textbooks for iPad

[kazmac]

Hi everyone,

now that I'm back to school, can any students or teachers here recommend a good textbook app/reader for the iPad?

I know it's still pretty early in the game for textbooks on the iPad, but if many of my text/required books are available digitally I will definitely buy an iPad sometime this year. The thought of wasting hundreds of dollars on novels and/or textbooks I won't use again makes my piggy bank curdle.

Any suggestions on how to search for e-textbooks besides using the ISBN?

thanks!

 

[filmbuff]

I'm a bit right no that I can't find any textbooks. I got an ipad for Christmas and just started thinking how nice it would be to have all my textbooks on it in one place (and probably a lot cheaper), only to find out that none of the books I need are available.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

you can search for them by ISBN but you do not really save any money going to digital books. Most of the time it cost about the same and if do find them you can often times rent the physical book for less. I also find that for school digital books are crap compared to standard textbox.

Reason being is when you are flipping between pages with tons of markers it is just so much faster to go with a text book. You can tab the hell out of text book. No to much for a digital books.

As for readers you have the Nook app and the kindle app. Those tend to cover you.
iBooks is crap compared to those 2.

 

[Mlrollin91]

I'm pretty sure you can rent from coursesmart, which is both an app and website.

 

[albbreinholt]

I used my iPad for about half my books in the fall and the prices were about the same as buying used books. All my books ended up being cheapest in the kindle store but the kindle app isn't super fast for notes and highlights, or navigation. The real saver was in weight and space. I was able to carry all my books every day, rather then leaving some at home. This made it easier for me to study for any class, anytime. I'm looking forward to getting any available books this semester on my iPad.

 

[MisterMe]

...

now that I'm back to school, can any students or teachers here recommend a good textbook app/reader for the iPad?

...

What you are asking for does not exist.

Each publisher has its own strategy for dealing with electronic textbooks. Some have none. CourseSmart contracts with one publisher and provides digital copies of dead tree books from its contract publisher. The one publisher that I have discussed this issue with gave me a very disappointing answer. Its ebook strategy is to charge about 60% of the dead tree price. However, the buyer will have access to the ebook for at most one year. This publisher has no plans for permanent ebook sales at any price.

 

[TwoSocEmBoppers]

I used ebooks almost exclusively last semester for college and loved it! I saved about $300 too

I used Amazon and Coursesmart for my e-textbook needs. Also, if you can find a book in PDF for you can always use iBook/GoodReader/Noterize, etc to read and mark it up.

Good luck on the textbook search.

Also, maybe want to check Barnes and Noble. I know they have an ever-expanding textbook section. Don't think they have an iPad app though.

 

[SteveKnobs]

I used ebooks almost exclusively last semester for college and loved it! I saved about $300 too

I used Amazon and Coursesmart for my e-textbook needs. Also, if you can find a book in PDF for you can always use iBook/GoodReader/Noterize, etc to read and mark it up.

Good luck on the textbook search.

Also, maybe want to check Barnes and Noble. I know they have an ever-expanding textbook section. Don't think they have an iPad app though.

Totally agree with this post. I used course smart last semester and it was great. A word of caution though- there is no "buy-back" for etextbooks... So it's a little disappointing at the end of the semester when you don't get that cash back.

 

[Stealthipad]

The professors who write these books would never allow anything that would get in the way!

Maybe one day it would work but today, the resale value on your used book is a big plus. BUT, the way these jerks put out books, your used book may also have less demand!

 

[kazmac]

thanks for the responses

I did look into coursesmart/rentals and I will also ultilize the college's online library (so far only one professor has even mentioned free pdfs of textbooks for her course).

I appreciate everyones' candid info about the textbook reading and apps for iPad. Right now, I'll wait on the iPad until I notice a lot of the texts either as pdfs or available through coursesmart. Until the need for an iPad materializes, I'm holding off.

Thanks!