 |
Simply Audiobooks Review: Audiobook Downloads and Rentals |
| Sign up for Simply Audiobooks | |
Rating: |
 |
| There are two plans to choose from, but the rental service is by far the best bargain | |
|
We've reviewed rent-by-mail audiobook services and audiobook download services. Simply Audiobooks is the only service we reviewed that does both. It should mean freedom of choice, but users must decide which plan they'd like, rental or download. Downloading is cheaper, at $14.95 per month ($13.00 per month on an annual plan). Rent-by-mail is $17.95 per month ($15.00 per month on an annual plan). The service has over 10,280 titles for download and over 10,000 available for rent-by-mail. The rent-by-mail catalog is smaller than its closest competitor's, Booksfree.com, but it's also $5.00 cheaper. As for downloads, its catalog dwarfs eMusic's, but can't come close to Audible's.
As for the selection, it really varies based on format. The CD-rental stock is larger and much more current than the purchasable download library: Harry Potter is there, as is Twilight. You'll also find Dan Brown (some titles as rentals, others for purchase) and Sarah Palin, whose Going Rogue demonstrates true bipartisanship by being available for rental and download. You can also find The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. They stock far fewer versions of classics, so you'll have to like the one Moby Dick narrator they offer. On the other hand, if you want to know Who Moved My Cheese you're in luck. You can rent it or download it, depending on your plan. Simply Audiobooks started their business using the Netflix model, and has only recently moved into the download model. In the beginning they had a confusing mix of formats, but now they're down to just two: MP3 and M4B. It may sound like a bit of an alphanumerical soup but the two formats are pretty similar, and are compatible with most media players out there, including Apple's iPod and iPhone. M4Bs allow for more advanced bookmarking and are a bit bigger, so you may have trouble burning them to disc. Still, the download plan is not the strong point, at least given the price and number of titles available. Still, we found the MP3 files to be pretty great sounding. They sounded much more alive than the same title from Audible, eMusic, and iTunes did. This is because it uses a less "lossy" compression. Better quality comes at a storage cost, however. The files are twice as big. Our 7-hour book took up nearly 400MB. Simply Audiobooks gets the web interface right, and it's pretty easy to search through and find what you're looking for. There are summaries and plenty of user reviews from their very active userbase. Unfortunately, many titles lacked audio samples. If you're going to spend 7 hours listening to a narrator, it's nice to know if you're going to enjoy listening to the voice. It took almost exactly a week for our title to ship from Las Vegas, Nevada to our office in San Francisco, California (with one holiday day in between). The Standard Mail service isn't as speedy as Booksfree's First Class, but not bad either, though it depends on your proximity to the shipping center. The discs come in a small box that easily converts for return shipping. The discs showed the marks of having been played, but nothing that looked bad enough to spoil playback. CD quality is the best you'll get, at least compared to the download services we tried. The great thing about CDs is that you don't have to worry about device compatibility; they play in CD players and CD-ROM drives. Of course the big disadvantage is that you don't own the audiobook. While there's no due date, you will have to send back the discs to get a new title. So, should you choose Simply Audiobooks? It depends on your needs and your budget. It's the cheapest rent-by-mail service, though its selection is a bit smaller than its closest competitor. While it's not the cheapest download service (that title belongs to eMusic), its audio files have the best sound quality. Probably the biggest question for most will be whether Simply Audiobooks has the titles they need. If so, it's not a bad option. Sign up for Simply Audiobooks | Compare to Other Audiobook Plans |
|
| Price: | Rental: $14.95/mo; $156.00/yr Download: $17.98/mo; $180.00/yr |
| Free Trial or Discount: | 15 day free trial on $26.98/mo 2-book rental plan |
| Rent or Download: | Download: 1 title per month* CD rentals: unlimited, 1 at a time |
| Upgrade Plans: | 2 or 3 book plans for $24.95/mo to $37.98/mo; annual plans also available |
| Library Details: | Rental: 20,000+ titles Download: 6,000+ titles |
| Devices Supported: | Some rentals require MP3-CD player; MP3 and M4B downloads compatible with most media players |
NextAdvisor Audiobook Downloads and Rentals Blog Headlines
What MP3 Player Works With Barnes and Noble Audiobooks?
Q: Which MP3 player should I buy to download audible books from Barnes and Noble? I have Windows Vista. A: We've addressed this question in general before on the blog, but I can offer a few specific pieces of advice for working with Barnes and Noble files. Users almost always download audiobooks through their computers. [...]
Download "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Audiobook for Cheap
Want to read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" before the movie comes out, but don't have the time to read it all? Take advantage of some great NextAdvisor deals and get the audiobook! The serial killer thriller is one of the best selling novels in the world and part of the highly-addictive Millennium series [...]
Want the New "Steve Jobs" Audiobook? Get a Deal with These Services
With the death of Steve Jobs, the technology world lost an icon. In his new book, "Steve Jobs," Walter Isaacson offers an inside look at the genius, including everything from Jobs? difficult personality to his visionary thinking. The book covers everything in Jobs' life from his beginnings at Atari to his rise to one of [...]
Download "Moneyball" Audiobook for Free or Cheap
Want a more in-depth look at Brad Pitt?s new movie ?Moneyball?? Then check out the original book by Michael Lewis. Lewis? book gets in to the details behind the Sabermetric analytics that Oakland A?s general manager Billy Beane used to create a winning team with small revenue. These tactics are used by many MLB teams [...]
