eBook Formats and Readers ?'s

[tmclough]

I plan on continuing to buy ebooks, in large part because I can change the font size and hence make it much easier to read--I can concentrate more on comprehension, rather than on what the words are.

Also, ebooks take up a lot less space than pbooks (print books), and I have a small apartment.

 

[BrotherBenny]

I'm looking forward to the DMC Copia launch of the Ocean 6 and Tidal Touch to see which one works best for me. Hopefully they're both $199 so I can buy a wireless e-ink eReader.

Edited to Add: Copia readers now delayed to Fall launch sometime.

 

[JWolf]

The iPad works pretty well for eBook reading and I hope even better soon.

 

[BrotherBenny]

The iPad works pretty well for eBook reading and I hope even better soon.

I don't want an iPad. I don't want a portable computer system which can do everything for me.

I want a simple, wifi-capable e-ink ereader under $200 with minimal bells and whistles.

Simple.

 

[Venardhi]

B&N is promoting the Nook this month with a 'free' $50 gift card with each purchase, probably in part to try to keep beating Amazon and try to catch up on Market share a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if it sticks around longer though since a lot of the e-readers coming out in the near future are going to come pre-loaded with a lot of books.

More rumors are going around about Nook 2 in time for Christmas (in time to be sold out for Christmas more likely) but details are scant at best. Obviously B&N don't want word getting out about either the 'Lite' or 'Encore' until the last minute to keep people from holding back buying a Nook, but the average consumer doesn't pay much attention until it has a commercial or they walk into the store anyways.

If anyone needs some coupon codes for the last couple weeks of the B&N free book promos let me know, Ive got a couple spares.

 

[Kataaran]

The iPad works pretty well for eBook reading and I hope even better soon.

I've been using mine for reading textbooks and books where you need to retain the original formatting. Add to that the ability to annotate on it and I'm glad I waited. Does any other reader allow for PDFs without buggering up the formatting or not being able to annotate in a sensible way? I'm hoping for a no on that one now :P

 

[Ktrek]

The iPad works pretty well for eBook reading and I hope even better soon.

Jon - I read that the Barnes and Noble ereader app for the Ipad is way better and cleaner than the app that comes with the Ipad. You might try using it once.

Kevin

 

[Daddy Todd]

I read that the Barnes and Noble ereader app for the Ipad is way better and cleaner than the app that comes with the Ipad.

I didn't like the B&N iPad reader at all. I took it off after a few days because of weird bugs (like the only way to delete a sample is to go to B&N.com and delete it from your account) and display issues.

The best iPad reader I've found is Stanza, especially since they released a version with native iPad support last week. Unlike iBooks and the Kindle app, Stanza allows me to edit broken metadata and update cover images for my ebooks. It also has a much larger array of display features. You can load books a whole bunch of different ways, and you're not locked into a single vendor.

 

[Clancy_s]

So given that the Star Trek eBooks (new and fairly new) are now more expensive then the paper versions, who is going to buy the eBooks and who is going to go back to the paper editions?

Neither. I've dropped them entirely until the ebooks are again rationally priced.

I've dropped them entirely 'til they sell ebooks in Australia for no more than the pbooks (no ebooks at all atm )

Still, I've just discovered Baen books and their back catalogue (Gibabytes of good SF, though not ST), that'll keep me going a year or 3

 

[kkozoriz1]

You can also look at Manybooks.net. Currently 27,561 free e-books including a sizable SF selection.

http://manybooks.net/

 

[BrotherBenny]

I hope no one here has an iLiad as iRex just filed for bankruptcy.

Who's next?

 

[JWolf]

The iPad works pretty well for eBook reading and I hope even better soon.

Jon - I read that the Barnes and Noble ereader app for the Ipad is way better and cleaner than the app that comes with the Ipad. You might try using it once.

Kevin

I've tried the B&N app for the iPad. The B&N app is not all that good. If you set the font you want, you get no styles. You lose italics and bold. If you use the publisher setting to get bold and italics, you get simulated bold and italics which doesn't look all that good. I don't know how B&N could release this app with such a bug.

iBooks gives a better reading experience. because we do get proper styles when we choose the font.

 

[JWolf]

I read that the Barnes and Noble ereader app for the Ipad is way better and cleaner than the app that comes with the Ipad.

I didn't like the B&N iPad reader at all. I took it off after a few days because of weird bugs (like the only way to delete a sample is to go to B&N.com and delete it from your account) and display issues.

The best iPad reader I've found is Stanza, especially since they released a version with native iPad support last week. Unlike iBooks and the Kindle app, Stanza allows me to edit broken metadata and update cover images for my ebooks. It also has a much larger array of display features. You can load books a whole bunch of different ways, and you're not locked into a single vendor.

Forget Stanza. The ePub rendering engine is substandard. Also, there are still bugs that they've never fixed.

I have my hopes set on the Overdrive app. Not the one they have now for audio books. But the one they are going to come out with for eBooks.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Forget Stanza. The ePub rendering engine is substandard. Also, there are still bugs that they've never fixed.

I guess you need to explain what this means. What about their rendering engine is substandard? What bugs? I've been using the iPad version for at least a week now -- maybe 2 -- and I quite like it.

 

[sfroth]

Forget Stanza. The ePub rendering engine is substandard. Also, there are still bugs that they've never fixed.

I guess you need to explain what this means. What about their rendering engine is substandard? What bugs? I've been using the iPad version for at least a week now -- maybe 2 -- and I quite like it.

I've tried most reader apps for the iPhone (don't have an iPad yet), and find Stanza to be frustrating. The biggest problem I've encountered with it is the broken formatting - left, center, and right align are ignored, as is indent. Line spacing is all crazy - it seems to choose at random how much space it's going to put between lines. Generally, it just doesn't seem to pay attention to any formatting beyond simple italics and bold. Even though they've been told of these issues multiple times (including, based their forums, before they were bought and most development apparently stopped), they don't seem to care enough to fix the problems.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Forget Stanza. The ePub rendering engine is substandard. Also, there are still bugs that they've never fixed.

I guess you need to explain what this means. What about their rendering engine is substandard? What bugs? I've been using the iPad version for at least a week now -- maybe 2 -- and I quite like it.

I've tried most reader apps for the iPhone (don't have an iPad yet), and find Stanza to be frustrating. The biggest problem I've encountered with it is the broken formatting - left, center, and right align are ignored, as is indent. Line spacing is all crazy - it seems to choose at random how much space it's going to put between lines. Generally, it just doesn't seem to pay attention to any formatting beyond simple italics and bold. Even though they've been told of these issues multiple times (including, based their forums, before they were bought and most development apparently stopped), they don't seem to care enough to fix the problems.

Using Stanza 3.0 on the iPad I'm not seeing any of those issues. I haven't read a great deal, but what I have read has been well-presented. YMMV and all that, but I like Stanza best of all the e-readers I've used on my iPad.

 

[JWolf]

Forget Stanza. The ePub rendering engine is substandard. Also, there are still bugs that they've never fixed.

I guess you need to explain what this means. What about their rendering engine is substandard? What bugs? I've been using the iPad version for at least a week now -- maybe 2 -- and I quite like it.

I've tried most reader apps for the iPhone (don't have an iPad yet), and find Stanza to be frustrating. The biggest problem I've encountered with it is the broken formatting - left, center, and right align are ignored, as is indent. Line spacing is all crazy - it seems to choose at random how much space it's going to put between lines. Generally, it just doesn't seem to pay attention to any formatting beyond simple italics and bold. Even though they've been told of these issues multiple times (including, based their forums, before they were bought and most development apparently stopped), they don't seem to care enough to fix the problems.

With all these sorts of issues, I am surprised so many people don't mind if their reading something that looks awful.

 

[Kataaran]

Stanza on the desktop doesn't support italics/bold, for some months I assumed my epubs were knackered somehow. Needless to say if they can't get the desktop software right it doesn't bode well for the mobile app.

 

[Clancy_s]

FTI of anyone else who's out of the US who'd like to buy Star Trek ebooks: using Kindle for PC you can buy any ebook that Amazon has for Kindle in the US, as opposed to the shorter list that may available for kindle in your country (only tested in Aus), and download it to your pc. I suspect it'd work with Kindle for Mac too, and I read though I've not tested it that you can run Kindle for PC under wine on a linux box.

Getting it on to your reader involves some convulsions that may be illegal in your country, but at the very worst you could read it on your pc.

Furthermore, at the current exchange rate compared to Australian pbook prices Kindle US is about 30% cheaper.

 

[sfroth]

With all these sorts of issues, I am surprised so many people don't mind if their reading something that looks awful.

I'm not really sure what you mean by this, but I can tell you that I do mind. I dislike Stanza, am not fond of the Kindle app, and haven't used any other reader apps I like, bar one: eReader. It's got all the features I want, formats the books correctly (unless the publisher doesn't encode them right), and even allows me a method for creating my own books that is about 10x easier than ePub. I can't tell you how annoyed I am that Star Trek books don't seem to be available in eReader format anymore. Since they stopped selling them, I've bought exactly one Trek book, from B&N, and am reading it on the B&N app that is mostly based on the eReader app. IMO, the eReader iPhone app should be the standard that all other ebook readers/apps strive for.