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Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8

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Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by EdThomas   » Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:46 am

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Not sure if this is the apprpriate place to post this but....
My old laptop died. The new one runs Windows 8.1. I downloaded and registered the pc reader app. Attempted to read my weber material not purchased from Amazon. The reader didn't see the files I'd saved and moved on to the new machine. Next I had a very nice chat with Divya from Kindle support.

She informed me the version of pc reader for Windows 8 does not accept/recognize material not purchased from from Amazon.

1.Recommendations on my new reader? I'm thinking Nook.
2. Does Baen allow downloads of other formats for previous purchases? I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get new versions of my Grantville Gazzetes

Make sure you take real good care of your windows pc's. :cry:
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Re: Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by SWM   » Tue Aug 05, 2014 12:22 pm

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Baen does allow you to download multiple electronic versions of titles you have purchased.

I don't have a recommendation for a reader on Windows. I keep copies of my e-books on my Windows 8 machine, using Calibre to organize and edit the metadata, but I read them on my Android phone (Moon+ Reader). Calibre does have a reader, but it's only passable, and it's a desktop program rather than a Windows 8 app (if that matters to you). Sorry I can't help with the recommendation, but you will at least be able to get your Baen books in whatever format you end up using.
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Re: Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by jgnfld   » Tue Aug 05, 2014 3:33 pm

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Adobe Digital Editions can be a pain to use, but I've successfully used it for this sort of purpose. You may have to redownload.

You can redownload or read online with Baen forever as far as I can tell.

EdThomas wrote:Not sure if this is the apprpriate place to post this but....
My old laptop died. The new one runs Windows 8.1. I downloaded and registered the pc reader app. Attempted to read my weber material not purchased from Amazon. The reader didn't see the files I'd saved and moved on to the new machine. Next I had a very nice chat with Divya from Kindle support.

She informed me the version of pc reader for Windows 8 does not accept/recognize material not purchased from from Amazon.

1.Recommendations on my new reader? I'm thinking Nook.
2. Does Baen allow downloads of other formats for previous purchases? I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get new versions of my Grantville Gazzetes

Make sure you take real good care of your windows pc's. :cry:
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Re: Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by iranuke   » Tue Aug 05, 2014 3:57 pm

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Baen allows you to download in HTML format to display in your monitor, or you could just read the books on line from the Baen website.
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Re: Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by Direwolf18   » Tue Aug 05, 2014 8:56 pm

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Give Calibre a try it might be able to convert your books into the proper format. Pretty sure Amazon uses .mobi.

http://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows
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Re: Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by SCC   » Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:35 pm

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Direwolf18 wrote:Give Calibre a try it might be able to convert your books into the proper format. Pretty sure Amazon uses .mobi.

http://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows


It's not the format. The Windows 8 app will only work with stuff you brought via Amazon, I'm pretty sure this has got to do with the closed ecosystem that Windows 8 uses for apps, you switch over to the desktop and use the proper application you'll be fine with stuff not brought via Amazon.
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Re: Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by kbus888   » Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:10 pm

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=2014/08/.07=
Unfortunately most AMAZON eBooks have the d*** DRM (Digital Rights Management) lock on them.

This means Calibre will not convert the data from one form to an other.

I don't know of any other vendor that sells Safehold eBooks although I will admit that FOR WEBER'S LATER eBOOKS, the files I get from Amazon does not have the DRM complication.

Still - - - I WILL get as many of my eBooks from Bean from now on.

I have NEVER had any problems either reading or reformatting anything I bought from the Bean web site.

I know the decision to publish through Amazon must have given RFC a worth while advantage over continuing with Bean, but from my point of view, using Amazon instead of Bean is NOT as convenient.

Just one reader's opinion.

?? Does anyone else on the forums have any additions/advice to give ??

R
.

R
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Love is a condition in which
the happiness of another
is essential to your own. - R Heinlein
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Re: Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by SWM   » Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:13 pm

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Yes, most Amazon ebooks have DRM. However, MacMillan arranged (after pressure from the science fiction community) to have DRM removed from most of its science fiction imprints, and Tor/Forge is one of their imprints. All Tor/Forge ebooks, including Safehold, are sold on Amazon without DRM.

If you look at the description of the Safehold ebooks on Amazon, at the bottom you will find the following text (you may have to click to see the entire description):
"At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied."
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Re: Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by ManyMyths   » Fri Aug 08, 2014 2:11 am

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Barnes and Noble sells Safehold books w/o DRM. Also, their Nook reader will allow any books in the epub format to be read/loaded into in their app as well as in their ebook reader.

Edited for spelling.
Ann
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Re: Amazon and their PC reader app for Windows 8
Post by Charybdis   » Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:33 am

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EdThomas wrote:Not sure if this is the apprpriate place to post this but....
My old laptop died. The new one runs Windows 8.1. I downloaded and registered the pc reader app. Attempted to read my weber material not purchased from Amazon. The reader didn't see the files I'd saved and moved on to the new machine. Next I had a very nice chat with Divya from Kindle support.

She informed me the version of pc reader for Windows 8 does not accept/recognize material not purchased from from Amazon.

1.Recommendations on my new reader? I'm thinking Nook.
2. Does Baen allow downloads of other formats for previous purchases? I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get new versions of my Grantville Gazzetes

Make sure you take real good care of your windows pc's. :cry:


This may or may not work with Win8.x as it is what I do with using Amazon's Kindle software on my Apple Mac. I select the book in Baen and download the book to my hard drive in Kindle format. I then use my file search to find the file with the '.mobi' extension. For my Mac, if I double-click on this file, it will open up the book in Kindle and from that point on it will be in the Kindle 'library' selection.

If I want to read the selection on my iPad or IPod Touch, I can 'add' the selection from the iTunes App operation again using the '.mobi' file.

I hope that this is not too confusing and helps somebody. ;)
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