Comments on: Weekly Tech RoundUp

By: Stumbling Over Chaos :: Reading our lives away

Stumbling Over Chaos :: Reading our lives away — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:08:08 +0000

[...] Author’s weekly tech roundup has some good stuff this week, including info on colorful new ebook readers and an ebook price [...]

By: De

De — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:55:26 +0000

A friend sent me some books that are lit. file [snip] does anyone know if those files can be tranfered to a mobipocket file.

Search for “convert lit” It’s VERY easy to use and converts .lit files to .html. You might be able to just read the .html files, but if not I think there are probably a lot of ways to convert them to .mobi

By: ShellBell

ShellBell — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:15:57 +0000

Many thanks Estara .. I hadn’t thought of that. Will look at using Paypal through BooksonBoard for those eBooks I can’t get through Fictionwise

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:44:31 +0000

I use my blackberry curve as an ereader. I love it. so far A friend sent me some books that are lit. file Is microsoft erader the only application that those can be read on? does anyone know if that can be downloaded to the blackberry? or does anyone know if those files can be tranfered to a mobipocket file. I have researched this a couple of times, but no real definate answers

By: Janine

Janine — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:07:01 +0000

@Jane: Is the Kindle Dx larger and heavier than the smaller screen Kindles? If so, it may be too heavy for Diane to hold comfortably.

By: Estara

Estara — Mon, 25 May 2009 22:32:56 +0000

@ShellBell: FYI, I'm from Germany but I have a Paypal account. BooksonBoard.com has so far not really bothered about checking where I'm from, as long as the money arrives in their account, so I've been happily buying US ebooks. there. Worth a try, maybe.

By: Estara

Estara — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:59:39 +0000

There's an introduction and a video embedded from Tech Crunch on the Mobile Read Forums about the Cool-er

By: ShellBell

ShellBell — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:52:41 +0000

I use a Palm T/x for my eBooks and I am always envious of all of the eReader devices that seem to be available anywhere but New Zealand. I guess the COOL-er eBook reader is just another device for me to drool over! Don’t get me wrong, I love my Palm – I love that I can read books in various formats – I just wish the T/x had a bigger screen like the iLiad, Sony, Kindle etc! It’s almost as frustrating as the ‘geographical restrictions’ that I am beginning to encounter more often when I purchase my eBooks.

By: eBook Reader in Cool Colors! « Malle Vallik's Blog

eBook Reader in Cool Colors! « Malle Vallik's Blog — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:54:50 +0000

[...] in repeating work when someone else has already done it better. Jane from Dear Author has her weekly tech round up and includes the new COOL-er eBook [...]

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:14:35 +0000

@Angela James

Thanks for the feedback on my website eBookPrice.Info – very useful!

I’m fixing both the points you raise:

(a) I’ve noticed recently that several popular books which are available in Kindle format aren’t actually showing up in Amazon’s feed, so I’m going to fix that in the next couple of days;

(b) you also mentioned the varying prices for FictionWise clubmembers etc, I’m working on a new feature which will let you see all the various prices for club members/with or without rebates which will optionally let you exclude the ones you’re not interested in. That’s going to take a little longer, but should be ready next month.

If you’ve any other suggestions for improvements, please drop me a comment via the website or email me directly at rachel@ebookprice.info.

Cheers
Rachel

By: Li

Li — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:42:41 +0000

There was a little blurb about COOL-er in the Sunday Times (UK), but Â£189 v. Â£200-odd for the Sony Reader isn’t a huge enough difference for me to seriously consider moving away from my Sony Reader. I’m glad prices are moving in the right direction though.

@GrowlyCub: One word – mobidedrm

By: Jayne

Jayne — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:12:42 +0000

I love the colors for the COOL-er but does it come with some kind of protective cover or case?

By: darkened jade

darkened jade — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:54:18 +0000

Thanks for the reviews and the helpful links. I have to admit the COOL-er looks very interesting. I wonder where these will be a year from now.

By: GrowlyCub

GrowlyCub — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:15:28 +0000

Jody, did you do the firmware update?

I had real issues with PDFs when I first got the e-reader (even on the large setting the type was tiny), but after I upgraded via the Sony software, I’ve been able to use most PDFs successfully. It’s not as nice as the rtf files I create (I really am a creature of habit and want my documents to be in Arial 22 point!), but doable.

By: Jody

Jody — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:08:32 +0000

When I enlarge the font of PDFs on my new Sony 505, it messes up the paragraphing and crams a lot of short paragraphs, particularly lines of dialogue, together.

By: Diane/Anonym2857

Diane/Anonym2857 — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:56:47 +0000

Thanks for the info, ladies!

Diane :o)
taking notes

By: GrowlyCub

GrowlyCub — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:56:03 +0000

Azure,

I’m sure you are right and that’s what is inherently wrong with the way publishers are doing e- right now. They ought to make it easier for their customers and potential customers to buy and use e-books, not harder. Oh well. If anybody has mastered DRM’d PDFs or Mobi files please share..

By: Azure

Azure — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:51:04 +0000

@GrowlyCub: I'm with you in hoping that MS Lit doesn't become a thing of the past. It is by far the easiest to convert into other formats. Which is also why it's probably being phased out in favor of formats that take more time and are a bit trickier to convert.

By: Angela James

Angela James — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:31:42 +0000

Ebookprice.info is a great concept but seems incomplete right now. I did a search for Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain, it didn’t even come up with a Kindle price (13.82), and one thing to keep in mind is that it didn’t take into account things like Micropay back at Fictionwise or Reward dollars at BooksonBoard. Those types of things do sway my buying decision. (In this case, the Micropay rebate makes the book $3 cheaper at Fictionwise than Kindle). I’m also wondering if the site searches the regular price or the club price at Fictionwise.

I’d love to get my hands on a COOL-er ebook reader for comparison to the Sony/Kindle. Maybe I’ll email them and ask :P

By: orannia

orannia — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:18:47 +0000

Thank you Jane! The COOL-er ebook reader (and am I the only one who thinks of The Great Escape when I see the word ‘cooler’) looks so pretty….but, pessimist that I am, I doubt it will be released here (NZ). Am thinking the only option for me is the iTouch…