PBO Zinio Digital Edition buyer BEWARE !

[jon]

I thought I would save money, paper and ink by subscribing to the PBO digital edition.So I cancelled my 14 year old sub by post.
The subscribe link on the PBO site takes you to the Zinio site, price appears to be '12 Issues for £29.99 Save 37% off the Cover Price:£47.40'
However there is no mention of VAT which does not appear until the credit card receipt appears. So £29.99 + VAT = £36 !!
Also the start date for the first issue can not be selected, it starts from the current edition.
Zinio are difficult to get hold of, filled in their enquiry form, after 4 days no reply.
PBO currently available for £42.70, so not much of a saving, why is the digital version so expensive?

 

[tillergirl]

Umm, because they are organisations that do what they do to make money!

 

[Ubergeekian]

I thought I would save money, paper and ink by subscribing to the PBO digital edition.So I cancelled my 14 year old sub by post.
The subscribe link on the PBO site takes you to the Zinio site, price appears to be '12 Issues for £29.99 Save 37% off the Cover Price:£47.40'
However there is no mention of VAT which does not appear until the credit card receipt appears. So £29.99 + VAT = £36 !!
Also the start date for the first issue can not be selected, it starts from the current edition.
Zinio are difficult to get hold of, filled in their enquiry form, after 4 days no reply.
PBO currently available for £42.70, so not much of a saving, why is the digital version so expensive?

PBO subscription pricing is all over the place. According to the website, UK subscriptions are currently £45.55 for one year (13 issues), which is £3.50 each, £85.40 for two years (26 issues) which is is £3.28 each and £21.35 for six months which is either £3.56 or £3.05 a pop, depending on whether you get six or seven issues in those six months - they seem curiously reluctant to say.

I might be interested in the digital subscription if it came as pdfs, but not for a proprietary format requiring a special reader.

 

[ianfr]

I might be interested in the digital subscription if it came as pdfs, but not for a proprietary format requiring a special reader.

Me too, I tried the sample an hated it. Provide as a pdf, downloadable then I might be interested.

Ian

 

[jon]

[I might be interested in the digital subscription if it came as pdfs, but not for a proprietary format requiring a special reader.[/QUOTE]



I agree, but I guess they are worried we might pass on the pdfs, much as we might do the printed magazines.

 

[Mooswana]

I would be interested in digitally subscribing to various magazines Would love to save all the forestry, diesel fumes etc involved in production andd delivery. Also we don't have an address at which we could collect magazines with any regularity. (My partner and I don't have a house, just a lorry and a boat.)
I have asked the same question of New Scientist, Philosophy Now and several other magazines, with differing results, but mostly negative attitudes. Personally I wonder if the ease of ignoring adverts in digital formats has anything to do with their reluctance?

 

[Lady Campanula]

I might be interested in the digital subscription if it came as pdfs, but not for a proprietary format requiring a special reader.

Me, too.

There are articles I'd like to keep, and a .pdf format would facilitate that. Further, I'd like to be able to browse older editions for articles of interest, and would be pleased to pay reasonably to be able to download some of those. I'm sure there's IT technology around which would permit that.

Howzabout it, Richard?

 

[mlines]

I agree on the VAT bit! - very sneaky if you ask me.

As for the .PDF bit.....

...download a .PDF printer driver from T'interweb and then click on "PRINT" within the Zinio reader and create your own .pdf version to save, move, read etc. Works fine for me.

Simples!

Martin

 

[Moss]

Digital copies etc

Hi Guys,

Biggest drawback is you have to take your laptop everywhere you'd normally take the mag. I'd often have the mag in the car for snatched readings while on a work break etc. Even a late night read in bed becomes an electronic escapade. I subscribed just a couple of weeks ago and won't again. Its great science but not as convienent as it might at first appear.

Mark