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As opposed to...?

There isn't a lot of ways to et some of the things they offer.

They're cheaper (provided you already have the relevant hardware), but the formatting is awful. Take up less shelf space though, and much easier to transport around.

If you're buying them to look at, the hard covers win. If you're buying them to use, then it's pretty much a toss-up unless you regularly use a large number of books at which point the transport considerations start to come into play and the tablet + ebooks start to come out ahead.

EDIT: This is assuming we're talking about Black Library eBooks here. If we're talking iDevice versions as I understand they are a hell of a lot nicer to use.

What is "worth" to you? I have the DV boxset. I bought the BRB. I also bought the iPad enhanced version as well. It's worth it to me because when I am stumped on a rule, I just click/touch the rule and it's there explaining it to me.

A lot of people complain about the extra $10, but to me that is soooooo sooooo worth it.

What version are you talking about? iPad version or e-book version? (non iPad version)

Worth it to me as I use an android and they are significantly cheaper, easier to transport. I basically have a dedicated tablet in airplane mode and I dont worry about the battery very much.

I really like the hardbacks until Army builders and the like come out, as well as during the learning phase for an army it is really nice.

However once that phase is over it is really easy to use the books. They have a lot of built in book marks that are great for looking things up. Once you get used to your app searching is really quick and painless. Also just having it all available in one package is nice. If I want to look up a rule for x army I dont need the book I can just sit there and look it up.

Pros:
-They update the rules to the ipad
- You can get iTunes cards for sale regularly 20 to 50% off
- The hyperlinks make checking it faster
- Saves space
- Really easy to take screen shots and share with friends for research.
- You can bitch to apple about the junk product and they give it to you for free. Seriously I got the marine dex for free because the promised army builder was not functional on purchase as promised.

Cons:
- Going between main rulebook and codex sucks because of load times
- The boo boo stink face you get when your updated iDex craps on your opponents parade
- Buying a case for it is a must.

And don't let anyone tell you anything about battery life, I charge mine once or twice a month.

 Ravenous D wrote:
Pros:
-They update the rules to the ipad
- You can get iTunes cards for sale regularly 20 to 50% off
- The hyperlinks make checking it faster
- Saves space
- Really easy to take screen shots and share with friends for research.
- You can bitch to apple about the junk product and they give it to you for free. Seriously I got the marine dex for free because the promised army builder was not functional on purchase as promised.

Cons:
- Going between main rulebook and codex sucks because of load times
- The boo boo stink face you get when your updated iDex craps on your opponents parade
- Buying a case for it is a must.

And don't let anyone tell you anything about battery life, I charge mine once or twice a month.

The weight/space issue is why I'm going for the digital editions. Especially when it comes to the BRB. As folks have mentioned, the load times are surprisingly long, the formatting is awful (for the IG codex, the "reference" section is 16 pages long, which is only half as long as the army list), and the army builder is broken. Let's you build armies and units that are illegal, can't edit your units once you select them (have to delete and add the unit back in just to remove one special weapon from the list), and allows units to take redundant upgrades (my chimeras can get 2 searchlights).

However, the hyperlinks are amazing. Want to know what BRB spells your psyker can use? Just tap his special rules and they all pop up right there. This even links you to other related special rules, so clicking on the link under "flamer" will give you the profile and the rules for template, ignore cover, etc. Really, with just a bit more effort the digital editions could be a total slam dunk.

I bought 5 of the digital codexes.

At first they were cool because you can click on a rule and everything about it is there. However, after having actually spent a fair amount of time with them I doubt I'll buy another.

The first issue is that it's simply not possible to rapidly flip back and forth between sections. That's not a gw problem, it's a media issue.

The next is that with allies you pretty much need an ipad for each army. Flipping back and forth between books just isn't an enjoyable experience.

I do like the idea of the books being automatically updated... However when was the last time we saw a FAQ? Then there is the issue of conflicts between digital and traditional versions. That type of thing just shouldn't happen if they had any type of quality control.

Tldr; the idea is cool, the tech just isn't there.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, as far as battery life: mine is charged nightly.... But it sees heavy use playing movies throughout the day.

The non-ipad ebook versions, they're cheaper, but they also suck. I bought the Tyranid digital codex and never again will I buy a digital copy off GW. The books clearly aren't written for the format, there's pictures that are obviously meant for dual column format which just get in the way and you have to flick through waaay too many pages to get what you want, doesn't help that the rules even for a single thing are often spread over multiple pages because the formatting just sucks balls.

If you're talking about ipad versions, they seem to be better... but then you need an ipad... I don't own nor desire to own an ipad so I've never actually tried one, just seen other people use them and they seem ok. I'd still rather just have a print version I think.

At the end of the day, when it actually comes to GAMING, I usually just photocopy the pages I need and take the photocopy with me instead of the whole book (might just leave the book in the car in case anyone wants to accuse me of piracy, lol). If there's a pirate copy I might just download that and print the pages I want to save me photocopying, but I avoid doing that for books I don't actually own

If I happen to be in an actual GW store, I just use the "customer open copy" of the book I need off the shelf. For some crazy reason GW went to overpriced coloured hard backs for their codices, so if I'm going to damage them by having to flip back and forth through them constantly, I'll damage their store copies instead of mine

The iPad versions are decent, if you have the lapse in cognitive function that makes you get an iPad. Otherwise, they're pretty disappointing. I've seen a lot of situations where people get the ebook version and then print out relevant pages. That probably is self defeating for a full codex.

Ipad versions are stupendously awesome, the linking to rules references is incredibly useful, the high quality photos look better there than print and you can carry them with you anywhere. Only possible draw back of an ipad is the price but if you can afford it get one

(Typed from my ipad after I bought the knights codex on the train over my 4g connection)

Tetsugaku wrote:
Ipad versions are stupendously awesome, the linking to rules references is incredibly useful, the high quality photos look better there than print and you can carry them with you anywhere. Only possible draw back of an ipad is the price but if you can afford it get one

(Typed from my ipad after I bought the knights codex on the train over my 4g connection)

I have to agree, the hotlinking of rules is fantastic. The biggest drawbacks, as has been noted, with the ipad versions is:
1) if you accidentally go to the next section (like from the FOC section to the reference section) it has to load before you can flip back again and have it load again.
2) It's great so long as you are only using it for that one book. If you also have the rulebook or a different codex on there, it is messy.

For me, it was the fact that digital was the only way to get my codex. I'd rather have a hard back.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 daedalus wrote:
if you have the lapse in cognitive function that makes you get an iPad.

I have an ipad and an android tablet. The android tablet collects dust and the ipad is used every single day.
It's a fantastic piece of hardware with amazingly sleek software. You'd need a lapse in cognitive function to judge the people that buy it just because it's cool to hate on the apple logo.

Load times are device dependant, I have high end Android devices with fast sd cards so they load really quickly. You are better off using different apps to open the codex and brb, then you can flip between the two apps rather than opening the books from scratch each time. Screenshots if the key screens are even quicker.

My Note pro 12 is particularly fast and nice to read on with its twelve inch screen. Being able to have up to four books on the screen at once is also useful.

IPad vs. Android is a pointless exercise, dedicated users of either are usually so entrenched in the eco system and ui it is rare for somebody to switch.

 Purifier wrote:

 daedalus wrote:
if you have the lapse in cognitive function that makes you get an iPad.

I have an ipad and an android tablet. The android tablet collects dust and the ipad is used every single day.
It's a fantastic piece of hardware with amazingly sleek software. You'd need a lapse in cognitive function to judge the people that buy it just because it's cool to hate on the apple logo.

I just have no real use for a tablet at all, ipad or otherwise.

Oh and another pro, I can save all the FAQs (whenever they get done that is) right to the iPad.

Hard copies can be scanned, digital copies can be printed. Its cheaper to scan than to print, so I favor hard copies.

But I am old fashioned, and I like actual books.

 daedalus wrote:
The iPad versions are decent, if you have the lapse in cognitive function that makes you get an iPad. Otherwise, they're pretty disappointing. I've seen a lot of situations where people get the ebook version and then print out relevant pages. That probably is self defeating for a full codex.

I don't get the iPad hate. I bought one for my fiance and she uses the hell out of it for work, catching up on family, goofing around, and so on. And I get to borrow it once in a while (Bel'Akor and Cypher Dataslates).

Bestest present ever.

Having an expensive tablet laying around at a shop or club is not good, but it's easier to carry around. I can only get 2 books and the small BRB in my army bag.
I got the epub versions, for my Android phone and tablet.
This type lets me look at the books at work, using a Firefox plug-in. Codex: Eldar is too big to load in that, but the others work.

Flipping through them is a pain. If I could disable pictures it'd be easier to use.

 kronk wrote:

 daedalus wrote:
The iPad versions are decent, if you have the lapse in cognitive function that makes you get an iPad. Otherwise, they're pretty disappointing. I've seen a lot of situations where people get the ebook version and then print out relevant pages. That probably is self defeating for a full codex.

I don't get the iPad hate. I bought one for my fiance and she uses the hell out of it for work, catching up on family, goofing around, and so on. And I get to borrow it once in a while (Bel'Akor and Cypher Dataslates).

Bestest present ever.

I was mostly poking fun. The immediate shrill backlash whenever someone says stuff like that is fascinating. My biggest problem with them is that they suffer from the same issue that most Apple products have in that they're not computers, they're consumer appliances. If you can't get past that, they're decent enough. If I had a free one drop into my lap, that'd be great. I just can't justify the cost. At any rate, they're not nice enough to buy one specifically for 40k books.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and the from factor means they don't fit into a pocket so well.

I have the iPad version of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook and I think it was a worthy purchase. I can look up things fairly quickly and it all gets updated so I don't have to track down changes.

I got the apocalypse rulebook for kindle fire... with the reference section, the book is over 1000 pages long. So yeah, if they actually bothered to make it more eBook-compatible I would be all over it, but for now, im gonna pass.

Depends...some books I want to have in print (IG Codex, MT Codex) other, like novels I want to have in ebook because of the space issue and some are only ebook...
So, yeah, its worth, if you are looking for the right reason

 BlackTemplar1 wrote:
I got the apocalypse rulebook for kindle fire... with the reference section, the book is over 1000 pages long. So yeah, if they actually bothered to make it more eBook-compatible I would be all over it, but for now, im gonna pass.

Ebooks are terrible, the Interactive ones are fine other then they need a price drop.



And I'll mention it again, iTunes cards are regularly on sale from 20 to 50% off.