nook or kindle

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by Zarich

Okay.. backtracking a bit here.
I just played with calibre. Very cool program. Yes
So basically it lets me convert any non drm book to kindle format correct? or visa versa? Yes
However the question I have is does that hose up the formatting at all? No
Do epub books come across correctly? Yes
Or do the books have formatting errors and issues? No. You can check for yourself using a free book and one of the PCReaders like Kindle4PC or Mobipocket Reader
Because that would open up all non DRMed epubs for a kindle plus kindle content. Yes

Also is there a way to convert library books to kindle format AND keep the DRM intact? No. You have to break the DRM to make the book convertible.

It is the weight and battery life of the kindle that keeps drawing me to it. Well, in case you have to produce the electricity for charging your reader by, lets say, running on a treadmill, this makes sense. Otherwise it doesn't. The batteries used today are good for around 400 charging cycles. This would make a 8 year battery life even when charged on a weekly basis.
The nook really just has the epub thing that appeals. Oh and the creme background and page swipes So the nook has all those cool features but the Kindle has a long battery life? Well, we all have our priorities, don't we?

From what you've said now, you clearly want a Kindle!

[speedlever]

Just to give you an idea how quick the process works, I just bought a book from Borders and opened the ACSM file in ADE (this stores the file on my computer.)

I then cut the ebook and pasted it where I keep my ebook files (because I don't like to store data on my C drive... which is the only option ADE allows.) This takes but seconds to do and is not required, but is part of my workflow.

I then opened calibre and used the add books button to bring the ebook into calibre. This happened almost as quickly as it took to click on the button. I then used the Connect/share button to convert and email the ebook to my K3 which took 1:33.


For the record I'm using Win7/64 on an old Core2duo E6600 I built 4 years ago running 6 Gigs ram with an 80 GB SSD for the OS and a 320Gb 7200 rpm (gettin' full!) data drive. This is hardly state-of-the-art hardware.

[FF2]

Just one more bit of Calibre info. You can actually drag/drop files using Windows' Explorer into the Calibre "list" rather than just using the "AddBook" button.

As noted, Library drm'ed-epub books can be converted. They do not expire but your moral compass might abide by either their expiration date or soon thereafter leading you to erase them.

As some say "It is time to fish or cut bait." There will always be something new around the corner and the older will be discounted. The older can generally serve quite well even if it is last WEEK'S model.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Just to give you an idea how quick the process works, I just bought a book from Borders and opened the ACSM file in ADE (this stores the file on my computer.)

I then cut the ebook and pasted it where I keep my ebook files (because I don't like to store data on my C drive... which is the only option ADE allows.) This takes but seconds to do and is not required, but is part of my workflow.

I then opened calibre and used the add books button to bring the ebook into calibre. This happened almost as quickly as it took to click on the button. I then used the Connect/share button to convert and email the ebook to my K3 which took 1:33.


For the record I'm using Win7/64 on an old Core2duo E6600 I built 4 years ago running 6 Gigs ram with an 80 GB SSD for the OS and a 320Gb 7200 rpm (gettin' full!) data drive. This is hardly state-of-the-art hardware.

or just buy an ePub supported device and drag and drop I mean seriously who want to go through stripping the DRM every single time you buy a non Amazon ebook. and besides there is no gurantee the format will come out nice and neat. and please don't say that is does. My coworker who owns a kindle would flat our refute your claim He has about 50 Stephen King books that are basically unreadable do to format conversion error. Some books are one paragraph long, no breaks. Others have breaks in mid sentence and are all jumbled. Now to be fair a good portion did come out just fine but a sign. amount also got butchered.

Too many great options in terms of great ereading devices available out there right now to have to go through a "process". To me there is nothing compelling about the Kindle that you can't find elsewhere that would make me want to go through that every time. not worth it. JMHO.

[jabberwock_11]

Calibre allows you to convert non-DRM ebooks, unless you have the DRM stripping plug-ins, which will then allow you to convert DRM ebooks. The stripping of DRM is a grey issue, so it is not officially supported by Calibre.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by boswd

or just buy an ePub supported device and drag and drop I mean seriously who want to go through stripping the DRM every single time you buy a non Amazon ebook.

Too many great options in terms of great ereading devices available out there right now to have to go through a "process". To me there is nothing compelling about the Kindle that you can't find elsewhere that would make me want to go through that every time. not worth it. JMHO.

The DRM stripping occurred during the import to calibre which took an eyeblink and was in the paragraph before the image. The image merely shows the conversion (epub to mobi) and subsequent emailing to my K3.

To those (like me) who prefer a physical keyboard, the light weight, and long battery life of the Kindle, this demonstrates the ease of bringing any book from most any source into the Kindle world. It is a non-issue.

I suppose if I bought a lot of books every day I might tire of the workflow. Then again, it's so painless as to be a virtual non-issue.

I'm happy that you prefer your Nook. I personally don't like the sometimes erratic nature of touch screen navigation. I see it in my LG envTouch, I've seen it in the user videos of both the Sony and the Nook, and I've even seen some on the legendary iPad (which I have.)

I gladly give up any convenience of using a native epub device for the features and benefits the Kindle brings to me (in conjunction with calibre.) As usual, YMMV.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by boswd

JMHO.

and such an objective one too

[Zarich]

When I said long battery life I wasn't referring to the actual life of the, but in fact the time in between charges. So I should have said time in between charges. nearly 30 days vs 10. I like the 30 days plus the weight.

Thanks for all your info guys. Callibre is a nice tool regardless of the ereader I purchase I will be using it.

Also.. if your one friend has nearly 50 books that didn't come out right then he pretty much has no readable stephen king books. Well I guess has a few. Sorry... I know you are making a point.

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by boswd

or just buy an ePub supported device and drag and drop I mean seriously who want to go through stripping the DRM every single time you buy a non Amazon ebook. and besides there is no gurantee the format will come out nice and neat. and please don't say that is does. My coworker who owns a kindle would flat our refute your claim He has about 50 Stephen King books that are basically unreadable do to format conversion error. Some books are one paragraph long, no breaks. Others have breaks in mid sentence and are all jumbled. Now to be fair a good portion did come out just fine but a sign. amount also got butchered.

Too many great options in terms of great ereading devices available out there right now to have to go through a "process". To me there is nothing compelling about the Kindle that you can't find elsewhere that would make me want to go through that every time. not worth it. JMHO.

Well, I'd go through the process anyway, since I like to use calibre to keep a database of my books. With the Kindle, I don't have to muck with ADE or USB hookups or anything else.

Stripping DRM is a matter of a one-time download and click click install of the plugin, and from there, it's a transparent event that happens whenever I drag a title into calibre.

Re conversion - Not sure why your friend had problems, but I'd guess they started as pdfs or epubs that were made from pdfs, instead of epubs downloaded from stores.
I've converted at least a hundred, and with no issues, other than a margin I needed to tweak and there. I haven't seen people here complain of losses like that when converting from epub novels, either.

To the OP, I love B&N and wanted to support them, but for ebooks, I chose Kindle over Nook because
- I love/need the TTS,
- the text is sharper,
- the weight/size lighter/smaller
- fear the lcd window would glare from my book light (not sure - you might ask about that) or get smudges
- battery life - don't have to take the charger when I leave town
- Amazon is my favorite ebook store

But if those things are not an issue for you, I think you'd be happy with the nook, and if you can get it for that price, go for it.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Piper_

Well, I'd go through the process anyway, since I like to use calibre to keep a database of my books. With the Kindle, I don't have to muck with ADE or USB hookups or anything else.

Stripping DRM is a matter of a one-time download and click click install of the plugin, and from there, it's a transparent event that happens whenever I drag a title into calibre.

Re conversion - Not sure why your friend had problems, but I'd guess they started as pdfs or epubs that were made from pdfs, instead of epubs downloaded from stores.
I've converted at least a hundred, and with no issues, other than a margin I needed to tweak and there. I haven't seen people here complain of losses like that when converting from epub novels, either.

To the OP, I love B&N and wanted to support them, but for ebooks, I chose Kindle over Nook because
- I love/need the TTS,
- the text is sharper,
- the weight/size lighter/smaller
- fear the lcd window would glare from my book light (not sure - you might ask about that) or get smudges
- battery life - don't have to take the charger when I leave town
- Amazon is my favorite ebook store

But if those things are not an issue for you, I think you'd be happy with the nook, and if you can get it for that price, go for it.

Hi Piper I'm not trying to get into a nook vs kindle ie Android vs iPhone or Mac vs Pc. I think they're fun to do but this seems like a nice thread

but my point is if ePUb is something that is of interest to someone then i see absolutley no reason to get a Kindle and have to go through the work arounds to strip the DRM when fantastic ebooks readers are out there from the nook to the sony's and even the kobo.

I mean we all can go round for round of why we chose our device as opposed to the comepetitions for me the nook provides the best top to bottom value to features.
Love the looks of it
Love going Barnes and Noble for the MoreInStore and all the fun features and freedbies from Starbucks.
Love the LCD, the LCD does go dark after a certain amount of time (10,30,60seconds)
To me charging it after 5 to 8 days is nothing. I have to charge my phone every night, my laptop gets 3hrs, so this is nothing.

the weight the nook weighs as much as 400 page trade paperback, I'm sorry I will disagree with you until the cows come home that is not heavy, sure the kindle may be light but my pencil is lighter than my pen, that doesn't make my pen heavy.


So yes we can all go round for round but again my point is if ePub is of use, the available options out there are just too great and excellent to have to go through the work arounds to get Adobe's DRM stripped to format the Amazon when you just click and drag on fantastic eReaders available.

[ProfCrash]

Since learning how to use Calibre and strip DRM I have to say that I stopped caring about the format issue. It sounds like the OP is of that same mindset. So if you don't care about the formatting issues then you may as well choose the device that you think works best for you.

I try and avoid commenting on that type of thing precisly because I don't have most of the limitations that make people really appreciate a feature. Many folks brush aside the weight and text to speech arguments because they don't seem like a big deal to them. But for someone who has difficulty reading due to a learning disability of vision issues, TTS is huge. It allows a user to read books that are not available as an audio book. It helps people with learning disabilities read as they listen. For someone with serious hand, wrist, or finger problems the few extra ounces can make a device feel that much heavier.

So to you the Nook is not heavy. To others it is heavy. Just because they don't come out and say that they cannot hold a 400 page graphic novel does not mean that they cannot hold a 400 page graphic novel.

This does not appear to be the case for the OP. He said he was going to stick with paper backs and he reads them with one hand which gives me the impression that he does not have issues with holding books. In his case, the weight difference is perciptable and important.

Personally, I love my Kindle. I could careless about the Moreinstore feature with the Nook. I don't go to book stores so I wouldn't use that feature. I like the longer battery life of the Kindle while the Nook's LCD strikes me as useless and a battery drain. I love the ease of bookmarking, highlighting, and taking notes on my Kindle, something more complicated on a Nook.

From what the OP has posted it sure sounds like he wants a Kindle. If he gets one, I am sure he wil enjoy it. Just like most people who get a Nook enjoy their Nook or Sony users with their Sonys. (shrugs)

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by boswd

Hi Piper I'm not trying to get into a nook vs kindle ie Android vs iPhone or Mac vs Pc. I think they're fun to do but this seems like a nice thread

Oh, I hear you, boswd. Actually, the Mine vs Yours threads are tedious to me. lol I'm in a Kindle/Sony, and soon-to-be Nook Color house, and one of my best friends loves his Nook.

It's all about personal tastes and circumstances.

So I wasn't meaning my comments about the Kindle to be an argument. I just gave my personal reasons for choosing the Kindle over the Nook - as I said, they might not be the same needs or preferences as the OP.

e.g., For me, TTS is the #1 priority, but plenty of people don't care about it at all. Others might not need such long battery life, etc.

Like I said, if the things I listed weren't an issue, then I'd probably go for the $89 nook refurb.

Originally Posted by boswd

[...moved below]
I mean we all can go round for round of why we chose our device as opposed to the comepetitions for me the nook provides the best top to bottom value to features.
Love the looks of it. Love going Barnes and Noble for the MoreInStore and all the fun features and freedbies from Starbucks.
Love the LCD, the LCD does go dark after a certain amount of time (10,30,60seconds)
To me charging it after 5 to 8 days is nothing. I have to charge my phone every night, my laptop gets 3hrs, so this is nothing.

the weight the nook weighs as much as 400 page trade paperback, I'm sorry I will disagree with you until the cows come home that is not heavy, sure the kindle may be light but my pencil is lighter than my pen, that doesn't make my pen heavy.

Yup, and all those things are good to point out, so people can choose what fits their needs and wants.

FTR, I don't think the Nook is "heavy". I just wanted the least weight and size I could, all other things being equal, to make it lighter in my purse and to hold in bed. I also wanted a cover, which adds weight and bulk. If the OP doesn't, then there's that to consider.

Originally Posted by boswd

but my point is if ePUb is something that is of interest to someone then i see absolutley no reason to get a Kindle and have to go through the work arounds to strip the DRM when fantastic ebooks readers are out there from the nook to the sony's and even the kobo.

So yes we can all go round for round but again my point is if ePub is of use, the available options out there are just too great and excellent to have to go through the work arounds to get Adobe's DRM stripped to format the Amazon when you just click and drag on fantastic eReaders available.

This is the only area where we disagree.

- The work around isn't any work at all. It's also just a click and/or drag. You don't even have to use a cable.

- The OP wants to use calibre anyway. (Lots of people do - it offers a ton of awesome features, and it's especially helpful to keep track of books if you use more than one store, which is the common reason given for choosing an epub device.)

- It takes no work to strip DRM after the 1 time download and clicks to install the plugin. It's transparently done whenever you drop the book into calibre.

- It takes no work to convert - just couple clicks, and a minute or two.
From there, it's a right-click to send to the kindle, via email or usb. (For that matter, it automatically converts on send.)

So that's the only area we disagree on.

Sony/Nook/Kindle - they're all great ereaders. What makes one a better choice than another just depends on personal tastes and needs that vary between people.

[Zarich]

On the weight thing.. I am unsure what you measure, but I went and weighed a book I just finished, 600 page paperback by terry brooks. It came in just under 8oz. So lighter than the kindle even. And maybe I make to much out of the weight. I found the nook color with cover to be way to much for one hand. Maybe the nook would be okay.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Zarich

On the weight thing.. I am unsure what you measure, but I went and weighed a book I just finished, 600 page paperback by terry brooks. It came in just under 8oz. So lighter than the kindle even. And maybe I make to much out of the weight. I found the nook color with cover to be way to much for one hand. Maybe the nook would be okay.

i used Stephen Kings the Gunslinger, tradepaper back and this was for the regular nook not the nook color.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Piper_

Oh, I hear you, boswd. Actually, the Mine vs Yours threads are tedious to me. lol I'm in a Kindle/Sony, and soon-to-be Nook Color house, and one of my best friends loves his Nook.

It's all about personal tastes and circumstances.

So I wasn't meaning my comments about the Kindle to be an argument. I just gave my personal reasons for choosing the Kindle over the Nook - as I said, they might not be the same needs or preferences as the OP.

e.g., For me, TTS is the #1 priority, but plenty of people don't care about it at all. Others might not need such long battery life, etc.

Like I said, if the things I listed weren't an issue, then I'd probably go for the $89 nook refurb.



Yup, and all those things are good to point out, so people can choose what fits their needs and wants.

FTR, I don't think the Nook is "heavy". I just wanted the least weight and size I could, all other things being equal, to make it lighter in my purse and to hold in bed. I also wanted a cover, which adds weight and bulk. If the OP doesn't, then there's that to consider.


This is the only area where we disagree.

- The work around isn't any work at all. It's also just a click and/or drag. You don't even have to use a cable.

- The OP wants to use calibre anyway. (Lots of people do - it offers a ton of awesome features, and it's especially helpful to keep track of books if you use more than one store, which is the common reason given for choosing an epub device.)

- It takes no work to strip DRM after the 1 time download and clicks to install the plugin. It's transparently done whenever you drop the book into calibre.

- It takes no work to convert - just couple clicks, and a minute or two.
From there, it's a right-click to send to the kindle, via email or usb. (For that matter, it automatically converts on send.)

So that's the only area we disagree on.

Sony/Nook/Kindle - they're all great ereaders. What makes one a better choice than another just depends on personal tastes and needs that vary between people.