Where do you buy your ebooks?

rue_meridian · 03-05-06, 01:48 PM

Hey...I get my new Axim x51v this week and have been searching around the internet to find a site where I can buy some good novels (into fantasy/sci-fi). All that I have found are sites that are offering the download for near to list price for actually buying the physical book. There is no way I am paying list price for a download. Any ideas? Thx. Also what's the best reader to use for WM5 x51v? I have used MSreader for the pc AND IT SUCKS!! So give me your opinions or just point me onto threads that this has been dealt with.

Rue

03-05-06, 02:22 PM

Hi Rue-

I assume you are interested in commercial, rather than free public domain titles. There are sources for those like project Gutenberg (sp?), etc., but if you want newer and popular titles, it's a little different.

I'm fairly new to ebooks, myself. I've bought a couple at fictionwise.com, when they were on sale.

In addition, I have found that Amazon.com's prices on ebooks are pretty good. Also, http://www.simonsays.com/content/index.cfm?sid=358 is a good and fairly cheap source for some Simon and Shuster books, if that's who published what you want. I like non-fiction and history, and they've had good prices on some stuff I like.

You might want to check out www.mobileread.com which is a good ebook-focused site.

--- Andrew

03-05-06, 02:33 PM

Do not pay for fantasy and sci-fi books. Drop what you're doing right now and head over to the Baen free library at www.baen.com. Everything in the library is provided absolutely 100% free by the publisher with the full consent of the authors. You will not be disappointed. Additionally, there is webscriptions.net, which is where Baen also sells some ebooks. These go for as little as $5 in multiple, non-DRM'd files for books that have just come out in hardcover. And in recent developments, Tor has recognized the genius of webscriptions and will begin selling some titles through webscriptions.net in the coming months.

03-05-06, 03:20 PM

I use BAEN almost exclusively for the e-books I BUY. As xdalaw indicates there are tons of Free stuff and the prices on the new books are very reasonable. I have signed up for their new project of "Jim Baen's Universe which will be like the old style Pulp fiction magazines that I use to read". The nice thing about Baen is that all of the titles are available in multiple formats so regardless of the reader you prefer you can download what works for you.

ungluud · 03-05-06, 03:36 PM

You can also try Paperback digital,
http://paperbackdigital.com/
They're fairly cheap.

03-05-06, 03:53 PM

Paperbackdigital and baen are my almost exclusive providers. I also use some ereader. Usually twice a year they give away a book a day and I have pickup up a good number of good books that way.

Don't discount public domain books. There are a lot of good books that are public domain.

Another free option is Cory Doctorow at www.craphound.com. He releases all of his work under a creative commons liscence. I have read several of his books.

ungluud · 03-05-06, 04:04 PM

I forgot to mention that Fictionwise is giving away some books at this time. They feature 2 books a week. I can't remember when it's supposed to end.
www.fictionwise.com
check it out.

rue_meridian · 03-05-06, 05:00 PM

Hey thx for all of your help I am checking out all the sites now. If you anyone knows of any others that would be great. Fictionwise seems like a great site with lots of title's to choose from and pretty reasonable prices.

rue

03-05-06, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by rue_meridian

Hey...I get my new Axim x51v this week and have been searching around the internet to find a site where I can buy some good novels (into fantasy/sci-fi). All that I have found are sites that are offering the download for near to list price for actually buying the physical book. There is no way I am paying list price for a download. Any ideas? Thx. Also what's the best reader to use for WM5 x51v? I have used MSreader for the pc AND IT SUCKS!! So give me your opinions or just point me onto threads that this has been dealt with.

Rue

www.ereader.com
www.fictionwise.com
www.ereads.com
www.ebooks.com
www.mobipocket.com
www.powells.com
www.simonsaysebooks.com

Prices vary, but are close to list.:realmad:

Lots of people like mobipocket, ubook, ....

03-05-06, 09:53 PM

There are many worthy alternatives to MSReader as well. Mobipocket, eReader, iSilo, Plucker, ubook and more. ubook is my personal favourite.

03-06-06, 04:23 PM

I buy most my books at Fictionwise, but I have found that for S&S books Simonsays is usually cheaper. Moral of this story, it pays to shop around. All of msadlers recommendations are good.

As for the reader, I think MS Reader is okay, although I have learned to love Mobipocket. The reality is that if you buy a lot of (secure) books you will likely need multiple readers since not all books come in one format.

03-06-06, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by captobie

I buy most my books at Fictionwise, but I have found that for S&S books Simonsays is usually cheaper. Moral of this story, it pays to shop around. All of msadlers recommendations are good.

As for the reader, I think MS Reader is okay, although I have learned to love Mobipocket. The reality is that if you buy a lot of (secure) books you will likely need multiple readers since not all books come in one format.

I use MS Reader too. Some of the books I read are only available in .lit format, but it also locks up frequently. It takes several stylus clicks to get back to where you stopped reading on re-open. Not very customizable. Lots of wasted space on screen. I use it, but can't recommend it.

That said, you are right that you will likely need multiple readers.

03-06-06, 08:10 PM

Whatever reader you choose, make sure you poke through ALL the settings.

It also doesn't hurt to try different versions of each reader. For example, I am using MobiPocket version 4.8, even though ther is a newer version available. Version 5 includes some interface changes that a far as I am concerned were for the worse.

mad0865 · 03-15-06, 09:41 PM

Originally Posted by msadler

I use MS Reader too. Some of the books I read are only available in .lit format, but it also locks up frequently. It takes several stylus clicks to get back to where you stopped reading on re-open. Not very customizable. Lots of wasted space on screen. I use it, but can't recommend it.

That said, you are right that you will likely need multiple readers.

Ugh; I dumped MSReader once I figured out how to extract text from the .lit and port over to Mobireader with their conversion tool (free with the reader, which is also free). All of that wasted space, plus the ability to change the background, I will never go back to the msreader again.

rsmith451 · 03-24-06, 05:21 AM

If you install a newgroup reader (many free ones) you can get some books there. Try alt.binaries.e-books and all those. There are about half dozen good ones in alt. If your a little more adventuresome you might try Mirc and seek Undernet. Just look for groups with the word book in the title.

"Feel the dark side Luke!"
:)