IPad magazines and how to work with them

[Vikki Sixx]

Hey everyone,

Over Christmas I bought an iPad for my wife and we really do enjoy it ! One of the things that I love, is getting the magazines I used to subscribe to on download for cheaper than the printed stuff. So less clutter in the house and a great way to get your magazines. However, I have a few questions:

1 - when u buy a mag, where is it physically saved?
2- if I wanted to save this mag "offline" so that I could move it to a future iPad or an iPhone, how do I do that?
3- if I wanted to save the old mags in a file on my pc and save space on my iPad, how do I do that.

Hope to get some answers from you guys as I have always found this forum to be the best source of IT help on the web.

Thanks
Vic

 

[VG008]

Hey,

Most magazine sellers don't allow you to save the actual magazine, because of pirating issues.
Anyway, I too got a iPad and tired two magazine sellers; MySubs and Zinio.

MySubs is rubbish, don't bother with them. Their download is too big, the app size is too big, and you pay a credit card fee every time you purchase from them. It works out more expensive then a physical mag.

Zinio is awesome. Found @ http://za.zinio.com/
Here are the advantages of using zinio
>> No tax on magazines. So, you save the 14% VAT you usually pay.
>> You don't pay a credit card fee. I usually just use VCpay for my purchases. Available @ www.vcpay.co.za
>> Downloads are small and excellent quality
>> Mags are stored offline, but not sure where they are stored. Apple doesn't give users access to their file system
>> You can delete the magazine (too save space) and later redownload it for free. So everything is stored on the cloud.
>> If you don't have your iPad with you, you can download the Zinio app for iPhone/Android Device/Windows/Mac and download your purchased content for free.
>> Zinio always gives gift vouchers to their clients, which are in dollars ($$$). This works in your favour
>> I signed up in December 2011. To date I receive $40 (around R320) in vouchers and I only spent R200 on their site.
>> Their magazines are also cheaper and they often offer 25-50% discount specials.
>> Don't buy the magazines from the in app store though. These magazines are sold in dollars. Rather go to their South Africa site and purchase it from their. The magazine will show up on your app after purchase.

 

[clasqm]

In a word, jailbreak. That will give you access to tools that will let you access the iPad's file structure.

Alternatively, subscribe through Zinio rather than through Newsstand. You will have to download everything twice, though. Hope you have an uncapped data plan. I think some magazines are also available on the Kindle app.

And if you don't mind dabbling in the dark side of the force: http://www.magazinesdownload.com/

 

[VG008]

And if you don't mind dabbling in the dark side of the force: http://www.magazinesdownload.com/

I don't understand why people would pirate magazines. They aren't that expensive, unless you are buying Harvard mags @ R130.00 each. If you enjoy the content, support the journo's.

Movies and Music on the other hand are just ridiculously prices. These companies should go for volume at the lower cost.

 

[Vikki Sixx]

thanks guys .... the two magazines that I buy are Digital SLR Magazine (photography) and National Geographic. I don't mind paying the $45 and $30 respectively for a 1 year subscription .... I just want to have them offline cause I use them for reference (mostly on my PC would be good)

 

[VG008]

thanks guys .... the two magazines that I buy are Digital SLR Magazine (photography) and National Geographic. I don't mind paying the $45 and $30 respectively for a 1 year subscription .... I just want to have them offline cause I use them for reference (mostly on my PC would be good)

If you are going to purchase them, try purchasing one issue first, before committing to a subscription.

 

[clasqm]

I don't understand why people would pirate magazines. They aren't that expensive, unless you are buying Harvard mags @ R130.00 each. If you enjoy the content, support the journo's.
Movies and Music on the other hand are just ridiculously prices. These companies should go for volume at the lower cost.

It's all a question of perception, isn't it? Magazines are churned out at a steady rate of one a month. People can spend a year or more of their lives working on just one movie. if it is an animated movie, it could be a lot more: 3 to 4 years for a feature animation is nothing unusual. Who deserves to be supported more?

Actually, I rarely read magazines these days, neither print nor digital. Flipboard and Zine give me more material than I can find the time to read, and it isn't a month out of date either.

 

[Dolby]

I just want to have them offline cause I use them for reference (mostly on my PC would be good)

I've got Readers Digest (don't ask ....) and Popular Mechanics through Newstand - and they're both stored on the iPad itself.

Once you download (between 250MB and 400MB) it's on the device forever - unless you choose otherwise for space or something. You can delete and redownload whenever you want.

* At least that's the way those two work ....

 

[Hemps]

I noticed the didgital versions are a lot larger in size than the .pdf versions you find all over the place.

The pdf versions are a little difficult to read, lots of zoom pinching etc.

What are the digital versions like?

 

[hellfire]

It's all a question of perception, isn't it? Magazines are churned out at a steady rate of one a month. People can spend a year or more of their lives working on just one movie. if it is an animated movie, it could be a lot more: 3 to 4 years for a feature animation is nothing unusual. Who deserves to be supported more?

Actually, I rarely read magazines these days, neither print nor digital. Flipboard and Zine give me more material than I can find the time to read, and it isn't a month out of date either.

Sure - but movies get profits in box office sales and merchandising over and above dvd sales. They could easily, as VG008 mentioned, reduce the cost and make up for the price difference with sales volume.

 

[hellfire]

I noticed the didgital versions are a lot larger in size than the .pdf versions you find all over the place.

The pdf versions are a little difficult to read, lots of zoom pinching etc.

What are the digital versions like?

generally a little better than the pdf, but to read small type like captions you need to pinch in

 

[clasqm]

the two magazines that I buy are Digital SLR Magazine (photography) and National Geographic.

But NatGeo is the one magazine you definitely want to get in the print edition: a big pile of those magazines with the yellow spines, prominently displayed in the lobby, shouts "we are eddyewkated!". Why it's almost as good a a full set of the Encyclopædia Brittanica in the home office.

 

[Dolby]

What are the digital versions like?

They have animations, videos, sound too

 

[goofball]

In a word, jailbreak. That will give you access to tools that will let you access the iPad's file structure.

Alternatively, subscribe through Zinio rather than through Newsstand. You will have to download everything twice, though. Hope you have an uncapped data plan. I think some magazines are also available on the Kindle app.

And if you don't mind dabbling in the dark side of the force: http://www.magazinesdownload.com/

Great tip! Thanks!

 

[Vikki Sixx]

In a word, jailbreak. That will give you access to tools that will let you access the iPad's file structure.

Alternatively, subscribe through Zinio rather than through Newsstand. You will have to download everything twice, though. Hope you have an uncapped data plan. I think some magazines are also available on the Kindle app.

And if you don't mind dabbling in the dark side of the force: http://www.magazinesdownload.com/

Actually I have just looked at Zinio and specifically for Nat Geo, it is a little cheaper ($1 per issue and $10 for subscription) but the version you get on Zinio is basically a scan of the print version (complete with the crease in the middle of a 2-page spread). The digital version from Nat Geo themselves is FANTASTIC ! Has a bunch of audio and video content, interactive stuff and all the images a beautiful full page images (even some that appear as small in the print version). I think it is well worth the extra buck !

Thanks for the tips anyway, should be useful for other mags !!

 

[Hemps]

I want to use vcpay to buy magazines from zinio, I also want to use the credit I have been given.

I already have some from US store that I bought with paypal in $, If I use SA store, can I still use the credit I have been given via emails from Zinio which are in US$?

 

[VG008]

I already have some from US store that I bought with paypal in $, If I use SA store, can I still use the credit I have been given via emails from Zinio which are in US$?

Yip - I use the $ credits on the SA store.

 

[Hemps]

Yip - I use the $ credits on the SA store.

can you use the credit for Magazines that are on special?
I see Leisure Wheels for R84 so If I use my credit of $10 (R88) I should be able to get the magazine subs for free?

 

[VG008]

Not sure if you can use the credits on specials.

But I just think they apply the credit to your total purchase amount, regardless of which items you purchase.

 

[Hemps]

Excellent, used vcpay to generate credit card, then added my zinio credit which matches the amount of the subs and got the mag for free.