iPad Owners: What was the first Star Trek title you bought/loaded? - Page 4

Steve Roby · March 12 2011, 03:01 PM

I think pretty much all music on itunes is drm-free these days, yeah. And much, much better sound quality than the original itunes.

My first ipad Trek ebook: Trek Fail! by SNW contributor Robert Jeschonek. He's done a few ebooks with Trek connections. This one's a look at his various Trek pitches and fiction, analyzing what made them work or fail. It'd be interesting to see something like this from someone who's had more stuff actually published, but that kind of writer is probably busy enough already.

mmtz · March 12 2011, 03:57 PM

Brikar99 wrote:

Has anyone read any of the Trek comics on iPad? If so, how would you say that experience was?

The iPad is terrific for comics in PDF, CBZ or CBR formats.

There are dozens of PDF reader apps including several that are free, like iBooks. I prefer GoodReader for iPad which has lots of built-in tools for moving files to the device. GoodReader is $4.99 these days but has been on sale for $0.99 before.

There are about a dozen CBZ/CBR reader apps, some free. I've been using Comic Zeal Comic Reader, a $7.99 app, because it handles poorly produced CBZ/CBR files gracefully. CloudReaders is a decent free app for CBZ/CBR files.

The key issue with reading comics on the iPad is the quality of the scanning. The PDF files in Star Trek: The Complete Comic Book Collection on DVD (only $8.40 at Amazon today) are nice to have on my iPad, but are a little difficult to read because they were scanned two pages at a time. If you want to see a page at the full size of the iPad screen, you have to zoom in, which isn't very convenient. I have other comics that have been scanned one page at a time, making them very easy to read. I took all of Rich Handley's scans of the British Star Trek comic strips, loaded them into CBZ files and moved them to my iPad, where they are much easier to read than on a desktop display.

The major comic publishers all offer digital comics and their own apps for buying and reading new comics on the iPad. I've tried a few and found the reading experience acceptable. This is a good way to explore new titles. I still buy new Star Trek comics in print though and I'm waiting to learn if IDW has anything more in the pipeline.

Kataaran · March 13 2011, 09:46 PM

Blackbird wrote:

The ideal option for me would be if I could just buy the e-books from somewhere, strip the DRM and convert them to txt files. Then I could just read them using my existing screen reader software.

Unfortunately, for me, I have no idea how to go about removing DRM.

If I was gonna do that I'd go the Amazon route as the DRM is removable. What prevents me from doing this however is that there's no way to register my intentions to remove the DRM. Without that it just looks like I don't have a problem with DRM.

Rosalind wrote:

I thought iTune music is now DRM-free?

It is, it's the AAC format that causes me difficulties. I can't play them on my car stereo.

Brikar99 · March 14 2011, 06:17 PM

Kataaran wrote:

Rosalind wrote:

I thought iTune music is now DRM-free?

It is, it's the AAC format that causes me difficulties. I can't play them on my car stereo.

iTunes can convert those to mp3 under the 'Advanced' menu, IIRC.

David cgc · March 15 2011, 02:33 AM

Well, it'll convert to whatever you have set as the default import setting in preferences. If it's set to AAC or Apple Lossless or something, then that's what'll show up in the menu. So if you don't see "Convert to MP3" and see "Convert to something else," that's what you need to adjust.

Kataaran · March 15 2011, 11:13 AM

Brikar99 wrote:

Kataaran wrote:

Rosalind wrote:

I thought iTune music is now DRM-free?

It is, it's the AAC format that causes me difficulties. I can't play them on my car stereo.

iTunes can convert those to mp3 under the 'Advanced' menu, IIRC.

I'd rather not have to convert and loose more quality.

cml898 · March 17 2011, 01:33 AM

I'm happy with my Kindle App on my iPhone. I feel secure knowing if I ever change phones my purchases are tied to my amazon account so I'm not limited regarding what I can view my purchases on. When I started reading ebooks I had already bought the first Typhon Pact paperback, so I felt I had to finish out the series in paperback form. Right now my first Trek ebook is the new Myriad Universe book and from this point forward I plan to buy all future new Trek books as ebooks.

Mr. Laser Beam · March 17 2011, 04:40 AM

Kataaran wrote:

Brikar99 wrote:

Kataaran wrote:

It is, it's the AAC format that causes me difficulties. I can't play them on my car stereo.

iTunes can convert those to mp3 under the 'Advanced' menu, IIRC.

I'd rather not have to convert and loose more quality.

Then just get a car stereo with an AUX input. You can connect your iPod and listen to AAC's directly.

Infern0 · March 17 2011, 09:13 AM

Destiny trilogy all at the same time

Kataaran · March 17 2011, 03:59 PM

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

Kataaran wrote:

Brikar99 wrote:

iTunes can convert those to mp3 under the 'Advanced' menu, IIRC.

I'd rather not have to convert and loose more quality.

Then just get a car stereo with an AUX input. You can connect your iPod and listen to AAC's directly.

I already have one, I use the input occasionally. I prefer to use the built-in SD card reader with MP3s though, it's tidier.

Brikar99 · March 17 2011, 06:36 PM

Kataaran wrote:

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

Kataaran wrote:

I'd rather not have to convert and loose more quality.

Then just get a car stereo with an AUX input. You can connect your iPod and listen to AAC's directly.

I already have one, I use the input occasionally. I prefer to use the built-in SD card reader with MP3s though, it's tidier.

I wish I had one of those. I still burn CDs.

JWolf · March 23 2011, 03:20 AM

I use my radio transmitter with my Rio Karma. It's not as nice as an aux input, but it works well enough.

Anika Hanson · April 11 2011, 12:56 PM

The first Trek ebook I read/ purchased was Double or nothing from the double helix series by Peter David. I purchased it from fictionwise and read it on the stanza app on my iPhone. It was also the first ebook I read. I've since purchased a Sony reader and a kindle but now exclusively read on my kindle.

popsicle · April 16 2011, 01:46 PM

Just bought myself a kindle and my first ever ebook is Star Trek Vanguard: Harbinger (after reading you all rave about it on these boards!)

March 12 2011, 03:01 PM	#46
Steve Roby Commodore Location: Ottawa, ON Canada	Re: iPad Owners: What was the first Star Trek title you bought/loaded? I think pretty much all music on itunes is drm-free these days, yeah. And much, much better sound quality than the original itunes. My first ipad Trek ebook: Trek Fail! by SNW contributor Robert Jeschonek. He's done a few ebooks with Trek connections. This one's a look at his various Trek pitches and fiction, analyzing what made them work or fail. It'd be interesting to see something like this from someone who's had more stuff actually published, but that kind of writer is probably busy enough already. __________________ Complete Starfleet Library http://www.well.com/~sjroby/lcars Starfleet Library blog: starfleetlibrary.blogspot.com

March 15 2011, 02:33 AM	#50
David cgc Vice Admiral	Re: iPad Owners: What was the first Star Trek title you bought/loaded? Well, it'll convert to whatever you have set as the default import setting in preferences. If it's set to AAC or Apple Lossless or something, then that's what'll show up in the menu. So if you don't see "Convert to MP3" and see "Convert to something else," that's what you need to adjust. __________________ “I come here to have fun and fuck around merrily. I expect to showered by all kind of random crap.” — iguana_tonante

March 17 2011, 01:33 AM	#52
cml898 Lieutenant	Re: iPad Owners: What was the first Star Trek title you bought/loaded? I'm happy with my Kindle App on my iPhone. I feel secure knowing if I ever change phones my purchases are tied to my amazon account so I'm not limited regarding what I can view my purchases on. When I started reading ebooks I had already bought the first Typhon Pact paperback, so I felt I had to finish out the series in paperback form. Right now my first Trek ebook is the new Myriad Universe book and from this point forward I plan to buy all future new Trek books as ebooks.

March 17 2011, 09:13 AM	#54
Infern0 Captain	Re: iPad Owners: What was the first Star Trek title you bought/loaded? Destiny trilogy all at the same time

March 23 2011, 03:20 AM	#57
JWolf Commodore Location: Massachusetts, USA	Re: iPad Owners: What was the first Star Trek title you bought/loaded? I use my radio transmitter with my Rio Karma. It's not as nice as an aux input, but it works well enough. __________________ Jon

STAR TREK

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ABOUT US

April 11 2011, 12:56 PM	#58
Anika Hanson Commander Location: Thallon	Re: iPad Owners: What was the first Star Trek title you bought/loaded? The first Trek ebook I read/ purchased was Double or nothing from the double helix series by Peter David. I purchased it from fictionwise and read it on the stanza app on my iPhone. It was also the first ebook I read. I've since purchased a Sony reader and a kindle but now exclusively read on my kindle. __________________ Assimilate this!

April 16 2011, 01:46 PM	#59
popsicle Ensign Location: The Frozen North, aka Stockholm.	Re: iPad Owners: What was the first Star Trek title you bought/loaded? Just bought myself a kindle and my first ever ebook is Star Trek Vanguard: Harbinger (after reading you all rave about it on these boards!)