Cheap eBook shop?

[petedude]

Anyone know of a good place to purchase eBooks online? I remember seeing one a few weeks ago but can't remember the name for the life of me, and for some reason I didn't save the link.

[Kaminsky]

Pirate Bay!! ... oh wait! Never mind..

[djhss68]

There's the smart way to do this and then the legal way. I don't wanna get in any trouble, so I will say no more.

[mikej412]

Amazon has a large assortment of books available for the Kindle

Sony has a bunch of ebooks available for their reader.

Cisco Press web site sells eBooks for a bunch of their newer Cisco Titles.

And then there are the books you can buy that come with an eBook version on their included CD.

[msteinhilber]

And then there are the books you can buy that come with an eBook version on their included CD.

This is my preferred method, not sure why but I really dislike using eBooks for anything other than a quick reference. Not at all something I like to read a good while from, for that I prefer a real print copy.

If you want a good source for eBooks and think you would read through enough of them, there is always a Safari Books Online subscription option:

Safari Books Online - Home Page

[cnfuzzd]

This is my preferred method, not sure why but I really dislike using eBooks for anything other than a quick reference. Not at all something I like to read a good while from, for that I prefer a real print copy.

If you want a good source for eBooks and think you would read through enough of them, there is always a Safari Books Online subscription option:

Safari Books Online - Home Page

Just as a fwiw, but I always felt the same way until my wife gave me a sony reader. Probably the best gift I have ever received.

John

[dynamik]

Just as a fwiw, but I always felt the same way until my wife gave me a sony reader. Probably the best gift I have ever received.

John

I'm debating on getting a Kindle. I used to have a Safari subscription, but I got sick of reading off the screen. If the Kindle (or other reader) is more like reading a book, I'll probably take the plunge and start buying books for that. It's difficult to justify it at the moment since I have so much money into actual books, but it's not like that really matters since most of them will be obsolete in a couple of years anyway

[msteinhilber]

Just as a fwiw, but I always felt the same way until my wife gave me a sony reader. Probably the best gift I have ever received.

John

Have you been fairly happy with how PDF's format on the smaller screen as well as speed in turning/loading pages? I tested both the old style and the newer style Sony readers with some Cisco Press PDF's and I wasn't very happy with the display and the page turn speeds were very slow on the older model. The new model doesn't suffer the delay turning pages but I think they made the display worse thanks to the added backlight/touchscreen.

Have you tried any of the books from Sony's store? Curious if those are formatted specifically for the device and how they appear.

[networker050184]

I'm debating on getting a Kindle. I used to have a Safari subscription, but I got sick of reading off the screen. If the Kindle (or other reader) is more like reading a book, I'll probably take the plunge and start buying books for that. It's difficult to justify it at the moment since I have so much money into actual books, but it's not like that really matters since most of them will be obsolete in a couple of years anyway

Hey even if the books are obsolete they make you look like a distinguished gentleman with a large personal library. No eBook reader can do that for you!

[msteinhilber]

Hey even if the books are obsolete they make you look like a distinguished gentleman with a large personal library. No eBook reader can do that for you!

Very true... I only recently took my MS Press kit for the MCSE in NT 4.0 to Half Priced Books... I think I got $.50 for it

[dynamik]

Hey even if the books are obsolete they make you look like a distinguished gentleman with a large personal library. No eBook reader can do that for you!

Maybe if you have a bookcase. Since the wife kicked me out, they're just in my trunk. I think I look more homeless than distinguished

I'm now more concerned with maximizing the efficiency of my moving capabilities, so I don't have to deal with all this the next time a woman throws me out

[cnfuzzd]

Have you been fairly happy with how PDF's format on the smaller screen as well as speed in turning/loading pages? I tested both the old style and the newer style Sony readers with some Cisco Press PDF's and I wasn't very happy with the display and the page turn speeds were very slow on the older model. The new model doesn't suffer the delay turning pages but I think they made the display worse thanks to the added backlight/touchscreen.

Have you tried any of the books from Sony's store? Curious if those are formatted specifically for the device and how they appear.

I have the prs-700, and i think the pdf's look fine. There are problems anytime there is a chart or visual aides, but only if you are in magnify mode. The page turns are quick. The touchscreen does add some potential glare, but its not a deal-breaker imo. Native pdf txt, doc, etc support in the Sony was key for me. I often find myself with tons of pdfs to read, and converting them for the kindle would have been attrocious. In addition, there is a built-in backlight, sd card support, audio file player, and cool futuristic-looking touchscreen all were options not available on the kindle (some are with kindle 2 i think) In addition, blogs are free, etc etc etc. It seems like the kindle's claim to fame is that it has whispernet, which is of utterly no use to me since at any point in time i have at least one device that can access the internet. FWIW, I think they both use the same display technology.

John

[kalebksp]

I'm debating on getting a Kindle. I used to have a Safari subscription, but I got sick of reading off the screen. If the Kindle (or other reader) is more like reading a book, I'll probably take the plunge and start buying books for that. It's difficult to justify it at the moment since I have so much money into actual books, but it's not like that really matters since most of them will be obsolete in a couple of years anyway

I recently received a Kindle 2 as a gift and am really liking it. Being able to search Amazon from it and download sample chapters is awesome. I used it during a recent trip and downloaded a few sample chapters while in an airport, which was very cool. The ability to search wikipedia from it is one of my favorite features.

I do wish it had a larger screen, diagrams don't show up all that well (although you can zoom in on them, which helps). I've been studying BGP recently, and many times I need to reference a diagram a few pages back, so I bought the hardcover versions of those books.

PDF conversion can be hit or miss. Using a program like calibre, which can batch convert and sync PDFs and other formats, helps a lot. Not having a light on it can be annoying, but I plan on buying a cheap clip-on book light to solve that problem.

If you're interested in one I suggest that you search for the books from the publishers you commonly read and make sure they're available. I would say that for regular books Kindle is great and technical books it's okay (depending on whether the book has many graphics/diagrams). Overall I'm very happy with mine.

PS. It also has text to speech! Who doesn't love having the details of BGP attributes read to them by a robotic woman? Sexy.

[impelse]

I have the kindle and I love it, but for studying the certifications exams I prefer the books or safari, I can copy some sentences and create my own crack book.

When using kindle you forget that you are using a device and you have a lot of books there.

[Plantwiz]

The Kindle looks GREAT!

I know a few people who have them and love them, but it's got to come off that price point for me. $149 - $199...I'd have a real tough time saying 'no', but at over $300 it's out of the question for me.

I still am pretty old school on reading, and something about a big heavy book I really enjoy.

[msteinhilber]

The Kindle looks GREAT!

I know a few people who have them and love them, but it's got to come off that price point for me. $149 - $199...I'd have a real tough time saying 'no', but at over $300 it's out of the question for me.

I still am pretty old school on reading, and something about a big heavy book I really enjoy.

I agree on the price point, it's a bit high for my tastes. If it drops a bit, or if I didn't have more useful things (to me anyways) to spend money on I'd be all over one.

On a side note, if the classes I have been taking for my Bachelors had texts available on the Kindle, then I would have purchased one in a heartbeat even if I would have still paid the same for electronic texts. Just because I often had to keep 2 or 3 books with me so I would be able to study on the go. That's not as big of a deal to me for studying for a cert on the go is usually just a single book at a time for me.