e-Book Reader • Non-Gaming • Books • Eurogamer.net

twelveways 16 Apr 2014 12:48:53 7,131 posts
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Hi,

I have received a load of ebooks (boring work related stuff), formats are different, mainly pdf and epub.

Can I use these on a Kindle or do they only use their own format?

I don't have any kind of reader (except for my phone apps which I don't like reading on) and am thinking of getting one but I don't want to be stuck with one that I can only read books in a certain format downloaded from a certain place (I live in China and I'm not even sure of the availability of Amazon books). I know the Kindle is popular but is it the best?

Cheers for any input.

Dougs 16 Apr 2014 12:58:01 100,414 posts
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You can use a prog called Calibre to convert to mobi, which the Kindle reads....

twelveways 16 Apr 2014 13:01:48 7,131 posts
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Cheers

Can I add books to the reader through a usb like with an mp3 player etc?

pauleyc 16 Apr 2014 13:08:06 4,548 posts
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Yes, Calibre supports a variety of transfer methods, for instance through USB to a reader's internal memory or SD card (if available). However, as far as I know it won't convert PDFs to mobi/epub formats. edit: FWIW, have a look at the FAQ. PDF conversion is listed as possible yet apparently the results aren't always acceptable; I know they didn't really work for my ancient PocketBook 360. Then again, my wife's Sony PRS-T1 managed to display PDFs properly.

The Kindle readers are technically quite good (the Paperwhite has a supposedly very good illumination built in), same as the Sony Reader family though for obvious reasons Amazon's selection of books is unrivaled.

Edited by pauleyc at 13:10:48 16-04-2014

Edited by pauleyc at 13:11:56 16-04-2014

twelveways 16 Apr 2014 13:13:56 7,131 posts
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Good info, cheers!

RyanDS 31 Jul 2014 08:24:09 14,073 posts
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My Sony Reader has been playing up a bit lately, so decided to buy a new e-reader, and decided on the Kindle Paperwhite.

Ł110 everywhere, but when food shopping yesterday I saw that in Tescos they are currently on sale for Ł100. Took it to the till, picked up a case at the same tim. Turned out you get Ł10 off a case when you buy a Kindle, and the case was only Ł2.50 (for a nice leather one) so the guy gave me an extra tenner off the kindle instead.

So Ł92.50 for a Kindle plus case, bargain.

TL

R version - If you want a Kindle get to Tescos, by far the cheapest I have seen anywhere.

Kill_Crazy 6 Aug 2014 01:12:04 2,552 posts
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Good to know as my kindle has got quite a few cracks in it now and keep thinking of getting a new one. I'll get my mate to buy it as he gets staff discount too :-)