I received my upgraded PRS-500 from Sony this morning. Here's the first few observations:

1) None of the content was missing. All my books were still there.

2) So, apparently, LRF and LRX are still supported.

3) The menus on the reader (books by author, date...) now have alphabetical submenus (A-C, etc.)

4) I don't see any particular difference in speed or behavior except that when I call up a book or change font size, at least for the first time, there is a "formatting" process that takes place for several seconds.

5) There is still no support for the Mac. I tried installing the Library software for Mac, but the Reader is not recognized by the software. (I run the PC software in Parallels under Windows XP.)

I just installed Library 3.01 for the first time, so I haven't really tried out anything new other than putting an ePub file onto the Reader, which worked fine.

So, the very preliminary news that that nothing bad happens to the Reader with the upgrade. I'll report on anything more I discover if there is anything else to report.

I sent my PRS the very next day. Do they send some kind of info stating when it is shipped and all...

I sent my reader out last Monday. It took exactly a week to get back to me. I did receive a UPS shipping email on Friday saying that it was coming. The Sony service website never did catch up with the story...

So how well does the ePub work?

Bet it's still not fully justifyable?

Hi

Congrats!

And yes, can you be so kind, try a ePub document and check if the 500 new upgrade supports its text justified?

Best regards,

I've loaded two ePub documents. Neither is justified. Also, the pagination is quite odd. It appears to be creating its pages from larger pages. Hence, for example, it shows page 8, then page 8-9, then page 9, and so forth.

Is this the way these documents work on 505's and such, or is this an artifact of the limitations of the 500? Fairly strange...

It appears to be creating its pages from larger pages. Hence, for example, it shows page 8, then page 8-9, then page 9, and so forth. This is normal for Adobe Digital Editions, by default a "page" is 1024 characters long, so a page can be multiple screens.

It appears to be creating its pages from larger pages. Hence, for example, it shows page 8, then page 8-9, then page 9, and so forth.

Is this the way these documents work on 505's and such, or is this an artifact of the limitations of the 500? Fairly strange...


This is the same manner in which all ADE devices (including the 505) generate page numbers. The reporting, however, (e.g., "Page 8-9 of nnn") was altered in the last 505 update so that it would only report one page number (e.g., "Page 8 of nnn").

So the 500 actually has a slightly newer version of ADE then the 505.

I received my upgraded PRS-500 from Sony this morning

HOORRRAAAYYYY!!!! I'm really glad for you. I'm hopeful for the rest of old die-hards who have held on to our 500's and sent them in that they will return as quickly. I sent mine in last Wednesday, but I bet it won't return until after Thanksgiving. (hope I'm wrong)

Also go to know that my books will still be there. Now if we can just get the BIOS flash updated to return the joystick function and clock, all will be right with the world.

I've taken off all the books as some I will be putting back on won't be LRF any longer but ePub.

So the 500 actually has a slightly newer version of ADE then the 505.

Actually, without having seen the updated 500, I interpret the comment to mean that it has a slightly older version of ADE. Split/hyphened page numbers and no justification.

Actually, without having seen the updated 500, I interpret the comment to mean that it has a slightly older version of ADE. Split/hyphened page numbers and no justification.
The 505 has no justification and no split/hyphened page numbers. The split/hyphened pages are newer then what the 505 has. The 600 & 300 have it. Not sure of the 700.

Now if we can just get the BIOS flash updated to return the joystick function and clock, all will be right with the world.

What functions are you referring to? These are things which were removed?

What functions are you referring to? These are things which were removed?
What is being referred to are hacks made to the 500 that have been removed when the new firmware was put in place.

Hi

Thanks to confirm the justification doubt... concerning that part it's still the same thing we also have with our other Sony readers.

Have lots of fun with your rejuvenated prs500, you deserve it.

Best regards,

This is the same manner in which all ADE devices (including the 505) generate page numbers. The reporting, however, (e.g., "Page 8-9 of nnn") was altered in the last 505 update so that it would only report one page number (e.g., "Page 8 of nnn").

Which 505 update is that? Mine still shows 'Page 8-9 of nnn'

I've taken off all the books as some I will be putting back on won't be LRF any longer but ePub.

There's so much I don't know / understand about all this. Why would you not want LRF books on your reader? I thought we could mix LRF & ePub books now.

Which 505 update is that? Mine still shows 'Page 8-9 of nnn'

Interesting. I didn't think about it until just now, but I bet the PRSCustomizer removed the split page numbers. I apologize for the noise.

To respond to taildragger: there is no problem mixing LRF and ePub titles on the updated Reader. I have no idea whether everybody will get all their books back with the upgrade; this was my experience, but that doesn't prove much.

Also, is having the books by author and books by title subdivided into groups of a few alphabet letters and books by date subdivided into various time periods (today, this week, this month, etc.) a feature of the newer readers that has been added to the 500? Just curious.

In any case, I've packed up my second reader to send off to Sony. Now that I know that no harm is done, off it goes.

Thanks for the update. I've got all mine stored here on my desktop (and my laptop, I think) so it won't be a BIG deal if they get "lost."

I'm pleased that we'll now have access to ePub books on our 500's but the others LRF work so well on mine, I can't see a reason to re-download or convert those.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Also, is having the books by author and books by title subdivided into groups of a few alphabet letters and books by date subdivided into various time periods (today, this week, this month, etc.) a feature of the newer readers that has been added to the 500?

Yes, those features are available on the 505, as well.

Which 505 update is that? Mine still shows 'Page 8-9 of nnn'

My 505 also shows hyphenated page numbers. I've checked for firmware updates recently and I was up-to-date.

Congratulations :) Glad to hear you got yours back safe and sound.. and with no content missing!
Does it mount as a volume under Windows - i.e. drive F: or whatever?
Do you have 64 bit Windows?
Did you try connecting your Reader to the USB hub on your Mac keyboard? If so, try connecting it directly to your Mac via the back, and let us know how that goes. - This is something I observed when trying to use Calibre for OS X with my PRS-500 and I believe it would prove to be an issue with the official software too. (This is with a model A1048 keyboard with twin inbuilt USB hub - white keyboard with clear plastic backing; I don't think it delivers enough current to use a PRS-500..)
http://www.exchange3d.com/cubecart/images/uploads/aff2265/Apple-Keyboard//Apple-Keyboard-8.jpg

I received my upgraded PRS-500 from Sony this morning. Here's the first few observations:

1) None of the content was missing. All my books were still there.

2) So, apparently, LRF and LRX are still supported.

3) The menus on the reader (books by author, date...) now have alphabetical submenus (A-C, etc.)

4) I don't see any particular difference in speed or behavior except that when I call up a book or change font size, at least for the first time, there is a "formatting" process that takes place for several seconds.

5) There is still no support for the Mac. I tried installing the Library software for Mac, but the Reader is not recognized by the software. (I run the PC software in Parallels under Windows XP.)

I just installed Library 3.01 for the first time, so I haven't really tried out anything new other than putting an ePub file onto the Reader, which worked fine.

So, the very preliminary news that that nothing bad happens to the Reader with the upgrade. I'll report on anything more I discover if there is anything else to report.

Mine, according to UPS, should be back tomorrow. I'll see what's up with it when I get it back, as I've got the OSX version of <<insert name of whatever Sony is calling their bookstore this week>> installed for my 505, along with calibre.

I'll put them through their paces! Hopefully the new firmware makes PDFs run much faster (and yes, I'm talking about ones sized for the reader, not 8x11 sized ones)

To AprilHare:
I use 32-bit Windows XP in my virtual machine.
I always connect my Reader through the USB hub on my Apple keyboard, so I don't think there's any problem there. The Mac can see the Reader and even figure out what it is. But the Mac version of eBook Library won't recognize it as a Reader. It just shows "error" on the display. On the Windows side, the Reader mounts as a removable drive ("E:" in my case.)

The 505 has no justification and no split/hyphened page numbers. The split/hyphened pages are newer then what the 505 has. The 600 & 300 have it. Not sure of the 700.

I have a prs700, no justification while reading epub

Regards

I have a prs700, no justification while reading epub

Regards
Um.. not talking justification, but page number in the bar at the bottom.

I have a prs700, no justification while reading epub

Regards

Um.. not talking justification, but page number in the bar at the bottom.
If there is more than what fits on one page, the PRS-700 displays the hyphenated page.

Example 5-6 of 182.

Ok, after getting my 500 back and charging it (I know I charged it before I sent it, but whatever...) I will concur with rwsimon's assessment: The OSX ebook library does not recognise it ("Error") but it shows up as a removable drive even under OSX 10.6.2. Calibre (the latest version as of today) does not support it either, and just copying the books onto the drive (into /database/media/books/) also does not work (They copy, but are not recognised.). I'm assuming that they changed the product IDs with the new upgrade. Here's what Apple System Profiler had to say about it:

Sony Portable Reader System:

Capacity: 96.3 MB (96,337,920 bytes)
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk2
Product ID: 0x031e
Vendor ID: 0x054c (Sony Corporation)
Version: 2.2a
Serial Number: 0800461000355D25
Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Sony
Location ID: 0x1d100000
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 500
Partition Map Type: Unknown
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported


I haven't tries it under XP yet (gotta dig up the backup discs I need first).
More updates as I figure stuff out!

Another good reason to use a PC instead of a Mac LOL. Just kidding, just kidding

Haven't heard from Sony/UPS about mine yet. Still keeping my fingers crossed.

Got mine back this morning. I'll add a few notes, sorry if I duplicated anything from earlier posts:

-I got the exact unit back. I noticed the same scratches, beauty marks etc. that were on the unit when I shipped it. All books were still there.

-Adobe Digital Editions now sees the device on Windows provided that you have upgraded to the latest version of that AND eBook library. You can move PDF files to the device now using Adobe Digital Editions, although I haven't figured out the benefit of this app yet.

-I have not tested sony's software on Mac nor calibre, but the device now mounts both the SD and internal memory on Mac and Win as removable storage. Now you can copy files to and from without software, if you want to do it this way.

-The device charges on a Mac with no Sony/Calibre software installed now. (I don't remember this being the case before) I think they made it charge the same way as the PRS 505

-In a book, the 0-9 keys now bring up a direct page entry, activated by the enter joystick.

-PDF reflow works on a few tested PDFs. It's a big improvement in this department!

- I had a clock hack and icon hack on the unit when I sent it off. These are both gone with the update.

I'll post any new findings, if I see anything stand out.

I sent my PRS the very next day. Do they send some kind of info stating when it is shipped and all...

UPS sends you an email letting you know. They send it NEXT DAY AIR too, but unfortunately in my case at least instead of the normal "Pickup scan" it said "Package has been received into UPS SCS possession" then it says "EXCEPTION: Package was tendered to UPS too late for requested service. Delay is likely." and sure enough it didn't come today.

What is the version number of the new firmware?

What is the version number of the new firmware?

Version 2.0.00.09180

Had an email from UPS that "Shipping Information Has Been Received" Hope that means it will be back soon. I guess with Thanksgiving, I may not see it until Friday. Oh well . . .

I received my 500 back today after 6 days, I actually called Sony yesterday as their website suddenly lost all information on my repair with both repair number and phone number, and I was suprised to get an email at 3am today saying it was on its way and by 10am it was here.

So all books are still on the device

Same device back (with all my scratches & dents from the one drop it had getting off the bus)

Firmware is now 2.0.00.09180

Customer firmware clock & icons are now missing.

I notices it is really slow in changing font sizes about 40-105 seconds for the first time on each book but then its normal speed.

I dont have any ePub books to try, I am assuming all the books on there that were lrf & pdf are still the same format.

Ok speaking of ePUB format as the store will only be dealing with that from now on will all the current books I own be converted or stay the same does anyone know?

For some reason as soon as I connect my Reader now the ebook Library program stops responding. I left it alone for 30 minutes to see if it was just working on something, and it never unfroze. It happens each time I connect the Reader. Any ideas?

I sent in a busted 500 (lower part of the screen was cracked) hoping to either get an estimate on the screen repair or at the very list the 75 bucks off a 600. Turns out there's a 3rd option... They are sending me a PRS 505 free. It's in the mail now. If you have a busted one SEND IT IN!

Mine was received on the dock in Texas on the 18th. I haven't heard anything on it since. Looking at the work order on the Sony site it shows as Serial Number "Pending", but no other info. Hopefully I'll see it back soon.

Mine was received on the dock in Texas on the 18th. I haven't heard anything on it since. Looking at the work order on the Sony site it shows as Serial Number "Pending", but no other info. Hopefully I'll see it back soon.

Same here, except mine was received on the dock on the 20th. I called there on Monday (the 23rd), and they said they had it and would be working on it that day.

It's too bad about Mac OS X Software still not seeing the device, but good news that LRF remains on board.

ePUB isn't the greatest format. The notion of a fixed 1024 word "page" is not user friendly. It should work like LRF in that it displays the page number based on your font size and screen size. ePUB also does not show a header at the top of the screen, so if you are in a book when you turn your reader on, you have no indication what book it is.

I still may send my Reader in, though I will be using LRF for as long as I can manage. I am hoping that Mac support will be forthcoming on updated Readers.

-Pie

Is there also an update for the PRS-505?

Same here, except mine was received on the dock on the 20th. I called there on Monday (the 23rd), and they said they had it and would be working on it that day.

UPDATE: I called the Laredo facility again today, and they put me on hold several times while they tried to figure out the status of my PRS-500. Eventually, they took my phone number and said they'd call me back when they figured out what had happened to it. That was six hours ago, and I've heard nothing. They had the UPS tracking number and knew it had been delivered, but they didn't seem to have any idea what had happened to it after that.

Think they'll send me a new one if it's lost for good?

Mine was received on the dock in Texas on the 18th. I haven't heard anything on it since. Looking at the work order on the Sony site it shows as Serial Number "Pending", but no other info. Hopefully I'll see it back soon.

LOL! A few short hours after posting this I got an email from UPS indicating that my reader would arrive on Friday. NICE! Thanks Sony!

I sent in a busted 500 (lower part of the screen was cracked) hoping to either get an estimate on the screen repair or at the very list the 75 bucks off a 600. Turns out there's a 3rd option... They are sending me a PRS 505 free. It's in the mail now. If you have a busted one SEND IT IN!

Wow, that's incredible! Congratulations!

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/images/smiliesadd1/thumbsup.gif

I am rather impressed by Sony. I sent in the 500 on Friday November 20th and got the email saying it's due back On November 27th. It would have been back today if not for Thanksgiving. Not sure however if anyone will be home to collect it when UPS delivers.

Had i known sooner I may well have busted mine to get the upgrade to a 505 (so long as its the red one), then again I much prefer the layout of the 500, its superior to the 505, I just like to the 505's screen better.

One more question for those who have their rejuvinated PRS-500 :)
Does it recognise collections on memory stick now? The PRS-500 had this annoying habit of only recognising collections created in internal storage only..

dont know about collections, dont have a memory stick to try.

I would like to know if the clock, icons & toggle stick hacks are going to work again?

According to what I've heard the clock / toggle hacks are no longer functional. We'll need to get some of the "nerds" working on the new system so we can get them back.

Like me, I'll bet a lot of you who sent in PRS-500s in to Sony last week are getting them back today. The UPS guy just delivered mine about an hour ago.

To those who are planning to sent their units in for update, I'd strongly advise you to back up all your content to your computer. I'm glad I did: all of my books, pictures, and mp3s were gone from my Reader, so I'm starting out fresh. I've be playing around with the e-pub capability and so far, so good. With the latest Sony e-book library software and the latest version of Adobe Digital Editions, I was able to successfully checkout and transfer an e-pub book from the Boston Public Library's collection. The paging and justification does have the little quirks others have mentioned, but it doesn't bother me.

The new firmware has given me time and date functions I didn't have before, and a couple of other things I don't recall being in the old Settings menu. I haven't tried using the new and improved PRS-500 with Calibre on my other computer yet. I'll check that out later.

I have received the 500 back just about 20 minutes ago. It seems to be the same functionality as the 505. You can even now properly delete books without resorting to a poorly functioning hack.

And the fonts for ePub being on the Reader work the same as they do for the 300, 505, 600, & 700. That's good news.

I plugged the 500 into the USB port on my XP system and it comes up as a removable device. So the 500 will work on 64-bit Windows without the need for a USB driver.

@ kilohertz53

I was all excited when you mentioned date and time, went to my setting to find them and there they were under option 2, got it all set up correctly (was sec for central time, guess thats the time for the repair place) but alas it is pointless as it doesnt show up when you are reading :(

On a plus side I have found a good thing, when the battery was low before you get the ! then it used to turn off that was it, but now I get the ! symbol I press the ok key and it allows me to continue reading, it didnt do that before, and just to test it I kept page turning when it has no bars of battery and I got 50 pages out of it, seems we just got a bit more battery life :D

Received my 500 back 8 days after sending it in ... would have been 7 but for the holiday. Everything seems to work as before. Library is now contained in 10 separate folders (they've divided the alphabet) instead of all in 1. It's a nice touch, but would have been much better if full support for folders could have been done.

I have one fairly significant negative ... Calibre no longer recognizes my reader. Has anyone else had the same experience? I didn't notice any comments one way or the other in this thread.

Glad to see plenty of people are getting their PRS-500's back!
I never installed any of those hacks. Seemed all too experimental to me.
Good to hear 64 bit will work :)
Deleting books option? Juicy :)

The calibre thing disturbed me. Sounds like Kovid will need to add functionality for post-firmware 500's in calibre, especially given how different the firmware apparently is. - Especially so that we can have EPUB generation by default.

Time support, eh? I can only hope I can select GMT+10 and GMT+11 (AEST and AEDT respectively).. :eek:

Did anyone try setting up collections on their memory sticks? Sounds like a better way to avoid needing to hunt around for specific groups of books in those new folders given the size of my ebook collection..

Received my 500 back 8 days after sending it in ... would have been 7 but for the holiday. Everything seems to work as before. Library is now contained in 10 separate folders (they've divided the alphabet) instead of all in 1. It's a nice touch, but would have been much better if full support for folders could have been done.

I have one fairly significant negative ... Calibre no longer recognizes my reader. Has anyone else had the same experience? I didn't notice any comments one way or the other in this thread.

@ kilohertz53

I was all excited when you mentioned date and time, went to my setting to find them and there they were under option 2, got it all set up correctly (was sec for central time, guess thats the time for the repair place) but alas it is pointless as it doesnt show up when you are reading :(

On a plus side I have found a good thing, when the battery was low before you get the ! then it used to turn off that was it, but now I get the ! symbol I press the ok key and it allows me to continue reading, it didnt do that before, and just to test it I kept page turning when it has no bars of battery and I got 50 pages out of it, seems we just got a bit more battery life :D

I have received the 500 back just about 20 minutes ago. It seems to be the same functionality as the 505. You can even now properly delete books without resorting to a poorly functioning hack.

And the fonts for ePub being on the Reader work the same as they do for the 300, 505, 600, & 700. That's good news.

I plugged the 500 into the USB port on my XP system and it comes up as a removable device. So the 500 will work on 64-bit Windows without the need for a USB driver.


According to what I've heard the clock / toggle hacks are no longer functional. We'll need to get some of the "nerds" working on the new system so we can get them back.

I have one fairly significant negative ... Calibre no longer recognizes my reader. Has anyone else had the same experience? I didn't notice any comments one way or the other in this thread.

Same here, it seems to be a common problem. But I have no doubt that it will be addressed in the next version of Calibre.

Mine's here too. ALL my books were still here although the bookmarks, etc. were no longer there. No biggie. I do miss the joystick page turn, but I'm hoping someone will get it back for me before too much longer.

Same story about linking to eBook Library & Adobe Digital Edition - slick as butter on on ice!

I'm SO GLAD to have it back.

Mine's here too. ALL my books were still here although the bookmarks, etc. were no longer there. No biggie. I do miss the joystick page turn, but I'm hoping someone will get it back for me before too much longer.

Same story about linking to eBook Library & Adobe Digital Edition - slick as butter on on ice!

I'm SO GLAD to have it back.

Glad to hear it :)
How often have you been applying butter to ice? :chinscratch:

UPDATE: I called the Laredo facility again today, and they put me on hold several times while they tried to figure out the status of my PRS-500. Eventually, they took my phone number and said they'd call me back when they figured out what had happened to it. That was six hours ago, and I've heard nothing. They had the UPS tracking number and knew it had been delivered, but they didn't seem to have any idea what had happened to it after that.

Think they'll send me a new one if it's lost for good?

Yeah mine was received at the docks in Laredo on 11/19/09 but so far its not in the repair system. I have emailed the repair center but so far got no information back from them on the status. I really hope its not lost or something.

Yeah mine was received at the docks in Laredo on 11/19/09 but so far its not in the repair system. I have emailed the repair center but so far got no information back from them on the status. I really hope its not lost or something.
A few days after my 505 was received by Sony, I did check the repair system and it showed the 500 was not received. So I called and the person on the phone was able to tell me that yes it has been received and it was going to be worked on that day. The repair system never did show the 500 as being repaired. The 500 has been returned and the repair system still shows it's not been received.

A few days after my 505 was received by Sony, I did check the repair system and it showed the 500 was not received. So I called and the person on the phone was able to tell me that yes it has been received and it was going to be worked on that day. The repair system never did show the 500 as being repaired. The 500 has been returned and the repair system still shows it's not been received.

Did you get an email from UPS when they sent it back? I keep checking for that too, but nothing so far. It's only been a little over a week, so it's well within their two weeks. I just wish I had some way of knowing what was going on and when to expect it back. Why have an online status system if you're not going to update it?

EDIT: Just got my email from UPS, so I guess Sony did receive it and is now mailing it back!

I actually had the same experience with the repair site.
Next day it had been received, then after a few days it was no-longer in the system with either the repair number or my phone number.

I called and they said it was received but had not been worked on give it another 7 days, but then later that day I got the UPS email that it would be at my door next day, and it was.

Whole thing was less than one week.

as an addendum to the joystick page turn, I had only just installed my custom firmware for stick, clock and icons about a month ago, and its amazing how much I use the stick to turn pages and rely on the clock to go to bed or get back from lunch to work, I hope that there will be an updated firmware soon.

As for calibre, I only use it to create lrf files which i then load into the sony library software, so loss of functionality in calibre is no biggie for me.

Given how many mentions of the loss of joystick page turn there are, I'm absolutely shocked Sony has messed with this so much in each model. One handed reading/page turning is great, and one of the features you can only have on a E-Reader (vs. a real book). I've become totally spoiled by its convenience.

The PRS-500 had great page turn layout, though it was left-hand-holding emphasized. The joystick hack fixed that... but it's... a hack! The PRS-505 obviously tried to balance things... then everything went to pot!

The PRS-300 has one place to turn pages, dead center. Yeah it's balanced, but it's not easily accessible from EITHER right or left hand... unless you have a freakishly long thumb (apologies to those with freakishly long thumbs!)! In a word, horrible!

The PRS-600 is better, but left-handed focused again. Swipes requires 2 hands. But I am certainly most disappointed by the lack of thought going into the PRS-300. From a company that is so good at design, it's really surprising they abandoned function for form.

Rant over (sorry!).

Though all the more reason to be really thankful and appreciative that Sony implemented this upgrade program!!

-Pie

......The PRS-300 has one place to turn pages, dead center. Yeah it's balanced, but it's not easily accessible from EITHER right or left hand... unless you have a freakishly long thumb (apologies to those with freakishly long thumbs!)! In a word, horrible....

-Pie

Ok, I have to disagree with this comment. :) Have you actually held one? I mean, if you hold it in both hands or even in one hand, it's very easy access. I mean, I don't have really long thumbs or anything, but my thumb goes across the middle page turner easy...

Having said that though, I would have preferred page turns on the side as well....

Ok, I have to disagree with this comment. :) Have you actually held one? I mean, if you hold it in both hands or even in one hand, it's very easy access. I mean, I don't have really long thumbs or anything, but my thumb goes across the middle page turner easy...
Yep, I sure did. Both at Target and at BB. Had my PRS-500 in hand for comparison.

It felt a strain to reach the button, as opposed to the very well placed PRS-500 buttons, which are very comfortable to access. (This was holding one-handed.)

-Pie

Did you get an email from UPS when they sent it back? I keep checking for that too, but nothing so far. It's only been a little over a week, so it's well within their two weeks. I just wish I had some way of knowing what was going on and when to expect it back. Why have an online status system if you're not going to update it?

EDIT: Just got my email from UPS, so I guess Sony did receive it and is now mailing it back!

What contact I have had with sony support keeps telling me it be done and back to me in 14 days. They have better get going as two weeks is up Thursday and so far no email or anything.

Got my red 505 yesterday. This company is awesome. Now off to sell it lol

Yep, I sure did. Both at Target and at BB. Had my PRS-500 in hand for comparison.

It felt a strain to reach the button, as opposed to the very well placed PRS-500 buttons, which are very comfortable to access. (This was holding one-handed.)

You must have very short thumbs. The button to turn the page is 1 7/8ths to the edge of the book.

You must have very short thumbs. The button to turn the page is 1 7/8ths to the edge of the book.
It's not just distance, it's position. Sheesh.

The 500 has buttons almost exactly where the tip of my thumb is naturally resting. Almost half-way up the device. On the 300, you have to lower your thumb almost horizontally, which is totally unnatural and uncomfortable when holding with one hand.

Maybe I should have said "freakishly long and flexible thumbs."

-Pie

Really happy with the 'new' functionality on the PRS-500. Only took a year or two, but it got here! :D

Could someone please backup their updated firmware and send it to me? I would like to check two things:

1) Hack PRS-500's ADE to support default custom EPUB fonts (much like I did it with PRS-505).

2) Try what happens if I put this newer ADE on my PRS-505.

Thanks.