Kindle or EPUB?

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by nowthenmobile

Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look. I blame you for my rush of blood to the head, Bookworm_Girl. I knew if I didn't buy one soon you would be on my case. On the subject of cases, are those Armor cases any good?

Ha ha. I just didn't want you to suffer from analysis paralysis because I think the Sony and Kindle are both great options.

I have an Armor style case for my PRS-900. I really only use it when I am traveling on an airplane and want to protect the ereader from getting bumped around in a travel bag. It's too bulky for me for everyday use. I prefer the book-style covers. You can hold the ereader like a paperbook or fold it back. It helps keeps dust off the screen when you store it. It protects the ereader just fine if I put it in my handbag. I have the Sony-brand PRS-600 cover which fits my PRS-505, and it serves its purpose fine.

Another tip is I use a Nintendo DS stylus with my touchscreen. I was worried that I would lose the fancy stylus that comes with the ereader (or that my cat would lose it for me since she likes to play with pens). I found a cheap 3-pack of the Nintendo ones at the store so no worries if I lose one. That might be something to think about if your kids are also going to use the ereader.

[nowthenmobile]

Funnily enough I have just ordered about 20 DS styli from Hong Kong. They cost me about 30 pence in total. I reckon that if I fill my house with them then the children can lose them and find one that they lost a week ago. They have managed to lose the DS now though so we will fill the vacuum with eBooks.

I love your phrase "analysis paralysis".

[nowthenmobile]

My Sony PRS-600 arrived today. I cannot say how incredibly disappointed I am. If I put my head inside a black bin liner and shine a torch at it, then it is readable...but of course the lack of air is problematic. I cannot believe how bad it is. The contrast is so low and the reflections are so strong. I should have gone for the 505, but now I am thinking that £130 for the PRS-350 would be the safest way to get a good screen, assuming that I cannot afford £199 for the 650 (which I can't). It has the higher contrast Pearl screen but without the touch sensitive layer.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I am really sorry to read that you are disappointed. I genuinely feel bad for you. People seem to have mixed reactions to the 600 screen at both ends of the spectrum. Some people love it and others obviously don't. With the new touch-screen technology on the 350/650, Sony appears to have improved the screen contrast and glare issues that bother you. There have been a few posts on this forum which include photo comparisons between the Pearl screens of the new 350/650 models and the Kindle which could give you reassurance.

I have really enjoyed my 505 reader. It has gotten good reviews for screen contrast. However, now that I have a Kindle 3, I can see firsthand that the Pearl screen has really raised the bar. Therefore, I think the 350 screen contrast would probably be more appealing to you than the 505.

Also, I guess it might be hit or miss if you buy a used 505? Might be in great condition or might be several years old / well-used and who knows how long it might last? The 350 also has more features with the built-in dictionary and annotation capabilities. If you have a bookstore nearby maybe there is a demo unit you could try for a hands-on test.

So putting on my analytical cap again, it seems that screen contrast and price are the two most important factors to you. Therefore it seems to come down to which of these 2 features is more important: the library book access (PRS-350) or 6" screen (Kindle 3)? I hope that helps you.

[nowthenmobile]

You're right - I would like to get my hands on a 350 and a Kindle 3.

[church mouse]

I must confess I was a little surprised when you opted for the 600 after all your research. It is one of the most hit and miss choices. If the screen is a miss for you I fear you will never enjoy reading on it.

As a fellow UK resident, I still have my doubts as to how useful the library facility will prove to be for you for the foreseeable future, in which case I would go for a K3 wifi - it is just such good value compared to the rest of the market at present.

In the US the old 300 (a much better screen than the 600) seems to going for a little as $50, in which case it would be a nice, cheap intro in to the e-reader world, but there seem to be no such UK bargains at the moment.

[nowthenmobile]

That's an interesting idea. I could even go for a Kindle 3 and get the best screen available (or so the reviews say) and get a cheap Sony PRS-300 in due course, just to borrow ePUBs.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I wish I could I find of those great PRS-300 deals in the US! Not at the stores near me. I did look the other day...

I have attached a screen comparison for you of my Kindle 3 and PRS-505. That will give you some idea of the new screens. You should look at some of the other threads to find a K3 versus 350 comparison. This is my first attachment to a post. I hope it turns out ok for you.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I wish I could I find of those great PRS-300 deals in the US! Not at the stores near me. I did look the other day...

I have attached a screen comparison for you of my Kindle 3 and PRS-505. That will give you some idea of the new screens. You should look at some of the other threads to find a K3 versus 350 comparison. This is my first attachment to a post. I hope it turns out ok for you.

Attachment 59783

If you look closely though, I think at least a fair bit of the difference has more to do with the fonts used than with the screens themselves. If you look at the Initial Y's, the Kindle is definitely a smidge darker, but not something I would find stunning. If you look at the rest of the text though, it looks like the Kindle is printing everything in bold which makes the difference appear to be greater than it might actually be.

--
Bill

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

If you look closely though, I think at least a fair bit of the difference has more to do with the fonts used than with the screens themselves. If you look at the Initial Y's, the Kindle is definitely a smidge darker, but not something I would find stunning. If you look at the rest of the text though, it looks like the Kindle is printing everything in bold which makes the difference appear to be greater than it might actually be.
--
Bill

I have a friend who has an sight defect; for her contrast is very important. She has a 505, but lusts after my K3 because she finds the contrast significantly better. Whatever the reason for that is, the difference is quite noticeable.

[Gwen Morse]

Originally Posted by nowthenmobile

I have to say that it is a real pleasure to be on a forum where all the contributors use such excellent English. I find it somewhat intimidating actually.

I'll break that pattern by busting into this discussion with my oh-so-casual American idiom .

It sounds like you're intimidated by the idea of attempting to remove DRM. It also sounds like you're in the UK. Good for you, the DMCA does not apply to you . I don't know what does.

I know Amazon has a new UK store. You can check if they have totally free ebooks (no $2 fee to download). If so, download and install the Kindle 4 PC app, on a Windows computer (I think Macs won't work in this case -- if you do use a Mac only do this in Bootcamp or whatever it's called when you run an actual Windows OS on a Mac) and choose a dozen or so free ebooks. Install a mobi-based reading program (MobiReader or something else). If you're already using Calibre it has a mobi reader built in.

Visit google and look for "DarkReverser". Make a pot of your favorite warm drink (hot chocolate/tea/coffee/whatever). Get comfy and read a VERY VERY VERY long collection of blog posts. You will learn more about DRM (and peoples hostility towards it) than you probably want to learn. However, in there will be important pointers to tools to remove DRM from Kindle books and pretty much all the answers you need to using said tools. Get the tools and install them on your computer.

Run your Kindle4PC books through the DRM-removal software. Check the resulting files in your mobi reader. Keep trying until you can read the books in your Mobi reader software without any errors.

The Kindle4PC DRM-removal is spit-easy. Get the tools. Create two sub-directories. Copy your DRMed Kindle4PC books into one sub-directory. Double-click on an executable. Look in the other sub-directory. Your DRM-free books will be there. These are not actual directions, there's a little more to it than this. But, if you can follow these steps, you can remove DRM from Kindle books on a PC (there's nothing "harder" in the process than these steps).

Once you're able to do this, you can reconsider buying a Kindle. In the meantime, hang your head down in that bucket, shine the light on your Sony, and try to enjoy the ebook experience .

These instructions deliberately left vague in respect of Mobileread's policy to not provide explicit DRM-removing directions, but hopefully explicit enough to hopefully minimize some of the "But I'm not a geek" fear people have of DRM-removal.

[nowthenmobile]

Bookworm_Girl
Thank you for taking the trouble to take that photo. It is the best photo I have seen of the Kindle 3 AND the 505. The Kindle 3 certainly is impressive. You're right, I just need the 350 for comparison. I take Bill's point but the contrast really is a lot different. The question is: Where is the eReader shop that stocks all the different brands and shapes and sizes, so that we can go in and try them all?

Gwen
Thank you for taking the time to write those instructions. I'm sure someone will find it very useful. Personally, I think that I am going to try to keep to the license agreements. Maybe in 10 years time when there is no longer any way to read my Kindle eBooks then I may feel differently. We'll see. Anyway, if I go for a Kindle then I think it will be used primarily for reading Gutenberg stuff, and only the occasional Kindle download.....and if I do buy a Kindle then I think that a cheap PRS 300 would follow soon after.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

If such a device existed, do you think anyone would buy anything else?

Well, it sort of exists. I have a 505 and my wife has an iPad. Now using the txtr app, I could transfer Adept DRMed ePub to the 505 and the very same ePub to the iPad and also if we had a nook, we could transfer the same book there too. The only issue is the limit on the number of devices allowed to be registered to one account.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

In B&N's defense, their DRM is by far the friendliest. Even if Adobe was to get out of the DRM business, they could easily support their eReader DRM since it is the only major DRM that doesn't require authorization from a central server.

--
Bill

It requires authorization once. Then it doesn't need such. Adept needs authorization once and then it doesn't need it. The only problem with Adept is that you have a limited number of places you can read the infected ePub.

But the solution... strip the DRM and forget about the infection.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

At Amazon, if the ebook details don't have a "Simultaneous Device Usage:" entry, then the ebook has DRM.

At Books on Board, anything with a locked padlock has DRM. It might be that only PDF files show "Adobe Digital Edition" but I haven't checked. Only if there is no padlock is the book DRM-free.

If it doesn't say ePub specifically and does say Adobe or ADE or Adobe Digital Editions, it's PDF. Why they call PDF by the name of the program t display I have no idea. But that has caused people to buy PDF when they wanted ePub.