New to Android, please recommend an e-reader app!

[braj]

I'm coming from Palm OS (the OLD Palm OS!) and have .pdb files, I'd love to just switch over, they aren't DRM'd but ones I've made from PDF books. I just want the best reading experience and don't really have any need to buy books, as I am more interested in religious texts I already have handy.

Can someone recommend the best, easiest path to move over once my Captivate arrives? Thanks in advance! I have no Android experience but I am generally pretty tech-savvy. I can adapt the books to epub as necessary, no worries.

 

[JackImageX]

I don't know of a good reader app for Android (I'm new to it also) but you might want to try Calibre to convert them to another format that something like the Kindle app could use.

calibre - E-book management

I've used it with the Kindle and my co-workers use it with the Kindle app. It works great doing the conversions.

 

[prubin]

ireader paid version is good.

 

[johnhboyd]

eReader is a free program, and handles pdb files

 

[Paladin]

I am also an old PalmOS user before I got my Pre and now Evo. The best way is to use Calibre as Jack said.
It is a PC/MAC/Linux application
http://calibre-ebook.com/

Convert your old Ebooks to ePub format. Then get Aldiko, it is the best
Ebook reader available for Android that I have ever found. Aldiko uses ONLY the ePub format.

There are other Android readers that support other formats but in the end I found that just converting to ePub and using Aldiko was the best option for me. It also allows you to download publicly available eBooks free.

Aldiko Book Reader - Android app on AppBrain

EDIT: Thanks to this thread I am now using iReader over Aldiko.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.chaozh.iReader

Since you are new if you have not yet downloaded Barcode Scanner do so. It allows you to take a snapshot of these QR codes right from webpages that takes you directly to the appbrain store.
Get that application then just use that application to scan the above code, it is very cool and used by a lot by Android users on forums etc...
Barcode Scanner - Android app on AppBrain

Also since you are new some good advice is to use the forum search options. There are a ton of good links that you can find useful. Enjoy your new device!! ii

 

[Runnin_it]

isilo is on the market. Not sure what the price is, but I use it for pdb. It will also do prc.

edit - looks like it's 9.99...

 

[Paladin]

isilo is on the market. Not sure what the price is, but I use it for pdb. It will also do prc.

edit - looks like it's 9.99...

I am a huge iSilo fan. I had it for all my PalmOS phones. There is no WebOS version and I was excited to see an Android version. I tried it and it works "okay." It needs some work on the Android version IMHO.

I even posted in their forum asking of they are planning on updating it and the response I got was adding pinch/zoom etc.. was "under consideration." So I am not getting the feeling that Android is a top priority with them. I told them how 160,000 new devices are being activated every day etc... I would think with a market that big that Android would have more of a priority.

It will work as an Ebook reader but it is more of a text reader and is simply not a since as Aldiko for reading books.
I read a LOT on my phones, I read all the Harry Potters on my Treo using iSilo. I was curious. ii

iSilo has no page flip so you have to manually scroll each line, kind of bad. No easy way to navigate etc...

As it is with any software, I suggest you try them and see, everyone is different.

 

[Runnin_it]

Yeah, the iSilo app has been stagnant for a while. I have a TON of pdb's however and some of them are drm'ed. iSilo is the only thing that will read them.

It DOES have a page flip, however. I use my search key to do screen up...same as turning the page.

Sorry. To set up the screen up, go to menu>edit>options>button:
under button name, select the button you want to use - for me, [search]
under assignment, select the action you want for the button - in this case, screen up

 

[enormous]

Another vote for iReader:

iReader - Android app on AppBrain

I used to read pdb books like crazy on my Palm 700p, and iReader is perfect for that. Very customizable.

 

[Sonicaholic]

I don't know of a good reader app for Android (I'm new to it also) but you might want to try Calibre to convert them to another format that something like the Kindle app could use.

calibre - E-book management

I've used it with the Kindle and my co-workers use it with the Kindle app. It works great doing the conversions.

Try wordplayer of the market itas free and syncs books over to your device automaticly by using the formentioned calibre I love this combo no fiddling do it all on the pc sync it open app boom there there like magic in your library.

 

[wormdood]

I like Kindle. I don't have a Kindle device, but if I ever get one the syncing of where you left off is cool.

 

[Paladin]

Try wordplayer of the market itas free and syncs books over to your device automaticly by using the formentioned calibre I love this combo no fiddling do it all on the pc sync it open app boom there there like magic in your library.

In the interest of clarity Calibre can sync any conversion to your mounted SD card. Any Ebook reader can then see them.

You do not have to use only wordplayer though wordplayer can get them from a server running directly from your computer. You do have to leave your computer on all the time to do so.

 

[braj]

iReader looks very flexible, just using the free version now and will maybe get the paid app if I need more features. eReader told me my eBooks needed to be unlocked, that was dumb. iReader may get my $1.99 yet. Thanks everyone and I'll read through this all again in a while

 

[Paladin]

Hey thanks for the info! I will give iReader another try myself for a bunch of books I have in other formats. I have also been looking for one. I think I looked at it briefly when I first got my Evo but forgot about it. I will keep Aldiko for my ePub ones but this looks very similar for the others.

You always learn new stuff here.

 

[Aaron C#AC]

I have been reading ebooks for about 8 years on my phone. I started with a PalmV then to a treo 600 -> Treo 650 -> treo 800 (WM) -> TP2 -> Evo

Through that whole time I have been a fan of Mobipocket. (due to Baens free library and ebook cds packaged with some of their hard cover books)
I have over 2gig of books that I have read and over 400 that I have converted by hand to Mobi format with a cover, and correctly labeled in meta-data and file name!
Due to that, my move to Android was postponed until I could find a reasonably good mobi reader. I now use FBReader. It handles ALL of my mobi books just fine. The only down side is it does not show covers in the library. I also have downloaded the Kindle app, as well as the Boarders app (think this one is based on ereader)
IF anyone has found a way to successfully load covers in the Kindle app (all of mine show up without covers) or knows of another reader that DOES show covers and reads mobi files please let me know.

 

[Paladin]

The verdict is in, iReader is way better than Aldiko. I now retract my Aldiko recommendation. When I started looking for an eReader everyone pointed me to that and it works well. I tried about a dozen others but Aldiko was better overall.

It took this thread to point me to iReader, which I now purchased. It has the look and feel of Aldiko but also has a lot of options/settings as well as being able to handle multiple formats. The only thing Aldiko offers over iReader is the ability to DL some books directly but that is a non issue.

Thanks guys! ii

 

[eyesparky]

Another vote for Aldiko. I have a feeling that future versions may support Adobe Digital Editions but regardless, this is the best ereader for Android at the moment.

 

[dannylee]

Why not try Laputa book reader? It is new on the market. You can have access to the thousands of books. It looks much better than Aldiko. Almost all its books are classics.But with Laputa, you can download many updated books. It is a great app

.

 

[EvilMonkey]

I am new to e-reading in general, but would love to start. I downloaded Aldiko yesterday just to look at.

Am a bit confused about all the different options/formats for actually buying books though. Will they all look the same on the reader, and are there pros/cons over one source vs another, other than price, I mean? Like is there a difference between buying on Amazon vs. B&N, for example? Anything I should be aware of or looking for?