Not Happy with Purchased ebooks. Is this normal?

stu · 11-13-2008, 04:50 AM

Hi,

I recently purchased a couple of ebooks for my newly aquired PRS-505 and am not happy with the whole ebook experience so far.

With the first book it is not possible to jump to a chapter from the table of contents. Some chapters work, some don't. Those that don't can be up to 20 pages out. The book is a reference book so I want to be able to jump around at will. It is an epub document and was supplied by Waterstones- the preferred supply in the UK.

With the second book, the formatting is messed up unless it is viewed on the smallest font setting which unfortunately renders it impossible to read even when using reading glasses. Increasing the font size does strange things like loses line breaks. This is a pdf document and I bought it from Books on Board.

Is this normal or have I bought a couple of duff items?

I am running the latest firmware on the sony (1.2.00.18050) and Adobe Digital Editions 1.5

Thanks

stu

dhbailey · 11-13-2008, 05:36 AM

I wouldn't say it's normal, but then with all the vast number of ebooks out there, it's hard to say what's normal. I haven't bought any reference books, so I can't speak to that side of things, and I don't have a 505 or 700 (yet -- it should be here this afternoon) so I can't speak to the epub side of things either.

But on my 500, the formatting on all the books I have purchased has been fine and resizing the font hasn't ruined anything. I've only bought novels, though.

ShellShock · 11-13-2008, 07:24 AM

I haven't come across formatting that bad, but I have not bought anything from Waterstones (yet). The book I'm currently reading, from Fictionwise, has a typo every few chapters. It is annonying because there is no simple (or official) way to correct them. If the formatting is that bad I would demand a refund.

HarryT · 11-13-2008, 07:39 AM

The ePub one sounds like an error on the part of the document creator - I'd request a refund from the publisher.

The PDF case is more problematic. It is, from your description, more than like a case of a PDF document for which "reflow" doesn't work very well. PDF was never intended to be an eBook format and generally doesn't do at all well at it. It's far better to buy in virtually any other format than PDF if you can possibly help it.

Sparrow · 11-13-2008, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShellShock

The book I'm currently reading, from Fictionwise, has a typo every few chapters. It is annonying because there is no simple (or official) way to correct them.

In my experience, ebooks (other than PDFs) definitely have more typos than pbooks.

I don't think they're subjected to the same proofing procedures as pbooks.
I'm currently reading the ebook version of Steven King's 'The Stand', purchased from FictionWise. So far, I think every occurrence of 'corner' has been rendered as 'comer'. A typical OCR error.

igorsk · 11-13-2008, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrow

In my experience, ebooks (other than PDFs) definitely have more typos than pbooks.

I don't think they're subjected to the same proofing procedures as pbooks.
I'm currently reading the ebook version of Steven King's 'The Stand', purchased from FictionWise. So far, I think every occurrence of 'corner' has been rendered as 'comer'. A typical OCR error.

Wow, and for this they ask fifty bucks?!

stu · 11-13-2008, 09:30 AM

Thanks for your comments and the heads up about pdfs. I've requested a refund from Waterstones and BooksonBoard. I'm a bit miffed about BooksonBoard as they say, on their site, the Adobe Digital Editions format is not pdf.

Cheers

stu

stephenfsnow · 11-13-2008, 09:43 AM

Now I'm scared. I just bought the Chronicles of Narnia series from BooksOnBoard in Adobe digital editions format. My PRS-505 should be here tomorrow, so hopefully this format isn't totally screwed up. Anyone else have experience with adobe digital editions?

zelda_pinwheel · 11-13-2008, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stu

Thanks for your comments and the heads up about pdfs. I've requested a refund from Waterstones and BooksonBoard. I'm a bit miffed about BooksonBoard as they say, on their site, the Adobe Digital Editions format is not pdf.

Cheers

stu

if it is adobe digital editions it could be epub format, which is not pdf.

DixieGal · 11-13-2008, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephenfsnow

Now I'm scared. I just bought the Chronicles of Narnia series from BooksOnBoard in Adobe digital editions format. My PRS-505 should be here tomorrow, so hopefully this format isn't totally screwed up. Anyone else have experience with adobe digital editions?

My mother taught me that if I can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all.

(OUCH! That Adobe DE burn I got is still raw!)

daffy4u · 11-13-2008, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

Wow, and for this they ask fifty bucks?!

It's now $2.95 at Amazon. I paid $9.99 for it a few months ago at Amazon and $17.?? for a LIT copy at Fictionwise at the same time. Don't know what they're thinking about.

pilotbob · 11-13-2008, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

It's now $2.95 at Amazon. I paid $9.99 for it a few months ago at Amazon and $17.?? for a LIT copy at Fictionwise at the same time. Don't know what they're thinking about.

2.95 vs $50. That will pay for about 7% of your joining the Kindle book club.

BOb

Nate the great · 11-13-2008, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephenfsnow

Now I'm scared. I just bought the Chronicles of Narnia series from BooksOnBoard in Adobe digital editions format. My PRS-505 should be here tomorrow, so hopefully this format isn't totally screwed up. Anyone else have experience with adobe digital editions?

I wouldn't worry about the Narnia books. I bought them (Kindle version), and I'm up to book 4. I haven't found any typos.

I would bet the person who made the ebooks did it out of love for the series. They did take the time to scan and include the original pictures, after all.

stephenfsnow · 11-13-2008, 11:37 AM

I'm talking about the reflow issues with PDF. I noticed that the Narnia books from BooksOnBoard are in fact protected PDF files and not ePUB as they lead you to believe. The info on their formats page says that the adobe digital formats they sell are not PDF, and then the sample book they have you download is ePUB leading you to believe that you'll be getting ePUB.

In the future I'll probably stay away from the ADE eBooks (in fear of the PDF), and do the MS Reader deDRM and convert thing...

HarryT · 11-13-2008, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephenfsnow

Now I'm scared. I just bought the Chronicles of Narnia series from BooksOnBoard in Adobe digital editions format. My PRS-505 should be here tomorrow, so hopefully this format isn't totally screwed up. Anyone else have experience with adobe digital editions?

The Mobi versions of the Narnia books are extremely nicely done, with all the original illustrations. No reason at all to suppose that the ePub versions shouldn't be equally good.

11-13-2008, 04:50 AM	#1
stu Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	Not Happy with Purchased ebooks. Is this normal? Hi, I recently purchased a couple of ebooks for my newly aquired PRS-505 and am not happy with the whole ebook experience so far. With the first book it is not possible to jump to a chapter from the table of contents. Some chapters work, some don't. Those that don't can be up to 20 pages out. The book is a reference book so I want to be able to jump around at will. It is an epub document and was supplied by Waterstones- the preferred supply in the UK. With the second book, the formatting is messed up unless it is viewed on the smallest font setting which unfortunately renders it impossible to read even when using reading glasses. Increasing the font size does strange things like loses line breaks. This is a pdf document and I bought it from Books on Board. Is this normal or have I bought a couple of duff items? I am running the latest firmware on the sony (1.2.00.18050) and Adobe Digital Editions 1.5 Thanks stu Last edited by stu; 11-13-2008 at 09:33 AM.

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11-13-2008, 05:36 AM	#2
dhbailey Guru Posts: 604 Karma: 733 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: HP iPAQ211 / PRS 500, 700 and 505	I wouldn't say it's normal, but then with all the vast number of ebooks out there, it's hard to say what's normal. I haven't bought any reference books, so I can't speak to that side of things, and I don't have a 505 or 700 (yet -- it should be here this afternoon) so I can't speak to the epub side of things either. But on my 500, the formatting on all the books I have purchased has been fine and resizing the font hasn't ruined anything. I've only bought novels, though.

11-13-2008, 07:24 AM	#3
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,176 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	I haven't come across formatting that bad, but I have not bought anything from Waterstones (yet). The book I'm currently reading, from Fictionwise, has a typo every few chapters. It is annonying because there is no simple (or official) way to correct them. If the formatting is that bad I would demand a refund.

11-13-2008, 07:39 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The ePub one sounds like an error on the part of the document creator - I'd request a refund from the publisher. The PDF case is more problematic. It is, from your description, more than like a case of a PDF document for which "reflow" doesn't work very well. PDF was never intended to be an eBook format and generally doesn't do at all well at it. It's far better to buy in virtually any other format than PDF if you can possibly help it.

11-13-2008, 09:30 AM	#7
stu Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	Thanks for your comments and the heads up about pdfs. I've requested a refund from Waterstones and BooksonBoard. I'm a bit miffed about BooksonBoard as they say, on their site, the Adobe Digital Editions format is not pdf. Cheers stu

11-13-2008, 09:43 AM	#8
stephenfsnow Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	Now I'm scared. I just bought the Chronicles of Narnia series from BooksOnBoard in Adobe digital editions format. My PRS-505 should be here tomorrow, so hopefully this format isn't totally screwed up. Anyone else have experience with adobe digital editions?

11-13-2008, 11:37 AM	#14
stephenfsnow Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	I'm talking about the reflow issues with PDF. I noticed that the Narnia books from BooksOnBoard are in fact protected PDF files and not ePUB as they lead you to believe. The info on their formats page says that the adobe digital formats they sell are not PDF, and then the sample book they have you download is ePUB leading you to believe that you'll be getting ePUB. In the future I'll probably stay away from the ADE eBooks (in fear of the PDF), and do the MS Reader deDRM and convert thing...

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