Um, hi?

[silvercat63.livejournal.com]

Hello, oh wonderful people who can hopefully answer my burning questions! (Is the flattery working?) I'm really interested in Barnes & Noble's new eBook called the nook. The nook just came out about a month ago so it's very new, but it's already back ordered to February 11! I've been keeping an eye on it because I like what I see.The Kindle and Sony eReader just look weird to me, and I don't like the way they operate. But then, I've only ever seen the much abused Sony eReader at my local Best Buy store and the info about the Kindle on Amazon so I could very well be mistaken. The nook is the only ebook/ereader that I've actually gotten to play with and explore much so I may very well be prejudiced. If I am, please set me straight. I'd love to learn more about other devices from people who actually know about them! Anyway, the purpose of this post is to ask if anyone has tried out PDF files converted in NeoOffice on the nook. I have a Mac and use NeoOffice as my main word processor. My plan is to beg for a nook for Christmas and be able to read all my favorite fanfiction when ever and where ever I want. So, do you experts think my plan will work? I don't wanna get the nook only to be disappointed, not that I'd mind having access to B&N's new ebook library and all the other great features, but I really want to read my sl-ah fanfic on the go (and keep it safe - I tend to loose stuff). Thanks! Meg =) P.S. I don't think LiveJournal likes me right now. This post may be a bit confusing because of some format errors - sorry!

Comments

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

Honestly? I still say the Sony E-Reader is the best one out of all three. We got one for our office and I subsequently took it home and have used it every single day since October to read slash. The files are non-proprietary, which is a big plus for fanfiction reading, and the navigation couldn't be simpler. Also the files are drag and drop, no conversion necessary.

[aranel-took.livejournal.com]

Once you create a PDF, it should work anywhere. I don't think the source of the original matters once it's converted. I haven't used NeoOffice in years, but I've used Pages for creating PDFs and never had any problems with the results. PDF creation is done through OSX's "Print As..." so it should be similar results no matter what word processor you use.

[amalthia]

I'm a big advocate against PDF for any of the devices unless the PDF is made for a specific screen size it never looks good and then if you ever decide to get a device with a smaller or larger screen you'd have to recreate the file.

Right now at Mobile Read forums people are posting their experiences with the Nook I highly recommend reading the posts and seeing how it actually works. Based on what I read it still has a ways to go before becoming a better device. However, I have a Sony PRS-505 and I love it so I'm a bit biased.

[sineala.livejournal.com]

I have a Kindle, and I love it to pieces. I can confirm that PDFs (printed from OSX Print to PDF dialogue) work on the Kindle 2, but unless you've moved the fonts up in size specifically for it, the things are pretty hard to read without any zoom. (I don't know if the nook zooms.) Kindle's rotate-screen feature helps a lot, but honestly, I'd much rather read in .TXT or .MOBI/.PRC on the Kindle, so it can read aloud, adjust fonts, etc. (As far as I know, nook doesn't read .txt.) If you're reading a lot of text without fancy formatting (columns, diagrams, etc), really PDF isn't gonna be needed on the Kindle.

Both the Kindle and nook can read their own proprietary locked formats (mobi/prc/azw versus epub), and they can each read the unlocked version of their own format (but not the other's). If you're looking for free public-domain books (like from Project Gutenberg), most places will generally provide both formats. And as far as I know, the pay bookstore sites have roughly comparable selection. You can also read (mobi) library ebooks on the Kindle with a little finagling; I don't know about the nook. I am also a fan of the kindle's web access -- I can google/wiki something as I read it.

Keep in mind that you can use Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com/) to convert pretty much any format to whatever the reader you pick will read. So if you're just gonna read slash, really, any reader you like will work.

[elf]

First: The Ebook Comparison Chart of DOOOOOMMM, with far more technical info than any human being is interested in.

Real notes:
The Nook, Kindle, Sony series, Astak readers, and IRex readers are all using the same screen technology. The newer versions have more shades of grayscale, but that doesn't matter for text reading, only for images.

For the 6" readers, which is most of them, the basic reading experience is the same. The differences are in:
1) Where the page turn buttons are and how they work,
2) How the books are sorted on the device,
3) What extra features it offers (search, annotations, wireless, music player, etc.)

The majority of people who have ebook readers, love the one they have--because they're all *terrific* at reading books. And because the people who have ebook readers are mostly the kind who read LOTS AND LOTS OF BOOKS, so anything that can carry 150 books at a time is so wonderful that they ignore any pesky little drawbacks like "takes three minutes to boot up, dammit." (Hypothetical. Don't know any reader that takes 3min to boot up normally.)

Other features that matter are:
1) Where can you get books for it? (This is strongly dependent on "what filetypes does it read, and which of them can have DRM?")
2) How does it connect to the computer? What software does it need?
3) How long does the battery last? How long does it take to recharge?
4) Is it prone to breaking through normal use? If so, will the seller repair/replace it?

Commentary:
All the e-ink readers now being sold read PDFs. All of them are mediocre at it, because PDF generally *sucks* as an ebook format. What makes it suck less, is PDFs designed for exactly the screen size you'll be reading on. PDFs built for letter-sized pages either shrink to show in the e-ink screen (so: show up at about 1/4 normal size), or zoom in so you have to scroll around, or reflow the text and reformat the page.

The Sony PRS-505 (which I have) uses reflow. The Sony 700 zooms. I don't know which the Nook does. Reflow is generally more readable, but can have problems, depending on how the PDF was made.

I don't know enough about NeoOffice to say specifically, but--if it's got options for "tags" or "accessibility", use that option. It helps with reflow.

90x120mm pages is suggested for the 6" readers. That's not exactly right, but it's close enough to work. Almost no margin is necessary; many people make PDFs for the Readers with no margin at all; I use .1" margins 'cos I don't like the shadow of the reader-edge running onto the words.

See if you can make 90x120mm (or 3.46x4.6") pages with NeoOffice and convert them to PDF. Put the fanfic into those pages. I use 10pt type; I believe amalthia favors 12pt font size. I use indented paragraphs (.35") and no space between paragraphs; some people prefer the "web-style" no indents & extra line return between.

If you're *mostly* going to read your own stuff, not purchased books from an ebook store, look for a reader that doesn't have (and charge extra for) wireless access. Wireless costs, and it eats battery.

I'm fond of the Astak readers; that's what I'd want if I were buying one today. They read an insane number of filetypes, and they're selling readers, not store access--so they're invested in providing good hardware, not locking customers to their company for a series of future purchases.

My thoughts on the Nook are that the first release was rushed and the software is still buggy, and the sales people don't actually know how it works & can't troubleshoot worth a damn. No way to tell if it's a good device beyond that.

[asperityq.livejournal.com]

Good commentary above, and be sure to check out the info on Mobileread (http://www.mobileread.com) as well, they've got tons of great stuff on the wiki and in the forums there.

About the Nook: I like the look, and I think the hardware's got very good potential. The firmware that the display models are running is pretty crap. I have to believe BN will be getting a firmware update for the things out soon, since IMO the display model was nearly unusable due to weird user-interface problems. Once they've got the software worked out, it's worth considering.

I agree with Amothea on the PDF issue: PDF's designed for straight-to-print work and doesn't handle different screen sizes gracefully. If your preferred method of dealing with fanfiction is NeoOffice-to-PDF, though, it'll work best if you go with a smaller-than-8.5x11" page size. But that comes after picking a device anyway. :)

I've had a Sony 505 for a bit over a year and am very happy with it, but much of what makes me happy about it can be found on the other e-ink readers. They all have essentially the same screen anyway, so most of the differences are in the smaller things like button placement and material the case is made out of. I think the metal the Sonys are made out of looks cool and holds up well (I've never bothered protecting mine with anything at the beach, and it hasn't been bothered when I've dropped it a few times.) The metal sucks heat out of your hands, though. The plastic ones like the Nook and Kindle are probably a little less cold-feeling in winter, but then they show smudges more (especially what with being white.)

Anyway. All the readers should work fine for us fanfic readers, and I think we can all agree that the single most obnoxious thing about fanfic reading on the go is people who only post their novel-length stories to about thirty separate LiveJournal entries. ;)

[silvercat63.livejournal.com]

Wow... Thank you all so, so much! I'm not very computer (or eReader) savvy so I had no clue what I was talking about or what questions to ask to figure this out. I just latched on to PDF 'cause I thought 'Hey, I recognize that!' Silly me! I've spent the last few hours perusing all the lovely sites you've recommended, and I actually think I know what I'm talking about... sort of.

I'm pretty convinced that I'll stick with the nook - mainly because it is very tangible to me and not just some idea that's floating around the internet. It may not be wise to buy it on it's first incarnation, but I don't think it really matters. In today's world of technology you almost need to upgrade all your tech every two years or so to keep up with changes and replace worn out stuff. Plus B&N is already working to fix some problems; I was in the store ogling/fondling the nook earlier today and a sales person told that the first update is due out sometime next week. She didn't know all the details exactly, but she was pretty sure they were addressing the slow loading time and stuff like that. (Which is the biggest disappointment about the nook, in my book.)

Anyway, thanks again for all your help. I hope you have a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year! Happy reading! =D

[josieb1.livejournal.com]

I have two ebooks, both Sony, the PRS-505 and the new touch screen PRS-600 (an early xmas present). I love them both and would never be without at least one ebook. Both machines take PDF's but the 600 goes to a bigger font size than the 505 so that one is better, you need the option to enlarge the font size as PDF's load with a default size of the whole page fitting on the screen, which is unreadable, so the ability to enlarge as much as possible is a must. To be honest 99% of my stories loaded (and I have over 600 converted for the ebook, all fanfiction) are in RTF (Rich Text Font) format, I avoid PDF as much as I can as RTF's load much better. The only original stories I buy are in EPUB format. I haven't looked at the other makes as in the UK Sony is the market leader, and woulnd't change from Sony evern, if more makes sold over here. Here is a very good You Tub review of the Sony PRS600 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWl60GNcQIw