What do you buy when Logos isn't an option?
Hey all, I thought this question would be interesting. Where do you buys books/what format do you buy books in when they aren't available on Logos or Vyrso?
I'm starting Bible college in a few weeks and most of my books aren't available on Logos, I'm trying to decide what format to buy my books in.
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There's always Bibleworks, Accordance, Kindle and physical copy. Sometimes, publishers put out PDF or ePUB versions.
Each has its own pros and cons. Physical copy isn't a dead option by any means!
I don't think folks here would want to enter into a detailed discussion about Logos competitors, despite how carefully you worded your question. [:)]
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There's The Word. Accordance is better than all other softwares and more popular in some countries/university cities than Logos, better especially if You want to avoid Logos's command-line interface and want to deal with the Original Languages. The downside of Accordance is that they don't have an up-to-date Edition of the LSJ Greek-English lexicon (they charge a lot for the 1940 Edition), but hopefully they will release some other modern lexicon for Septuagint Greek. Accordance uses monitor space in a better way, I think - except You may not like all of it if You don't want to have the library open at all times. An advantage of Accordance is that they don't have the aggressive marketing that Logos has.
Sorry I won't give links - You may have difficulties finding The Word.Other than this, I agree with Lee but would personally not buy any Kindle books or devices whatsoever.
L2 Catholic new; Used: ODCC L5 Reformed Silver L6 Full Crossgrade; L6 Chinese Bronze new; L6 Ancient Literature Feature Expansion Collection (25 vols.) new, no dynamic pricing. Before packs had 100 books incl. AYBRL new
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Also Olive Tree. Actual class textbooks are still best as paper for studying/reviewing for exams. Unless you can get both paper and electronic.
I hope electronic book technology will soon improve until electronic is truly better than paper for class study. No one is better capable of doing that than Logos.
For research and Bible book reference such as dictionaries, commentaries etc. you cannot do better than Logos. You are gonna need a lot of those. I recommend starting with Logos first, because you will probably end up there and then your money was wasted if you invested elsewhere.
Accordance may have a little edge on languages, but for commentaries and overall research, Logos is better.
Logos marketing is a bit 80's-esque tiresome, (Last chance! Clock is ticking! Hurry before it's too late! Special deal for you! -- most or all of which is never true) but you can ignore it.
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If You want Hermeneia it's offered much cheaper any day @ Accordance, especially since it's not bundled with Continental over there (Continental is not bad - but the Gal -volume is the best). Accordance has one unique tagging: headlines - so You can go from one headline to another very quickly - and search them too. Logos won't be lowering the regular price of Hermeneia nor introducing headlines tagging:
Gao Lu said:for commentaries and overall research, Logos is better.
L2 Catholic new; Used: ODCC L5 Reformed Silver L6 Full Crossgrade; L6 Chinese Bronze new; L6 Ancient Literature Feature Expansion Collection (25 vols.) new, no dynamic pricing. Before packs had 100 books incl. AYBRL new
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Since you're not a regular poster, I feel compelled to advise that I personally would take whatever N/A (also posting as Unix) posts as fact with a pinch of salt. If you do some fact-checking you will see what I mean.
This being a Logos forum, the administrators don't mind cursory mention of competitors, but they discourage discussion about it.
What you could do is to ask some of your future classmates or professors also. They could have more specific insights about your future needs.
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Doug Hanna said:
Where do you buys books/what format do you buy books in when they aren't available on Logos or Vyrso?
I generally buy monograph-type books in Kindle when they are not available in Logos, since I already use Kindle for non-theological books. But I don't use Kindle for theological reference books---Bible commentaries and theological dictionaries are generally more frustrating than they're worth in Kindle (although I do buy and use computer reference works in Kindle without the same frustration). I try to limit my platforms and "ecosystems" so I don't bother with other software packages. If I NEED to have it and it's not in Logos or Kindle, then hardcopy it is. I can't remember that happening in a long while.
MacBook Pro (2019), ThinkPad E540
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Doug Hanna said:
Where do you buys books/what format do you buy books in when they aren't available on Logos or Vyrso?
Amazon including Kindle and Alibris are my first choices.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Doug Hanna said:
I'm starting Bible college in a few weeks and most of my books aren't available on Logos, I'm trying to decide what format to buy my books in.
I really only purchase books from two vendors: Logos and Amazon. My preference is always to have non-fiction books in Logos, and fiction on Kindle... but it doesn't always work out that way. I rented an economics book from Kindle (which would not have been available from Logos) last semester, and purchased another one (which SHOULD have been available in Logos, but wasn't). My experience in both cases was "less than ideal."
The rented book was fine, but navigation was a bear. It would have been much easier within L5. The purchased book was a disappointment because Amazon was advertising it as the "second" edition... but it wasn't. It was missing 5 chapters. I verified this by checking out a print copy at the library. The book is STILL being advertised as such. Ugh.
It is in your best interest to try and figure out if a textbook will benefit you long term. If you think it might, look to Logos... especially when you need to quote or search your textbook. I was completely unable to cut and paste from either of my kindle textbooks. Another tip: working in the bookstore during "rush" is a good way to pick up a little spending money... and get the best deals on print books. You can snag a "used" copy of a book that someone didn't even read last semester. [:)]
macOS, iOS & iPadOS |Logs| Install
Choose Truth Over Tribe | Become a Joyful Outsider!0 -
alabama24 said:
I really only purchase books from two vendors: Logos and Amazon. My preference is always to have non-fiction books in Logos, and fiction on Kindle... but it doesn't always work out that way.
The same is true for me.
Using adventure and community to challenge young people to continually say "yes" to God
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I own and use and enjoy using Logos and Accordance. Logos has the gross of my study library but I have many valuable stuff over Accordance and it has some features that Logos lacks (Fuzzy searches for example).
When they are just books to read (don't need to be searchable) my first choices is the Kindle as they tend to be a lot cheaper or Vyrso and hard copy books.
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Doug Hanna said:
Hey all, I thought this question would be interesting. Where do you buys books/what format do you buy books in when they aren't available on Logos or Vyrso?
If it's not available from Logos or Vyrso, I'll usually go for the print version from either Christianbook.com or Amazon.
In Christ,
Charles
2017 27" iMac 5K, Mojave, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 7+, iPhone 8, iOS 12.0, Catalina beta, iPadOS Beta
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Kindle, because it is so simple to convert to a Logos personal book, if needed.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
Got about a dozen Kindle books (funny thing is they are on my Nook) none of them where/are available in Logos. Kindle apps on my laptop and desktop also make them accessible.
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Doug Hanna said:
Where do you buys books/what format do you buy books in when they aren't available on Logos or Vyrso?
Due to visual constraints I always buy audio or digital books. When no Logos resource is available I get PDF, WordSearch, BibleWorks, or Accordance, in that order. Because I am not in school, I can afford to patiently wait on Logos to publish my wish lists.
Logos 7 Collectors Edition
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I agree with N/A about Kindle quality being an issue sometimes. They're certainly affordable, but iBooks (which are significantly more expensive) seem to be a decent option, too. Not as great a selection, though.
Abram K-J: Pastor, Writer, Freelance Editor
Blog: Words on the Word0 -
N/A said:
I know there will be 4-5 angry replies on this post alone.
I am neither angry nor laughing. However, most of the Kindle books I own are of excellent quality. Those that are not were advertized as unedited reissues. Kindle preserves my position within a book very well. My biggest problem with it is maintaining my position in puzzle books due to other family members picking it up and working them out under my username.
I very carefully have been giving up other Bible oriented software and consolidating in Logos as a carefully considered decision. I would rarely recommend that an individual invest in multiple original language or Bible software packages ... too much overlap while additional functionality can be obtained by adding in academic software. My exception? Individuals whose profession is in the original languages/ manuscripts.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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I agree about that part, MJ., although I would not have made my decision to use two advanced Bible Study softwares unless it would have become cheaper. It started by someone offering me UBS Handbooks NT very cheap in Accordance by PM:ing me: $90 + license transfer fee, before I had bought anything in Accordance. The next big step when it comes to saving, not spending (meanwhile a spent once on an Accordance seminar Starter Collection and pretty few but regularly priced individual resources) was when the AYBC NT was on a sale - at that time the volumes could not be purchased individually in Logos and in retrospect I would not have saved any $ by purchasing the individual volumes in Logos because I wanted (and it turned out that I needed) about ½ of them and there are a couple or three more volumes which will be useful to some extent despite their age - just to add perspectives or turn up in searches if nothing else:
MJ. Smith said:I very carefully have been giving up other Bible oriented software and consolidating in Logos as a carefully considered decision. I would rarely recommend that an individual invest in multiple [...] Bible software packages
L2 Catholic new; Used: ODCC L5 Reformed Silver L6 Full Crossgrade; L6 Chinese Bronze new; L6 Ancient Literature Feature Expansion Collection (25 vols.) new, no dynamic pricing. Before packs had 100 books incl. AYBRL new
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Kindle,ePub, or print. Print makes the most sense since you can resell it. However, I have to say that it's nice to be able to change the font size for easier viewing with digital books.
The mind of man is the mill of God, not to grind chaff, but wheat. Thomas Manton | Study hard, for the well is deep, and our brains are shallow. Richard Baxter
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