Mobipocket is winning me over
No secret here, I have been an eReader kind of ebook guy for years. It has been on every PC and every phone I've had running Windows Mobile. My big lament with the S60 phones was not having a version of eReader Pro that would run on them. Same lament with the BlackBerry 8830. An eBook reader that many have suggested is MobiPocket and while I've always found it interesting I never had a reason to switch from eReader. Of course, not having the option to run eReader coupled with being an avid devourer of ebook content is enough to push someone like me over the edge. It's nice when you find out that over the edge is lined with soft, cushy velvet.
I visited the MobiPocket website and discovered they did indeed have a BlackBerry version of the reader application so from the BlackBerry 8830 I downloaded it over-the-air (OTA) and installed it. That process went just fine but without any ebooks in my library I couldn't try the reader application out. I remedied that with a trip to the MobiPocket online store using the 8830, I found a book I wanted and tried to purchase it. That process kept failing from the BlackBerry so I bought it from my Tablet PC. The trick was to buy it but not download it from the PC which let me download it OTA from the BlackBerry by visiting the store and looking at my bookshelf. This ability to download ebooks directly to the device is a big plus over eReader and very convenient. The new version of the reader even downloads it straight to the SD memory card.
Once I had a book in my library I could take MobiPocket for a spin and let me tell you, I really liked what I found. The library shows you each book with the cover from the actual book so you can find the book easily. A simple click on the book opens it up and that's where MobiPocket shines. The entire reading experience is user configurable, not unlike eReader Pro, from fonts to colors and everything in between. MobiPocket provides a lot of key shortcuts and even has a tip guide listing all of them. It's a breeze to hit the "f" key and have the reader go full-screen which lets the ebook content become the only thing on the screen. Simply hit the "f" key again and it toggles back to normal view. Similar key taps will do things like go to the next or previous pages, set bookmarks and other common tasks. I like how they let you advance to the next page by tapping the SPACE key which makes sense as it's the biggest key on the BlackBerry.
I'm only just reading my first ebook with MobiPocket and so far it's been a real joy. I love reading books on my phone as I always have the phone with me and I read every time I get a few free minutes. It's not uncommon to see me standing in some line reading from my phone. MobiPocket for the BlackBerry is a free program and ebook pricing seems to be comparable to eReader prices. Books that have been purchased can be downloaded over and over again from any device that is logged into the purchasing account which is very handy too. I'm not quite ready to make the announcement yet but I could very well be headed to MobiPocket conversion.
I think it is the second best reader for the Pocket PC (I know, you're talking about phones now... but I seem to have gotten into the habit of commenting here on just about everything so why not this?) The best reader is µBook.
Unfortunately the authors of said software are apparently blind, because it ships with the most godawful skin activated that I've seen yet. That alone made me try it, conclude it was crud and then not try it again for months... glad I did retry though; its brilliance doesn't really shine through until one turns on the simplest skin (black text on white), copies over georgia.ttf from ones Windows PC to the \windows\fonts folder on the PPC and uses that font, and then tinkers with font smoothing until it looks great. On a VGA screen, beyond great.
I don't know how many books I've went through using µBook, but quite a few. Great software. Once you tinker with the settings and get it right, that is.
Posted by: cr0ft | July 07, 2007 at 05:26 PM
Screenshot: http://img373.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screen002dg1.png
Posted by: cr0ft | July 07, 2007 at 05:29 PM
What type of eBooks do you read?
Posted by: Joshua Hall | July 07, 2007 at 05:59 PM
Josh, strictly fiction. I read anything written by Stephen King, James Patterson, Jeffrey Deaver and Dean Koontz. I particularly love the Alex Cross series and the Lincoln Rhyme series. My tastes cover suspense/ thriller, mysteries, and sci-fi.
Posted by: James Kendrick | July 07, 2007 at 06:08 PM
Good review! I have been missing reading e-book material on my N95, too, because of the lack of an appropriate eReader version. Darn it, now I'm going to have to get Mobipocket and download yet another version of some of the e-books I've bought and not yet finished...
One correction though, I'm pretty sure I was able to buy and download an eReader book directly from my MDA a while back. And I was able to log in to the eReader site and re-download my previous purchases OTA, so I don't think Mobipocket is the only software that enables OTA purchase/download.
Posted by: Cheryl | July 07, 2007 at 07:38 PM
James, you ought to check out Patricia Cornwell (mystery/crime). She has 2 series:Andy Brazil and Kay Scarpetta (characters). I also love the Alex Cross (James Patterson) series
Posted by: Susan | July 08, 2007 at 02:04 AM
James, I like to read classics, and I get a lot of public domain books from places like the Gutenberg Project. And those files be easily formatted for this reader?
Posted by: bluespapa | July 08, 2007 at 04:45 AM
Best of all: there is a MobiPocket version of the offline Wiikipedia eBook, so you can have the complete Wikipedia with links on a 1GB flash card for all your mobile devices (Palm, PocketPC, Symbian60). This is one of main complaints about the Apple iPhone: no MobiPocket, so no offline Wikipedia.
Posted by: Teddy T. Bear | July 08, 2007 at 05:10 AM
Just downloaded mobipocket and it looks great! Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: JG | July 08, 2007 at 06:22 AM
Susan, I love the Kay Scarpetta series but haven't tried the Andy Brazil. I will have to do that! My other favorite character series: Alex Delaware, Jack Reacher. I love everything written by Kathy Reichs (Bones), Michael Donnelly,
Posted by: James Kendrick | July 08, 2007 at 07:03 AM
bluespapa, I'm not sure but I think so. Mobipocket has a free ebook creator app that I haven't tried yet.
Posted by: James Kendrick | July 08, 2007 at 07:05 AM
James,
On a somewhat related note, what sites would you recommend as a good place to check out software that is available for the 8830?
Posted by: Nitin Badjatia | July 08, 2007 at 09:01 AM
Nitin, I have been following the forums at crackberry.com which have good pointers to software and other stuff. I am currently testing a trial version of BeamBerry, which is in beta and lets your view Office documents and PDFs in a view comparable to what you get on a desktop.
Posted by: James Kendrick | July 08, 2007 at 09:45 AM
I still am a big eReader fan but I find myself using Mobipocket more and more. There is a lot more available on Mobipocket from especially from smaller ebook sites. I've found that it's up to the site on whether you can re-download ebooks. My favorite ebook site at the moment is www.fictionwise.com Great selection and the prices are hard to beat. I only read fiction on my electronic devices. For non-fiction I'm very old school and need to use a book.
I use my readers on my Palm TX, Q1 and my home built desktop.
Posted by: R | July 08, 2007 at 09:58 AM
I too am an eReader lover. I'm able to download books from my eReader bookshelf using my 8525 (Pocket IE). I don't think I've ever tried purchasing a book using PocketIE, however.
Posted by: Rick Lobrecht | July 08, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Mobipocket Creator works fine for making your own books for the system. The process is easy and painless.
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/default.asp?Language=EN
Posted by: Jack Furlong | July 08, 2007 at 12:34 PM
You pretty much hit it. I have been AGONIZING over what else to part with to give my beloved old Axim X5 some more memory. I hated to part with eReader--i've always wanted to like it best--but the truth is I always ended up using MS Reader or MobiPocket. Now that I have a Moto Q as well, I use Mobipocket almost exclusively. It syncs with both my Q and Axim flawlessly, it has a GREAT rss reader (too bad it can't be refreshed except by desktop sync), and it's fast. So, out goes eReader AND, as far as the Axim is concerned, I'm seriously thinking of dumping MS Reader because of it's damn necessity to be installed to Main Memory for Activation. You should also know about Fictionwise.com, if you don't already. They encourage the use of MobiPocket and have good choices.
Posted by: WORD-SMITH | July 08, 2007 at 01:40 PM
I both purchase and download ereader ebooks from pocket IE on my Dash (WM smartphone) with no problems.
I was using eReader Pro last year on my nokia 6620 which was symbian series 60. Is it that the Symbian version they have doesn't run on the n95?
Posted by: Aaron | July 08, 2007 at 04:09 PM
I'm a HUGE fan of Mobipocket. I use a Pocket PC (a Dell Axim) but introduced my brother to the Blackberry version. There are several advantages to Mobipocket:
1) Reader and creater are FREE
2) Create custom content from TXT, DOC, RTF, PDB, PDF
3) Interaction with developers on their forums (mobipocket.com). If you want a feature or some change then just ask! Try doing that with MS Reader.
btw. Some really good sites to buy Mobipocket Ebooks are:
FictionWise.com (good)
BooksOnBoard.com (better)
PaperbackDigital.com (best)
...and of course Mobipocket.com
Posted by: cherdman | July 08, 2007 at 05:46 PM
In case anyone cares here's how Mobipocket looks on my Pocket PC. Any font you can imagine, any size text, minimal interface, HW button mapping, with or without the progress bar, integrated dictionary (sold seperately of course), bookmarks, notes, highlighting, annotation browsing, smart searching...ok now I'm done. I love Mobipocket!
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/2009/Screen004.jpg
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/6717/Screen005.jpg
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/7193/Screen006.jpg
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/9968/Screen007.jpg
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/7430/Screen008.jpg
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5586/Screen009.jpg
Posted by: cherdman | July 08, 2007 at 06:25 PM
I read fiction exclusively on whatever smartphone i am using at the moment. On the 8800, mobipocket is the best, but the lit keyboard is distracting at night and I don't know of a method to turn it off.
ppc=ubook
wm5/6=allreader or mobi
treo=ereader
iphone=host a web page
Posted by: greg | July 09, 2007 at 05:21 PM
Mobipocket rules, you should try to set the background color black and the text color green. I've been using this combination for months and I'm able to read hours and hours without fatigue (I use a HTC Wizard by the way). Plus, battery lasts more since most of the screen is black ;)
Posted by: Javier | July 09, 2007 at 07:01 PM