I don't live in the states but I want to buy the sony ebook reader and was thinking of letting a famliy member who lives there buy it for me , now my question I am kind of confused on how to upload books to the reader , I mean can I have books or articles which are downloaded to pc and simply transfer them to the reader or do I have to connect to the book store(amazon) online as my only means of getting books on to the reader ? Please :help: this is very important

First of all, it's the Kindle that's associated with Amazon, not the Sony Reader. :-)

Having said that, both will let you copy file onto them via a PC, although (as you might expect) that's the primary method for the Sony whereas doing so on the Kindle (in fact, using it outside the US) will be missing out on it's strong point, which is the wireless integration.

Anyway, for the Sony, yes, you simply download to a PC (or convert from other formats, which is also fairly simple) then transfer to the Sony. This latter can be either just copying it, as the Reader shows up as a USB storage device, or by using the (Windows) Sony eBook Library software or via the open-source, multi-platform libprs500 application.

Welcome to MobileRead, couragous! :welcome:

I can understand your confusion, there's a lot of info floating around. Let me try to de-tangle some of it for you.

Okay, we're talking about the Sony Reader (not eReader, by the way, that's a Palm application for reading books), and if you are buying a new one you are probably talking about the PRS505 model.

That device doesn't work with Amazon's books at all. You can buy books for it from Sony's Ebook Store, but that is a bit complicated from outside the U.S., so we'll set it aside for the moment.

You are not limited to material from Sony. You can get stuff from many sources, especially if you're willing to do a bit of converting to get to a format the Reader will handle. The Reader will handle files in these formats: TXT, LRF, LRX, RFT, and PDF.

TXT of course doesn't handle any formatting bits, such as bold, italics and such.

LRF and LRX are Sony's BBeB format, the non-encrypted and encrypted types. There are a number of tools that will make LRF (the non-encrypted type) out of a large variety of source formats.

RTF is probably the simplest to deal with on the Reader, as you don't have to convert it at all to open it on the Reader. If you can save your source material in RTF format, the Reader will open it right up. There are a couple of catches on that, though. The first is that the Reader won't display images in an RTF file -- not usually a problem for books, but it can be for other materials. The second catch is that the Reader shows the text in an RTF at a fairly small size, so increasing the text size before putting it on the Reader is a good idea.

PDF -- this one has a really big catch. PDF files look great on the Reader IF they are formatted for the Reader's screen size. If the PDF is sized for an A4 page, it will be mostly unreadable on the Reader's display. If you're making your own PDF files, that's not really a problem because you can control the "page" size the files are made at, but if you're getting PDF files from other sources, it can be a big problem.

That being said, the format I recommend for the Reader is either RTF or LRF.


Now for actually transferring files onto the Reader, with the 505 you have several options. You can use Sony's e-Book Library software or the libprs500 app (that you can find on this site) to transfer the files over USB. You can put the files on an SD card or MemoryStick and put that in the Reader, and read them from the card. Or you can just plug the 505 into a USB port and transfer the files directly onto it like you would a USB drive.

Hopefully that will get you started. If you have other questions, just say so. :nice:

Do not forget that MS Reader format ebooks can be purchased (as long as you have Windows) and DRM stripped with ConvertLIT and then converted to LRF using lit2lrf (one of the converters in Libprs500). Once all the software is installed, it's a very easy process. So even if say Sony was to stop selling ebooks, you'd still have access to current content.

Do not forget that MS Reader format ebooks can be purchased (as long as you have Windows) and DRM stripped with ConvertLIT and then converted to LRF using lit2lrf (one of the converters in Libprs500). Once all the software is installed, it's a very easy process. So even if say Sony was to stop selling ebooks, you'd still have access to current content.

Yeah and it works great too, I tried that for the First time last night bought a book from Simonsays.com and I had it converted in two licks. I don't have my reader yet (It's in the mail) but the converted file looked great on the sony Software, every bit as good as books I've purchased from Sony. I'll stick with .lit and convert as the prices are usually cheaper and I can use the file on my Dell Axim if I still wish to.

I have read the above noted postings and feel a little bit of hope now. However, I AM NOT computer literate and would someone be willing to provide me a step by step on how to convert a bundle of books I purchased from ebooks? It was purchased in Microsoft Reader format. I have a Sony Reader PRS-505 and have NO IDEA on how to do this.

However, I AM NOT computer literate and would someone be willing to provide me a step by step on how to convert a bundle of books I purchased from ebooks? It was purchased in Microsoft Reader format. I have a Sony Reader PRS-505 and have NO IDEA on how to do this. The short answer is ConvertLIT and lit2lrf. I suggest reading the thread: .lit conversion question (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20084).

Thank you for replying to my problem so quickly! But - I'm still having problems. I cannot get my book from Microsoft Reader to the Convertlit program or the libprs500! What in the world am I doing wrong?

With ConvertLIT is a file called README.txt. Read it and you'll see what to do to remove the DRM. You will have to use the command line to setup ConvertLIT.

Thank you! Please don't laugh, but it says I have to run readerkeyrecoverytool.exe. I went to Run on my start menu and tried it, but I think I'm wrong. How do I do this?

I'm afraid that's getting into the realm of specific instructions on removing DRM, which MobileRead doesn't support. So I'm afraid you and Google are on your own there.

Do not forget that MS Reader format ebooks can be purchased (as long as you have Windows) and DRM stripped with ConvertLIT and then converted to LRF using lit2lrf (one of the converters in Libprs500). Once all the software is installed, it's a very easy process. So even if say Sony was to stop selling ebooks, you'd still have access to current content.

Is there anything remotely similar for being able to read Kindle books on the Sony Reader?

Is there anything remotely similar for being able to read Kindle books on the Sony Reader?

Yes, it's very easy to remove the DRM from Kindle books, and then convert from Mobi format to LRF (the Sony format). The problem (for most people) is that you can't buy Kindle books unless you own a Kindle!

I wasn't aware of any workaround. How do I find info on this?

Next will be to see how I can purchase Kindle books.

taking one hurdle at a time ;)

Do a Google search for "MobiDeDrm". You're on your own after that.

Okay, cool. However, I have 2 questions. 1) If you load up libropro500 do you run it in conjunction with Sony's Connect software or in place of?

2) Is there any software available for scanning in my personal book collection (Printed media) and uploading it to my Sony Reader?

If you search the forum then you will find a lot of discussion on book scanners, etc.
It can take a long time to scan a book. It then takes a long time to remove the ocr errors. If you have time on your hands then have a go, if the laws in your country allow you to do so. In many states, copying copyrighted works is not legal, even if you own the book.