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larryh



Joined: 01/01/2010 22:38:33
Messages: 53
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Which format do you all consider to be the best on the jetBook Lite? Can you get any of them to show a book the same as it looks using a reader such as Calibre? I can't. Not even a PDF file. It seems to use it's own font and font size no matter what how PDF file is formatted. It pretty much strips out most formatting no matter what format I try. Is it because I am using Calibre to create the PDF file that it loses the formatting in the jetBook Lite?

Larry
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larryh



Joined: 01/01/2010 22:38:33
Messages: 53
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Well I can answer part of my question myself. If I save a file as a PDF with Word instead of Calibre it shows up with the font and font size that I used. Now to see if I can get Calibre to do the same because using Word takes way too long. Are there any Calibre experts on the forum?

Larry
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kmrowley



Joined: 12/31/2009 17:14:27
Messages: 106
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larryh wrote:Which format do you all consider to be the best on the jetBook Lite?

Larry


I haven't tried a whole lot of different formats. Mostly I've read some of the books that came with the device (some were txt, some epub). I've also read about a dozen of eReader pdb books and some that I've made myself over the years with eReader Studio. Plus, I've read a few of the html books that I downloaded from Project Gutenberg. Haven't really noticed any one format out of those that I've liked better or liked least. I haven't had a lot of luck with PDF files - most of the ones I've tried really haven't been formated to fit the JBL's small screen.
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larryh



Joined: 01/01/2010 22:38:33
Messages: 53
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I can convert a book to RTF format and load it into MS Word and create the PDF file I want. Word allows me to set the page size to match the jetBook Lite screen and use what ever font I want, but It isn't worth it to do it one book at a time. I am sure that if I could make sense of the Calibre help files I could do a mass conversion, but I can't.

I guess I will have to wait and hope that when they add new fonts there will be ones I like. I was trying to convert to PDF because a PDF file will show up the way it is saved.
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pgovotsos



Joined: 12/22/2009 14:30:04
Messages: 114
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Personally, the eReader format is my favorite. It supports every desired function and is mature enough to have worked out any bugs. The biggest reason I like it is the portability - I can read it on any computer or mobile device that doesn't have a closed, proprietary format (Kindle & Sony).

Of course it doesn't hurt that I've purchased over 4600 books from Fictionwise. The biggest problem with this format on the JBL is that currently Ectaco have only implemented a limited set of features. According to them though "eReader PDB dictionaries and reference titles are not yet compatible with the jetBook lite's dictionary search, cross-referencing and T9 capabilities. We expect a firmware update for this in the very near future. Please check back soon."

Panagiotis
larryh



Joined: 01/01/2010 22:38:33
Messages: 53
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OK, I guess I need to restate my question. It should be: Which format do you thing that the jetBook Lite displays with the most features? I would love to be able to embed fonts in something other than PDF. Several of the formats would allow for that but the jetBook Lite does not seem to allow that in any format other than PDF. I have not figured out to get Calibre to save PDF files with the font size and page size I want. I have a couple disabilities which all cause foggy thinking so I have not figure the finner points of using Calibre out yet.

If none of the formats allow embedded fonts at present what are the chance of adding this feature in the future? I do not care how much space a book takes on my memory card. It is going to take a long time to fill the memory card anyway and I am using the smallest I have.

Larry
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green



Joined: 02/19/2008 04:12:34
Messages: 473
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If You mostly read bestsellers, You should save files in PDB format.

If You prefer reading free classic, You may use TXT format.



Best Regards,

Pavel - technical support

Ectaco INC,
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dromeo17



Joined: 01/24/2010 19:21:37
Messages: 4
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Pavel,

You indicate the best format to save in is PDB format. When I do this and copy over to my jetbook it does not recognize the book. Only after I converted the book to epub did the jetbook recognize the book. I tried 5 different time to copy the book in PDB to 5 different folders and everytime I opened the folder the PDB format was not found. I can see it on the drive but not on the jetbook. I gave up and converted to Epub and it worked on the first time. ?????


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pgovotsos



Joined: 12/22/2009 14:30:04
Messages: 114
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What format was the book originally? Does it have DRM (copy protection - generally commercially purchased books)? What tool(s) did you try to use to convert it to pdb?

Panagiotis
dromeo17



Joined: 01/24/2010 19:21:37
Messages: 4
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The book was originally in a .lit format.
I converted with Calibre. I used Calibre to convert it to both PDB and Epub.
For whatever reason I only see the Epub version and it looks fine, I was testing the PDB version once I read what Pavel indicated was the preferred format.
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RobertJSawyer



Joined: 12/23/2009 15:52:51
Messages: 42
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The issue is a little complex.

Commercial DRM-protected ebooks sold by Fictionwise.com and eReader.com (both of which are owned by Barnes & Noble) are in the "eReader" format, and are provided in files with the extension .PDB, but not all files with that extension are in eReader format. Indeed, ".PDB" stands for "Palm Data Base," and the actual file contents can be almost anything. This extension is used because it's one of the handful that the Palm OS operating system recognizes -- if you want to read or view anything (a Word document, a PDF file, a graphic) on a Palm OS device, it needs to have a .PDB extension (or one of the few other acceptable ones).
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RobertJSawyer



Joined: 12/23/2009 15:52:51
Messages: 42
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(continued)

If you are converting with Calibre, the .PDB files are probably just plain-text files stored (somewhat compressed) inside a "Palm Data Base" wrapper; these are NOT the sort of .PDB files the jetBook - Lite reads. (And they probably DON'T have italics or other special effects in them; even if they were in the source file, they were probably stripped out during conversion to plain-text format for the Palm.)

If you're making your own ebooks, ePub is the best format to use for the jetBook - Lite, because it preserves italics, etc. It's also a format that's widely readable on other devices.

===

ROBERT J. SAWYER, Science Fiction Writer
Author FLASHFORWARD, basis for the TV series
http://sfwriter.com * sawyer@sfwriter.com
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Highroller



Joined: 12/18/2009 11:28:44
Messages: 54
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Actually, I would disagree about epub being best format. Epub seems to be unable to do some text centering that you can easily do with html. There are more tools to work with an html file than an epub also. Granted the html will be a bit bigger but as long as your SD card works that is rarely an issue.
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kmrowley



Joined: 12/31/2009 17:14:27
Messages: 106
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If anyone is interested in making pdb books - eReader has a program called eBook Studio for doing that. It costs about $30. There is a demo of it you can download - but I don't think it will let you save a file.

http://www.ereader.com/ereader/software/product/15001_eBookstudio_win.htm

I've been using it for a couple years now to make documents for my palm, and I think it works pretty well.
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pgovotsos



Joined: 12/22/2009 14:30:04
Messages: 114
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Ebook studio is a great program and I use it a lot - especially if I want good formatting control. I use it a lot with books purchased from webscription.net (great source for Baen Scifi/fantasy). I use the rtf format and just open it in Ebook Studio. Graphics & formatting carry right over.

If you just want a quick & dirty way to make a book, I use a tool called DocReader ( http://mpickering.homeip.net/content/docreader ). Technically it's a text editor. If you can get your document into plain ASCII text, open it in DocReader, save it selecting PDB as the format and hey-presto you have a Palm Doc file.

Panagiotis

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 02/20/2010 01:03:37

 
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