Zune Books

How to view text documents, such as books, on your zune.

Step 1 The Problem.

I had a dilemma, I wanted to listen to music on my Zune whilst reading a book. I used to do this my PSP. (I know, both considered "rejects") So I came up with this solution and I decided to share it.

Comments

[Higley1089]

one problem i had was the pages were outa order when i synced it.

[evy-wevy]

but nobody likes the zune! :D

[mrlunna13]

That comment even thought it is old. is as ignorant then as it is now. Have you asked everybody in the world? Or just your insignificant number of friends?

[- creative name -]

everybody who has had/tried a zune loves it

[miniman980]

i love it!

[Jakecrash]

Hell, i Love my zune. And i have a better program, Go to www.zuneboards.com and search for zbooker in the forum's hacks and mods section.

[andrewjadams3]

Half of you who replied saying the Zune sucks haven't even tried one out before. True, it's a different interface to get used to (most people are used to the ipod interface because that's all they have ever used before, and most people like to stick to what they know), the wireless feature may be somewhat limited, and it is a little bit bigger than the ipod. But really, it isn't all that different. It holds as many songs as a 30 gig ipod and cost the same amount. It plays videos and pictures (I've already ripped and converted some DVDs of mine to play on it and the quality is great, the bigger screen makes it easier to watch too) and you can apply custom backgrounds using pictures you put on it. It has a radio tuner as well, which I've used on a number of occasions, ipods don't even offer that. And finally, I don't understand why everyone is ripping on the wireless feature, some people may like it, and if you don't, just turn it off (you can by the way, its just in the settings. I have mine turned off, but turn it on occassionally to see if anyone near might be using a Zune, good conversation starter) Again, ipods don't even have such a feature. Oh and about the comments about the DRM encoding microsoft puts on the music you buy from their store, iTunes has a similar AAC encoding which makes the songs unplayable on any other ipod or computer, no different at all (not saying I support either company in doing this). LasVegas, I do understand what you're saying about accessory limitations, there isn't a lot of variety as far as Zunes go. However, they still have a lot of the same products (docks, speakers, etc) just not as much selection. I'm glad you actually shared your thoughts instead simply stating "Zune sucks!"

[elangomatt]

This instructable worked just fine for me. Thanks a lot with the instructions. My only problem though is that when I am trying to read on my zune, many of the pages are out of order. A lot of times, I have to skip a page or two to get the next page and then go back to get the page after that. Any idea how to make sure all of the pages are in the correct order? My comments on the zune, I think I like the zune better actually. I love the wireless synch, though you still have to charge it of course :P It took a bit to get used to the different interface, but I think I am in the Zune camp now. I haven't really used my Ipod much since I got my Zune.

[REA]

you would 1.) keep the book in the same group and 2.) name the pages in order. if a book has over nine (9) pages put a zero (0) in front of the single digit numbers. this will ensure that the pages will go in order.

[DirendelAlcarin]

After page 11 the pic order get wacked have tried adding 1,0 to the name and numbering the pics like 1,2,3....10,11,12,13 etc... Help please

[REA]

try 001, 002, 003,... 011, 012, 013, etc.
thats my motto: "''If the name doesnt work, add more zeros!''"

[DirendelAlcarin]

Added zeros to everything then to 001-009to make it 0001,0002,0003,0004.....010,011,012.....It does'nt show up right on the Zune
Could it be Zune4.0?because it shows up right on the computer for a few combinations like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13....

[REA]

i think it orders them by creation date. try putting them in one at a time.

[DirendelAlcarin]

I appreciate the Help I did not try but I foun a perfect program for me at http://www.merlinsoftware.com/free.htm called Ebooks to Images.

[veedubkid]

I had a 3rd gen Ipod until I bought 1st gen zune, and thought the zune was better. I then went back to a 120 ipod and sold it after a couple of days to get a 120 zune. The zune rocks. The ipod is good but itunes sucks.

[kjrviking]

One thing i thought i should mention about the ipod interface (plz note: this is about the older ipods, not the new ones): Apple stole that interface from creative.

[LasVegas]

I wasn't harping on the Zune, just trying to explain why it's not as popular as Microsoft thought it would be. AAC is not DRM. Actually AAC is an Open-source lossless compression scheme. Apple's DRM is applied to an AAC encoded file resulting in 'm4p' file. Don't confuse this with mp4, a video format. Microsoft's DRM format is a propriatary format and is even more limited than Apple's (Apple allows you to use purchased music in up to 6 computers and unlimited iPods.). Hopefully, DRM will be a thing of the past in the near future, when the music industry realizes that it only hurts sales.

[bassman194]

AAC is not lossless at all! 

[Foaly7]

Okay, but what about Creative "Zen" players?

[Darken702]

useful! i have a lot of ebooks im gonna try this on... you can also use a print driver to convert the book to jpeg...

[ryaninja1]

Super Usefull!!!! thanks for the help

[Solderguy]

This worked on my 8gb Sansa View!Thanks so much!! 10/10!!

[JellyWoo]

Join my new group! http://www.instructables.com/group/zune/

[RichMassage]

Looks like a good hack. Problem with my Zune, I can't get it to Sync any videos Not one. I've put MP3's on no problem. I will poke around Zuneboards

[Pyromaniac176018]

i couldn't get any either so i've consoled to just use podcasts... i do'nt have anything else i want to watch

[abadfart]

so is each page a different pic??

[esotericguy]

It won't translate each book page into a picture, it'll just fill it up as much as it can and make another page. So a 100 page book isn't going to be 100 pictures, it'll be more.

[TimDanzig]

where do you get books for it? what do you do after you download the program?

[esotericguy]

You can get yourself some free ebooks at Gutenburg. or

[Demm]

Maybe this utility can be useful for eBook creation - http://www.easysector.com/read-ebook-zune.htm

[schimmi]

PSP isn't a reject but for psp, make it so that you hold it with your left hand and you read it sideways so that the next image button is by your thumb

[schimmi]

use white on black and your battery will last longer

[evy-wevy]

I can't remember exactly how much money it was, but microsoft announced their loss from the zune and it was somewhere in the big...big BIG......HUGE figure numbers. All that hype for nothing. To join my apple cult, please send a self addressed stamped envelope to canada...I'll send you apple stickers and french onion soup mix.

[evy-wevy]

Although, I'm sure if the zune came out b4 the iPod, everybody would shun the iPod, like they do the zune. It's a dog eat dog world.

[schimmi]

i agree, but strangely enough, the first MP3 player was much like the ipod, but never caught on.

[TLW1707]

Thanks Man

[oleg.shastitko]

Zune eBook Creator (RTextAsImage)

This tool allows you to "convert" text such way, that you receive suite graphic files like suite of scanned pages of book or magazine. It is often necessary when you want to read favorite book on MobilePC, which does not have ability to show text files, but only graphical i.e. Zune. This tool has many opportunities for settings output files: type of graphical file, size of file ("resolution"), pagination, margins, font, color of text, line spacing etc. Also you have ability to save favorite settings and load saved earlier.

Product url - http://www.roversoft.dp.ua/Default.aspx?ProductID=5

download url - http://roversoft.dp.ua/TextAsImage/publish.htm

[Robeast]

How can I remove all of the firmware from my Zune's hard drive/ use it as just an external hard drive (besides the patch)

[esotericguy]

Hmm, I don't really know of a way. I mean this is a ZuneBooks tut, not a HDD tut

[kelceyo]

I have a zune, my son has an ipod. He checked mine out and got jealous. Ipod is ok, but I love my Zune! I watch parts of movies on it during my breaks at work and it's great. The only fault I found was no text reader, but hopefully this solution will fix that. Thanks esotericguy!