ipad for reading (not just golden-age) comics

[Yoc]

Just found a slightly out of date article on this very topic.
Might be worth a read -
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/08/finding-the-best-app-for-reading-your-drm-free-comics-library-on-ipad/

[Captain DJ]

Good to know John, thanks!

btw, DCM has recently started working with the COMIX people and their free app.  
I understand this is Windows8 compatible and sells on the Apple App stores so I guess it works on iPads too.
It's Free or we wouldn't be involved.

Some here with tablets might give it a try and let us know what you think.

https://www.facebook.com/comixwindows
or
http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/comix/845952b7-bbd9-4248-94b6-47f7ffe601f5#

Wanted to throw in few corrections here.

It Windows 8 ONLY and only on the Windows App Store

[Yoc]

Ah, sorry about that gang.
Anyone out there with a Windows8 tablet to try this on?
Looking to see a review so feel free to be as detailed as you like.

[johndesmarais]

Doing a little thread necromancy here....

I've been using an iPad app called Comic Flow to read cbz/cbr files on my iPad. A good reader, light on features but easy to use.  One of the coolest features of it was its built WebDAV server when enables you to simply mount it like a network disk and copy comic files onto it (bypassing the whole iTunes sync thing).  Recent updates to iOS caused problems with its WebDAV drivers, and the developer opted to go a different route entirely - adding a small webserver and a web-based file management tool so now you can add and manage files through your web browser.  I've not given it a really good work through yet, so I can't speak authoritatively on how well it works.  This change too a great deal of time for the developer to implement and, rightly, he is looking for a little compensation for it.  As such, this feature is an in-app purchase for $5 (not an unreasonable price I think).

That said though, while the problem existed I started looking at other, similar, apps and read a review of Comic Zeal that caught my attention.  (It's not free, but the price is the same as the in-app upgrade to Comic Flow).

This leads to me actual point (yes, I have one).  Has anyone here used Comic Zeal?  If so, how do you like it?  Particularly, how do like the methods it provides for moving comics to the app?  I'm going to either pay to upgrade Comic Flow, or but Comic Zeal, but don't really want to both so I'm trolling for opinions.

Ok, for those interested, my own lack of patience and self-control got the better of me and I upgraded Comic Flow and bought Comic Zeal.

Quick capsule reviews.

The new Comic Flow is basically the program it always was, and a version of it is still available as a free app.  For the extra $5 you get to make unlimited use of the web-based transfer utility (point your web browser at the IP of your iPad and go to town).  The web-based utility does work, but it doesn't offer anywhere near the capabilities of the old WebDAV connection (which was basically whatever you could do in your file system).  The real kicker though is that the new web server replaces the old WebDAV server in the app, so once you install the new version WebDAV (or rather, the WebDAV functionality that still worked) is no longer an option.  This is actually a bit of a nuisance Comic Flow is aware of directories within its file system, and will (for sorting and displaying purposes) treat each directory as a unique series containing whatever comic file you put in it - a very elegant view of your onboard collection.  The new web-server utility does not give you the ability to create, rename, and delete directories, nor can you move cbr/cbz files around from directory to directory (it will, place newly uploaded files into whatever directory - new or old - you specify).  To my way of viewing it, this is a loss of functionality.

Comic Zeal is a very different beast than Comic Flow.  It provides a reasonably extensive set of file management tools within app itself, so once you've gotten you cbr/cbz file in Comic Zeal you can create new series, delete them, move comics around in them, etc, etc.  It's not the most intuitive system (for me) but it works and lets you do a lot.  Loading content into Comic Zeal is done through several different processes - based on user preference.  You can sync via iTunes, sync via a dedicated Comic Zeal sync app on your computer, copy from Dropbox (via the Dropbox app, or download directly from the app publisher (he has a very small number of PD titles to download, mostly just to get you started with the app).  None of these mechanisms are as convenient as Comic Flow's old WebDAV method, but I would call the whole line-up comparable to what Comic Flow currently offers.  The downside (that I've found) to Comic Zeal is that it doesn't actually work directly with cbr/cbz files.  When files are copied into its file system (regardless of how) they are converted into what the developers calls a cbi file - which is some type of database of images.  This makes importing content q slower process than with Comic Flow.  Unexpectedly, it also seems to result in slower page to page turning.

[Poztron]

Just found a slightly out of date article on this very topic.
Might be worth a read -
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/08/finding-the-best-app-for-reading-your-drm-free-comics-library-on-ipad/

I just ran across your link here, as I picked up an iPad yesterday and wanted to see how GA comics look on it. Answer: sensational.
Based on this survey of reader apps, I went for Stanza and it looks good to me. Thanks for the pointer, Yoc.

[misappear]

I don't know if this was stated, but I just click on the download link at DCM or CB+ and my iPad loads the comic directly into Comic Zeal. Our family has four iPads, and Zeal loads into each one for just the one price, which I will remind you is about the same as a Big Mac meal (and much more filling!)

[Yoc]

Hey you iPad users.

Could someone help out another member with a file management on iPads question here?

http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/forum/index.php/topic,4640.msg44877.html#msg44877

Thanks!
-Yoc

[Poztron]

I just ran across your link here, as I picked up an iPad yesterday and wanted to see how GA comics look on it. Answer: sensational.
Based on this survey of reader apps, I went for Stanza and it looks good to me. Thanks for the pointer, Yoc.

Just an update that while Stanza looked initially good, it started acting up almost immediately. I also tried Cloud Readers, but that had other issues.
So, I finally just bit the bullet and paid the nominal fee for Comic Zeal. That seems to work well, though uploading scans to it on my iPad is slow and it is not always clear if an upload is happening or not.
It may just be that it will make most sense to read comics on the iPad in a browser pointed to DCM using the Preview button on individual comic pages, rather than laboriously uploading scans.

[Yoc]

We've been talking about moving files around on the other topic I linked to above.
Not the best reviews for those apps there Poz.  Thanks for sharing!  I know there are a lot of alternatives out there.

-Yoc

[Poztron]

My number one reason for getting an iPad was to be able to read comic scans while sitting in an easy chair (instead of sitting at my computer at my desk), so getting that working smoothly has been a top priority for me in the week or two since I got it. I got a 64GB model with the intention of having enough space to load a good number of comics into it, so I am somewhat frustrated that uploading files is slow and not fun.

As someone who has been using Macs since 1984 (my first was the initial 128K Mac), the Mac OS has been nearly hardwired into my psyche, so the iPad's iOS without a clearcut file structure separate from apps themselves is something I'm having trouble with. I keep wanting drop-down menus and the ability to have folders of files stashed somewhere. But I guess in Apple's quest to 1) make a device that would work well for computer illiterates and 2) would mainly support downloading songs, movies, books and magazines through iTunes, Newsstand, and iBooks (or shooting your own photos and videos with the iPad), Apple intentionally made it difficult to move digital files around to and from the iPad unless using their apps or iCloud. I have a strong hunch (based on no evidence) that after up-ending the music industry with iTunes, Apple set out to at least partly mollify the Hollywood types by dropping CD/DVD drives from their computers to make ripping more difficult, and similarly, to encourage the use of iCloud with users paying the blanket fee for any 'pirate' copies of tunes.

As I recall, this discussion topic began, once upon a time, with a discussion of the computer industry moving back towards having devices (whether PCs or tablets) that were dependent on corporate servers via the Net. The iPad, for all its charms, is definitely in that vein. I'd just as soon have my iPad be a cozy little extension of my Mac Mini, with the easy ability to directly move files back and forth between the two, but that does not appear to be part of Apple's vision. I do wonder what their vision of five or ten years from now is. I'm suspecting that I won't be too happy with it.

[narfstar]

I hate Mac in general. I only have an ipad because it was given to me. It is useful for reading comics but I suspect I would be happier with a Windows tablet. It is also supe great as a camera but I suspect a Windows tablet would be also.

[Poztron]

I hate Mac in general. I only have an ipad because it was given to me. It is useful for reading comics but I suspect I would be happier with a Windows tablet. It is also supe great as a camera but I suspect a Windows tablet would be also.

I'm not inclined to take one side or the other in Mac vs Windows debates. I've worked with both OS's and they both have virtues and faults. I work with Windows PCs at work and Macs at home. Fine. "Both good!"

But you can probably be assured that be it Apple or Microsoft, corporate earnings are the bottom line at the end of the day.

[Yoc]

Poz's review of how difficult it is to work with file transfers on an iPAD has given me serious second thought about buying one!
I want folders with files easy to find and transfer!  

Time to look at the android market again.

[John C]

Tablets are designed to consume, Yoc.  If you go in with the approach that content goes in but doesn't come out, you're generally fine.

That said, the full (non-RT) Windows 8 tablets strike me as appallingly awkward to work with (they feel claustrophobic because of the form factor, and if nothing else, the rotation animation makes me queasy; I didn't spend enough time to get used to it, though), but they're designed to be small laptops with crappy and optional keyboards.  As such things go, it solves the problem.

I'm kind of expecting the tablet market to tank soon, though.  A Chinese company is releasing a tablet that has the same basic specifications as the iPad Mini for something like a third of the price.  If anybody's wondering why everybody's scrambling for a smartwatch, that's pretty much why--there isn't a cheap one on the market, so you can still mark up the price.

That all said, the Ubuntu tablets look pretty slick, assuming they ever make it to market.  I might be convinced by this to dust off the credit card, now that my cheapo Android tablet kinda died.  (The only real use case I found for it in my life was watching Netflix while getting dressed in the morning, but the audio crapped out and I can't find the connections.  Comics didn't really thrill me, with a small, glossy screen.)

http://www.androidauthority.com/ubuntu-tablet-officially-announced-nexus-7-nexus-10-not-htc-157884/

I've been using "normal" Ubuntu for my main PC for a couple of years, now, so I may be biased.  However, once you install the proprietary stuff (the "restricted-extras" pack that includes MP3 decoders, Flash, Java, and the other stuff that creeps out the Free Software fanatics...who all seem to use Google+, these days, which strikes me as weird) and turn off the weird Amazon integration, it's actually a really nice setup.  It takes a couple of extra steps, but there's even a Netflix program, to get around the fact that they stream using one of Microsoft's magic, ultra-proprietary systems that they sue over if you try to reverse engineer.

Bonus:  A couple of weeks ago, I did something incredibly bone-headed and completely trashed my machine.  I put the installer on a USB stick and ran my computer off of it (no install) for about a week and a half until I could sit down and work on the problem.  Once I read up on decrypting my user folder, I was able to copy it to an external drive, reinstall, and put (pretty much) everything back to normal.  So if you're a little bit disaster-prone like me or like to try new versions without committing, it's a good safety net that Microsoft, Apple, and Google aren't likely to provide.

[Yoc]

Hi John,
I've amassed a healthy collection of scans here and the #1 reason for wanting a tablet is to read them away from the PC.  Any other uses would be icing on the cake.  But I do not want to have to redownload or upload to a cloud something already on my PC.  It's just a waste of time and bandwidth.  When checking out tablet at Staples the iPad felt like the class of the group but the lack of a USB port has always turned me off.  I thought wifi would be the way around that but now I'm hearing it isn't that simple.  I would rather not have to reinvent the wheel just to view some comic scans!  So I'll be trying out the cheap alternatives now.

Thanks for the Ubuntu recommendation.  I've only tried Mint off of a USB stick when I had to reformat the entire system one time.  It was pleasant enough.

-Yoc