Going Digital

[stubbleupdate]

I've posted this already on Noscans_Daily I'm looking at going for digital comics properly. Buy subscriptions, get a tablet (either a Samsung Galaxy or an HTC Flyer), and so on.

Now, it looks like it's been over 2 years since we've had a talk about going digital.

Here are four questions that I have about digital comics

Q1 - I'm looking at a tablet that's got a 7" screen. Is that going to be too small to read comics on comfortably? (I'm guessing that a 7" screen is measured diagonally. Trades and floppies are usually 12", diagonally Or at least Fear Itself #4 and Doctor Strange: the Oath are) I had a play around in store with one and looked at previews on CBR and it seemed alright.

Q2 - If I'm using apps like Comixology, or Marvel's download service, do I need to be online to read them? The stramash over Ultimate Thor #2 made me pause for a fair bit about digital comics.

Q3 - When I download something from Comixology, is it on my harddrive and my book, like when I buy an album from iTunes, or am I just streaming it?

Q4 - Are there any decent CBR readers? I experimented with the Comical reader yesterday and it was utter toilet. The Comixology reader was decent and easy to read on my laptop. Can I use that for reading CBR files (of public domain material)

If anybody can help me before I splash a few hundred quid, then that would be lovely.

Having played around with Comixology, I read some of their free stuff. And here's what I said DC could never do. Except they did it. 5 years ago.

Comments

[thatnickguy]

1) I have an Android Galaxy S and have been able to read the comics just fine. I think your screen's larger, so that should be okay.

2) Nope! =D

3) I believe it's on your harddrive. There were times I was on the subway, without any kind of signal/connection and loaded up a comic.

4) The only one I've ever used was Comixology and I rather like it a lot.

[flidgetjerome]

Q1 - I think resolution may matter more than size. I find reading Comixology comics a lot easier on my small-but-high-res laptop screen than my large-but-low-res monitors, the text is a lot less fuzzy. On the other hand when it comes to CBRs and Marvel's in-house digital site it's never made much difference.

Q3 - I'm using the browser-based Comixology reader, the comics are streaming and not downloads.

[mercia]

RE: Question 4 - While I'm unsure on the tablet usage of it, I've been using CDisplayEX for all my CBR needs for years.

I've tried other things and just plain couldn't get them to work for crap.

Hmm

[jazzypom]

I use CD display for my comics (.cbr). There's comicrack here. It's pretty, but the learning curve is noticeable. It's pretty though.

Tell me how that whole digital comics work out for you, please. I've thought about doing it for a present to myself. I have a netbook (acer) instead of a tablet.

Re: Hmm

[stubbleupdate]

I love Acers so hard. I have a netbook, but the girlfriend has commandeered it.

I'm on my fourth Acer after one died of love, and the second died of mentalness (after about 4 years of sterling service).

When I had a desktop, it got formatted and taken apart every year to make it not be rubbish, but I've had almost no problems with the Acers.

I'm on my first!

[jazzypom]

I've had it for two years, and it's been through the wars, let me tell you. I do find myself being tempted by a tablet (the ipad and Samsung Galaxy tab (although! I'd never by a phone by Samsung again - I've had such bad luck with them), but my acer performs so admirably, I feel no shame into hanging on to it for a little bit longer.

But yeah, try CD display or comicrack. The latter is pretty, and its interface is similar to the ones they were pushing on the macs. CDdisplay is all WYSIWYG.

Re: I'm on my first!

[stubbleupdate]

My first Acer finished university with me and was my only laptop for about three years until the physical machine started to wear down (unresponsive mouse clicker and keys).
I then bought a new Acer 4 years ago (which went mental and died at Easter) and pensioned off the first Acer to... receive files from my cousin in Canada.
The netbook is two years old and I've not been able to use it since about Christmas.
The new one (The Quattro) is my current best boy and speaks to the PS3. It's fab.

I'm thinking that the Galaxy is going to be my new tab. I'm just shocked that Asda looks like being the site with the best price for it.

Re: I'm on my first!

[stubbleupdate]

Downloading Comicrack just now. Do they do an Android version?

And what was up with your Samsung phone? I had thought about going for a Galaxy phone, then decided to stick with a Blackberry (for one thing, I get free BBMs to the girlfriend)

Man, I don't even...

[jazzypom]

It's just pretty much the battery life, really. Every samsung phone I've had has given me the side eye with battery life, and I don't find its interface to be that intuitive compared to say, Nokia or Sony Eriksson. But I'll be the first one to put up my hands and say that it's me.

I've a Nokia now, but they've decided to pass on android technology (WTF?).

Hmm, no I don't think comicrack does an option for android. Iirc, it started life as an app for mac, then tip toed into the microsoft OS. There's talk about bringing it to Android, and some tentative steps, but nothing soon.

For android, there's jjcomic and acv. But my phone screen is so small, I don't think they do it justice. :/

Re: I'm on my first!

[jazzypom]

jjcomicviewer that gets a good write up

so perfect viewer

Tell me how you get on. My phone contract runs out next year, and I'm on the hunt for a new phone, then. Not before.

Re: Hmm

[stubbleupdate]

After a day of using it, my Galaxy seems alright. I'm on AndroidComicViewer, which is decent, though it had a bit of a wobbly with some cbr files and doesn't like rar files. I've not yet actually bought or downloaded anything directly to the tablet. Yesterday I pottered around Comixology looking for free stuff to try out, but my wireless connection is not behaving itself just now, so I gave up.

[01d55]

Rocket baby Power Girl's face looks like an adult. It's terrifying.

[lilacsigil]

My question: is it going to be available to non-US readers on the same terms? I hope so, since the comics themselves get shipped straight away, but this does not always happen with other media - you can buy a super-expensive import, or you can wait 6 months.

[feyandstrange]

Ironically, I'm looking at a tablet for *creating* comics (the Asus Slate will be a tablet computer fronted with a Wacom draw-on tablet, and it looks oh so sexy for drawing on). But if or when I do go that route, I should seriously look into digital just so I don't drown in dead trees.

Keep us posted please!