I need help choosing what color to buy!!!! - Page 6

ShortNCuddlyAm · 04-04-2009, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrgauth

Yeah, I am considering that. Going to Sam's in about 30 minutes and it will be hard to not pick one up seeing as they have them right in the aisle. Probably will grab it and then get the skin. I's got to get me some reader!

And the good thing about the skins is that you can change the look of your reader according to your mood

(And psssst: Silver is Smarter

)

Mrgauth · 04-04-2009, 06:22 PM

I just discovered something about the Sony reader that flat broke my heart, and I don't see how I didn't catch this much earlier in my investigation. It all but ruined any chance of me getting one of these. It's the fact that though the reader has three font sizes, they are not the same for every book. That shocked me. I thought, and I don't know why, that the READER was taking the ebook and making the font Sony's three sizes at the push of a button. But no, there are three sizes alright, but it could be any three sizes depending the BOOK.

I discovered this at the store today when I actually went to buy one. I was perusing the display and reading excerpts from the 5 books on it. The first two I pull up, go through all three font sizes, and happily the second and the third are fine. The first is unusable for me, but the other two will work fine for years to come. All fine and good til I get to the third book. The smallest was much much smaller than the other two books smallest size and so forth to the point that the 3rd books largest font was not even the middle size on the other two. I would not even be able to read that book AT ALL. Blew my mind because I was not aware that the font sizes would not be dictated by the reader itself.

So, with the possibility that I may not know what I am getting or that books I may want may be formatted all wrong and I not be able to even get some books I want for my reader all but took an ereader off the table for me altogether.

My only choice at this point is to get one that has many more font sizes, like a Kindle or Sony 700 (the only two I would consider), but since I can't stand either of those....I'm out. No reader for me.

I am definitely waiting for the next batch and see what we see. Thanks everyone for chiming in and I apologize for taking up so much time. If I had caught this early on, I would not even so much as registered on this web site most likely.

Thanks and happy reading. I am sticking with paper for now.

lilac_jive · 04-04-2009, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrgauth

I just discovered something about the Sony reader that flat broke my heart, and I don't see how I didn't catch this much earlier in my investigation. It all but ruined any chance of me getting one of these. It's the fact that though the reader has three font sizes, they are not the same for every book. That shocked me. I thought, and I don't know why, that the READER was taking the ebook and making the font Sony's three sizes at the push of a button. But no, there are three sizes alright, but it could be any three sizes depending the BOOK.

I discovered this at the store today when I actually went to buy one. I was perusing the display and reading excerpts from the 5 books on it. The first two I pull up, go through all three font sizes, and happily the second and the third are fine. The first is unusable for me, but the other two will work fine for years to come. All fine and good til I get to the third book. The smallest was much much smaller than the other two books smallest size and so forth to the point that the 3rd books largest font was not even the middle size on the other two. I would not even be able to read that book AT ALL. Blew my mind because I was not aware that the font sizes would not be dictated by the reader itself.

So, with the possibility that I may not know what I am getting or that books I may want may be formatted all wrong and I not be able to even get some books I want for my reader all but took an ereader off the table for me altogether.

My only choice at this point is to get one that has many more font sizes, like a Kindle or Sony 700 (the only two I would consider), but since I can't stand either of those....I'm out. No reader for me.

I am definitely waiting for the next batch and see what we see. Thanks everyone for chiming in and I apologize for taking up so much time. If I had caught this early on, I would not even so much as registered on this web site most likely.

Thanks and happy reading. I am sticking with paper for now.

I have had this problem before. I'd say 1 in 10 are formatted like that. As I understand it though, if you turn it on landscape mode it'll make the fonts even bigger.

Do you have bad eyesight?

Mrgauth · 04-04-2009, 06:42 PM

Yes. Eyesight is not that great. Used to be quite the artist now I can't see to do that anymore.

It's just the idea that I get my heart set on this one particular book or series and wallah, it's font is to tiny. Damn. I would be pissed and regret my purchase as I go to the bookstore to pick up the paper copy.

Just can't have that happening. Not even once after paying $300 for a device that was supposed to solve my eyesight problems with a selectable font size.

Just disappointed. I will still read avidly and love it. Just probably not on an ereader for awhile. Who knows what is around the corner though......

Curly · 04-04-2009, 06:49 PM

There is some useful information in this thread about making font sizes larger. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43851

Also if you go to the last post in that thread, by Fledchen, there are some good links to other hints and tips for people with visual difficulties.

AbFabGab · 04-04-2009, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrgauth

I just discovered something about the Sony reader that flat broke my heart, and I don't see how I didn't catch this much earlier in my investigation. It all but ruined any chance of me getting one of these. It's the fact that though the reader has three font sizes, they are not the same for every book. That shocked me. I thought, and I don't know why, that the READER was taking the ebook and making the font Sony's three sizes at the push of a button. But no, there are three sizes alright, but it could be any three sizes depending the BOOK.

I discovered this at the store today when I actually went to buy one. I was perusing the display and reading excerpts from the 5 books on it. The first two I pull up, go through all three font sizes, and happily the second and the third are fine. The first is unusable for me, but the other two will work fine for years to come. All fine and good til I get to the third book. The smallest was much much smaller than the other two books smallest size and so forth to the point that the 3rd books largest font was not even the middle size on the other two. I would not even be able to read that book AT ALL. Blew my mind because I was not aware that the font sizes would not be dictated by the reader itself.

So, with the possibility that I may not know what I am getting or that books I may want may be formatted all wrong and I not be able to even get some books I want for my reader all but took an ereader off the table for me altogether.

My only choice at this point is to get one that has many more font sizes, like a Kindle or Sony 700 (the only two I would consider), but since I can't stand either of those....I'm out. No reader for me.

I am definitely waiting for the next batch and see what we see. Thanks everyone for chiming in and I apologize for taking up so much time. If I had caught this early on, I would not even so much as registered on this web site most likely.

Thanks and happy reading. I am sticking with paper for now.

Don't give up just yet.
Take a look at Calibre.
I just discovered I can play with the font sizes ith it!

See Harmon's comment below.

from this thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...661#post415661

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbFabGab

I do envy Kindle's 6 font sizes but haven't had any issues yet
with that on my 505. Also, there are hacks (is that the term?)
to add fonts or change fonts of the books so I could try that.
HTH

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harmon

One of the things that you can do with calibre is change the intial font size of each file you convert.

My experience has been that the large font size on my 505 is usually readable, so I don't generally bother with using calibre to change the font size unless I've decided to also use it to translate a file into epub.

But when I do convert, I chose 16 as my base font size. I haven't played around with this, but I think that the result is that all the font sizes for the document are kicked up a notch when you do this. So it should be possible for anyone to identify a useful font size set, playing off a base size established via calibre.

In addition, if you find that the largest of the three font sizes you have for a particular document on your 505 is a tad too small, you can go into landscape mode (just hold down the font button for a few seconds) & you will find that the landscape orientation shows up in a fourth, larger, font size.

Mrgauth · 04-04-2009, 07:32 PM

Okay, I took your advice, downloaded Calibre and then downloaded a free book. I then converted it to the Sony Prs505 format with font size 16 and it seemed to work just fine, but as I perused the newly converted book this is
what
I got.
There
were
whole
sections where the spacing or pagination, or whatever, was so off that many lines only had one or two words
in
them. That is
not
good
at all.

Not impressed really. Plus, I don't want to have to get a degree in some software to be able to simply read a novel. I dunno.....

Thanks for the suggestion, but still not looking good. Starting to consider audio books maybe. Not my favorite way of 'reading' by any stretch, but viable without ever having to worry about font size.

Mrgauth · 04-04-2009, 08:33 PM

Well, just played with Calibre for another 1/2 hour and man, that is a kluge. I have successfully set the default font bigger (Lord knows what it would do if actually on the device since I don't have one to load onto), but now the page numbers show up in the middle of the text somewhere. Ugh.

I just want to download a book and read it. NOT convert, modify, fiddle with, massage, etc the darn thing.

It is a shame the Kindle screen contrast was intolerable for me because I found that consistent with every book I read on it, as far as the font size was concerned, and plus, with a least 6 sizes I could always find one suitable.

This is sooooo frustrating.

Going to the bookstore tomorrow and buying me a brand new book! Jeez.

pilotbob · 04-04-2009, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrgauth

I just want to download a book and read it. NOT convert, modify, fiddle with, massage, etc the darn thing.

Well, it's always the pioneers that have the arrows in their backs right.

Perhaps you are not an ebook pioneer. Give it a few years and try again.

BOb

AbFabGab · 04-04-2009, 09:11 PM

Mrgauth, I'm sorry it's not working out for you.
Like Pilotbob says.. try again at a later date.

Best,
Gabrielle

Mrgauth · 04-05-2009, 07:45 AM

see note below....one last question. I promise...

Mrgauth · 04-05-2009, 11:53 AM

Okay, my last question--- I took someone suggestion above and went back to the store with the reader display and put that book with the teeny tiny font into landscape mode and sure enough the font was plenty big enough that way. So, that will work for those that end up being to small in normal mode. But there is one VERY BIG problem yet to overcome.

Can you turn off the status bar across the bottom that displays the power and pages?

I am asking because in landscape mode the status bar cuts off about one line in ever two pages all but ruining the flow of the text and impossible to read. You lose a line quite often that way. I fiddled with different font sizes in landscape and still the formatting is not right in that mode, which makes no sense seeing as the machine allows you do that, and you lose lines. If the status bar were not there and if you can toggle it off that would solve the problem.

Can you? This, I think, is the final obstacle to all of this. Someone plz tell me you do that and solve the lost lines problem when in landscape mode.

dordale · 04-05-2009, 02:35 PM

Mrgauth--

In my experience, when in landscape mode, the reader splits each page in half, but repeats the last line or two on the top of the next page. Not ideal for reading, but I don't lose any text that way.

As far as I know there is no way to turn off the status bar.

dordale

Mrgauth · 04-05-2009, 03:46 PM

Well, like I said in the other thread I started about this, the book I was reading at the store did not do that. You just flat lost a complete line of text. Unacceptable. I actually bought the reader thinking you could surely toggle that off and I just didn't know how because no one would accept actually losing sentences, right? It may not do it in ALL books, but it must do it in some. And more than most think I bet because what are the chances of them having a 1/2 dozen books on the reader in the store and me finding lost sentences in almost all of them. Must be pretty prevalent I say.

God, this will never end. Every time I find a solution to one problem yet another arises. If they were little nitpicks, I could let them slide by, but fonts too small to read and losing whole lines from the book are competely unacceptable.

This is sadly disappointing because I have not wanted an electronic device so badly in my life I think. I will be returning the unit to the store tomorrow.

Back to my book.

Mrgauth · 04-23-2009, 07:04 PM

Two things. I stand corrected. In landscape mode the last line of text on the first page will be the first or second line on the next. In the end you do NOT lose any text. My bad.

On a sad note, after all the debating, worrying, even BUYING some ebooks, I am taking my ereader back tomorrow unopened. I just can't justify it in my mind no matter how I try to rationalize it. And no telling when I will ever get one. Many factors really, not the least of which is the state of the economy and buying devices like this solely for pleasure and not out of ANY need whatsoever. That and the fact that I don't see this saving me a dime in future book prices. I have looked at DOZENS of books I would like to read and none of them are cheaper digitally than their paper counterparts. I just don't care for enough old antique books that you can get free to use that argument unfortunately. And sadly, for me anyway, I HAVE to be able to justify it. No room for pleasure spending of this magnitude in my life.

And in light of that I think I am gonna skip out of the forums til I someday get a reader. Just too painful to read how much you all are enjoying yours to hang out.

Happy reading all and I really appreciate all your comments.

04-04-2009, 06:42 PM	#79
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Yes. Eyesight is not that great. Used to be quite the artist now I can't see to do that anymore. It's just the idea that I get my heart set on this one particular book or series and wallah, it's font is to tiny. Damn. I would be pissed and regret my purchase as I go to the bookstore to pick up the paper copy. Just can't have that happening. Not even once after paying $300 for a device that was supposed to solve my eyesight problems with a selectable font size. Just disappointed. I will still read avidly and love it. Just probably not on an ereader for awhile. Who knows what is around the corner though...... Last edited by Mrgauth; 04-04-2009 at 06:46 PM.

04-04-2009, 06:49 PM	#80
Curly I need a holiday! Posts: 1,227 Karma: 4622 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Scotland Device: PRS-505, ipod touch	There is some useful information in this thread about making font sizes larger. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43851 Also if you go to the last post in that thread, by Fledchen, there are some good links to other hints and tips for people with visual difficulties. Last edited by Curly; 04-04-2009 at 06:56 PM.

04-05-2009, 07:45 AM	#86
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	see note below....one last question. I promise... Last edited by Mrgauth; 04-05-2009 at 11:48 AM.

04-05-2009, 03:46 PM	#89
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Well, like I said in the other thread I started about this, the book I was reading at the store did not do that. You just flat lost a complete line of text. Unacceptable. I actually bought the reader thinking you could surely toggle that off and I just didn't know how because no one would accept actually losing sentences, right? It may not do it in ALL books, but it must do it in some. And more than most think I bet because what are the chances of them having a 1/2 dozen books on the reader in the store and me finding lost sentences in almost all of them. Must be pretty prevalent I say. God, this will never end. Every time I find a solution to one problem yet another arises. If they were little nitpicks, I could let them slide by, but fonts too small to read and losing whole lines from the book are competely unacceptable. This is sadly disappointing because I have not wanted an electronic device so badly in my life I think. I will be returning the unit to the store tomorrow. Back to my book. Last edited by Mrgauth; 04-05-2009 at 04:21 PM.

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04-04-2009, 06:22 PM	#77
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	I just discovered something about the Sony reader that flat broke my heart, and I don't see how I didn't catch this much earlier in my investigation. It all but ruined any chance of me getting one of these. It's the fact that though the reader has three font sizes, they are not the same for every book. That shocked me. I thought, and I don't know why, that the READER was taking the ebook and making the font Sony's three sizes at the push of a button. But no, there are three sizes alright, but it could be any three sizes depending the BOOK. I discovered this at the store today when I actually went to buy one. I was perusing the display and reading excerpts from the 5 books on it. The first two I pull up, go through all three font sizes, and happily the second and the third are fine. The first is unusable for me, but the other two will work fine for years to come. All fine and good til I get to the third book. The smallest was much much smaller than the other two books smallest size and so forth to the point that the 3rd books largest font was not even the middle size on the other two. I would not even be able to read that book AT ALL. Blew my mind because I was not aware that the font sizes would not be dictated by the reader itself. So, with the possibility that I may not know what I am getting or that books I may want may be formatted all wrong and I not be able to even get some books I want for my reader all but took an ereader off the table for me altogether. My only choice at this point is to get one that has many more font sizes, like a Kindle or Sony 700 (the only two I would consider), but since I can't stand either of those....I'm out. No reader for me. I am definitely waiting for the next batch and see what we see. Thanks everyone for chiming in and I apologize for taking up so much time. If I had caught this early on, I would not even so much as registered on this web site most likely. Thanks and happy reading. I am sticking with paper for now.

04-04-2009, 07:32 PM	#82
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Okay, I took your advice, downloaded Calibre and then downloaded a free book. I then converted it to the Sony Prs505 format with font size 16 and it seemed to work just fine, but as I perused the newly converted book this is what I got. There were whole sections where the spacing or pagination, or whatever, was so off that many lines only had one or two words in them. That is not good at all. Not impressed really. Plus, I don't want to have to get a degree in some software to be able to simply read a novel. I dunno..... Thanks for the suggestion, but still not looking good. Starting to consider audio books maybe. Not my favorite way of 'reading' by any stretch, but viable without ever having to worry about font size.

04-04-2009, 08:33 PM	#83
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Well, just played with Calibre for another 1/2 hour and man, that is a kluge. I have successfully set the default font bigger (Lord knows what it would do if actually on the device since I don't have one to load onto), but now the page numbers show up in the middle of the text somewhere. Ugh. I just want to download a book and read it. NOT convert, modify, fiddle with, massage, etc the darn thing. It is a shame the Kindle screen contrast was intolerable for me because I found that consistent with every book I read on it, as far as the font size was concerned, and plus, with a least 6 sizes I could always find one suitable. This is sooooo frustrating. Going to the bookstore tomorrow and buying me a brand new book! Jeez.

04-04-2009, 09:11 PM	#85
AbFabGab Gadget-Luster Posts: 330 Karma: 2157280 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: NY - USA Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2	Mrgauth, I'm sorry it's not working out for you. Like Pilotbob says.. try again at a later date. Best, Gabrielle

04-05-2009, 11:53 AM	#87
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Okay, my last question--- I took someone suggestion above and went back to the store with the reader display and put that book with the teeny tiny font into landscape mode and sure enough the font was plenty big enough that way. So, that will work for those that end up being to small in normal mode. But there is one VERY BIG problem yet to overcome. Can you turn off the status bar across the bottom that displays the power and pages? I am asking because in landscape mode the status bar cuts off about one line in ever two pages all but ruining the flow of the text and impossible to read. You lose a line quite often that way. I fiddled with different font sizes in landscape and still the formatting is not right in that mode, which makes no sense seeing as the machine allows you do that, and you lose lines. If the status bar were not there and if you can toggle it off that would solve the problem. Can you? This, I think, is the final obstacle to all of this. Someone plz tell me you do that and solve the lost lines problem when in landscape mode.

04-05-2009, 02:35 PM	#88
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	Mrgauth-- In my experience, when in landscape mode, the reader splits each page in half, but repeats the last line or two on the top of the next page. Not ideal for reading, but I don't lose any text that way. As far as I know there is no way to turn off the status bar. dordale

04-23-2009, 07:04 PM	#90
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Two things. I stand corrected. In landscape mode the last line of text on the first page will be the first or second line on the next. In the end you do NOT lose any text. My bad. On a sad note, after all the debating, worrying, even BUYING some ebooks, I am taking my ereader back tomorrow unopened. I just can't justify it in my mind no matter how I try to rationalize it. And no telling when I will ever get one. Many factors really, not the least of which is the state of the economy and buying devices like this solely for pleasure and not out of ANY need whatsoever. That and the fact that I don't see this saving me a dime in future book prices. I have looked at DOZENS of books I would like to read and none of them are cheaper digitally than their paper counterparts. I just don't care for enough old antique books that you can get free to use that argument unfortunately. And sadly, for me anyway, I HAVE to be able to justify it. No room for pleasure spending of this magnitude in my life. And in light of that I think I am gonna skip out of the forums til I someday get a reader. Just too painful to read how much you all are enjoying yours to hang out. Happy reading all and I really appreciate all your comments.

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