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Kindle is OK

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Re: Kindle is OK

#41

Post by mikebo »

jmelloy wrote: post #9
jordanroher wrote: post #5

Very seriously considering a Kindle, but all my eBooks are non-DRM ePUBs. I know Amazon has a feature to get your existing files on the Kindle, but has anyone tried to import ePUBs? Do they transfer 1:1 to Amazon's format?

The nook support ePUB.

I'm interested in the nook for following reasons:

- Access to public library books using Overdrive

- Being able to 'lend' books purchased from B&N store for 2 weeks to other nook owners.

I like B&N's focus on more customer friendly features.

Re: Kindle is OK

#42

Post by quadhome »

hugh3 wrote: post #15
jmelloy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nook support ePUB.

Thanks, I've been trying to decide between Kindle and Nook on the assumption that I'll mostly read Project Gutenberg books anyway. So you're saying that Nook would be better for me?

Gutenberg has all their books in Mobipocket as well, which the Kindle supports natively.

Re: Kindle is OK

#43

Post by quadhome »

mhd wrote: post #7
jordanroher wrote: post #5

Very seriously considering a Kindle, but all my eBooks are non-DRM ePUBs. I know Amazon has a feature to get your existing files on the Kindle, but has anyone tried to import ePUBs? Do they transfer 1:1 to Amazon's format?

Most books are pretty easy to convert. As mentioned elsewhere, calibre does a good job at it, although the GUI looks like it crept out of someones mid-90s Tcl/Tk nightmares. A problem I've seen with epub books is missing hyphenation, which really messes up the display. And this was on "native" devices (Sony PRS, nook). Haven't seen really good typography on any of the ereader devices. This includes the iPad…

calibre also comes with an "ebook-convert" CLI program.

It works as advertised.

    $ ebook-convert book.epub book.mobi
    ...
    $ cp book.mobi /media/Kindle/documents/

Re: Kindle is OK

#44

Post by Confusion »

sprout wrote: post #37
pilif wrote: post #16

Three reasons why I personally think the Kindle is superior to the iPad as a reading device: 1) It's lighter and smaller and thus easier on your hands to hold it. My hands begin to hurt after holding the iPad for more than two hours. Reading is something I can do for hours without interruption. 2) I thought that an advantage of the ipad would be that I can read with the lights already out. I was wrong - staring at th…

Are you reading black-on-white or white-on-black? Google recently updated the Android maps application so everything is white during the day, which really annoys me. black-on-white is kind of obnoxious and wastes battery unless you're in full sunlight. But of course it's shinier, and shiny always beats functional...

It's not just shinier: in general people find it somewhat easier to read, as these blog posts with references to research suggest[1][2]. I know the halation effect mentioned in the second post completely ruines white-on-black for me, in most incarnations. My Gnome terminal is white-on-black, but that only works with a sufficiently large monospace font and the fact that terminal data is, well, different from a novel or blogpost.

[1] http://www.joedolson.com/articles/2006/08/on-the-readability...

[2] http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2005/07/code-colorizing-and...

Re: Kindle is OK

#45

Post by jsulak »

JoelSutherland wrote: post #4

One of the coolest things I do with my kindle is send my instapaper articles to it. It costs $0.15 per send (not per article), but it is great to have a bunch of really good, long form articles available. As an example, I read this great article about Lincoln the other night: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2005/10/lincoln-ap... There is no way I would read that on a computer.

One way to avoid kindle fees is to use USB to sync. If you're on Mac, use Ephemera (http://goephemera.com/), or if you're on Windows, use Wordcycler (http://www.wordcycler.com/). (I'm the developer of Wordcycler.)

Another great benefit of these programs is that you can sync individual articles, not just the pre-made bundles that Instapaper provides. You can plug in your device, have the program download the articles, and automatically eject it. Later, when you finish reading an article on your device, delete it, and it will be archived on Instapaper the next time you sync.

Re: Kindle is OK

#46

Post by Encosia »

I often wonder how many people are actually spending much time reading outdoors in bright/direct sunlight, versus just regurgitating that well-known point in favor of eInk.

I find my iPad quite a bit more readable than the Kindle or Sony reader indoors, which is where I do nearly all of my reading. It's nice not needing to find a light source too.

Re: Kindle is OK

#47

Post by jsulak »

jordanroher wrote: post #5

Very seriously considering a Kindle, but all my eBooks are non-DRM ePUBs. I know Amazon has a feature to get your existing files on the Kindle, but has anyone tried to import ePUBs? Do they transfer 1:1 to Amazon's format?

The kindlegen command-line program from Amazon is pretty easy to use, and supports ePub and HTML: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000...

Works on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Re: Kindle is OK

#48

Post by wwortiz »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #31
pragmatic wrote: post #10

I don't think it's a zero sum game. It's not either/or. For most it's both. You will have a smart (brilliant) phone and if you read a lot, a dedicated reader. The 2 form factors just don't overlap enough to do both well.

At this point the Kindle is so cheap that if I actually commit to buying any quantity of Kindle books, I might try one.

I have a kindle and buy most of my books through the local used bookstore but the kindle is great for all those free classics that I haven't read.

Re: Kindle is OK

#49

Post by jsulak »

pragmatic wrote: post #10

I don't think it's a zero sum game. It's not either/or. For most it's both. You will have a smart (brilliant) phone and if you read a lot, a dedicated reader. The 2 form factors just don't overlap enough to do both well.

Agreed. It's definitely not a zero-sum game. Most of the time I read my kindle books on the kindle, but at night in bed it's great to be able to read on my iPod touch without any light.

Re: Kindle is OK

#50

Post by ruchi »

gamble wrote: post #23

The Kindle is best at reading straight-forward linear text with minimal formatting, like novels. You can't go wrong with a Kindle if you read plenty of novels, especially if you read outside. OTOH, the iPad is far superior for heavily formatted text and graphical content. Even the Kindle DX has terrible support for PDFs and the eInk screen is inherently bad for graphics, so for the person who wants to carry textbooks…

Amazon has improved support for PDFs. Here's from their Kindle page:

"Improved PDF Reader

Now with new dictionary lookup, notes and highlights, and support for password protected PDFs. Easily carry all of your documents on the go."

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