Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
On 13/09/2010 00:07, Stuart Sears wrote: I'll let you know how that goes, my kindle arrives this week :) it is a little daft that it doesn't support epub, but it does read MOBI and I'll convert to that for non-amazon books, I expect. I'm looking to get one myself so I'd be very interested in your experience with it. James -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
At 14:40 13/09/2010, you wrote: On 12 September 2010 22:35, trotter wrote: > Is there a feature in the 350 that you are looking for? > Haven't heard about it and most features seem to be present in the 505 > including a SD card slot. It has a touch screen. Unlike the older PRS-600, the new PRS-350 and PRS-650 do not use an overlay, but inferred detectors around the screen edge. That avoids the problems caused with extra layers over the eInk display. The current Sony touch screens apparently suffer from screen glare which the 300 and 500 dont. Thats according to reviews on play.com and amazon. A touch screen interface would be nice but not at the expense of readability. Martin N Running MorphOS v2.4 on Mac Mini, Moderator of MiniDisc,amithlonopen,bwfc Yahoogroups -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
On 12 September 2010 22:35, trotter wrote: > Is there a feature in the 350 that you are looking for? > Haven't heard about it and most features seem to be present in the 505 > including a SD card slot. It has a touch screen. Unlike the older PRS-600, the new PRS-350 and PRS-650 do not use an overlay, but inferred detectors around the screen edge. That avoids the problems caused with extra layers over the eInk display. Other than that, it supports the more open ePub format. I have read somewhere that Best-Buy are going to start seling the Kindle. As they already sell the Sony, I will wait a bit and see if I can see them side-by-side. -- Philip Stubbs -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
>> After all that, the short question is, does anybody use an ereader and >> if so, who have you got on using it with Linux? > > FBReader on my HTC android phone, like Jan. If you read on android, try "aldiko" - its an ePub reader and has an interface into a huge number of free and public domain books (most of Guttenberg by the look of it) in ePub format Anton -- Anton Piatek email: an...@piatek.co.uk blog/photos: http://www.strangeparty.com pgp: [74B1FA37] (http://www.strangeparty.com/anton.asc) fingerprint: 7401 96D3 E037 2F8F 5965 A358 4046 71FD 74B1 FA37 No trees were destroyed in the sending of this message, however, a significant number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
On Sun, 12 Sep 2010 22:24:02 +0100 Philip Stubbs wrote: > I would be interested in peoples thoughts on ereaders. > > Ever since I first read about eink displays, I have been fascinated. > Recently, the price has dropped to a point where I am seriously > tempted, but I have a problem. > > The two that interest me the most are the Kindle from Amazon, and the > new Sony PRS-350 due out soon. They both have the ability to display > PDF's but only the Sony will work with industry standard ePub format, > avoiding the lock in to Amazon with the Kindle. This would be great, > except I have tried to run Sony's library software and Adobe's digital > editions, and failed as they are only supported on Windows and Mac. For me the problem has been proprietary formats for ebook readers. I have used fbreader on my main system to read ebooks downloaded from Baen Books in mobi format but reading books on a computer doesn't really appeal so an ebook reader would be an improvement. I own several hundreds of Pbooks and have no intention of giving up buying more but have realised that proper books have a disadvantage, they have to be held with two hands and pages turned manually. This is not really an problem except when ones hands aren't fully usable. I have been suffering from a condition known as trigger-finger for some time and so far have gone through 3 minor opps to correct the condition in both thumbs and a little finger plus a cortizone injection in another finger. This condition has made it painful at times for me to handle books and I have been warned that I could be getting arthritis in the joints which could affect my ability to handle proper books even more. So being able to use an ebook reader could be a solution, I have even thought that adapting something like an anglepoise lamp to hold the reader in position should be possible if things got really bad. I haven't handled a kindle but waterstones stock the sony readers and I have played with those briefly, enough to realise that the eink displays are superior to my computer screens for the task they do. With amazon bringing the price down and presumably making their full range of books available in the UK, the kindle has to be considered as an option. There are several other makes of readers, and I have seen one alternative to the sony range in waterstones, but for now the sony range is the best I have seen and if their prices drop as well then I could be in the market for one. Having a separate device for reading books fits my philosophy of having devices that do specific jobs rather than multi-purpose devices like these new-fangled phone thingies, (my basic mobile phone is still switched off more than it is on) > If I can get over my dislike of being tied to Amazon, the Kindle would > work great as I understand that it does not need any sort of library > software on the computer to make purchases. I had the feeling that you had to download from their shop direct into the reader rather than via a PC but probably have this wrong. > What I really want is for the book publishers to get over themselves > and remove DRM as the music industry has. > The really stupid thing is that I will probably not purchase much > content anyhow. There is more than enough PDF's and other content out > there that will fill my needs. I doubt I'll be buying many ebooks either as there is enough free material available and as I said I don't expect to stop buying proper books any time soon. > > After all that, the short question is, does anybody use an ereader and > if so, who have you got on using it with Linux? > P.S. I already know about Calibre :-) I didn't so one of the first things I did after this thread started was to 'aptitude install' it and add my small collection of ebooks to its library. I also used the built in reader and found it OK. Since fbreader is currently broken (two days ago anyway) in Debian Sid I needed a usable reader anyway. The fact that calibre can convert between formats is potentially very useful. On principal I wouldn't buy any drm encumbered ebooks so am not likely to have any problems using calibre. -- John Lewis using Debian sid -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
The nook is apparently quite excellent, but I don't believe you can buy it in this country. On 13 September 2010 00:07, Stuart Sears wrote: > On 12/09/10 22:24, Philip Stubbs wrote: > > I would be interested in peoples thoughts on ereaders. > > > > Ever since I first read about eink displays, I have been fascinated. > > Recently, the price has dropped to a point where I am seriously > > tempted, but I have a problem. > > > > The two that interest me the most are the Kindle from Amazon, and the > > new Sony PRS-350 due out soon. They both have the ability to display > > PDF's but only the Sony will work with industry standard ePub format, > > avoiding the lock in to Amazon with the Kindle. > > I'll let you know how that goes, my kindle arrives this week :) > it is a little daft that it doesn't support epub, but it does read MOBI > and I'll convert to that for non-amazon books, I expect. > > Or plain old txt, I suppose. > > > After all that, the short question is, does anybody use an ereader and > > if so, who have you got on using it with Linux? > > FBReader on my HTC android phone, like Jan. > > > P.S. I already know about Calibre :-) > > well, there you go, then :) > > Stuart > -- > Stuart Sears RHCA etc. > "It's today!" said Piglet. > "My favourite day," said Pooh. > > -- > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > -- > -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
On 12/09/10 22:24, Philip Stubbs wrote: > I would be interested in peoples thoughts on ereaders. > > Ever since I first read about eink displays, I have been fascinated. > Recently, the price has dropped to a point where I am seriously > tempted, but I have a problem. > > The two that interest me the most are the Kindle from Amazon, and the > new Sony PRS-350 due out soon. They both have the ability to display > PDF's but only the Sony will work with industry standard ePub format, > avoiding the lock in to Amazon with the Kindle. I'll let you know how that goes, my kindle arrives this week :) it is a little daft that it doesn't support epub, but it does read MOBI and I'll convert to that for non-amazon books, I expect. Or plain old txt, I suppose. > After all that, the short question is, does anybody use an ereader and > if so, who have you got on using it with Linux? FBReader on my HTC android phone, like Jan. > P.S. I already know about Calibre :-) well, there you go, then :) Stuart -- Stuart Sears RHCA etc. "It's today!" said Piglet. "My favourite day," said Pooh. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
On 12/09/10 22:24, Philip Stubbs wrote: After all that, the short question is, does anybody use an ereader and if so, who have you got on using it with Linux? OK, I know that this is a borderline case, and due to the device not really what you are looking for. But, I use my Android phone (HTC Tattoo) as a very comfortable Ebook reader using FBReader (also available for the Linux desktop). Epub is natively supported. Latest version of FBReader plugs in to quite a few on-line Ebook repositories, so it is possible to download Ebooks directly from within FBReader. P.S. I already know about Calibre And yes, I use Calibre! ;-) I don't use Calibre all that much (I tend to manually search for Wbooks anyway), but it's brilliant to create epub files from downloaded text files, especially those from places like Project Gutenberg. After that, you simply push it to your phone, or copy it manually via USB. Other than Calibre, I only know of Jutoh (commercial app by Anthemion Software: http://www.jutoh.com/) as an alternative. -- Regards, Jan Henkins -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
Spooky - was just pondering over a Kindle myself only 10 mins ago... On 12 September 2010 22:35, trotter wrote: > Lo, > > At 22:24 12/09/2010, you wrote: > >> I would be interested in peoples thoughts on ereaders. >> > > so would I :) > > > > Ever since I first read about eink displays, I have been fascinated. >> Recently, the price has dropped to a point where I am seriously >> tempted, but I have a problem. >> > > Likewise the older pr300 is around £100 on some sites, > > > > The two that interest me the most are the Kindle from Amazon, and the >> new Sony PRS-350 due out soon. They both have the ability to display >> PDF's but only the Sony will work with industry standard ePub format, >> avoiding the lock in to Amazon with the Kindle. This would be great, >> except I have tried to run Sony's library software and Adobe's digital >> editions, and failed as they are only supported on Windows and Mac. >> > > > Is there a feature in the 350 that you are looking for? > Haven't heard about it and most features seem to be present in the 505 > including a SD card slot. > > Martin N > > Running MorphOS v2.4 on Mac Mini, Moderator of MiniDisc,amithlonopen,bwfc > Yahoogroups > > > > > -- > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > -- > -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] eReaders
Lo, At 22:24 12/09/2010, you wrote: I would be interested in peoples thoughts on ereaders. so would I :) Ever since I first read about eink displays, I have been fascinated. Recently, the price has dropped to a point where I am seriously tempted, but I have a problem. Likewise the older pr300 is around £100 on some sites, The two that interest me the most are the Kindle from Amazon, and the new Sony PRS-350 due out soon. They both have the ability to display PDF's but only the Sony will work with industry standard ePub format, avoiding the lock in to Amazon with the Kindle. This would be great, except I have tried to run Sony's library software and Adobe's digital editions, and failed as they are only supported on Windows and Mac. Is there a feature in the 350 that you are looking for? Haven't heard about it and most features seem to be present in the 505 including a SD card slot. Martin N Running MorphOS v2.4 on Mac Mini, Moderator of MiniDisc,amithlonopen,bwfc Yahoogroups -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
[Hampshire] eReaders
I would be interested in peoples thoughts on ereaders. Ever since I first read about eink displays, I have been fascinated. Recently, the price has dropped to a point where I am seriously tempted, but I have a problem. The two that interest me the most are the Kindle from Amazon, and the new Sony PRS-350 due out soon. They both have the ability to display PDF's but only the Sony will work with industry standard ePub format, avoiding the lock in to Amazon with the Kindle. This would be great, except I have tried to run Sony's library software and Adobe's digital editions, and failed as they are only supported on Windows and Mac. If I can get over my dislike of being tied to Amazon, the Kindle would work great as I understand that it does not need any sort of library software on the computer to make purchases. What I really want is for the book publishers to get over themselves and remove DRM as the music industry has. The really stupid thing is that I will probably not purchase much content anyhow. There is more than enough PDF's and other content out there that will fill my needs. After all that, the short question is, does anybody use an ereader and if so, who have you got on using it with Linux? P.S. I already know about Calibre :-) -- Philip Stubbs -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
