# Ebook reader **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebook-reader/483000 "2009-01-26T02:14:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebook-reader/483000/21 "2009-01-26T19:03:18Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Let’s dispel some myths about the Kindle. > > You do not need to hack it for it to read outside content. > > The biggest issue right now with the Kindle is that it does not handle pdf files natively. These can be converted into a format readable on the Kindle, but graphics heavy pdfs will suffer in the conversion. Good point, I’m glad you brought that up. While its not a big deal to convert a file I’d almost consider that a hack as the device does not support what is one of the most popular web formats for books out there. And as you mentioned the conversion process does not always work…in fact many documents I’ve done this to wind up with weird formatting or other problems. I’d bet they wind up supporting the format at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebook-reader/483000/22 "2009-01-26T19:16:58Z")
I’d agree with that, which is why I mentioned it. But text, .doc and mobipocket files can all be handled easily - what is more the Kindle can download them wirelessly through either the browser or by emailing the file to an address attached to the device. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebook-reader/483000/23 "2009-01-26T21:24:20Z")
PDFs are a terrible choice for ebook formats anyway. They’re meant for reproducing the precise layout of a paper page, and are mainly useful for reading on devices with large screens where you can accurately view an entire page (or, at least, the entire width of a page) without having to shrink the view. Even devices with relatively large screens like the Kindle or the Sony Reader don’t display graphical PDF files very well. Unless the PDF file is text-only, of course, in which case it’s fairly trivial to convert it to another format… But in any case, I sure wish publishers, and especially e-book libraries, would provide additional formats for ebooks and not just PDF. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebook-reader/483000/24 "2009-01-26T22:01:40Z")
> [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](#): > > I use a Palm TX with a program called Palmfiction for plain text files, Plucker for HTML and there is a PDF reader available too. All freeware. > > The TX will read a standard SD card; or an SDHC if you buy a driver app separately. > > I use it for ALL my personal reading, it works great. Came in here to recommend that as an option. I do a lot of ebook downloading from [ereader.com](http://ereader.com), and as noted it can handle pdfs also - which are available from Amazon. Assuming the person in Afghanistan has access to a PC, you can certainly email him the PDFs of anything you buy from, say, Amazon - or snail-mail him a CD or even an SD card. Personally I did not like using the PDF-based ebooks on the palm as it was slow and tended to crash my Tungsten. The Palm can handle document files via an application called DocsToGo. ---
**Author:** ![ampa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@ampa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ampa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebook-reader/483000/25 "2009-01-27T03:42:59Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Let’s dispel some myths about the Kindle. > > You do not need to hack it for it to read outside content. You do not need to pay monthly fees for most content - I currently pay a fee for a single magazine subscription since that saved me money over getting it dead-tree, which I was doing previously. Newspaper and blog content I obtain for free and read on my Kindle. > > The biggest issue right now with the Kindle is that it does not handle pdf files natively. These can be converted into a format readable on the Kindle, but graphics heavy pdfs will suffer in the conversion. How would I go about doing that, I have a few ebooks. My dad has a kindle, but i can not get them onto it. I have tried a few apps to convert them but none seed to work. Any tips would help. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebook-reader/483000/26 "2009-01-27T04:05:01Z")
What format are they in? I find that Mobipocket Reader handles many of these conversions well, with some others being handled by Mobipocket Creator or by Amazon’s conversion service. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebook-reader/483000/27 "2009-01-28T13:50:57Z")
Kindle 2 will be out next week. [http://truemors.nowpublic.com/?p=36194](http://truemors.nowpublic.com/?p=36194) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebook-reader/483000.md?page=1)