OT iPod Book Downloads

[keno]

I'm new to the iPod (Classic 80GB) works, and am giving one to my wife. She is interested in having books on the gizmo. A few questions:

Which are the better websites in terms of selection, price, ease of use?

How much memory does say a 300 page book take? Font and all that, I understand, but ballpark is all I want.

How long to download that 300 pages to the iPod?

Can the 300 be stored on the PC internal or external memory for other use, like a CD or listening while on the PC not requiring full attention?

Thanks,

keno

[rwsaunders]

Here's a start if you're downloading book CD's to the pc, then the Pod. I know that some of the 30meg podcasts can take 5-6 minutes to download.

http://goldcoaster.wordpress.com/2006/07/29/importing-audio-book-cds-into-itunes/

[sc53]

I subscribe to Audible (www.audible.com) and download loads of books to my iPod. The 80gb holds many books and the downloads are very fast--a couple minutes for a 600 page biography of John Adams for example. A couple minutes for ****ens' Our Mutural Friend. You can choose the bit rate of the files too, I use the second highest fidelity but you can choose the lowest one (there are 4 levels). Audible is easy to browse and use and I somehow get 2 free book downloads per month. Not sure why, something about my membership. I've never actually bought a book, just pay the subscription fee each month and use the free downloads. Just to clarify--you listen to the books on the iPod as some actor reads them; you don't actually read the text on that tiny screen! There is a device, made by Sony I think, that is a tablet with a screen on which you actually read text. Ipod is for audio books.

[terrytnt]

I too use audible.com and have for years. Just by driving to and from work (1-2 hrs per day) I'm able to listen to 2 books per month. The quality is outstanding and more-and-more publishers are adding multiple narrators with occasional sound tracks in the background.

I think it's incredible... couldn't get along without my ipod and books

[paczki]

My favorite music site emusic has a lot of books.

[Firenze]

Go to the public library. Check out a talking book on CD. Rip from disk to itunes to ipod. Take a minute or so per disk. If it is for your personal use and not distributed, I beleive it is the same as listening to the CD from a copy write stand point, could be wrong though.
Tip, for books, make sure you are using the most compressed mode, sound quality doesn't matter here. For music use apple lossless for best sound.
I can fit four or five books on my 8 gig nano. Only sync what you need onto your ipod and keep the rest on your pc.
Firenze

[keno]

With 80 GB on the Classic I got her, nothing to worry about.

My librarian told me yesterday that our central library has a service from which you can download books directly to your iPod through your computer and they will simply delete after two weeks as if returned.

keno