Classic Contemplating the nook

[DreamSpyre]

So after noticing the price drop, I finally feel that the nook is in my price range and want to get one. I just had a few questions that I haven't been able to find decisive answers for, and was hoping someone here might be able to help.

First, and my main question is how well pdf viewing functions on the nook. I have a couple hundred pdf files I want to migrate over to have on the go and I want to be sure that they will all port over correctly and be viewable. They're all full text pdf's, anywhere between 50-400 pages each, Full text, no images at all.
Even if I have to convert them all to epub, I'd be okay as long as I know that I can certainly read all of them.

Second, Is it still possible to get the 50$ gift card from Bestbuy? I know some people said that the signs say til 7/3, but being certain never hurts.

Lastly, How diverse is the magazine selection on the nook? I enjoy reading things like Popular Science, Sports Illustrated, and on a lesser read level, Import Tuner. Can I find all of these, and whats the average price?

[Sylver]

As much as I love my new nook, I must say the PDF support of the nook is not very good, it cannot do a landscape mode as the Kindle can, and with a mere 6" screen, it is hard to read in portrait mode with original PDF layout, so you will need to convert PDF to epub using Calibre - but most PDF as page level layout has hard line breaks each line with will be a headache to convert. It's doable but just need some work.

I saw the bestbuy that I purchased last week with a giftcard now has a sign saying the GC is not valid anymore.

As for magazine selection, you should go to the B&N website and do a search to see if it meets your need, it is said to be not as much selection as Amazon Kindle's.

[Lastblade]

Agree on PDFs, these small readers just aren't that great for them.

I doubt any BBs are giving out the GC now, but you might get lucky.

[flyash]

Originally Posted by Sylver

As much as I love my new nook, I must say the PDF support of the nook is not very good, it cannot do a landscape mode as the Kindle can, and with a mere 6" screen, it is hard to read in portrait mode with original PDF layout

I feel the same way, coming from the Sony 600 to the Nook. Landscape mode (and cropping) is what I've found makes PDFs readable on 6" screens.

Once you start modifying the book, like increasing font and getting the pdf to reflow, or converting to epub, lots of discrepancies from the original flow of the book happen (odd line breaks, words out of order - I notice this happens when there is callout text in the margins, etc.). And with a portrait mode-only 6" screen, you will have to start making changes - and living with the 'errors' introduced.

[geertm]

If PDF file are that important you should not buy an 6 inch e-reader, but a larger one.
Perhaps the new, lower price Kindle DX or even an ipad.

[DreamSpyre]

The problem for me in getting a larger platform is I simply can't justify myself spending the extra money, not that I really could if I wanted to at the moment.

I decided since I have a 45 day return window at Bestbuy, to just go ahead and pick up the nook and see how it interacted with my pdf's. Loading them straight to the nook was atrocious, and absolutely impossible to read, but after converting them to epub with calibre and adjusting the font size, I feel very comfortable reading them, even in portrait mode on the 6" screen.

Sadly though, no chance at the gift card, they had the sign up saying they discontinued it because of the price drop, even after talking to a manager it was a no go. And the magazine selection isn't amazing in the least, but then I came to realize that reading magazines on this thing wouldn't probably be the best experience, considering what magazines I wanted, So that didn't bother me.

Overall, I'm incredibly happy, the fact that I now have my 500+ book pdf library converted and very viewable makes the purchase well worth it, although I'm still debating the usefulness of the 3g, May as well return it and use the 50$ I save towards a case and light.

[JDługosz]

Originally Posted by DreamSpyre

First, and my main question is how well pdf viewing functions on the nook.

In a word, brain-dead. Set font to "small" and get a full screen view, with margins, on the tiny screen that cannot be read. Change font size and it "reflows" the text, using no algorithm that I can imagine, since it just hits the right edge and breaks in the middle of a word, or it breaks a line at some arbitrary point for no reason. Navigating the mess is bad, unless you know the page number.

I've not yet tried a Calibre conversion of the same file, since I just learned about it (I just got mine this weekend).

Even if I have to convert them all to epub, I'd be okay as long as I know that I can certainly read all of them.

You can download Calibre, convert them in batch, and use the internal reader to see how they turned out. Specify the Nook as the output profile. Perhaps just do one and fiddle with the settings, then do them all in batch. At least you can edit the generated xhtml if it did something funny parsing out the text, if there's not too much of it. And you can tell it regexes to find the chapter points if it didn't figure it out right.

--John

[Doug Pardee]

Originally Posted by JDługosz

You can download Calibre, convert them in batch, and use the internal reader to see how they turned out.

The answer will be, "they turned out ghastly". Calibre's PDF conversion is pretty sad. Not that anyone else's is a whole lot better.

As others have said, PDFs are a very poor fit for a small-screen device. PDF is a page-layout specification. It says, in effect, "put this character, in this typeface at this point size, this many inches in and this many inches down". Everything is placed at specific locations in specific sizes.

Most PDF files are built to be viewed at letter/A4 size. If you try to view them at a smaller size, it's not going to be nice. If you try to expand the size, you either end up looking at just a part of the page (zoom/pan, not currently an option with the NOOK), or taking the pieces and trying to fit them together into something that looks like plausible. Unfortunately, the header and footer text doesn't look any different from the main body text. And trying to determine which are the real line breaks, paragraph breaks, and page breaks, versus which breaks are only there in order to make the text fit the letter/A4 page, is just plain voodoo.

If you've ever tried to copy-and-paste from a PDF, you have some inkling of just how icky it all is. Text from inside of inserts gets copied, section headers are copied out of order from the text, line breaks are kept intact, etc.

[DreamSpyre]

Admittedly, it took a LOT of work to get my pdf files to look the way I wanted on the nook. But in the end, it was a few hours works, for a few months if not more of reading material. And I also have the knowledge now of how to do it for future conversions in calibre.

Overall, way, way worth it. If anyone is worried about pdf viewing on the nook, Download Calibre, convert a file or two a hundred times until you get it perfect, and you can preview what it will look like on your nook directly from Calibre itself.

I have had some trouble with pdf's with a lot of crazy lines and formatting, such as the ones my professors give out during lectures and such, I was able to get my hands on a free copy of Foxit editor, and after a few minutes work, I can load those onto my nook and have a mini notebook with me at all times as well.

It's not neccessarily easy, but with work, I'm fairly certain that anything short of pdf files with images will be functional, and more importantly readable on the nook.

[NaddyM]

Can I ask a related question? My first post.

My friend pre-ordered me a Kobo, but both it and the replacement were defective, and after waiting 33 days for a response from Kobo Support, I returned the 2nd one.

I'm ordering a Nook online, but I'm Canadian, and the number of books for canadians is pretty pathetic. How well does Calibre convert epub (Kobo) books to the Nook format?

[bookwerm]

The nook reads epub format, so there's no need to convert any Kobo books. All you do is authorize your new nook to ADE, and then you can either sideload (transfer) your Kobo books (or any epub book) through ADE to the nook, and voila! you're golden.