Can you turn off status bar on 505?

Mrgauth · 04-05-2009, 12:19 PM

I am trying, still, to see if the 505 will work for me and discovered that if I put the reader in landscape mode, as was suggested by someone in another thread, I get another size bigger font. Which is great because books that were too small on any size are now plenty big enough. I checked this out at the store.

But...

I discovered, to me, an even bigger problem. When you do so you lose, on almost every page, a line of text because you can only see the top tips of a whole row of text underneath the status bar across the bottom. If the status bar were not there I think the problem would be solved and I would buy. If not, I am back to no reader.

Someone tell me you can toggle that off. I can't find any info on that anywhere.

Thanks.

BrianH66 · 04-05-2009, 12:54 PM

That line of text you lose will be at the the top of the next page. I just bought this 505 Reader yesterday and I notice this, too. I don't think there's a way to toggle off the status bar, though.

Mrgauth · 04-05-2009, 03:40 PM

Unfortunately, not true for the book I was reading at the store. Must be different depending on which book you get. God, the 'never knowing what you will get' thing is ruining this whole experience. For the book I was reading, the next line was most definitely not at the top. I read and reread several instances only to find the sentences made absolute no sense. Like this:

He strolled to the sink to search for the letter she said should be there only to find that
***************status bar*******************************************
"So, you don't know what you did with I bet", he said with a rhetorical sneer.

While one can get the overall jest of what happened, to say it is annoying and unacceptable, at least to me, is an understatement.

From the lack of responses to this thread I see that no one really sees a way around this and once again I am stymied in my attempt to get past one of the hurdles of an ereader.

Back to the drawing board. And I actually bought the darn thing when I noticed the larger font thinking my problems were solved and that surely you can toggle off the status bar because they HAD to know that no one would accept loosing sentences!

Wrong. Taking it back tomorrow.

gwynevans · 04-05-2009, 05:31 PM

Are you 100% sure that there wasn't an extra line overlap that's confusing things?

Normally at the bottom of the first landscape page will be the last normal line, then a line or so that is slightly greyed. On the next page will be the last normal line repeated in the grey, then the grey line repeated but this time as a normal line.

Mrgauth · 04-05-2009, 06:20 PM

Nope. Sure. I saw no greyed text. I can see the top 1/5th maybe of the text behind the status bar. And like I said that last sentence on the first page is NOT the first line on the next. I switched back and forth 4 to 5 times to make sure because what I was reading suddenly made no sense. Sadly I bought the unit any thinking it HAD to be something you can get around once you crack it open and get into the manual. Now, hearing that you cannot turn off the status bar, I am not going to open it and just return it. Sad really. I was so close.

I know what I saw. Trust me. I have done probably more due diligence in studying this stuff before I buy than most I bet. I have spent HOURS in front of these units in more than one store trying to make up my mind and COUNTLESS hours reading, watching youtube vids, etc online to try and get a sense if this was for me.

Honestly, though, I am shocked no one else has brought this up. Kind of amazed really.

But all in all this is not a huge deal. I will still get to read great books. Just maybe the old fashioned way. So, not the end of the world. And plus, not getting one of these might free up the money I was needing for an Ipod Touch, which I have longed for for quite some time.

gwynevans · 04-05-2009, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrgauth

Honestly, though, I am shocked no one else has brought this up. Kind of amazed really.

This is what I see, on my 505...

Stitchawl · 04-05-2009, 07:14 PM

I wonder if the problem was caused by the particular book you were reading? Did you try with a couple of different ones? I've found that although most books are correctly formatted for my 505 (or I can fix them with Calibre,) one or two creep in that are just impossible to read without being worked on a bit. I had four old 'Charlie Chan' books that I really want to read, in rtf and txt but can't figure out how to make Calibre correctly format them properly. Usually Calibre does a perfect job but for these books there are alway one or two words only on every other line. I know that I'll eventually figure out how to get it, but for right now if this is what I was seeing for every book I'd be turned off to the reader too.

Stitchawl

Mrgauth · 04-06-2009, 07:28 AM

Well, no wonder. You have the blue one. Everyone knows they work better than the silver. I should have clarified what color I was using...

lilac_jive · 04-06-2009, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrgauth

Well, no wonder. You have the blue one. Everyone knows they work better than the silver. I should have clarified what color I was using...

If you see DixieGal around, ask her about this problem. I know she often uses the landscape mode.

grooks · 04-06-2009, 10:04 AM

Anytime I've tried landscape mode it works just as gwynevans' pictures show. The greyed out text at the bottm of the top half should be darkened as normal text at the top of the bottom half.

I have heard people say that display units have a demo firmware on them rather than the normal firmware the rest of us have. Don't know if maybe the demo firmware does not display the landscape mode correctly.

lilac_jive · 04-06-2009, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grooks

Anytime I've tried landscape mode it works just as gwynevans' pictures show. The greyed out text at the bottm of the top half should be darkened as normal text at the top of the bottom half.

I have heard people say that display units have a demo firmware on them rather than the normal firmware the rest of us have. Don't know if maybe the demo firmware does not display the landscape mode correctly.

His isn't a demo though, sounds like he bought it.

I'm thinking of two things right now. What book (and format) is the one that is doing this? And also, where will you be getting your books, MrGauth?

DDHarriman · 04-06-2009, 11:50 AM

To the question “Can you turn off status bar on 505?”, the answer is “no”.

DixieGal · 04-06-2009, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

If you see DixieGal around, ask her about this problem. I know she often uses the landscape mode.

I've never seen anything like what you describe, and had no idea the status bar could even move. At the very worst, all I've seen in landscape mode is a line or two rolling over from the bottom of the page to the top of the next page, and that's not even a problem now that I know to go in and delete the media.xml file to force repagination.

04-05-2009, 12:19 PM	#1
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Can you turn off status bar on 505? I am trying, still, to see if the 505 will work for me and discovered that if I put the reader in landscape mode, as was suggested by someone in another thread, I get another size bigger font. Which is great because books that were too small on any size are now plenty big enough. I checked this out at the store. But... I discovered, to me, an even bigger problem. When you do so you lose, on almost every page, a line of text because you can only see the top tips of a whole row of text underneath the status bar across the bottom. If the status bar were not there I think the problem would be solved and I would buy. If not, I am back to no reader. Someone tell me you can toggle that off. I can't find any info on that anywhere. Thanks.

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04-05-2009, 12:54 PM	#2
BrianH66 Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: Sony Reader 505	That line of text you lose will be at the the top of the next page. I just bought this 505 Reader yesterday and I notice this, too. I don't think there's a way to toggle off the status bar, though.

04-05-2009, 03:40 PM	#3
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Unfortunately, not true for the book I was reading at the store. Must be different depending on which book you get. God, the 'never knowing what you will get' thing is ruining this whole experience. For the book I was reading, the next line was most definitely not at the top. I read and reread several instances only to find the sentences made absolute no sense. Like this: He strolled to the sink to search for the letter she said should be there only to find that *************status bar***************************************** "So, you don't know what you did with I bet", he said with a rhetorical sneer. While one can get the overall jest of what happened, to say it is annoying and unacceptable, at least to me, is an understatement. From the lack of responses to this thread I see that no one really sees a way around this and once again I am stymied in my attempt to get past one of the hurdles of an ereader. Back to the drawing board. And I actually bought the darn thing when I noticed the larger font thinking my problems were solved and that surely you can toggle off the status bar because they HAD to know that no one would accept loosing sentences! Wrong. Taking it back tomorrow.

04-05-2009, 05:31 PM	#4
gwynevans Wizzard Posts: 1,402 Karma: 2000000 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: iPad 2, iPhone 6s, Kindle Voyage & Kindle PaperWhite	Are you 100% sure that there wasn't an extra line overlap that's confusing things? Normally at the bottom of the first landscape page will be the last normal line, then a line or so that is slightly greyed. On the next page will be the last normal line repeated in the grey, then the grey line repeated but this time as a normal line.

04-05-2009, 06:20 PM	#5
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Nope. Sure. I saw no greyed text. I can see the top 1/5th maybe of the text behind the status bar. And like I said that last sentence on the first page is NOT the first line on the next. I switched back and forth 4 to 5 times to make sure because what I was reading suddenly made no sense. Sadly I bought the unit any thinking it HAD to be something you can get around once you crack it open and get into the manual. Now, hearing that you cannot turn off the status bar, I am not going to open it and just return it. Sad really. I was so close. I know what I saw. Trust me. I have done probably more due diligence in studying this stuff before I buy than most I bet. I have spent HOURS in front of these units in more than one store trying to make up my mind and COUNTLESS hours reading, watching youtube vids, etc online to try and get a sense if this was for me. Honestly, though, I am shocked no one else has brought this up. Kind of amazed really. But all in all this is not a huge deal. I will still get to read great books. Just maybe the old fashioned way. So, not the end of the world. And plus, not getting one of these might free up the money I was needing for an Ipod Touch, which I have longed for for quite some time.

04-05-2009, 07:14 PM	#7
Stitchawl Opsimath Posts: 12,344 Karma: 187123287 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Device: Sony PRS-650, iPhone 5, Kobo Glo, Sony PRS-350, iPad, Samsung Galaxy	I wonder if the problem was caused by the particular book you were reading? Did you try with a couple of different ones? I've found that although most books are correctly formatted for my 505 (or I can fix them with Calibre,) one or two creep in that are just impossible to read without being worked on a bit. I had four old 'Charlie Chan' books that I really want to read, in rtf and txt but can't figure out how to make Calibre correctly format them properly. Usually Calibre does a perfect job but for these books there are alway one or two words only on every other line. I know that I'll eventually figure out how to get it, but for right now if this is what I was seeing for every book I'd be turned off to the reader too. Stitchawl

04-06-2009, 07:28 AM	#8
Mrgauth Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 310 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tulsa OK Device: K3	Well, no wonder. You have the blue one. Everyone knows they work better than the silver. I should have clarified what color I was using...

04-06-2009, 10:04 AM	#10
grooks Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 30250 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Fort Myers, FL Device: Pocketbook Era, Kobo Forma	Anytime I've tried landscape mode it works just as gwynevans' pictures show. The greyed out text at the bottm of the top half should be darkened as normal text at the top of the bottom half. I have heard people say that display units have a demo firmware on them rather than the normal firmware the rest of us have. Don't know if maybe the demo firmware does not display the landscape mode correctly.

04-06-2009, 11:50 AM	#12
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	To the question “Can you turn off status bar on 505?”, the answer is “no”.

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