[Dan Wells] Ebook suggestions

[Mad_Scientist he/him]

So, I don't have a kindle, so that's out. According to Brandon's recent blogpost, this book can also be gotten via Nook, iBooks, and Smashwords. The thing is, I've never gotten an ebook from anywhere so I have no idea which of those is the best, or if it even makes much of a difference. Any suggestions?

EDIT: To clarify, I don't have an eReader and have no intention of getting one at the moment. I would like to read this book on my pc, and am curious as to what people would recommend for that.

Edited August 26, 2011 by Mad_Scientist

[Miyabi She/Her]

They all have their quirks. It's best to check out their features to see which you like best. Though in sheer quantity of features I feel the Kindle is best, probably just because it's been around longest. I had a Sony Reader for a while an I rally like it and it did what I needed it to.

[Eerongal he/him]

Personally, i use B&N Nook's android app on occasion on both my phone and my tablet. However, i haven't used any of the others, so my opinion is skewed in favor of nook due to lack of experience here (i'm not a huge e-books guy ). I hear good things about kindle, though.

[SOM1else he/him]

I don't know if it has DRM in it but if not then Calibre will be your best friend. Basically it's a probram that changes the file type so it can be read on any kind of E reader, I'm currently using it to make an Epub version of the Mistborn annotations for my own personal use. so if no DRM then just go with the best deal and put it through Calibre, however striping the DRM to do so, while I consider it to be ethical, it is not exactly legal, so I can't help you there.

[Adrienne she/her]

I bought a Kindle and then purchased a Nook 2 to try.

Kindles have features like text to speech, an experimental web browser, the ability to play music, and the ability to use almost any format available.

They both have the definitions that you can access on screen. They both have the same battery life, the same screen size ,the same price and use the same e-ink technology.

Nooks have the ability to expand memory by popping in a mini SD card. To be honest, most files are so small the 70 books I have on my kindle don't make a dent in it's space. The Nook only takes 2 types of format (I believe, possibly 3). That is a moot point because of programs like Calibre that will allow you to format anything you have into any format either ereader will use. The biggest thing is that the Nook has an on screen touch feature. You can swipe the screen like a page and it will change it. You have the option of using the side buttons which compared to the kindle are a pain to use.

The kindle has a keyboard on the device. The nook has a feature to pop up a keyboard as needed. So far in the last month the nook stopped responding to touch twice. Rebooting it appears to fix the issue but as far as stability goes the kindle is better.

All in all it's what you prefer. Would you rather have a smaller device with touch screen? The downside being the file limitations and probability to have the device break.

I've been using a wysiwyg editor to put brandons annotations together for ebooks. I'm still in the testing phase with some css kinks to work out. The Elantris works are 75% complete. Maybe if I'm lucky once it's done I can present it to Brandon and Peter and they will approve it's use/downloads for fans.

P.S. If you're saying you don't want to purchase and just use an ereader from your computer then Calibre comes with an ebook reader. The formats don't matter. Find the cheapest price. If they are all the same price, purchase from a reputable dealer. Barnes and Noble or Itunes are reputable.

Edited August 26, 2011 by Adrienne

[Emeralis00 she/her]

I have a B&N Nook, so I would recommend that. But you should look and see for yourself.

However, keep in mind that an e-reader and an e-book are not the same thing. You might want to change the topic title to e-reader suggestions.

[Mad_Scientist he/him]

I guess I should clarify. At the moment, I have no kindle or other portable ebook reader, and I have no intention of getting one any time soon, as I usually prefer reading books in paper form and can't really afford one now anyways. A Night of Blacker Darkness is only available in electronic form, but I intend to just read it on my pc.

Since I plan to read it on my pc, the main things I was wondering about are stuff like possible DRM hassles, the ease of use (or lack thereof) of whatever PC software I'd need, whether I can redownload the book if something happens to my computer, etc. The only ebooks I have read on my pc before have been in PDF format so I was already familiar with what I'd need to read them.

EDIT: And I just now discovered that Smashwords has a whole bunch of different options available, including pdf. So I'll probably go with that, and this whole thread wouldn't have been needed if I had just done a few minutes more research myself.

*Insert embarrassed emoticon, since we don't have one yet*

Edited August 26, 2011 by Mad_Scientist

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

PDF is not an ideal form for reading ebooks. I would get the ePub version from Smashwords and then use a desktop ePub reader on your computer, such as the Nook application or Adobe Digital Editions. ePub makes a convenient format for reflowing text, adjusting the size for comfortable reading, etc. PDF is a static format.

I personally read ebooks on my iPad or my iPhone using Stanza. But the desktop version of Stanza is, I think, not that great (though I haven't tried it recently). You could try Stanza on your computer too though. There are a bunch of different programs to read ePub books on the computer; try a few and pick the one you like best.

[Kurtharsis he/him]

I'm a Kindle fan, and they've got apps for phones and tablets and PCs that you can sync across. It's a bit more restrictive than some other formats, but Amazon's whipsersync delivery is great for the "it-just-works" factor. I agree that PDF is not a very enjoyable format to read from, but if your heart is set on Smashwords, then that's probably the right choice for you.

[fireflyz he/him]

You can download a Kindle version from Amazon's website for your PC. I believe it's free?