Does Nook e-book reader support all book formats?

[techlife4me]

I am planning to buy a Nook e-book reader. But does it support all ebook types; irrespective of the site the book is bought from?

 

[kneo]

'Calibre' is your friend. Google for it.

On the other hand, why are you not looking at Kindle Paperwhite? I don't see any reason strong enough to go for Nook instead of Kindle

 

[Shivam]

I am using Amazon kindle and I use calibre for formats that are not compatible with my device. For PDF I use iPad.

 

[techlife4me]

'Calibre' is your friend. Google for it.

On the other hand, why are you not looking at Kindle Paperwhite? I don't see any reason strong enough to go for Nook instead of Kindle

Thanks for your reply. For one Kindle paperwhite needs time for shipping and the person bringing it for me from US will come before that. Other thing is Nook has expandable memory slot up to 32 GB. What do you think of kindle deleting content from user device or not allowing books bought from other sites? Calibre indeed sound good.

 

[techlife4me]

I am using Amazon kindle and I use calibre for formats that are not compatible with my device. For PDF I use iPad.

I read somewhere that calibre converts pdf also? Good to read on e reader?

 

[techlife4me]

On the discussion of nook reader. LCD screen of color nook is not that bad compared to eink as it made about to be. What do you say?

 

[apk]

For one Kindle paperwhite needs time for shipping and the person bringing it for me from US will come before that.

I recently saw the Amazon Kindle at the Delhi airport 'Croma' store. The basic wifi model was going for around Rs 7200, which I thought was a good price for the kindle in India.

Has Amazon started selling the kindle through retail stores in India?

 

[techlife4me]

I recently saw the Amazon Kindle at the Delhi airport 'Croma' store. The basic wifi model was going for around Rs 7200, which I thought was a good price for the kindle in India.

Has Amazon started selling the kindle through retail stores in India?

They have started to sell with a tie up with Croma. The good thing is that you can see and feel the product before buying it. The bad thing is that levy taxes, custom and shipping charges. But I guess if you don't have a friend or relative who can bring it from the U.S. you have to pay all that. The big minus of Kindle is no expandable memory, plus too many advts.

 

[kneo]

Couple of points need to be clarified

1. Advertisements - There are two variants whcih are available, one with special offers and one without. The one with special offers is a bit cheaper but is not available for use outside US. This means that if you get one through your relative in India, replacing the same would be difficult as Amazon would not be able to ship out the replacement outside US.

The advertisements themselves are completely non-intrusive. They appear only when your Kindle is NOT in use and when you've powered it down (as wallpapers). I've used this product extensively and it's a non-issue.

2. Expandable memory - The eBooks that one gets is hardly 1-2Mb (max). Most would be around 600-700kb. With the available memory in Kindle one can easily store 3-4K books. That's a lot ! I am not convinced about memory being an issue at all.

 

[Shivam]

I read somewhere that calibre converts pdf also? Good to read on e reader?

Kindle displays PDF without conversion. Reading PDF files is not very comfortable though.

The problem is that PDF files are meant for display on larger screens and usually have colored graphics. These are better displayed on a computer or a tablet like the iPad.

However for books, kindle is the best thing in my opinion.

 

[arj]

The Nook is really good. it can take SD cards which means transfer of files is very easy and expandable. It uses epub as the format.

Kindle is also nice..frankly you can choose any

 

[techlife4me]

Couple of points need to be clarified

1. Advertisements - There are two variants whcih are available, one with special offers and one without. The one with special offers is a bit cheaper but is not available for use outside US. This means that if you get one through your relative in India, replacing the same would be difficult as Amazon would not be able to ship out the replacement outside US.

The advertisements themselves are completely non-intrusive. They appear only when your Kindle is NOT in use and when you've powered it down (as wallpapers). I've used this product extensively and it's a non-issue.

2. Expandable memory - The eBooks that one gets is hardly 1-2Mb (max). Most would be around 600-700kb. With the available memory in Kindle one can easily store 3-4K books. That's a lot ! I am not convinced about memory being an issue at all.

Negative about Kindle is, it does not lets you use content or buy books from other sites.
And most of the inbuilt memory is reserved for Kindle content only. With expandable memory you can load books from other sites and downloaded from the internet for free and video and other files on a color variant of ebook also need a lot of space.

 

[techlife4me]

Kindle displays PDF without conversion. Reading PDF files is not very comfortable though.

The problem is that PDF files are meant for display on larger screens and usually have colored graphics. These are better displayed on a computer or a tablet like the iPad.

However for books, kindle is the best thing in my opinion.

Both Nook and Kindle support PDF and anyways you can always convert it to "Epub" format that is the current industry standard and which nook uses unlike Kindle.

 

[kneo]

Negative about Kindle is, it does not lets you use content or buy books from other sites.
And most of the inbuilt memory is reserved for Kindle content only. With expandable memory you can load books from other sites and downloaded from the internet for free and video and other files on a color variant of ebook also need a lot of space.

That's incorrect. You can definitely use any content on Kindle (once you change the formats using Calibre). Anything that's on your PC can be transferred using the cable provided. Also, you don't get a Kindle color version at all! Kindle eBook reader is available only in black and white.

PS: Have you used Kindle eReader yourself?

 

[kneo]

Both Nook and Kindle support PDF and anyways you can always convert it to "Epub" format that is the current industry standard and which nook uses unlike Kindle.

Even though this can be done, the regular Kindles (not the older one having the large screen and the full keyboard), would not render multi column formats very well. You'd end up seeing broken pages, incorrect alignment, etc.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Calibre is a free software which will allow you to convert all your material to Kindle readable format.

 

[techlife4me]

That's incorrect. You can definitely use any content on Kindle (once you change the formats using Calibre). Anything that's on your PC can be transferred using the cable provided. Also, you don't get a Kindle color version at all! Kindle eBook reader is available only in black and white.

PS: Have you used Kindle eReader yourself?

I think once you buy a eReader you are stuck with the company to buy content or have to covert it to a suitable format. As for Kindle color vesion they sell as "Fire" tablets. Yes I have used Kindle eReader. And am now thinking of switching to a Nook color.

 

[techlife4me]

Even though this can be done, the regular Kindles (not the older one having the large screen and the full keyboard), would not render multi column formats very well. You'd end up seeing broken pages, incorrect alignment, etc.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Calibre is a free software which will allow you to convert all your material to Kindle readable format.

And what are your views of unfair practice of Amazon on deleting books from Kindle devices. That unethical and should be considered unfair business practice.

 

[kneo]

I think once you buy a eReader you are stuck with the company to buy content or have to covert it to a suitable format. As for Kindle color vesion they sell as "Fire" tablets. Yes I have used Kindle eReader. And am now thinking of switching to a Nook color.

The tablets are not based on their eInk technology and I'd recommend against them if you're planning to use this only to read. Kindle ereaders are best for reading text material (so magazines would not render so well if converted using Calibre - I am not sure how they'll look if you buy them).

The way I use it, I end up reading a lot of free books out there which one can download and then copy on the Kindle.

 

[kneo]

And what are your views of unfair practice of Amazon on deleting books from Kindle devices. That unethical and should be considered unfair business practice.

Agree with you. There was a huge uproar when that had happened. But if you look at the recent scenarios, Amazon is the strongest company when it comes to distributing content. If you plan to buy a lot of books, I am not sure whether you'd get a better reader than Kindle having the backup of the Amazon ecosystem.

 

[techlife4me]

Agree with you. There was a huge uproar when that had happened. But if you look at the recent scenarios, Amazon is the strongest company when it comes to distributing content. If you plan to buy a lot of books, I am not sure whether you'd get a better reader than Kindle having the backup of the Amazon ecosystem.

Since I am in India, not sure if I can download books directly on Kindle. And if I have to use my computer to buy or download books Nook will work as well. I don't have anything against Kindle, but timeline of the person coming from U.S is such that new Kindle will not be delivered on the U.S. add in time. And nook is not that bad a option.

Two things that most Kindle fans ignore or try to wish away is that:
1. Kindle has no external memory card slot.
2. Barnes and Noble has a more exhaustive base of books and magazines.