Re: Sony PRS-500 Reader
- From: Ian Robinson <junk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 20:04:00 +0100
On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 16:12:38 +0100, Phillip Walters wrote
(in article <1i286z3.pc9rpho9ioleN%pjwalters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):
I would really love one of these and I know this has been mentioned on
here before,
That might have been me ;-)
but I cant seem to find someone who sells them in the UK
despite Googling around. I know there is always the option to import
one, but I dont want to do that unless I have to.
You can't get them in the UK. They have not been released here yet. A
member of the MobileRead forums (see URL at end of this post) got word
from Sony that they would be released here before the end of 2007. This
has not been officially confirmed though.
I am also concerned
about content for the device, I read somewhere that the Sony connect
bookstore is only available to US residents, not quite sure why.
This is true to a large extent. There is a work around I'll outline
below. The reason for the Sony Connect Store only being available to
USA residents is likely for the same reason that iTMS was USA only at
the start. The content providers license the books on a territory
basis. Different agreements are needed for Europe etc.
If you have a USA credit card you can use the store. If you don't,
another option is to buy Sony Connect Gift Cards from bookshops in the
USA (e.g. Borders). This is what I do. I bought $50 worth of vouchers
when I bought the Reader in San Francisco ( I also got $50 credit when
I registered the Reader online). I used my San Francisco hotel as my
address and registration of the device and use of the gift card voucher
numbers was fine. I've used up all of the credit on the store and plan
to get some more vouchers when in the USA for VMworld. Members of the
MobilRead forums will also buy gift cards for people (send them the
money via PayPal) and send you the code. So even though the store is
USA only at present this can be worked around. You can browse the books
available at <http://ebooks.connect.com/>
My first choice of books for the Reader is the Connect Store. I've
bought about 20 (with another 20 or so free from the classic range that
is a bonus upon registration. H.G. Well's, Dickens etc. in the classic
range). If I can't get the book in the Sony Store, and I have a real
paper copy, I've taken to getting e-versions from the ebook newsgroups
or via bittorrent. I then convert these to BBeB using BookDesigner.
This likely breaches copyright, but I have bough a paper copy of the
books in question so I'm okay with it. I won't be selling the paper
copies and keeping e-copies. For new books that I can't get in ebook
format I've purchased a scanner with OCR software to scan and convert
to eformat. I did the first one of these the other day. Works fine.
There is a short tutorialon BookDesigner at the BookDesigner Wiki:
<http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Book_Designer>
I am a
bit confused regarding formats supported and the drm.
The device can read BBeB/LRF format books. This is the preferred
format. Ones from the Sony Connect Store are tied to 5 devices I think
(PC's and Readers). Much like iTunes. The DRM can be stripped though
I've never done this. The device can also read RTF files, Word files
(These are converted to RTF and this requires Windows Word), PDF's and
text files. I find that PDF files are not very readable due to font
sizes. This is easily solved using BookDesigner to import the PDF and
convert it to BBeB/LRF. See more info on BookDesigner below. There is
another program for Windows called Rasterfarian that'll make the fonts
more legible in a PDF file viewed on the Reader. I wouldn't buy a Sony
Reader to read A4 PDFs. think of it as a replacement for fiction books.
The device also displays JPEG photos (not colour obviously) and plays
MP3's. Never used the MP3 stuff on mine.
One last thing, I
believe you need a windows machine to use the supplied software to write
to the internal memory as OS X will only support external memory card's,
You need Windows to run the Sony Connect software but not a dedicated
Windows machine. It runs perfectly under Parallels in Windows Vista on
my Intel Macs. If you are going to get a reader then I'd recommend you
also get a virtualised Windows platform (Vista or XP) to run the
Connect Desktop software.
so has anyone who has got one tried this software.
http://labs.docudesk.com/latest-technologies/2007/4/26/docudesk-prs-brow
ser-for-os-x.html
I haven't used that. I use Sony Connect in Windows under Parallels.
Works fine for me.
You might want to check out the MobilRead Forums at the URL below. You
might be interested in the forthcoming Bookeen device that will read
MobiPocket ebook format. The iRex Iliad also reads MobiPocket format
books. <www.mobipocket.com>. Amazon own MobiPocket and they are
developing their own eInk reader device. Lots on info on these devices
available at MobileRead:
<http://www.mobileread.com/>
I love my Sony Reader. I'd replace it in an instant if anything
happened to it. It really is just like reading a novel. Very easy on
the eyes. Lighter than most books. Very long battery life (measured in
thousands of page turns). Several times I've physically went to turn a
page as I've completely forgotten I was reading an electronic device.
You won't regret getting one, assuming you can run the Windows software
in some way to control it.
Ian
--
Ian Robinson, Belfast, UK
<http://www.canicula.com/wp/>
.
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