allows you to just use a heirarchical folder structure with your various ebook files in them. Then you just put em on an SD card and you're sorted. No Metadata bullshit, just put your folders on an SD card -  Click here for the full 796x497 image. And you'll see the folders on the device, select any of them-  And you'll see the files -  All in all, pretty cool. Very glad I made the purchase. In fact when I accidently spilled water on it I was ready to buy a new one, till this one dried out and worked fine again. Don't regret it in the least. EDIT: Forgive the lovely cell phone pics. EDIT2: Also it has 512MB of space, not 32MB as the OP says. Well theres two versions but the first version had 64MB. Most have 512MB. You should put http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix into the OP (if you havent already) its a very good ebook comparision matrix. Xachariah fucked around with this message at May 25, 2009 around 20:36 |
| # ? May 25, 2009 20:10 |
|
|
NEon Lights posted:I use a pdf reader for the ipod/iphone and I like it a lot. Screen size is the only downfall. I've read a ton of books using Stanza. I've changed my mind about buying a Kindle because it just wouldn't be able to fit in my pocket like the iPod does.
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 20:43 |
|
|
Maybe we could use a picture of a Sony Reader that isn't 100 years old? Sony PRS-700:  Or even Sony PRS-505 
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 20:51 |
|
|
I'm sorry, but this is the first thing that I thought of when I saw this thread:
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 23:14 |
|
|
wlokos posted:eBooks use E Ink technology. Not necessarily.
|
| # ? May 25, 2009 23:36 |
|
|
I only have a Kindle so I cannot in good conscience compare it to the other readers. However, I can say that the Kindle is a life changing gadget. The ability to connect to the Kindle Store and get nearly any book, at any time (including beautifully formatted classics, with hyperlinking and illustrations), is incredible. If I'm getting bored, at any time, with any book, I just link up to the Store and grab something interesting for 10 bucks. poo poo I would never think to look for elsewhere but for Amazon's "readers of this title bought these titles..." feature. No connecting to the computer. No paying outrageous prices in the airports when your eyes are bigger than your brains and you've decided you really don't want to read a 600 page biography on Abraham Lincoln this vacation, just give me some god damned Stephen King already. The magazines and newspapers are great too. There is a wide selection and they are adding stuff every week. Dirt cheap too: The New Yorker costs ~0.99 cents monthly. So I guess I don't see you'd get the Sony eReader; if you buy new stuff regularly, and you like to read magazines and newspapers (which I'm assuming you do, otherwise you wouldn't give a fling about an ereader), the Kindle pays for itself. Over and over again. Well worth the extra $100. Side note: Amazon's customer service is unparalleled. I've had 2 Kindles poo poo on me (one was my fault, the other was not) and Amazon sent replacements overnight, no questions asked. They actually sent the replacements FIRST, and included a box for me to ship back the shitted one. Overnight. No "CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!" yelling to a robot. No waits. A real human being within a minute of calling. I'd say I'm reading about 100% more post- than pre-Kindle. Absolutely life-altering in the way that the iPod was for music lovers.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 01:46 |
|
|
Alright, I'm going to compile user-posted reviews of the various e-readers as they pop up. If anybody had any good posts from the old topic where they discussed their experiences with any of the e-readers in length, feel free to point it out to me and I'll add them. I'll probably put together an FAQ in the near future as well. That comic strip is hilarious, by the way.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 02:13 |
|
|
Would like to see a list of websites that sell ebooks, other than Amazon, which is exclusive to kindle owners.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 03:10 |
|
|
wlokos posted:eBook comparison matrix 
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 03:42 |
|
|
Epée posted:Would like to see a list of websites that sell ebooks, other than Amazon, which is exclusive to kindle owners. http://www.fictionwise.com/ http://ebookstore.sony.com/ <-- exclusive to Sony http://www.ebooks.com/ http://www.cyberread.com/ that's all I know off hand.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 03:52 |
|
|
http://booksonboard.com/
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 03:53 |
|
|
Epée posted:Would like to see a list of websites that sell ebooks, other than Amazon, which is exclusive to kindle owners. You can read Kindle books on the iPhone/iPod Touch also.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 03:54 |
|
|
Fictionwise has Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk for free. http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook67795.htm?cache To convert it for Kindle use, there are a few things you have to do. 1) Buy it in "Secure Microsoft Reader" 2) Download ConvertLIT 3) Click ReaderKeyRecoveryTool and get the key for the file 4) Click LitConverter and convert the file 5) Download Mobipocket Creator 6) Go to the folder with the stuff you just converted 7) Find and click the OPF file in that folder 8) Fix the metadata (author name needs to be Palahniuk, Chuck and remove the publication date) 9) Click "build" Now you should have a working PRC file you can use on your Kindle. Sporadic fucked around with this message at May 26, 2009 around 04:33 |
| # ? May 26, 2009 04:25 |
|
|
Epée posted:Would like to see a list of websites that sell ebooks, other than Amazon, which is exclusive to kindle owners. Baen publishing has a pile of their own books and other publishers at http://www.webscription.net. Nice big free library as well, all available in multiple formats. Another vote here for the Stanza/iPod combo. Music and reading in one platform, yes please!
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 04:28 |
|
|
uruloki posted:Another vote here for the Stanza/iPod combo. Music and reading in one platform, yes please! Have you used a different eBook reader? (also my Sony has MP3 capabilities that I've used all of never) I'd be really surprised with anyone who owned something with eInk who prefers the iPod/iPhone solution.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 04:31 |
|
|
benisntfunny posted:Have you used a different eBook reader? Before we rehash a dozen pages of the last thread, not everyone wants to buy another large, multi-hundred dollar device to carry around with them everywhere to read ebooks. E-ink is great and all, but there currently aren't any e-ink devices that you can carry around in your pocket like an iPhone, iPod, or Palm T-whatever. While e-ink has many advantages, lots of people are fine with LCDs for portable reading (I bet almost everyone is reading this thread on one right now) so people should definitely try reading on something they already own before dropping a fortune on another expensive gadget.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 04:39 |
|
|
withak posted:Before we rehash a dozen pages of the last thread, not everyone wants to buy another large, multi-hundred dollar device to carry around with them everywhere to read ebooks. E-ink is great and all, but there currently aren't any e-ink devices that you can carry around in your pocket like an iPhone, iPod, or Palm T-whatever. While e-ink has many advantages, lots of people are fine with LCDs for portable reading (I bet almost everyone is reading this thread on one right now) so people should definitely try reading on something they already own before dropping a fortune on another expensive gadget. Let's not do this again. LCD & e-ink are not comparable. Both have distinct positives and negatives. If you want something solely for reading, e-ink is untouchable. Writing Kindle or any eBook reader off as an expensive gadget is stupid.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 04:51 |
|
|
I've never had an e-ink device. I used to read on an iPaq, so I am used to the form factor of the iPod. I also prefer a multiuse device. Nothing against the Kindle, et al, but I don't have the dough to drop on that when I have the library for paper versions, and Stanza works fine for the times I need to read something on the road.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 05:28 |
|
|
Sporadic posted:Let's not do this again.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 06:26 |
|
|
Rastor posted:Rumor is PixelQi has developed some kind of dual-mode screen which can be used as a regular color backlit LCD or in monochrome e-paper mode. Could be a market-changer if true. Well that is interesting. It looks like it's still a little ways off the market though, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on. I have been considering a Kindle DX, mainly because most of the reading I do is on the computer anyway. Does anyone know how well they support textbooks? Do most publishers offer ebook versions of their texts?
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 07:44 |
|
|
withak posted:Before we rehash a dozen pages of the last thread, not everyone wants to buy another large, multi-hundred dollar device to carry around with them everywhere to read ebooks. E-ink is great and all, but there currently aren't any e-ink devices that you can carry around in your pocket like an iPhone, iPod, or Palm T-whatever. While e-ink has many advantages, lots of people are fine with LCDs for portable reading (I bet almost everyone is reading this thread on one right now) so people should definitely try reading on something they already own before dropping a fortune on another expensive gadget. This will change, Jinke developed the Hanlin V5 which Endless Ideas is using to make a "Bebook Mini". It's a much smaller device that can fit in most pockets, here is the engadget post - http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/30/...splay-surfaces/ I think it's going to be the cheapest eInk device currently out when it debuts. At the very least it might herald a new competition between ebook manufacturers to make cheaper, smaller devices.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 09:57 |
|
|
Ryzic posted:Does anyone know how well they support textbooks? Do most publishers offer ebook versions of their texts? This is what I really want to know. If I could get e-textbooks I'd definitely bite the bullet and buy a reader.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 10:09 |
|
|
withak posted:so people should definitely try reading on something they already own before dropping a fortune on another expensive gadget. My question to him was whether he has tried the expensive gadget since he's already used something he owns. I'll agree that I don't want pages of arguments of LCD vs. eInk (Primarily because eInk users have used both and LCD users have never done the latter yet tout superiority based on size and having read 19203910232103 books on their iPhone without a problem). I'd like the eBook industry to expand greatly. I'd like the technology to advance and become inexpensive. All the reasons I have are selfish. In order for that to happen I do want people to drop a "fortune" ($200 to $300) on another expensive "gadget" because often times they don't understand what they're missing. I'd be blown away to find a stat that says Stanza/iPhoneKindle users lead to the purchase of more digital books than Kindle/Sony/iRex/etc users. Hell I'd say you could add up all the pocket readers from any platform and it probably still doesn't hit Kindle's book sales numbers. Mainly because one device is dedicated to reading entire books one and one is cool to catch up on some pages when you're taking a poo poo. If I didn't have my Reader I could not fathom wanting to read a book a week on a mobile device like that. I couldn't even imagine wanting to finish an entire book ever. At that point the physical copy of the book would have much more appeal to me. I think that's where a lot of people are too. They know LCD, they know they can read on it but for some reason they just prefer a book. I was in this boat too until I tried an eReader and found I never really wanted to purchase a standard paperback all text book again. So yeah, since this is an "eBook" megathread, not "eReader", I suppose it's a totally legitimate place to discuss reading books from your $300, not expensive gadget, iPhone. We could discuss reading it from your computer, from a million different other little tiny devices but I don't think that's why most people are coming to this thread.1 ...and now I have a thread question. Has anyone got Library eBooks using Adobe Digital Editions? What other ways do Libraries check out eBooks to you? I wanted to try it but the Library by me has never had any books I was remotely interested in checking out right now digitally. 1. This thread was based off the Amazon Kindle question thread "Is it worth it?" now declaring that "Yes, the Amazon Kindle is worth it." Based on this fact I think the topics are to rely heavily on eReaders. benisntfunny fucked around with this message at May 26, 2009 around 15:07 |
| # ? May 26, 2009 14:56 |
|
|
The OP should also mention Google Books' & The Internet Archive's archives of books in image-based .pdf format, point out that the free pdf conversion service for Amazon's Kindle 2 cannot convert image-based pdfs, mention the large-screen Kindle DX, and point out that the kindle DX does have native pdf support. Another thing to point out is that many books not available through the kindle store often ARE available through fictionwise; if the author/editor has a contract to sell books through fictionwise, Amazon won't sell it (due to format wars, I think), so there are a lot of purchaseable ebooks on fictionwise that you can't buy as ebooks through Amazon, but can still read on a kindle. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at May 26, 2009 around 16:01 |
| # ? May 26, 2009 15:49 |
|
|
A lot of my ebooks are in pdf format. Can any of the tablets display scanned pdf files of books? And if it does is the display still non-straining on the eye.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 17:31 |
|
|
AgnosticTool posted:A lot of my ebooks are in pdf format. Can any of the tablets display scanned pdf files of books? And if it does is the display still non-straining on the eye. The Kindle DX is supposed to be really good at this when it comes out, as it has much larger and higher-resolution display than the other e-ink devices.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 17:43 |
|
|
AgnosticTool posted:A lot of my ebooks are in pdf format. Can any of the tablets display scanned pdf files of books? And if it does is the display still non-straining on the eye. The newest Kindle (the DX) can read pdfs natively, though obviously without any any kind of reflowing or text resizing if the pdf is only scanned images. The screenshots people have posted look just fine. If the pdf has the actual text embedded in it (like if it has been OCRed) then you can try to convert it to a real ebook format that can be read on any device, though most likely you will probably lose a lot of the formatting. Most text-based pdfs will convert to something that is at least readable, but if there is any kind of fancy layout or formatting you might end up with some crazy-looking output. A quick way to check is to try and copy and paste the whole file from Adobe Reader into Notepad (ctrl+a, then copy and paste). If you can't select any text at all then the file is either image-based or secured in some way. Pdf isn't intended to be converted to anything but a printed page which makes it a pretty awful ebook format. Unfortunately it's not going away any time soon.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 17:47 |
|
|
Looks like the Kindle 3 could really be a game changer. http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1910868
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 18:06 |
|
|
benisntfunny posted:Have you used a different eBook reader? This is a dumb argument. I don't prefer the display on an iPod/iPhone to an e-reader, it's just cheaper, more portable, and I already have one. If someone already has an iPod Touch they should check out Stanza before considering a Kindle or something.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 18:19 |
|
|
benisntfunny posted:So yeah, since this is an "eBook" megathread, not "eReader", I suppose it's a totally legitimate place to discuss reading books from your $300, not expensive gadget, iPhone. We could discuss reading it from your computer, from a million different other little tiny devices but I don't think that's why most people are coming to this thread.1 The point isn't that an iPhone/Blackberry/Palm/whatever isn't expensive, it's that many people considering an ebook-reading device most likely already own one of those. withak fucked around with this message at May 26, 2009 around 18:28 |
| # ? May 26, 2009 18:25 |
|
|
AgnosticTool posted:A lot of my ebooks are in pdf format. Can any of the tablets display scanned pdf files of books? And if it does is the display still non-straining on the eye. When I had some academic papers or notes from Uni that I wanted to read on my ebook reader that were PDF's I just converted them to .mobi format. You can do this by downloading Mobipocket Reader and then dragging the PDF into the Reader window and it'll convert it to Mobi instantly. Most readers can read .mobi files fine.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 18:26 |
|
|
OP information: PRS-505 retail price $299.99, PRS-700 retail price $349.99 Anyone using a Sony reader (or most eBook readers these days) should try out Calibre - http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/ The UI isn't the greatest, but it's the best tool out there to do format conversions. I have a PRS-505 and love it - I don't really buy physical books any more and as I find deals on books I already own I'm replacing them. I was just using up way too much space in my house on books - this is much better. I end up reading 15-20 hours a week and once I found a few comfortable reading positions I've managed to forget I'm not reading an actual book from time to time.
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 18:46 |
|
|
Can anyone tell me how to add notes to my books in the iPhone Kindle app if it's possible?
|
| # ? May 26, 2009 19:53 |
|
Rate Thread:
