I am amazed that this is a free program. I have about 150 e-books entered into the database and this program allows me to keep track of everything. You can add tags(even custom tags) to each book to help you find them by category. You can customize what information is shown about each book. One of the handiest features is the ability to download metadata about each book from online sources (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google, etc.). This feature will automatically fill in the author, publication date, ISBN number, tags, etc. as well as fill in a summary of the book plot. Of course you can manually enter any or all of this data if you prefer. This gives you an opportunity to add your own notes about the book.
The program interfaces seamlessly with my Nook Simple Touch, allowing me to easily transfer books to or from the reader. There is a large internet community using this program, so there is lots of support and very active development with new features, bug fixes, etc. I have not found any program instability or bugs in my use.
Because this program can do so much, there is a small learning curve (about 30 minutes) to get up to speed on the various features. Online help is very good. Once you understand it's basic organization, it's very easy to use. If you desire, you can also enter your non-ebook (paperback) books into the database to keep track of what you've read.
Review details
- Interface
- Features
- Ease of use
- Value
- Recommend to a friend? Yes
- Posted Jan 13, 2012 for v0.8.34
Pros: Built-in reader software is very good and can read most ebook formats. Built-in conversion software (to convert ebooks between different formats) also works very well if you use the default configurations; also has pre-configured settings for best display for various hardware ebook readers. Constantly updated and improved.
Cons: Downside of constant updates and improvements is a lot of instability, errors, bugs, etc. Help files are only available online and although they are clear for the simple, basic functions, they are simply hideous for everything else, especially when it comes to any changes to the default settings - if you want to make changes, you are in for long hours of internet research and frustration - and even then you probably won't be able to get things to work properly.
Some people like the ebook management feature, but I really dislike it and don't use it - partly because I cannot customize the organization and naming of my ebooks even remotely how I want it, partly because I have never been able to get some features to work consistently, or even at all - perhaps the sheer volume of ebooks I have is too much for this program.
For example, I already have all my ebooks named exactly how I want them and although there is a setting to supposedly tell calibre not to change the ebook names when importing into the calibre library, I can almost never get this to work. Still, well worth getting for reader and conversion features.
Review details
- Interface
- Features
- Ease of use
- Value
- Recommend to a friend? Yes
- Posted May 27, 2011 for v0.8.2
Calibre
Free
Windows 95
Free
Review details
by cathwhowalksalone
May 27, 2011
(Read all my 3 reviews)
