eBook Formats and Readers ?'s

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by ConRefit79, Jan 6, 2010.

  1. Kataaran

    Kataaran Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    So they add crap into an epub, making it an epub+(rubbish-that-will-make-your-life-difficult-in-the-long-run). How is that not almost an epub then?
     
  2. Garm Bel Iblis

    Garm Bel Iblis Commodore

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    ok next question, what readers and read html\doc files?
     
  3. ATimson

    ATimson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It's "not almost an ePub" because it is a spec-legal ePub. And if you're going to ding Apple for that, you need to ding every other ebook vendor out there for the same thing.
     
  4. Kataaran

    Kataaran Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    ^ Already do, I won't buy anything with DRM. But when it comes to Apple I have a suspicion that their epubs will end up not being compatible with other readers.
     
  5. tmclough

    tmclough Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    From what I've read at MobileRead, your suspicion would be correct.
     
  6. snakespeare

    snakespeare Commander Red Shirt

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  7. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

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    Actually, if you are able to install the txtr app and put the eBooks on the iPad via USB, then you can use ePub that are ADE compatible with the iPad.
     
  8. Ktrek

    Ktrek Captain Captain

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    I am not aware of an ebook reader that does html, BUT there is a free software program called Calibre that will convert several formats as long as they have no DRM on them. Also there is a cool website called online-convert.com that will convert almost anything you could ever want. It will convert html files into epub (and does an excellent job I might add) or if you have a URL you can copy and past the URL into the appropriate place and it will troll the info and create an epub for you. Most of the time it takes less than a minute. Here is a link:

    http://ebook.online-convert.com/convert-to-epub

    Kevin
     
  9. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

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    I prefer to go with Calibre as I have more control then I do over the website approach. If the DOC is converted to RTF, Sony Readers will handle it.
     
  10. Peak

    Peak Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    The e-bookcreators here in Sweden have made epub (i think it's epub, but it's called pdf anyway) with watermarks one of the downloadable formats (I think it's three, drm:ed pdf, drm:ed Mobipocket and epub with watermarks).

    Bought one, and tried to convert it with Calibre to pdb (I use a Palm, after all), and it worked like a charm. It even converted the watermark, so it was readable (which of course means that shady people can convert the file to txt and remove the watermark completely. It's just a line of text / page to remove, as I understand it).
     
  11. rafterman1701

    rafterman1701 Commodore Commodore

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    What I find funny is that the iPad will still be able to run Kindle files since you can get the Kindle reader for iPod Touch already. So, the iPad will provide more than just iBooks as any reader can make an app. Heck, I have Kindle and eReader on my iPod Touch already.
     
  12. King Daniel Beyond

    King Daniel Beyond Admiral Admiral

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    FWIW, I got a Sony PRS300 a few days ago and, try as I might, I can't imagine how I ever went a single day without it.
     
  13. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

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    PDF is not ePub. not even close. And no novel length PDF can be converted without numerous errors.
     
  14. Kataaran

    Kataaran Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I keep all of my ebooks as HTML along with a suitable embedded stylesheet. It's the most open and transferable format there is.
     
  15. Garm Bel Iblis

    Garm Bel Iblis Commodore

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    I'm really torn between the 300 and the touch screen, i'mgoing to buy one friday regardless. Can you load html\doc files into it? if so do they maintain format? italics, bold,etc?
     
  16. Peak

    Peak Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Ok, I had some of it wrong. New titles are both PDF and epub and older "only" PDF. No problem at all converting the files, though. The only DRM is after all the watermark.

    Example of a book with all the formats:

    http://www.elib.se/ebook_detail.asp?id_type=ISBN&id=9173432768

    Computer translated: http://translate.google.com/transla...il.asp?id_type=ISBN&id=9173432768&sl=sv&tl=en
     
  17. King Daniel Beyond

    King Daniel Beyond Admiral Admiral

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    IMO the touch screen isn't worth the hike in price. I can control page turns just fine with the buttons.
    The PRS300 doesn't use doc or html, but i was recommended a free program called Calibre (calibre-ebook.com) which converts pretty much anything to anything, and keeps all the formatting.
    Waterstones in England currently have the PRS300 down to £150.
     
  18. Clancy_s

    Clancy_s Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    To the best of my knowledge no ereader supports .doc files, because it's a microsoft proprietary format. Calibre can't convert it for the same reason (being free software one can hardly expect them to pay the license fees to legally offer .doc conversion). If you have a .doc you want to read, export it as .rtf and then use Calibre to convert it to the ereader format of your choice is IMO the best option.

    Several ereaders will read html: see the mobile read comparison matrix for ereaders for a list:

    http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix

    I have a Sony PRS 505, which will read html but formats it as it goes, which uses more power. I've prefer to convert it to epub in Calibre before uploading it to my reader.
     
  19. tmclough

    tmclough Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Actually, the Hanlin V3 and V5 (repackaged as the Astak EZ Reader Basic/EZ Reader Pocket Pro; and as the BeBook/BeBook Mini) can read both HTML and doc, but I'm not sure how well they can handle either of them. Every format that they can handle (and their's a ton of them) has its strengths and weaknesses, but the three formats that most users seem to prefer (more strengths than weaknesses) are ePub, Mobi, and fb2. If necessary, Calibre is still an option.
     
  20. Ward Fowler

    Ward Fowler Commodore Commodore

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    If you go with the touch screen then you should only do so for the bigger screen size. From experience I can tell you that the touch screen cuts way down on the contrast and therefore the readability of the unit. To me it just wasn't worth the trade-off. I ended up getting a PRS-500, which unfortunately isn't made anymore. It had the 6" screen and wasn't a touch screen.

    If I had to replace my sony reader now I'd probably go with a Kindle. A 5" screen is too small and the only way to get a 6" is to buy a touch screen. Why Sony made it an either or situation is beyond me. My wife has a kindle and it's nice. The screen size and contrast are comparable to my sony. Of course Amazon's proprietary format sucks, but there are conversion programs out there that take care of that.
     
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