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Review: Zinio; Digital Magazine Reader |
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 I recently got a new 12" PowerBook (see my new avatar below), and included with it was a program I had never heard of before. That program was called Zinio, a digital magazine reader. For those of you thinking WTF, Zinio is a reader for digital copies of magazines that are normally distributed in print.
My PowerBook also came with a demo copy of Macworld. I was still in the giddy, "got a new PowerBook, need to play with it all the time" phase when I first opened it up to take a look. At first, I thought it would be more annoying to read macworld on the computer then on paper, but soon realized how much cooler this is. Zinio allows you to search for text in the magazine, highlight text, and my personal favorite; clicking on a URL will launch your browser and take you to that link.
The animation of turning the pages, and zooming in and out is really good looking, but the interface of the reader itself is kind of bulky and ugly.
A couple days after registering, I got my "thanks for registering" e-mail, and as usual my free gift was a 12 month subscription to MacWorld, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I could choose between normal print, or digital version through Zinio. |
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Click image for larger version
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I chose the latter and I have to say I am really happy I did. The only thing I would suggest is that you use it at a higher resolution than the 1024 X 768 that I am left with, because (at least on mine) the text is too small to read unless you zoom in, and you can't see the entire page zoomed in, so you have to constantly drag the page to continue reading.
All in all, I give Zinio 4 out of 5 pants.
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July 26 2004, 9:31 PM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| sweetjimmyhugs |
7/27/04, 10:02 AM EDT |
Somewhere a tree is breathing a sigh of relief.
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| Terry |
7/27/04, 11:56 AM EDT |
I think Zinio reader is awful and I refuse to use it.
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| Mike |
7/27/04, 12:08 PM EDT |
Zinio is OK if you don't want stacks of magazines around.
Downside: Macworld has disabled the print capability, so not possible to print articles of interest. My PC Mag lets me print individual pages.
Upside: takes up less space. I have digital subs to PC Mag, and Macworld. Have been using for a year, and find it quite handy when web access not available.
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| Tomas |
7/27/04, 5:05 PM EDT |
Zinio is cool because you get the magazines quickly and they don't get lost in the mail. Besides, you can read the whole thing in Zoom mode by using the Page Down button, which takes you automatically to the next page if you're done with the last one. I like paper a lot but they're hard to get rid of.
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| Johnathan |
7/28/04, 3:06 AM EDT |
I think it's not a bad idea, but I agree the reader program could be better. Thanks for the tip on how to read the whole thing in zoomed in mode.
I get eWeek via Zinio because I only ever read the Mac related stuff and just a little bit of the rest. It seemed stupid to get the whole paper mag when I knew it was only the occasional article that was of interest. The only problem is that I don't have a portable computer, and reading magazines isn't necessarily something I want to do sitting at a desktop computer.
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| Bill Palmer |
7/29/04, 3:33 AM EDT |
"reading magazines isn't necessarily something I want to do sitting at a desktop computer."
But why not? I mean, you could just...well, er, uh...I don't know. I need new shoes.
This might actually qualify as the most useless comment posted in the history of 2GAMAAW!
Hey, I do what I can...
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| sweetjimmyhugs |
7/29/04, 10:11 AM EDT |
Sorry Bill, but I think that honor belongs to the infamous Matt.
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| Jedbeck |
7/29/04, 11:41 AM EDT |
Way to go SJH, I almost had that troll out of my head.
Back to thinking about Spatulas for me till it is gone again. Dammit!
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| whatsinaname9000 |
7/29/04, 11:09 PM EDT |
i dunno....im stickin with my PRINT copies of macworld.
screw the trees!!!
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| Da John-like Creature |
7/30/04, 12:13 AM EDT |
print copies good...
digital mags. bad....
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| Researcher |
7/30/04, 1:04 AM EDT |
I have been using Zinio Reader for awhile to read free stuff but agree that the single page layout makes the text too tiny to read comfortably and zooming zooms in too far. I am waiting until they offer user definable zoom levels before I subscribe. I had a better reading experience printing to PDF and then reading the magazines in PDF format.
Researcher
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7/31/04, 11:28 PM EDT |
I have been using zinio since February. It is nice. I do find that the zoom is a bit tiresome, but okay. The problem I've been having is that I used to keep those back copies in the bathroom for extra reading material. Now do I bring my laptop in the bathroom and read all those past articles? It is some what cumbersome. Tough question.
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| stickman67 |
8/2/04, 12:17 PM EDT |
I like the online vegetable better: Zucchinio.
Or the online walking frame: Zimmerio.
Or the online Mesopotamian tower: Zigguratio.
Or the online burning airship: Zeppelinio.
Or the ...
[SFX: Scuffling of feet; punching, kicking, slapping; heavy breathing; footsteps moving off, stage right.]
*Groan!* Why's it always me who gets beaten up around here?
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| Bill Barstad |
8/2/04, 1:33 PM EDT |
I also think Zinio reader sucks. I had a hell of time getting off of their mailing list, too.
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| Outcast |
8/5/04, 9:13 AM EDT |
I think you all need to just read MacAddict. Get it in print so you get the CD, and forget Zinio and MacWorld.
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| Jonahan |
8/10/04, 3:57 PM EDT |
* Throws water on Stickman *
You alright, homes?
Damn - those roaming packs of Scrabble judges can be harsh.
Anyhooski-doodle, can anyone riddle me this: I ordered the online version of Computer Shopper through Zinio just to test it out (it was cheap).... so why do they continually send me the print version as well? Argh... I don't know where I'm gonna put all these. JeepersJeff, you want 'em for some reading room material?
:-D
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| Sherri |
8/11/04, 1:55 PM EDT |
I completly enjoy using Zino. I first discovered it when my boss surprised me a couple months ago with the new G5 and 23" flat screen monitor.
I have many uses for it
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| One User |
8/20/04, 12:14 AM EDT |
The Zinio concept is fine but the actual thing still leaves much to be desired. The most annoying/frustrating thing about it is that Zinio will give you a lot of trouble (hassle) installing its reader AND reading the mags you have ALREADY downloaded (even the free stuffs) if you have more than one computer and you want to read them in any of yours. Ditto if you upgrade your computer(s). Ditto if you rightfully change something about your computer(s). Ditto if you alternatively use internet cafes and your own computer(s) at home. Ditto if you ... and so on and so forth.
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