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#1
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Ebook reader/tablet.
Is there a specific group for questions about ebook reader/tablet type
devices? What I intend is; obtain a very cheap - simple tablet for reading PDF as a bare minimum. Someone told me I won't be able to transfer files without Wi-Fi (my PC doesn't have it), I was hoping file transfer would be as simple as USB - the same person told me; "not without using Wi-Fi to download the app you won't". Any help please? Thanks. |
#2
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Ebook reader/tablet.
You can get a lot of good information at
http://www.mobileread.com/ The forum covers all ereaders. You CAN move files without Wi-Fi by using a usb connection between your computer and ereader. For reading PDF files note that ereaders are not the best choice for reading PDF files. The screen is small and ereaders do not allow for reflow (changing magnification). It can be done but if your main requirement is PDF consider an Android tablet. They are better than an ereader for PDF and you can read epub and mobi files. Harry On Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:03:39 -0000, "Ian Field" wrote: Is there a specific group for questions about ebook reader/tablet type devices? What I intend is; obtain a very cheap - simple tablet for reading PDF as a bare minimum. Someone told me I won't be able to transfer files without Wi-Fi (my PC doesn't have it), I was hoping file transfer would be as simple as USB - the same person told me; "not without using Wi-Fi to download the app you won't". Any help please? Thanks. |
#3
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Ebook reader/tablet.
In "Ian Field"
wrote: Someone told me I won't be able to transfer files without Wi-Fi (my PC doesn't have it), I was hoping file transfer would be as simple as USB - the same person told me; "not without using Wi-Fi to download the app you won't". My wife has a basic Kindle. We're able to load files onto it via USB from a PC with no problem. WiFi is only needed if you want to be able to buy books or check them out from a library when you're away from your PC. The basic Kindle reads PDFs just fine, but most PDF documents are formatted for 8.5"x11" (US A size or European A4 size) paper and don't work well on the small screen. -- St. Paul, MN |
#4
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Ebook reader/tablet.
wrote in message ... You can get a lot of good information at http://www.mobileread.com/ The forum covers all ereaders. Thanks. You CAN move files without Wi-Fi by using a usb connection between your computer and ereader. Thanks - I did suspect I was being fed weapons grade bolonium! |
#5
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Ebook reader/tablet.
"Bert" wrote in message ... In "Ian Field" wrote: Someone told me I won't be able to transfer files without Wi-Fi (my PC doesn't have it), I was hoping file transfer would be as simple as USB - the same person told me; "not without using Wi-Fi to download the app you won't". My wife has a basic Kindle. We're able to load files onto it via USB from a PC with no problem. WiFi is only needed if you want to be able to buy books or check them out from a library when you're away from your PC. Buy?! - I have nearly 2Tb of ebooks downloaded from one of the binaries. |
#6
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Ebook reader/tablet.
In "Ian Field"
wrote: Buy?! - I have nearly 2Tb of ebooks downloaded from one of the binaries. "We could do that, but it would be wrong." - Richard Nixon. -- St. Paul, MN |
#7
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Ebook reader/tablet.
"Joel" wrote in message ... "Ian Field" wrote: Is there a specific group for questions about ebook reader/tablet type devices? What I intend is; obtain a very cheap - simple tablet for reading PDF as a bare minimum. Someone told me I won't be able to transfer files without Wi-Fi (my PC doesn't have it), I was hoping file transfer would be as simple as USB - the same person told me; "not without using Wi-Fi to download the app you won't". Any help please? Thanks. The NewsGroup for eBook Reader is pretty much called GOOGLE. It sêms like you misunderstand the question and answer 1. In order to BUY or brorrow eBook from library or similar you will need either Wi-Fi or 3G (or similar) in order to transfer ebook from store or library 2. PDF is the last thing you really want. In other word it would be nice to have PDF supported, but you don't really want PDF eBook Reader. IOW, the other format(s) usually work lot better with the eDoob reader than PDF format 3. With most eBook readers (not iPod and most Apple products) you should be able to transfer eBook using USB. Unfortunately the vast majority of the ebooks I have are PDF, although the Kindle Calibre app might solve that one. I was thinking of avoiding Apple stuff unless I was offered a S/H one at a price I can't refuse. I have a Netgear dongle that is intended for use with a Wi-Fi router, presumably the Wi-Fi would be integrated into the tablet - would my USB dongle complete the link? |
#8
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Ebook reader/tablet.
In Joel
wrote: With Kindle, you can use the free eBook converter called Calibre to convert mosts formats to MOBI which is similar to Kindle's own format AWZ (renamed from MOBI). I use Calibre, but it doesn't do too well on most PDFs, since they apparently don't contain much in the way of formatting hints for Calibre to use. Kindle's read MOBIs just as well as AZWs. I don't know if there's any difference between the formats beyond the name. -- St. Paul, MN |
#9
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Ebook reader/tablet.
Bert wrote:
In Joel wrote: With Kindle, you can use the free eBook converter called Calibre to convert mosts formats to MOBI which is similar to Kindle's own format AWZ (renamed from MOBI). I use Calibre, but it doesn't do too well on most PDFs, since they apparently don't contain much in the way of formatting hints for Calibre to use. PDF is actually a programming language. So it's more than "just a few hints". It contains all the commands necessary to produce vector graphics or bitmap graphics or fonts with glyphs or... you name it. So to say it doesn't have "formatting hints", is disingenuous. It works at an entirely different level (i.e. not a word processor format). If you've ever tried to write conversion programs, to go from one format to another, you discover rather quickly, that some of the things you've been asked to translate, have no exact equivalent in the other environment. And then your "translation" looks pretty dopey. It's like when someone asks for a "PDF to Microsoft Word" translator. Well, PDF is mostly focused on graphics primitives. The "letters" may not be associated with each other any more (you can have trouble telling where words begin and end, where spaces should go and so on). When I hear someone ask for a "PDF to Microsoft Word" translator, it just makes me wince thinking about it. Like, imagine converting this (easily expressed precisely in a PDF), into Microsoft Word. PDF has the ability to display text characters along a mathematical path. Does Microsoft Word have that capability ? There might not be an exact way to do this in Microsoft Word (without cheating, and just inserting a picture). http://candlvarsityjackets.com/image...aight-text.jpg This is one of my favorites. Originally written, by hand, in the PostScript language. Then distilled to PDF (another programming language). You can open this first link easily in Acrobat, to see what it looks like. Engineers use this for certain electrical design problems. Normally, the university book store charges an "arm and leg" for a sheet of this graph paper, which is why people were enamored with printing their own copies on a laser printer. (Thirty years ago, we would have bought this dude a beer!) http://ecee.colorado.edu/~kuester/smith/smith.pdf (The PostScript version is next - you can open this in Notepad, and read the comments by the author... This is one of my favorite hand-hewn diagrams, because it's so damn clever. Try translating this into Microsoft Word. Because this is hand-hewn, the code isn't obfuscated.) http://ecee.colorado.edu/~kuester/smith/smith.ps Doing translations is not easy - especially when every user who uses your tool comments "Huh! It didn't do a very good job". Well, of course not, they're not even conceptually close. They can both have "text strings" in them, but in the case of PDF, that's not essential. In fact, some PDFs store text as a bunch of tiny pixmaps, which is most annoying as a technique. If you wanted to reverse translate such a PDF to Microsoft Word, you'd have to do OCR to get there. Some of the things done in PDF, are done on purpose to make the documents less useful (i.e. so you can't steal the content). For example, one such hack I undid, it causes the "text copy" buffer to be filled with garbage, if a user attempts to copy a passage from the document. (That is different than the "do not copy" security setting - it's an additional form of security.) It's when the PDF is purposely "disrupted" with that objective in mind, that translation could be pretty damn difficult. So when you look at the actual programming language used in a PDF, most of the code in there is to "obfuscate" what is going on - documents would be much smaller, byte-wise, if there weren't so many creative efforts to stop translation or copying. (All about PDF - 1310 pages) http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe...erence_1-7.pdf (The predecessor, PostScript printer language - years ago, the only way to get a copy of this, was purchase a printed copy. The irony... I still have mine, but the back is cracked. Now you can download the damn thing, for free.) http://www.adobe.com/products/postscript/pdfs/PLRM.pdf As a result of my own pitiful efforts to do translators, I'm most impressed when someone else does one, and they even get half-close to a successful translation. Some things are easy to translate, and some... not. Paul |
#10
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Ebook reader/tablet.
In Paul wrote:
So to say it doesn't have "formatting hints", is disingenuous. It works at an entirely different level (i.e. not a word processor format). Fine. But Calibre still doesn't do a very good job convering PDFs into any other format. And "disingenuous" was certainly not appropriate, unless it was your intention to be insulting. -- St. Paul, MN |
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