best eBook reader

[commie]

Just got the ipad...what is a good ebook reader for Canadians? I heard that not all books are available from the iBooks store...Is Amazon Kindle good?
What about using Calibre, do I need any special apps?

Can I buy an ebook from Amazon and use the iBook to read it?

 

[ivanmarkchang]

amazon kindle is just like ibook to me.

1. make an amazon account (if you don't have one already)
2. purchase books (there are whole bunch of free books as well)
3. download kindle app on your ipad
4. login
5. the app will then sync itself with your purchases.

 

[BrennB]

I love the kindle especially because it syncs with my Blackberry, and many other devices.

 

[ivanmarkchang]

that's a good point.

 

[j0yful]

stanza is good.
and calibre is for converting formats

 

[CaseShop.se]

Well, personally the kindle has been into business for longer than the iPad, so there are naturally more books available for the kindle than for the ipad. But if you are just into books then I can recommend the kindle because it is just a book... so while you read a book you wont be tempted to check facebook (because you cant with the kindle).

 

[iPadCharlie]

All of the readers from booksellers do basically the same thing, so it is really more a matter of where you decide to buy your books. Each one is proprietary so that means when you buy a book from Amazon, you can only read it on the Kindle app (or you PC with the Kindle program or on an actual Kindle) and when you buy a book through iBooks, you can only read it with the iBooks app.

 

[DUTCH VanAtlanta]

I have both iBooks and Kindle. Kindle has a much bigger selection. iBooks allows you to download a sample, so I can tell whether or not I've already read it. If Kindle allows samples, I haven't figured out a way to do so.

 

[ProPhotoGA]

The Kindle app is IMHO the best eBook app. I have over 850 books in my
Kindle and on my iPad, my Laptop, my Desktop... cross platform and I have
yet to find something it can not read with a little run through calibre.

iBook is okay.. but if you are looking for a large library of books available then
the Kindle app is the best.

 

[arshield]

Amazon has the majority of the market and the largest number of books. It is all about the store. The features are pretty much the same.

 

[iVan]

Just got the ipad...what is a good ebook reader for Canadians? I heard that not all books are available from the iBooks store...Is Amazon Kindle good?
What about using Calibre, do I need any special apps?

Can I buy an ebook from Amazon and use the iBook to read it?

Get the four majors we have in Canada. Amazon first because they have the best book choices. Kobo because prices are lower. Stanza because it gets you access to SmashWords and BooksOnBoard and then iBooks because it's the coolest looking reading interface, they charge on your iTunes account and they're getting there in choices. They're all free apps and it costs nothing to open an account. Having them all allows you to shop for availability and prices since there are many differences from one to the other.

Remember that all this is personal preferences.

My favorite for reading use goes to Stanza's interface.


Oh! Amazon Kindle is not affiliated with Amazon Canada, it is in the States so many of their books will not be sold to us. They're easy to spot as they have no price. If you tap on them they will say, "Not available in your country."
We Canadians are all idiots, that's a known fact...

 

[Roi]

I tried a few and found that BN eReader is a pretty good one, I like the way it can change the background in many different ways, like night mode, or customize the page colors etc., but it can be buggy at times.

BN ebook store features a huge book library, well, you know who they are. Also there's a lot of free titles too. Most of their books have the region restriction, but you can use VPN to access the store while purchasing, as well as providing a billing address within the US, since they don't really verify your credit card billing address.

By far BN provides many versions of their ereader for different platforms, such as PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Blackberry(I suppose). After purchasing once, you can sync your books with all your devices, and you can always download them anywhere you wish. (no limitation to any regions)