eBook Formats and Readers ?'s

[Ktrek]

ETA: I'm keeping my Sony Reader, and the cheapest I've found Seven Deadly Sins for is $9.99 on B&N, but can I reformat it for the Sony or should I just get it from the next cheapest place (once i download the firmware update) which is the Sony Store for $11.20??

Is there anything else cheaper?

Nope! You can't reformat it because it is DRM protected. You may be able to soon because I believe that B&N is in nogotiations with Adobe to be able to have Adobe Digital Edition authorize B&N books for other ereaders. It would be stupid of them not to.

Kevin

 

[JWolf]

The Sony Reader PRS-900 will talk to Sony's eBook store to purchase/download new eBooks via 3G.

But, you don't really need that. All these eBook readers allow you to have many books on the device. So when you finish one eBook, you just go and start another that's already on the device.

I generally buy one book at a time, so I can't do that unless I spend more money than I have so I have another one on there. But the Kindle and Nook both allow direct download, and you say the PRS-900 does as well? I'll look into that and see if it's cheaper than the Kindle or Nook.

Thanks.

ETA: I'm keeping my Sony Reader, and the cheapest I've found Seven Deadly Sins for is $9.99 on B&N, but can I reformat it for the Sony or should I just get it from the next cheapest place (once i download the firmware update) which is the Sony Store for $11.20??

Is there anything else cheaper?

The problem is that the cheapest eBooks are not always at the stores that some of these devices talk to. So you won't always get the best deal using a nook, Kindle, or 900. The 900 is more expensive then the nook or K2, but then it has a larger screen and better ePub reading experience.

If you sign up to Fictionwise, you'll be able to get emails that sometimes have discounts. Also, sign up to Kobobooks and you'll get discounts there as well. Keep a look out in the Deals, Resources, and Freebies section of MobileReade and you'll find out about sales at different eBook stores.

I paid less then 8$ for my ePub copy of Seven Deadly Sins. But had I just used a nook, K2, or 900 to buy it, I'd have paid more then that. So really, just because a reader can download from a given store does not mean you will get the lowest price.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Where did you get yours from?

 

[ATimson]

You may be able to soon because I believe that B&N is in nogotiations with Adobe to be able to have Adobe Digital Edition authorize B&N books for other ereaders. It would be stupid of them not to.

Err, not quite.

Basically, the Nook supports, and B&N sells books in, two DRM formats:

1) eReader - that old "classic". You can use these files on any existing reader that supports DRMd eReader files (name + credit card number).

2) ePub. B&N is using a newer version of Adobe's Mobile Device SDK than everybody else, though; their ePubs *also* work on name + credit card, instead of having to authorize a device to your Adobe account.

The new SDK should've been made available to other manufacturers in late 2009. However, there's no guarantee that other manufacturers will implement the option in new or previous devices.

But in any case, the ball isn't going to come to rest in ADE's court, but rather in the device manufacturers'.

 

[JWolf]

Where did you get yours from?

I got it from Fictionwise during one of their sales. And none of the readers with 3G would have been able to get it for you cheaper.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Where did you get yours from?

I got it from Fictionwise during one of their sales. And none of the readers with 3G would have been able to get it for you cheaper.

I'm well aware of that, thank you JWolf. I'm not a complete philistine. I wanted that function on an eReader for ease of use, not for discounts since that makes not one bit of difference.

I will be keeping my PRS505 until such a time as I can afford a better device or until it goes kaput on me.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

ok i bought the sony prs 300. i bought a couple of books, Trek books, Sorrows ofEmpire and Seven deadly sins. The font is terrible! it's small, the margins are hugh. i like to the text to take up margin to margin. my ebooks that aren't drm'd i have reformatted as RTF's and justified the paragraphs and made the font bigger.

any way to edit the drm-locked files to makethem readable?

 

[Lt. Brannigan]

Personally I use my PSP1001 as my ebook reader and it works great, the only negative thing I can say about is that you have to scroll down to read the entire page.
But given all that it can do it is probably the best couple of hundred I could have spent.

 

[JWolf]

ok i bought the Sony PRS-300. i bought a couple of books, Trek books, Sorrows of Empire and Seven deadly sins. The font is terrible! it's small, the margins are huge. i like to the text to take up margin to margin. my ebooks that aren't drm'd i have reformatted as RTF's and justified the paragraphs and made the font bigger.

any way to edit the drm-locked files to make them readable?

You have to strip the DRM and then edit the CSS. That's all there is to it. I do it for all the ePub i buy so I have a good reading experience.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

ok i bought the Sony PRS-300. i bought a couple of books, Trek books, Sorrows of Empire and Seven deadly sins. The font is terrible! it's small, the margins are huge. i like to the text to take up margin to margin. my ebooks that aren't drm'd i have reformatted as RTF's and justified the paragraphs and made the font bigger.

any way to edit the drm-locked files to make them readable?

You have to strip the DRM and then edit the CSS. That's all there is to it. I do it for all the ePub i buy so I have a good reading experience.

How do i strip the drm onthe ebooks that Ih ave purcahsed?

 

[ICW]

I recently purchased the ebook S.C.E. Miracle Workers for my nook and I've discovered that only 205 out of the 460+ pages actually downloaded. I read Interphase Book II as well as Cold Fusion. When it's time to get cracking on Invinsible, it skips to the Minipedia.

What gives? How can I fix this?

 

[LightningStorm]

How do i strip the drm onthe ebooks that Ih ave purcahsed?

That is not a question that can be answered here.
Legal issues and all that.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

How do i strip the drm onthe ebooks that Ih ave purcahsed?

That is not a question that can be answered here.
Legal issues and all that.

Interesting, even on purcahsed property taht arent going to be distributed?

 

[LightningStorm]

How do i strip the drm onthe ebooks that Ih ave purcahsed?

That is not a question that can be answered here.
Legal issues and all that.

Interesting, even on purcahsed property taht arent going to be distributed?

Yes, it came up before and apparently simple removal of DRM is considered illegal regardless of ownership. Is it BS? Yep, I think so too... but such is life.

Though for the purposes of the BBS, I think even if it weren't illegal it'd be a slippery slope we wouldn't want to be on so we'd not advocate it anyway.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

That is not a question that can be answered here.
Legal issues and all that.

Interesting, even on purcahsed property taht arent going to be distributed?

Yes, it came up before and apparently simple removal of DRM is considered illegal regardless of ownership. Is it BS? Yep, I think so too... but such is life.

Though for the purposes of the BBS, I think even if it weren't illegal it'd be a slippery slope we wouldn't want to be on so we'd not advocate it anyway.

Wow. Ok.

 

[JWolf]

That is not a question that can be answered here.
Legal issues and all that.

Interesting, even on purcahsed property taht arent going to be distributed?

Yes, it came up before and apparently simple removal of DRM is considered illegal regardless of ownership. Is it BS? Yep, I think so too... but such is life.

Though for the purposes of the BBS, I think even if it weren't illegal it'd be a slippery slope we wouldn't want to be on so we'd not advocate it anyway.

It's not illegal nor is it legal. It's a gray area. Until it's decided in a court of law, it's neither legal nor illegal. We do not know if fair use trumps the DMCA. This is something we'll just have to be in the dark about until someone goes to court to challenge it.

 

[JWolf]

The solution in this case is to contact the seller and tell them there is a problem and get them to see what they can do for you.

 

[Steve Roby]

It's not illegal nor is it legal. It's a gray area. Until it's decided in a court of law, it's neither legal nor illegal. We do not know if fair use trumps the DMCA. This is something we'll just have to be in the dark about until someone goes to court to challenge it.

As far as copyright law goes, you may be right. But if you're buying a product with DRM, at some point you may well have clicked through some terms and conditions or license agreement in which you agree not to break the DRM. Copyright is not the only issue. Contract law may be involved as well.

 

[JWolf]

It's not illegal nor is it legal. It's a gray area. Until it's decided in a court of law, it's neither legal nor illegal. We do not know if fair use trumps the DMCA. This is something we'll just have to be in the dark about until someone goes to court to challenge it.

As far as copyright law goes, you may be right. But if you're buying a product with DRM, at some point you may well have clicked through some terms and conditions or license agreement in which you agree not to break the DRM. Copyright is not the only issue. Contract law may be involved as well.

But some of these license agreements may not be legal. They say you are not really buying the eBook when the link on the site says you are buying. So really, fair use and your rights are up in the air until a court decides what's what. There is an exception in the DMCA that says that it is legal to strip the DRM if the DRM stops the read aloud function. So we know there are some cases it is legal to strip the DRM.

 

[JWolf]

Today is March 30, 2010. What I want to know is where is the ePub for Unspoken Truth. Other then S&S, it's no place. That means paying full price or having to get it in Mobipocket or eReader, strip the DRM and convert to ePub. Is S&S going to be one of those publishers giving in to agency pricing where we pay more and get less?