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How to Turn iPod Nano 5G to an Awesome e-Book Reader

iPod-nano-5G

Gosh, I feel stupid writing this one. But this blog is supposed to be my personal journal. And let’s face it, for a not-so-tech-savvy girl as I am, converting my iPod Nano 5G into an e-book reader is quite an achievement. Gimme a break, will ya?

So, I’ve had this lovely iPod since December 2009. It’s the first I’ve ever had among Apple products I’ve always found fascinating. If money weren’t the issue, I’d surely buy them all, LOL!

Having such a powerful gadget without realizing its true power… sucks. Just think about it! For the whole 6 months! And today I just found out how to turn my iPod Nano 5G to an e-book reader. An awesome one!

Now, how did I do it?

1. Download and install the PDF-to-text converter. I’ve tried some freewares but it’s so hard to find the one able to convert without losing the original format (oh, my poor laptop!). So I highly recommend PDF Ripper. Its free trial lasts for 15 days, so make sure you convert as many PDF as you can before it ends, LOL.

2. Open PDF Ripper, convert your preferred e-book (in PDF) to RTF. I tried to convert it to TXT but its format was totally ruined.

3. You’ll be asked, “Do you want to view the result?” Hell yeah! When it’s opened in MS Word, click Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C.

4. Open Notepad. Click Ctrl+V (Yes, people! It’s a damn simple copy paste, LOL). Save.

5. Go to eBookHood. You’ll have to register for free.

6. Upload the TXT file. Click Convert Document. And wait.

7. Click Download as iPod Notes.

8. Unzip the folder. Rename the unzipped folder to your preference.

9. Copy it to the Notes section of iPod’s drive.

10. on iPod: You’ll find it on Extra > Notes > [title]. To skip to next/previous page, click Rew/FF button.

That’s it. I can now read an e-book on the go, even while listening to music. Cool.

And now will you excuse me…

All day long making love with Shadow of Gods on Nobody’s Graveyard, for I’m Coraline wannabe. PERFECT SUNDAY!

*Note that filling your iPod with too many long e-books might cause the Notes folder slower to load. I tried to put in 7 e-books by Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, it took about 5 mins accessing the Notes. Ooops…

Update: August 30, 2012

I no longer owns this iPod Nano 5G. I sold it for an iPod touch 5G. If you ask questions about technical troubleshooting, I might not be able to help you because my friends do not own any. Sorry.

heyDian
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34 responses to “How to Turn iPod Nano 5G to an Awesome e-Book Reader”

  1. antalya web tasarIm Avatar
    antalya web tasarIm

    cool idea and seems to work fine.
    thank you very much.

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      You’re welcome.

      Reply
  2. Tasfia Avatar
    Tasfia

    umm, I’ve noticed that when I’m reading the e-book on my ipod, the quotation marks don’t show up, when somebody’s talking… that’s really annoying… it doesn’t show on any txt. file… does that happen to u when u’re reading e-book on ur ipod???
    PLZZ reply!!!

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      Yes, the problem would be in the PDF converter (step 2). When I first converted it to TXT, it all ruined, including the missing apostrophe mark. That’s why I converted it to RTF (MS Word format), not into TXT directly. This way I had only spaces ruined (some lines have longer spaces between words), but that would be less irritating than the missing apostrophe. *I feel you…

      I’m sorry, until there’s a better PDF converter, this is the best I can get.

      Reply
  3. J Avatar
    J

    Hey, what do you do with long notes?
    anybody else have this problem:
    Long notes are truncated on your iPod

    Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      The same steps in the post, except that the notes are (usually) already in TXT files. If they’re not, copy-paste the sentences to Notepad first.

      Reply
    2. anna Avatar
      anna

      scroll with your click whell to read more

      Reply
  4. Sidhant Avatar
    Sidhant

    awesome , but actually you dont need a pdf converter adobe already has an option to convert a pdf into txt

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      That’s good to hear. Thanks! XD

      Reply
  5. ximena Avatar
    ximena

    i had been looking for this for a three days, thank you so much, i too love the apple products and recently, in true this year(2011) i have my first product too, i mean i have the same problem … the money, and i have been trying everything to see books in the ipod nano 5g and i really hope that your advise works, only i have a question, it works for pictures, i mean, my pdf was made with pictures taken from books, and it shows text and images… can you see the images from your books? , by the moment ill try it and thanks thanks thanks and if you know other way to take advantage of this ipod i´d like to see the post,,,
    pd sorry for my english in the real life i speak spanish so i hope that you understand my question, and if you like you can teach me about ipod and i can teach you spanish or only speak about life or only. please reply my question
    saludos desde colombia y gracias
    thanks ximena

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      Your 1st Apple? I gotta congratulate you then. And to welcome you to the Dark Side, as now you’re on the path to the Apple fanboy universe. LOL!

      About your question, I’m sorry, the answer is NO. This trick basically divides a long PDF into several text notes. So if there are pictures or images inside your PDF, I’m afraid you won’t be able to view them on your iPod.

      Gracias por su visita, Ximena. Good luck!

      Reply
  6. Mo Mo Avatar
    Mo Mo

    Thank you sooo much Dian Ara, I think I love you now!

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      Thanks, Mo Mo. Love you too for stopping by. XD

      Reply
  7. Vinayak Saran Avatar
    Vinayak Saran

    Nice method, really. Just 1 teeny problem. Seems i’m more stupid than you, as this seems way too long to me. 10 steps, really !! I ask, is there a shortcut to this??

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      Sure. 2 steps.
      1. Ask your friend to do it.
      2. Thank him/her after.

      I’m sorry if my detailed explanatory post bothers you.

      Reply
      1. Vinayak Saran Avatar
        Vinayak Saran

        Hehe! thanx! this is better, i guess!

        Reply
  8. Shermaine AWESOMESHIT Koh Avatar
    Shermaine AWESOMESHIT Koh

    Hello, can I ask. Where do you usually find your ebooks? I am looking for a book, but I can’t find it.

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      Check this out! http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-best-websites-to-download-free-e-books/

      Reply
  9. rohith Avatar
    rohith

    thansk alot!!! 😀

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      You’re welcome. ^.^

      Reply
  10. xxsamnxx Avatar
    xxsamnxx

    My iPod seems to cut off after about a page or two worth of texts. could you possible tell me what I’m doin wrong? It’s been converted to TXT file but it still wont work

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      Um, what does ‘cut off’ exactly mean? @@

      Reply
  11. MORDECHAI NYAMEKYE Avatar
    MORDECHAI NYAMEKYE

    ALSO GOT MY FIRST APPLE LAST WEEK, JUST ONE LITTLE PROBLEM: I DONT SEE THE NOTES FOLDER AND IT DOES NOT SYNC WITH ITUNES. CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE?
    MORDECHAI FROM GHANA

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      What is your Apple product? Is it really iPod Nano 5G? Apple’s products are released in generations, 5G means it is the fifth generation in iPod Nano line.

      Reply
  12. cocogal Avatar
    cocogal

    should i convert to rtf or to rtf ( with images ,layout ) ??

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      RTF.

      Reply
  13. Arjav Avatar
    Arjav

    I want my ipod to read it for me..!!! there is an “Audiobooks” feature..How is it useful??

    Reply
    1. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      I never played with that feature, sorry. 😐

      Reply
  14. evaa Avatar
    evaa

    do you any other sote instead of ( ebookhoo) cause it doesn’t work ! :s

    Reply
    1. evaa Avatar
      evaa

      ebookhood*

      Reply
    2. Dian Ara Avatar
      Dian Ara

      Have you checked this out? http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-best-websites-to-download-free-e-books/

      Reply
  15. Ipod nano 6th generation mini

    […] napr. na JPG 3. Zosynchronizuj obrazky do iPod-u Na internete som nasiel aj dalsi sposob -> How to Turn iPod Nano 5G to an Awesome*e-Book*Reader | Dian Ara's Quest Samozrejme, vyhladavanie textu nebude fungovat ani v jednom ani v druhom pripade. iPhone 4 […]

    Reply
  16. Kevin Octavianus Avatar
    Kevin Octavianus

    lol,why use it for reading book if u can use it to cheat on test,i use my i pod for cheating,hehe

    Reply
  17. Ethyn Avatar
    Ethyn

    Hi :d

    Reply

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