So being a techy geek you'd think I'd have this e-book thing figured out. Well, I kinda do but there was a lot of "testing" involved.
I've been reading e-books now for about three years. First, I started with the text, as in .txt, formatted books, I read them on a little device called a V-Touch. These .txt books could also be read on any computer or .txt enabled reader device. Then I got a Nokia E71 cell phone and a Nokia n810 and with a few installed programs (Garnet VM and mobipocket) I could read Mobipocket formatted e-books on both devices. Biggest step though was when I moved up in the book worm world and bought a Barnes and Noble NOOK– that is the..NO backlight, e-ink type –and, as you can guess, I got tired of not having a backlight and finally upgraded to the NOOKcolor.
This little handy device cost me $70 bucks! The main focus was to read my e-books, but it would also play music, take pictures and record video. Not a bad $70 investment. The screen was stylus/touch screen ready but it wasn't very sensitive and after about 8 months of use it crapped out on me. The screen would no longer calibrate properly. One of the draw backs was finding .txt books. During this time there were very few online sites with e-book formats available. The Gutenberg Project was around and had several classic books available in my coveted .txt format. http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page *best thing about the Gutenberg site is it has kept up with technology and offers IPAD, NOOK, SONY READER, and KINDLE formatted books!
TheNokia n810 and the discovery of Mobipocket Format
After the my V-Touch went FUBAR, I moved to the Nokia n810. This wasn't just a e-book reader but a PDA, great for Facebook, Skype, and GoodTalk Video conferencing with my hubby.
In order to read e-books, I used Mobipocket Reader on this handy device. Why, a Nokia? Well, I also got an unlocked Nokia E71 cell phone and guess what? Yes, it was compatible with the Mobipocket format and I could easily download e-books directly from the online e-books store to either my cell phone, Nokia N810 or my laptop with Mobipocket! There is a little bit of tweaking I had to: I downloaded Garnet VM for my Nokia N810. Yes, you have to download Garnet VM (http://www.access-company.com/products/gvm/) it's not already included into the Nokia N810 (Why? Well, it's something about theOS2009 not supporting the mobipocket file directly, so you have to create a backend program to run Mobipocket application…Yeah, that's what I thought. Programmers).
Once I downloaded the program and installed the Mobipocket reader into the Garnet VM program, there was a bit more info I needed to get. When I had Mobipocket installed I needed to know the PID code ("Personal IDentifier". Mobipocket ebooks must be encrypted with the PID of your device to be readable on it.) which is found in the "About…" area of the Mobipocket program. Then I placed that PID code into the account area of ebooks.com, Mobipocket.com, or what ever site I bought the Mobipocket formatted ebooks from. Once I downloaded the book file to my n810, I then had to install each book into the Garnet VM program. *Also, make sure to increase the "storage heap" from 1 MBytes to 64 MBytes in the Garnet VM "settings…" area.*
Open, Mobipocket Reader and tada the ebooks are now in your Mobipocket ebook library.
Site with mobipocket ebooks:
http://www.ebooks.com
http://www.mobipocket.com
http://www.booksonboard.com
Barnes and Noble NOOK
The Barnes and Noble NOOK was an early birthday present from my hubby and it revolutionized my mode of buying books, I couldn't stop reading and of course that lead to buying MORE books! Needless to say my ebook budget was maxed out in a few minutes of shopping.
The NOOK had a long battery, about 10 days worth, a beta web browser, over 1 million books available for instant purchase, a Chess game and a color touch navigation panel at the bottom. With all those cool features though I still wasn't 100% happy with it. The NOOK didn't have a light, side light or backlight.
This was a great move- or bad move if you talk to my hubby –even with my "no back-light" gripe I had, the NOOK allowed me to buy books in two clicks flat. The NOOK was Wi-Fi and G3 connected, so I could buy books anywhere there was cell service or a Wi-Fi hotspot. I DID need a BN account and a credit card on file to buy books from BN.com but I already do a lot of online purchases with BN so this wasn't a biggie. *If you don't have an account, it isn't hard to create a new account you just need an email, password, and credit card.*
A great feature about the NOOK is you don't have to use BN.com. You can use any e-book site that offers EPUB files, (BooksonBoard and Ebooks.com). The only downside is you have to use a computer and hardwire your NOOK to transfer the books but if my 5-year-old can be taught how to do it, I'm sure you could too.
Site with EPUB ebooks:
http://www.ebooks.com
http://www.mobipocket.com
http://www.booksonboard.com
Barnes and Noble(BN) NOOKcolor
After using the NOOK for about 6 months, the NOOKcolor became available in November 2010 and I instantly bought it. With the NOOKcolor there were a few upgrades. The best features are Pandora, Suduko, Web surfing and social media sharing apps that come already installed. One downside is, no Flash plugin, but Barnes and Noble, like most mobile device companies (Apple's IPhone, IPad, ITouch as an example) don't care if you want see those flashy FLASH sites, so I guess BN took that same stance. I don't need no stickin' FLASH!
The touch screen navigation is simple enough but the zoom "double-tap" feature while browsing the internet is a bit confusing and glichy. *February 2011 software upgrade did solve this problem and offers the popular "pinch and expand" feature found in the IPAD, ITOUCH and IPHONE devices*
The book library has multiple screen settings and can be divided into custom bookshelves. There is a quick link button at the bottom of the screen that will take you to the last book you were reading with a handy bookmark automatically placed where you last left off.
The NOOKcolor has so many user friendly (idiot proof) features that anyone can use it and start buying books. Thanks to having my BN.com account settings directly stored on my NOOKcolor, buying books is still done in two clicks flat. Just like it's counterpart, the NOOK, the NOOKcolor does require you to have a BN account and credit card on file to buy books from BN.com. Unlike it's counterpart though, the battery power is limited to about 9 hours and you are confined to a Wi-Fi connection but these cons are so minor to me that I don't even notice it as an inconvenience anymore.
Now that this e-book reader is in vivid COLOR and has a touch screen, I'm curious to see how BN can top themselves in their next e-book reader release but I am jumping ahead.
Site with mobipocket ebooks:
http://www.ebooks.com
http://www.mobipocket.com
http://www.booksonboard.com
Combining my collection of books
One problem that I did come across was I had over 120 books in Mobipocket format and as you can guess that format is not compatible with the EPUB files that are required in the NOOK and NOOKcolor.
I also have to state now, that I ALWAYS buy new books. I once went to a used book store and felt dirty. Why? Well, the author doesn't get credit for that sale, only the used book store does. So, I always buy new, that way the author gets royalties from the sale. That being said, I hate DRM protected books! I wanted a way to combine my books into one book reader.
So, I guess, a lot of people wanted to do this too because WIRED magazine wrote an article explaining what to do about it (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/01/how-to-strip-drm-from-kindle-e-books-and-others/). I read the article and was still confused on what to do. I'm a visual learner, if you show me how to do it I'll never forget. So I had to re-read the article several time to figure it out. I guess not having a KINDLE but a NOOK made it a bit confusing. LOL
Here is my step-by-step guide (but it's not idiot proof) for the NOOK and NOOKcolor and what you need to do. There is a little bit of computer knowledge needed to accomplish it.
To combine all my files, Mobipocket, EPUB, Adobe PDF, even KINDLE, I downloaded Calibre to my computer. In order to convert all these different formatted files into one cohesive format (EPUB for the NOOKcolor) I had to install some plug-ins for Calibre.
1. Go here http://calibre-ebook.com/ and download this and install the program.
2. Then go here http://www.datafilehost.com/download-a0cecfba.html and download these .zip file and "extract all" Open your Calibre program and click on the "preferences" (all the way on the far right).
3. Then Click the "plugins"
4. "add a new plugin"
5. Then find your "extracted files" on your hard drive. Find the "Calibre_Plugins" and select and install each .zip folder in there.
6. Once installed the plugins do require some added info but if you double click on the plugin "File type plugins" it'll tell you the info needed. ie: username and credit card number or username and last 8 digits of your credit card. *this info isn't given out to anyone but it's used as part of the encryption code and you need to input it if you want the DRM to be stripped.*
So as you can see there is a little bit of computer work involved but it is worth it in the end and now my digital library- consisting of 210 books -resides on one nice little e-book reader. I can easily use my NOOKcolor while I'm laying in bed listening to free music and no silly lights are on, keeping my hubby up or more accurately put…letting my hubby know I'm STILL up reading.
I hope this has helped outline my trials– three-years worth of trials I might add –trying to find the perfect e-book reader and my inevitable downward spiral into becoming the ultimate book worm.
Betty
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