Review: Mobipocket as a RSS Aggregator

I’m sure most of the people who visit this site would know about NewsBreak by Ilium Soft, Egress by GarishKernels and SPB Insight by Spb Software House. This is just to name a few of the many others RSS aggregators for your Pocket PC.

All of these require you to purchase the software at around $10 to $20. However, there is still a free way (that I know of) to aggregate RSS feeds for your Pocket PC for free.

MobiPocket Reader is known to many as an eBook reader. However, it can also be used to aggregate RSS feeds. Before I go on, I must mention that this method of aggregating RSS feeds for your Pocket PC will only work if you are always near your desktop/laptop. You will not be able to download feeds through Wifi like all the other RSS aggregators mentioned earlier or download feeds without MobiPocket on a PC. It works for me because I let it download the feeds overnight (my PC is on 24/7) and then sync my Pocket PC before I leave every morning. Another thing is that it does not download images all the time (Pocket PC). I think it only downloads images below a certain size in an attempt to keep the file size low. This, I know is a turn off for many people but if you’re only reading RSS feeds from BBC or some other news agency, you’ll notice that the images they use are almost the same most of the time, especially with BBC.

If you can live with these two “bad” points (which doesn’t apply to everyone, some people might find it an advantage), then MobiPocket Reader might turn out to be a perfect solution for you. It downloads full articles so that you will not be reading just headlines. Downloading RSS feeds with MobiPocket is extremely fast especially if you have a high speed connection. After downloading the RSS feeds onto your PC, you just connect your Pocket PC to the PC and it automatically syncs the feeds. Synchronization is extremely quick too and requires no attention whatsoever. You can choose to store the feeds in your device, memory card or allow MobiPocket to choose the best location. You will also be able to choose which feeds you want to synchronize with your Pocket PC and which feeds you want just for your PC.

The installation on the PC is simple and should not take more than 5 minutes (not including the time you take to add your own feeds of course). After installation, you would be able to add your own feeds. You would have to be connected to the Internet to view full articles on your PC but not on your Pocket PC once synchronized. Installation on the Pocket PC is just as simple. Just connect your Pocket PC into your PC and MobiPocket Reader would detect it and ask if you would like to install MobiPocket Reader on the Pocket PC. It will then download the installation file off the net and install it. You will be able to install MobiPocket either in your device, SD card or CF card.

Pros:

• Downloads full articles
• Quick downloading speeds
• Seamless synchronization process
• Free
• Ability to create separate eNews lists for different categories
• RSS Repository for finding RSS feeds
• Newspaper view for PC client

Cons:

• Requires a PC with MobiPocket Reader installed
• Not all images downloaded to Pocket PC

I’ve included a few screenshots to give everyone a look at the PC client and the Pocket PC client.

Comments

Leave a comment

Name (required)

E-mail (required)

URI

Your Comment

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

You can add a link to follow you on twitter if you put your username in this box.
Only needs to be added once (unless you change your username). No http or @ Twitter