Calibre

5.0 stars

"Don't virtually touch an eBook without it"

August 23, 2013  |   By zunipus

Version: Calibre 1.0.0

Pros

Free! Totally, inexplicably Free!

The GUI has been smartened up for its birthday. It's useful for anything having to do with eBooks: Reading, cataloging, editing, creating and converting eBooks. No other program is this capable and comprehensive for its purposes. It's a terrific blessing for the Mac community.

Then there are the added bells and whistles: Click the 'Fetch news' button and ogle. Then check out the Fetch news settings for adding your own news sources and scheduling downloads. This is for reelz! Then delve into tutorials and notice the depth of capability of this application.

The developer is terrific and very dedicated. He is constantly improving Calibre and adding features.

Cons

It has a learning curve and can be overwhelming to a newbie. The GUI can be confusing as it offers so much capability in one window.

I personally would provide the manual with every download. However, we are considered an Internet connected world, so downloading the latest version of the manual from the net can be an advantage.

The GUI elements used to be very plain, but recently they've spruced up nicely.

Summary

Calibre is a hefty gem, weighing in at about 250 MB, worth every byte! This has to be one of the most remarkably capable and important free programs in the Mac hemisphere. Highly recommended to one and all who enjoy reading, cataloguing, editing, creating and converting eBooks!

Don't virtually touch an eBook without it.

Incredibly grateful thanks to the remarkable developer of Calibre and his dedicated work on this terrific software project. (^_^)

Happy Birthday Calibre!

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5.0 stars

"Ignore the bad reviews"

December 26, 2012  |   By MBurdock

Version: Calibre 0.9.11

Pros

Free, quick to install, simple to use, and provides a wide range of tools with simple options.

Cons

As with any programs with easily customizable tools, spending five minutes reading the manual is necessary.

Summary

This is a great little program with a lot of options that seems to get regularly updated. I really don't understand the complaints about bad visuals or complex options. Are you familiar with computers, the concept of buttons, drop down menus, and directories? Then, you'll be fine. If you are only comfortable with dragging and dropping, you may be in trouble, but five minutes spent reading should cure that.

I downloaded it and installed it within five minutes and had converted 15 files and transferred them to my device within eight minutes of installation. No issues with formatting, but if I had, there are tools to adjust the formatting and a manual that explains these tools in detail.

As I have many books that aren't in a format for iTunes and my iPad, this will become my ebook library.

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4.0 stars

"Fantastic application - difficult interface"

September 30, 2012  |   By droslovinia

Version: Calibre 0.9

Pros

Converts to and from most any e-book format and does it quite well. Once you figure out how to use it, it's practically a "killer app" for e-book lovers.

Cons

It's tough to figure out how to use it. A tutorial, simpler interface, or something like it is needed to make it live up to its true potential.

Summary

This is a "must-have" program, but you really need to work with it for some time in order to figure it out. Not everyone has that much patience.

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1.0 stars

"cross-platform implementation on the Mac makes no sense"

July 20, 2012  |   By MarkN!

Version: Calibre 0.8.61

Pros

probably works, but

Cons

Fails to automatically look at original document, to then set conversion defaults. The result is a document with lines too long or too short.

The bigger problem is that this doesn't work like other Mac programs, you can't drop a file on the application, it takes FOREVER to load, and there is no obvious logic to follow to change a .PDF file to an eBook.

Summary

I'd be delighted to pay real money to someone who turns the underlying engine into a real Mac program.

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2.0 stars

"Below average"

June 12, 2012  |   By budiwidayanto

Version: Calibre 0.8.55

Pros

Converts small files well

Cons

Unable to convert large files,
My computer becomes soooooooooooooooooo slooooooooow

Summary

Some good features, but need a bit of upgrade

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1.0 stars

"Killed my Kindle"

May 16, 2012  |   By critique7

Version: Calibre 0.8.51

Pros

I have nothing good to say about it.

Cons

I converted the e-book file to be kindle-compatible, and then installed it on my kindle. It basically killed my kindle, and I am unable to start it up. I've tried all the tricks to get it working again, but to no avail.

Summary

Big mistake.

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3.0 stars

"Useful but Ugly"

July 3, 2011  |   By leronb

Version: Calibre 0.8.8

Pros

Converts to different ebook formats

Cons

GUI and Icons could use some work

Summary

You can convert from and to different formats; epub, mobibook, pdf, etc..
Needs a better looking interface and icons. Try to get a mac designer to work on this.

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3.0 stars

"Important functionality but confusing array of options"

June 4, 2011  |   By prudd1

Version: Calibre 0.8.4

Pros

Allows filing as well as access

Cons

non-intuitive interface

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5.0 stars

"Outstanding program for its use."

March 23, 2011  |   By DMcKay53

Version: Calibre 0.7.50

Pros

Easily imports books, no matter their formatting. Even works with ebooks which are not designed for an electronic reader. Allows reformatting to meet your needs. Can, in most cases, retrieve the metadata for your ebook.

Cons

If you aren't careful with your settings and selections, if you can delete your files without realizing that your doing so until their gone. Be sure to read the online program manual or you may be sorry.

Summary

I have thousands of digitized books in PDF format on my old Mac which I thought I was going to lose. This program allowed me to batch convert these files to text files which I will be able to use on whatever system I get to replace my dying computer.

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3.0 stars

"Good tool, bad interface"

March 16, 2011  |   By ThomasHarte

Version: Calibre 0.7.49

Pros

Offers eBook conversion, allowing us Kindle types to convert ePubs, etc.

Cons

A clearly "cross platform" interface, keeps its files in odd places, insists on running as a library rather than merely a tool.

Summary

A fantastic quality tool for free, but insists a little too much on trying to become the centre of your electronic book collection.

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