eReaders

[Draco1962]

Here is a comprehensive list of Free eBook sites. Most are older works that are in the "public domain" while others are in the public domain for their respective countries as copyright laws may be different in various countries.

Also, many copyrighted materials for the various eReaders can now be loaned through local and university libraries, just the same as if you were borrowing a hard copy. As with hard copies, you may need to reserve a copy of popular books by adding yourself to a waiting list. This may be a good time to dust off or renew your library card!

Many free eBooks can also be downloaded from the site for your eReader application and/or device.

[nullPointer]

So yeah, this is a question that's oddly specific to Calibre. In point of fact it might be a question more well suited to the Calibre forums, but I don't have an account over there, and why would I start a discourse with a bunch of filthy strangers, when I can talk to my friends right here? (Let the accusations of xenophobia begin)

So the creation of this forum inspired me to open up my Calibre library and really start whipping the metadata into shape for all my e-books. So the default metadata plugins for Calibre are scrapers for Amazon and Google. The trouble is that the metadata scraped from the default plugins is a bit of a hot mess. What's more is that in several cases I'm unable to find the specific version of the book I'm looking for (i.e. it pulls a different publisher, ISBN, date of publication, etc.). I'm rather firmly of the opinion that metadata is only as useful as it is accurate, so if the information I'm pulling is wrong, I'm not so sure it's worth the endeavor.

So I'm asking you guys, are there any Calibre metadata plugins you can recommend? Does anyone have special methods or techniques they employ to polish up the metadata for their e-book collections? Am I being too demanding of my metadata? (answer: probably)

[hansolo77]

Here I thought you were opening up a thread to discuss comicbooks. I for one would never give out my codes, for the mere fact that they may one day be collectable (in 100 years maybe) and having that little sticker covering the code removed may decrease it's value.

Now if you wanna talk comics...

I started reading in the early 90's. I got all caught up in the Marvel hoopla when they had the X-Men Animated series. I fell in love with it after 2 episodes. I was only like 12 at the time, but it struck a nerve with me and I had to get more. So I got Dad to buy me a couple comics at the comic shop. He of course had to read them too because he liked to read comics when he was my age. One thing led to another, and I started spending my allowance money on all kinds of X-Titles like X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, Cable, Wolverine, etc. I couldn't get enough. Then Marvel decided to launch a massive cross title crossover event called "Age of Apocalypse". Being only 12-13 I couldn't get my puny head around the new comic names (they all changed titles) and the new characters (same guys, but the good ones were bad, and vice versa). It was just too much for me to cope with, so I stopped reading. Of course when the event was over, everything went back to normal. But by then, I had lost interest and went on to playing Magic the Gathering for awhile before I got bored with that too. So YEARS went by and I always remembered how much I enjoyed reading comics. I wanted to go back and start reading again. So eventually I convinced myself to just go and buy some. I went to my local shop and bought up the usuals, X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Uncanny X-Force, Wolverine, (Cable was Gone), X-23, Daken. I was impressed with how much the art and story had progressed, but a little shocked at how quickly I read through each issue. It's like they put less dialog in them now. But when I was reading them, I had a lot of questions. For instance, when I stopped reading, Wolverine had bone claws, now they're metal again? And whats the deal with Magneto, he's a good guy now? So I asked the shop guy and he said there was a LOT I had missed, and the best way to catch up would be to buy some trade paperbacks. He recommended House of M (a story which basically got rid of all the mutants in the world except for a few in a protected bubble). I loved it. He also recommended Civil War, which was a good story, but not specifically X-Men. I'm all about X-Men. Avengers are 'ok' but I like the constant drama involving all the human intolerance to mutants. I haven't bought ANY DC comics. Anyway, I've since bought up the trade paperback collections of Age of Apocalypse because I wanted to read it now that I'm older and can actually follow and understand whats going on. It's was pretty good, and it led right into another saga I JUST FINISHED reading called Onslaught (Xavier wiped Magnetos mind (I remembered reading that when I was 12) and so Magneto's anger and hate combined with Xavier's telepathic powers created an awesome villain). Now I'm reading a Hardback of X-Cutioner's Song which was the event just finishing up when I started reading in the 90's. I had bought like the last 3 issues of the crossover as part of my normal issue buying, now I can get the whole story. Up next is something called Supernova with a picture of Roge on the cover, and then "The Rise and Fall of the ShiAr Empire." After that I got "Messiah Complex", "Manifest Destiny", "Messiah War", "Second Coming", and "The Birth of Generation Hope." The Messiah and Hope stories were all recommended in the comic book issues I was currently reading, as they were about to bring out the whole Avengers vs Xmen event into play, and they were suggested back stories, so I bought them. After all that, I do have a Hardback of "Avengers/Invaders" that I got for 3 bucks (retail probably $35) when my comic book store was moving and he was discounting a lot of his old stock. All in all, I'm thrilled to be back in the groove of reading comics. I also found that there are 3 people I work with (different departments) that also read comics, so it's cool that I can talk to them about it and have discussions with them.

Sooooo... if you read the X-Men/Avenger stuff, what do you think about the whole AvsX event? I liked it, but I'm not to thrilled about the whole team-up events taking place in the A+X stuff. I'm also not that thrilled about Cyclops turning bad, but I never liked him anyway (Wolverine was always my favorite). I'm really excited about what's going on with the 'All New X-Men' with Beast going back in time and bringing the original teenage X-Men to the present to show Cyke what a douche he's turned out to be. Good stuff!

[hansolo77]

So I may be intersted in getting an eBook reader. There's a lot to choose from. It's hard to make a decision. I don't necessarily want to be handed a definitive "GET THIS ONE" but I'd like to at least hear what people's thoughts are about them that have them. I know some of them are much more powerful than they need to be, like fricken iPad's and other tablets being capable of games etc. Then there's lowend stuff like Amazon Kindle. I'm just curious what people think would be a good one for me to get.

[nullPointer]

I think the first question you should ask yourself is whether you would want to go with an e-ink reader (like the standard Nooks and Kindles), or whether you want to go all in for a color screen albeit without the super-crisp resolution of the e-ink models (as in some sort of tablet).

Personally I went with a less expensive Android tablet so I could get a color screen, but my wife and my mom both love their e-ink Kindles. I can definitely see the advantages of e-ink as it’s really easy on the eyes and you cannot beat the battery life.

But … here’s the thing. I noticed in your recent post that you’re a comic book reader? That’s part of the whole reason I went in for the color screen. My favorite desktop e-comic reader ComicRack has an absolutely kick-ass Android version of the app (I sprung for the paid version). I can’t tell you how sweet it is to carry around a fully indexed library of comic books that remembers everything I’ve read, everything I plan to read, where I left off reading, and can be synchronized wirelessly with the e-comic collection on my desktop machine.

Add in all the other Android goodness (like being able to take an emulation capable device with me when I travel on business), and it’s a winning combination.

Android tablets can be slightly more expensive when compared with e-ink readers, but in several cases it’s a difference of about $50.00 USD or so.

If you’re huge into reading regular ol’ standard books it’s certainly worthwhile to check out the e-ink readers, but if I were to make a humble recommendation I’d go the Android route.

[Draco1962]

My son has the Kindle Fire and I have to admit to being very impressed. You kinda get the best of both worlds with easy to read ebooks and Android! And the pricing is very reasonable.

[hansolo77]

Yeah I was thinking about the Fire too. Being like you said, best of both worlds. I never really played around with any of them. Usually when I go to the stores like Best Buy, those devices are either surrounded by a bunch of kids, or some old person trying to figure it out while being completely lost and the sales rep trying to make a commission from the sale. I went to just LOOK at one, and got stopped by 3 people wanting to know if I needed help, etc, so I just left. I don't wanna feel pressured, put on the spot, or told what device I want. I'm that way about cell phones too. I really want one, and it's getting more and more evident that I NEED one, but when it comes to finding the one for me, I'm totally lost. Everybody has their favorite and can't say anything good about the others.

As for a comic reader... I prefer to read them in hand, physically. I had a comic reader app for my iPod, and I didn't like the way it formatted. When you were zoomed out to full page view, you can't read the text. But when you zoom in to read it, you can't see the art. So I like the actual physical paper comics. Which kinda sucks because everything is going digital, and there's rumors being spread around that the comic book makers may soon be going 100% digital only.

[nullPointer]

As for a comic reader... I prefer to read them in hand, physically. I had a comic reader app for my iPod, and I didn't like the way it formatted. When you were zoomed out to full page view, you can't read the text. But when you zoom in to read it, you can't see the art. So I like the actual physical paper comics. Which kinda sucks because everything is going digital, and there's rumors being spread around that the comic book makers may soon be going 100% digital only.

I'm inclined to agree, but I do think you'd find even a 7inch screen to be a vast improvement over the smaller screen of an iPod. With a 7 inch screen you can view a single full page with good readability and still maintain an acceptable level of artwork detail (to my eye at least). The only time the 7 inch screen is a bit of an issue is when you encounter a full 2 page layout. Even then ComicRack features super smooth scrolling around the full layout (as well as pinch zooming) so it's not a huge deal, but more of a temporary inconvenience. All the same I understand the 'purist mentality' and if you're determined to stick with traditional formats then more power to you! All those local comic shops could certainly use the patronage! I think I'm just at a point in my life in which convenience and portability have taken precedence over being hardcore in terms of my comic reading habits (i.e. I don't have to worry about moving / managing / protecting a huge physical collection ... but I'm also obviously more of a casual reader at this point than a hardcore collector)

Now if you bumped up to a 10inch screen ... well at that rate it basically is like reading a full sized comic (albeit at a higher cost and less mobility than a smaller tablet).

[hansolo77]

Well I spent a fair bit of time reading some reviews and what not, and I'm definately leaning towards either the Fire or the Paperwhite. My dad left to go pick up my stepmom from work and I was researching. When they got home an hour or so later, she said "ask your dad what I'm getting him for Valentines Day". Sure enough, he's getting a Fire, and it's coming tomorrow (2-day shipping). So I'll at least get my hands somewhat on a working device without the issues of being pressured. Comparing the 2 devices though, it really is going to come down to what I would find most useful. The Fire seems to me to just be a baby tablet; color screen, movies, games, apps, pictures, music, etc. The Paperwhite however is just a plain text reader. Something I'd like to see that Dad had mentioned is the ability to read magazines (like photography and astronomy stuff). The Fire would come in handy in those situations. On the other hand, I like the LONG battery life you get with the Paperwhite and other older gen Kindles. I'll just have to wait and see how the Fire performs for Dad as a reader, and not just another media player device.

[Draco1962]

On the plus side, I know you had mentioned sometimes preferring to listen to the audio books. Something to keep in mind as you can do that with almost all of the ereaders. Depending on your collection, you may need to invest in additional storage if it supports SD cards (most do) to expand the storage. The Kindles do not so far as I am aware, however, they offer free Amazon Cloud storage and you can save content on your PC to backup, so not a bad deal. I am actually kinda drooling over the 8.9HD pad for $269 ATM.

[hansolo77]

I can't afford something that expensive. I only got $600 on my tax return and most if not all of it is going towards fixing my car's overheating engine problem. I'm just looking at what my options are right now, and moving ideas around.

[Draco1962]

Understood. Just noting that the price point for the device as compared to one of the iPads which are considerably pricier and proprietary.

[celly]

Ive seen some small non-name brand readers and tablets for under $120. The Nexus 7 is fairly cheap and gets great rating. The Kindle Fire is awesome too and not a bank breaker. On my phone i use iComicViewerPro. Reads cbr and all other file types. Then again you need an iPhone and i remeber you in a few posts ago not having a cell at all.

[hansolo77]

Yeah I still don't have a cell phone. I got a chance to play around with Dad's Fire just now. It looks great. I'll probably go that route. However, I had a physical at the doctor today and discovered they had free wifi, so I spent the time waiting reading reviews at Best Buy. Got a bit down the page and saw a section "Customers who viewed this item also viewed these..." and listed a Samsung Galaxy II for the exact same price as the Fire. When comparing the two, the Galaxy looks a lot more robust, in that it is an all encompassing tablet, not just an eReader. One of the benefits I see on the Galaxy is that it has expandable storage via a MicroSD card slot. That could theortically come in handy, although I haven't even filled up 8gb's worth of the 32gb available on my iPod touch. Books/Magazines probably don't take up that much space. Something else Dad discovered is a program for the PC (I think it's called Calibre?) that converts ebooks you download (from torrents, library, etc) into a Fire-friendly format that treats it like any other book gotten from Amazon directly. That would include things like the Text-Speech (not that great from what I could tell) and adjustable font sizing and spacing. If there is something like that for the Galaxy, its just one more pro point for it. On the downside though, the Galaxy doesn't have as high a resolution as the Fire, and that might hurt value/quality for me. BUT the Galaxy has 2 cameras, an accelerameter, GPS, and I believe it said free 3G. All these things make the Galaxy look so much more better, but I'm also afraid they may just be gimmicks and such that I won't really need. I need to read some reviews or something from people who have bought both and see which they prefer better.

[nullPointer]

I actually read your response on my Samsung Galaxy Tab II (and it's also what I was referring to when I was describing reading comics on it). As far as I'm concerned it's a great little unit. I have one, my wife has one, and I even let my kids tool around on my old one that has a broken screen. So here's a bit more input based on your comments above.

Calibre is the frickin' bomb for managing e-books, converting between ebooks between formats, etc. One feature of Calibre that you didn't mention is the Calibre Content Cerver, meaning you can access your Calibre library over a LAN connection (or even remotely I'm sure with a little port forwarding). Once you couple the Calibre server with this little gem running on your tablet (written by a member of the Calibre team), you've got a seriously killer mobile library at your fingertips, any time, any where. I can't impart how great Calibre is. (Of course once you start delving into it, you start worrying about the the finer points of your library ... such as metadata)

The Samsung Galaxy Tab II does support speech to text functionality (it's actually more accurate to say that the tablet can run apps which support text to speech). I'm also relatively certain there are reader apps out there featuring text to speech. Funny anecdote about that ... One evening I was sitting on my throne as it were, surfing the internet on my tablet (don't tell me you don't do it fellas), and one of my kids kept on pounding on the door. Finally I yell at her to leave me alone. When I look back down at my tablet I had just Googled, "Leave me alone I'm trying to poop in here". ... I didn't bother investigating the search hits thank god. But there you go - speech to text; way too much information but true story.

So yee-aaah ... where was I?

Ah yes ... Not too sure about the 3G thing. I believe the less expensive version of the Galaxy Tab II is WiFi only.

The main issue I've had with the Galaxy Tab II is a small issue but it's noteworthy depending upon your situation. The camera on this tablet doesn't have auto-focus. The pictures seem reasonable enough, but you may have some issues reading barcodes and the like. You may consider that if you plan on doing a lot of 'tablet photography'. For the most part I've found it just fine for candid, casual shots.

Let me know if you have any other questions about the Galaxy Tab II and I'll try to chime in.

[hansolo77]

Cool... how good is the quality of the screen? The Kindle Fire HD is a 1280 pixel resolution, but the Galaxy 2 is a 1024. I read a side-by-side comparison on c|net and they said hands down the Fire was better for all things the Fire was meant to do. Meaning, if I were to use the Galaxy as a Fire, I'd be ahead to get a Fire. Do the benefits of the extras really make the Galaxy that much more scale tipping in it's favor? I have no use for a camera, since I bought a Digital SLR last tax season. The GPS would be cool but I'd never use it. I don't travel, and I rarely go more than a few blocks when driving to work. The processor isn't as good as the Fire's either. Seriously the only benefits I see is the added ability for storage expansion. If theres an easy way to move files around on your network on the Fire, I don't really need to get the extra storage option either.

I honestly think I'm gonna get a Fire, not just because Dad has one (which was a total shock, I seriously didn't know he was getting one) but because when I compare it among the others in that price range, it seems to be the better buy. Unless somebody can convince me otherwise. I was considering the Paperwhites for a while, but I think the added ability of a color screen and other web available options make the Fire more appealing, for $50 more.