Where I've been these last few days

[amalthia]

This Saturday for an early birthday gift (my b-day is Feb. 11) I got a Sony Reader. I'm completely in love with it and I've spent the last 3 days converting a lot of my ebooks and favorite fan fiction stories into RTF format and moving them onto the reader. It's time consuming and strangely fun.

I already had about 3 gigs of books on my computer that I never really read or used but at some point i thought it would be a good idea to download in the hopes that someday there would be some sort of ebook reader that was pratical and useful for what I want to do on it, which is store and read books.

I think i've spent more time looking for books and discovered why ebooks haven't really taken off. For example, Storm Constantine. I found her first trilogy easily enough but her Sea Dragon Heir trilogy...can't find it anywhere (for free). :( So I go to ebook stores it's like 25 dollars!!!! I'm sorry that book has been out for years I already have the hardback and I paid less than that for it too. So basically, if the electronic copies are more expensive than the paper copies I think they are going to have a hard time marketing this to the average consumer. That and they don't really have a large selection of titles or authors. But anyway!

I mainly got this Sony Reader to read fan fiction. honestly, there is a lot more of it and it's free. The main problem i've run into is the multi-chaptered story format that LJ's 10k word limit has forced upon LJ users who don't own websites. (to those that do own websites and have posted their stories in single file html or rtf formats, I LOVE YOU!!!!)

If anyone wants to send me their stories in single file RTF or html formats....I'll really appreciate it. Seriously, like forever and ever. auburnnothenna, eighth_horizon, destina, and synecdochic in case you read this I already got your stories converted and moved over. I'm kind of starting with Stargate and Supernatural fandoms though I found myself grabbing Professionals fan fiction too yesterday evening.

Basically, I've been in about 16 different fandoms I'm looking for Star Trek Voyager, X-Files, Harry Potter, SG-1, Star Wars, Anime, Fast and the Furious, Highlander, Firefly, Farscape, Sentinel, Due South (okay this would be a great time to pimp due south to me because I'd love some stories I haven't already read), Buffy/Angel, Hercules/Xena, Smallville, X-Men and anything else I'm probably missing here.

I'm not sure if anyone else on my flist has an e-reader. I gotta admit it's still rather expensive but for me it's worth it because I've always been the type of person that spent more time selecting which books to take with me on a trip than I did packing anything else.

So anyway this is why I haven't really read anything in 3 days.

Comments

strokes sony reader in scary yet loving way

[bliink-2.livejournal.com]

I don't know how I survived without my reader! Like you, I'm really getting why the ebook revolution never took off. Even Sony's connect store only offers books around 25% cheaper than the normal paperback versions!

My last vacation was a nightmare with me lugging around 3-4 books at any one time. :D Very much looking forward to my next holiday now.

Re: strokes sony reader in scary yet loving way

[amalthia]

I'm looking forward to my next holidays a bit more too. :)

[embroiderama]

I've never used an e-book reader per se, but I've been reading fanfic off of a cheap handheld for about six years now. I love being able to take stories with me anywhere and being able to read in the dark with the backlight. It's the best thing ever. *g*

The main problem i've run into is the multi-chaptered story format that LJ's 10k word limit has forced upon LJ users who don't own websites.

Oh, yeah, that's a pain. For multi-chaptered stories I really want on my handheld, I paste all the sections into a document. I've developed a method for doing it where I unfocus my eyes a little so that I don't spoil myself for the later parts of stories before I read them. LOL

[varkelton]

Congradulations on your new aquisition! I read almost all my fic on my palm m505. I absolutely love it - I have a 1 gig card so my entire library is on my palm, and yeah - I love reading in the dark with the backlight too! LOL, I stopped buying books when I discovered fan fic last summer... I save multipart stories to a word document so... you know my tastes I think - if you think I might have it, drop an e-mail and if I have it you're welcome to it...

I've been sort of vaguely toying with the idea of getting a dedicated reader, but I'm not sure it's worth it. It looks like maybe the reader has a bigger screen? That would be really nice... How come you got a reader and not a palm?

[amalthia]

The reader has a bigger screen and a longer lasting battery life. There is no backlight and it looks a lot like real paper so it doesn't strain my eyes as much. I never used a palm reader but I saw them at the store and the screen size looks much smaller and I'm not sure how long the batteries last but from waht I understand the screen uses up energy where as the Sony Reader I'm using is based on some new e-ink technology so it only uses energy when you change the page not while you read.

I'm also able to read mangas on this too but I need to set up some collections to do that.

For me it was worth it because i didn't have anything to read my e-books on. Basically, if you're able to find one at a store just check it out you'll be the one that can tell me the differences much better since I'm only familiar with this Sony Reader. (though I was tempted to get the Illiad Reader but it was twice as expensive.)

[midnightzstorm.livejournal.com]

I have never heard of that before, it sounds cool. :)

[amalthia]

It really is cool. :) I'm still feeling squeeful about this. :)

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

Is it easy to read? As in, desn't hurt your eyes? And what sort of memory has it got? :)

[amalthia]

it's as easy on the eyes as a regular book and it says it's good to go for 7500 page turns. (it doesn't use power unless you turn the page....)

91MB of storage space comes with it but you can add more memory if you want. :) I got a 1 gig SD memory chip from my husband's camera that we aren't using... hope this helps. :)

also I'm willing to share my RTF files with you if you do end up getting one but you can also play around iwth your own settings to find your comfort level.

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I read so much fanfic that it does sound interesting. I bet they're massively expensive out here though. I'll have a look around. :)

My MP3 player takes RTF files but I think I'd go cross-eyed trying to read on it. :P

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

well, i have bunches of stories in doc format that'd easily convert. you only want it from the authors??? i tend to print out all longer stories and change them into doc files....i could rar them up and send them your way?

[amalthia]

I'm willing to take whatever you're willing to send my way. :) i have winrar. :) amalthia@slashcity.com

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

will do...it may be a hodgepodge, though :D [and i tend to format everything in the same way, so you can just get rid of the columns and change font, i guess....

[amalthia]

okay I'm downloading and thanks! I also have some older fan fiction stories that have since disappeared from the internet. thanks again really I appreciate it and I look forward to seeing what's here. :)