07-10-2010, 02:44 PM

I've just gotten into e-books (both public domain and purchased) and I find that as always.. there is no perfect solution.

I have "Kindle for Mac" and I read books on both my iMac and MBP so the sync feature is great, however, I like the versatility of "eReader" (setting size, font, background, etc). (Kindle for Mac is VERY limited)

I am also trying Calibre for book organization and conversion.

Having "Kindle for Mac" I have an Amazon account but, as said, I also download free public domain books from different sources and in different formats.

I'm looking for open discussion on your setup, your favorite reader (and why), favorite formats, etc. etc. Any help and discussion would be appreciated.

07-12-2010, 07:56 AM

I have a Sony PRS-505 reader - has the 6" screen, and also have Kindle for Mac installed, to allow me to download books for my Sony, along with other sources such as Kobo and Fictionwise... and all the great free Gutenberg books that are available.

I use Calibre - it is outstanding..... unlike the Sony software which isn't.The Sony bookstore was staggeringly terrible when i bought the reader - there wasn't even a 'back' button in their hopeless bookstore 'browser' app you had to install to buy a book from them.

I also convert many text files to PDF for my reader - I've setup a template for M'soft Office 2008, and print to PDf at the Sony screen size. Works great, and allows me to choose the font i'd prefer without having to hack the Sony hardware.

Fontin is a nice looking serif font.... and Gill Sans is a very good looking sans-serif font, and comes with your Mac, great for ease of reading on LCD screens, e-ink and also printed out on paper.

Epub on the Sony 505 doesn't fully justify (i.e. it leaves a ragged right hand edge to all the text), so I avoid it by converting them to LRF with Calibre.


Coops

ps www.mobileread.com is a very useful site, with tons of info/advice.

07-12-2010, 01:51 PM

cjcoops.. thanks for the input. I'm in the process of evaluating Kindle for Mac, Calibre, Stanza, eReader, and some others. I have to decide what features I like best. I'm also learning about format conversions and which looks best in the readers. Like everything else, seems there is not "best" answer. I wish more of the readers allowed change to the background color (I prefer a light gray to white) but some don't. I like the Kindle Sync feature but I hate that it is Beta with so few options. (Can not change colors)

Again, thanks for your input.