Guys,

I'm taking an interest in the DR1000. I know it's a huge beast compared to my Sony but I can see an advantage in having both. My question is, are the books I buy for my Sony usable on the DR1000?

Regards,

Peter

Nope. That's why - at the risk of sounding like a broken record - I prefer devices with MobiPocket support. Most devices can read MobiPocket; only Sony Readers can read Sony's formats.

I'm taking an interest in the DR1000. I know it's a huge beast compared to my Sony but I can see an advantage in having both. My question is, are the books I buy for my Sony usable on the DR1000?


Well, contrary to Harry's message the answer is, it depends. If you buy .LRX books from Sony, then his answer is correct. If you are buying some other format that is either DRM free or the DRM could be removed then you may be able to convert them for the DR.

At this time I don't think the DR supports Adobe Secure DRM.. but perhaps they will in the future which will make this easier.

Not to start this discussion again but as you can see from the post DRM is about vendor lock in and NOT copyright protection.

BOb

Thanks guys. As it is, I only have two books on my 505 and they were as cheap as chips so migrating them is not an issue. It's just that I find the whole eBook market quite confusing as to what you get on one device that's not on another and a book you get here for another device is not available for use on another, that sort of thing.

It's because of this confusion that I'm at a loss of how to choose one and while I can appreciate that side-by-side comparisons are not always helpful I'd like to know from you gurus who have a lot of experience as to what you think the knock-out punches are?

The Iliad website has a lot IT development books something I can't find in abundance for the 505. I like the size of the DR1000 as it seems to be very close to actual A4 so I think it would do a better job in some respects. I could search forever on these devices so (a) is there a good link that shows real-user experiences of it and (b) is there a scratch-and-sniff dealer in the UK that would actually have one in stock. I'd not want to buy it blind without getting a really good hand-on where possible or at least get a much more detailed understanding of its capabilities and functions.

Well, Borders sell the iliad book edition in their stores & have display units. Waterstones do the same for the Sony. At present that is all you will see in any shops in the UK. It may be that there are other user's in your vicinity who could show/demonstrate their units. Else there are pictures and videos on this site amongst others.
The incompatibility of units to various DRM'd book formats is a pain in the posterior and in the long term will have to change if there is ever going to be a wider acceptance of ebooks, but don't hold your breath.

Guys,

I'm taking an interest in the DR1000. I know it's a huge beast compared to my Sony but I can see an advantage in having both. My question is, are the books I buy for my Sony usable on the DR1000?

Regards,

Peter

Free books can be read on the DR1000S, but it cannot read Sony's books. I did try to read some free Gugenhein books on the DR1000S and it was not easy. Way too much text on the page; whereas on the PRS505, it is much more pleasant.

I bought the DR1000S for journals and PDFs -there is no more need to always print out every single journal article I have to read - it has replaced printing for me more than reading the text. (But now that I write my notes on the DR1000S and merge them on my computer, it has become much more of a workhorse for me.) It is just amazing for reading PDFs.

Recently though, :idea3: I purchased a gently used PRS-505 for books. I have found that using the DR1000S for work reading and the PRS-505 for leisure reading is great. And - even though I am a grad student, this still makes good economical sense. I find that I use them both and often!

To me, the DR1000S and PRS-505 offer two different things. It just all depends on what you are wanting to do. For me, the best is having both -even if I cannot share books between them.

...It is just amazing for reading PDFs...

Word documents as well? I see it's listed as a supported format as well as HTML (if I read the spec correctly). As much as tip my hat in the direction of PDF I'm mindful of winking at Word as well as it is a powerful medium in wide use. Do you think that Word and HTML look good on the screen as well as PDF?

At this time I don't think the DR supports Adobe Secure DRM.. but perhaps they will in the future which will make this easier.
BOb

Normally you can print out the Adobe DRM PDF to a virtual printer ... not the best solution but it works.

The DR1000 doesn't read Word documents natively. You would either have to convert them to txt, html or pdf them.

The DR1000 doesn't read Word documents natively. You would either have to convert them to txt, html or pdf them.

Yes, that is what I do. I PDF all my Word docs (I use Adobe Pro) and so I can read and work on just about anything. Sweet!