Buying books for Sony PRS-600 from Norway

[Euroboy]

Hi,
I am desperate for a reader that supports pdfs and the sony seems to be the best bet if I don´t want to fork out for an iRex. Anyway, it is not sold in my country but I can get one from ebay, the question is, however, can I buy books from the sony store from a nonsupported country? I d/l the software (ebook reader or something like that) but when I try to register, the choice I get is either US or Canada. Should I "fake" an US address and will they allow purchases with my norwegian credit card? Help....!

[JSWolf]

None of the devices with a 6" or smaller screen are going to be good for PDF. Sorry.

[polly]

Books on Board doesn't seem to care where I live. They take PayPal, so you don't have to worry about an American address or credit card either. None of the ebook stores sell straight .pdf files. Almost all of them have DRM of some sort, but the ePub and Adobe Digital Edition books will work on the Sonys.

PDF support really depends on your needs. If you have lots of diagrams, tables, or pictures in your documents, you may be disappointed by all of the 6" options. In that case, you should look at the larger screened readers. If your documents are simple text PDFs, the reflowing of the Sony might work well for you.

[Euroboy]

Originally Posted by polly

Books on Board doesn't seem to care where I live. They take PayPal, so you don't have to worry about an American address or credit card either. None of the ebook stores sell straight .pdf files. Almost all of them have DRM of some sort, but the ePub and Adobe Digital Edition books will work on the Sonys.

PDF support really depends on your needs. If you have lots of diagrams, tables, or pictures in your documents, you may be disappointed by all of the 6" options. In that case, you should look at the larger screened readers. If your documents are simple text PDFs, the reflowing of the Sony might work well for you.

Thanks.. Yeah I understand that the screen size is not good for pdfs and yes my pdfs have some figures, but worse, they are written in columns so reading half a page at a time is a pain. I really think the iRex is too expensive and that leaves me with a kindle dx which is not sold internationally. I understand that the DX cant zoom either so small letter pdfs are a pain there as well. So I thought of the sony, at least you can zoom on that device but now I am uncertain. All feedback says the same as you so I might just have to wait and get a kindle 2 in the meantime..

[tovare]

Originally Posted by Euroboy

Hi,
I am desperate for a reader that supports pdfs and the sony seems to be the best bet if I don´t want to fork out for an iRex. Anyway, it is not sold in my country but I can get one from ebay,...:

Here's a resource page for you http://www.sonyreader.no/

A couple places imports Sony Readers [http://www.sonyreader.no/forhandlere.html]. I got mine from it24.no and was very happy with their service.

[The-eBook-Reader]

Originally Posted by Euroboy

Should I "fake" an US address and will they allow purchases with my norwegian credit card? Help....!

Unfortunately, the Sony store is only available for US and Canadian customers at this time. I don't think faking your address will work because it won't match up with the address on your credit card.

[Euroboy]

Originally Posted by tovare

Here's a resource page for you http://www.sonyreader.no/

A couple places imports Sony Readers [http://www.sonyreader.no/forhandlere.html]. I got mine from it24.no and was very happy with their service.

Wow, thanks a lot. I was not aware that you could buy them in Norway. Kinda expensive though. 350 USD on ebay including shipping.

[Skycraperfan]

I bought my Sony PRS-300 from it24.no, but that is only because many foreign vendors refuse to ship Sony ebook readers outside their own country. Sony's own ebook store is useless. I have bought lots paper books from Amazon.com for at least ten years now, and they ship globally to Norway from US, New Zealand, France, and maybe other countries as well. However, Sony's ebook store refuses to sell you ebooks ONLINE unless you live in the US or Canada. Fortunately, I can buy exactly the same books from ebooks.com, and I am very satisfied with that store. Highly recommended.

[tovare]

Originally Posted by Euroboy

Wow, thanks a lot. I was not aware that you could buy them in Norway. Kinda expensive though. 350 USD on ebay including shipping.

Keep toll (?) and sales tax (25%) in mind.

In addition, your credit card adds about 1.5% - 1.7%. Then there's currency risk to consider, the dollar is really low but it can fluctuate with several percent from one day to the other.

Also consider return-policies (angrefrist) and warranty.

[Euroboy]

Originally Posted by Skycraperfan

I bought my Sony PRS-300 from it24.no, but that is only because many foreign vendors refuse to ship Sony ebook readers outside their own country. Sony's own ebook store is useless. I have bought lots paper books from Amazon.com for at least ten years now, and they ship globally to Norway from US, New Zealand, France, and maybe other countries as well. However, Sony's ebook store refuses to sell you ebooks ONLINE unless you live in the US or Canada. Fortunately, I can buy exactly the same books from ebooks.com, and I am very satisfied with that store. Highly recommended.

ebooks.com noted! It looked impressive. Sadly the PRs600 is out of stock...

[bjornb]

Originally Posted by The-eBook-Reader

Unfortunately, the Sony store is only available for US and Canadian customers at this time. I don't think faking your address will work because it won't match up with the address on your credit card.

I bought my PRS-600 from digitalimpuls.no a few days ago (same price as IT24.no). I also signed up at the Sony e-book store using 'my' US address (Jetcarrier forwarding service), and I was able to buy a book and download it to my device.

[Nvidiot]

Originally Posted by The-eBook-Reader

Unfortunately, the Sony store is only available for US and Canadian customers at this time. I don't think faking your address will work because it won't match up with the address on your credit card.

Actually it does work. Fill in your address as best you can, then fake country (USA), state and zipcode.

[The-eBook-Reader]

Thanks for the info bjornb and Nvidiot. I'll spread the good news. Sony's not too bright I guess, or maybe they just don't care. Either way that's great news for international Sony users because the Sony store has a decent selection and good prices.

But one question: does your credit card charge you a foreign currency transaction fee when you purchase books from Sony's store? And if so, how much is it?

Thanks in advance!

[tovare]

Originally Posted by The-eBook-Reader

..
But one question: does your credit card charge you a foreign currency transaction fee when you purchase books from Sony's store? And if so, how much is it?

Most VISA/AMEX/Diners/-cards in Norway charges 1.5% - 1.75% currency fee (Which is very reasonable compared to PayPal which apparently charges a 2.5%.conversion fee and a 1.0% cross-border fee). The fee is sort of hidden and may also show slight variation because in a gived day, different credit cards will have different rates, but I read an article where a bank had monitored all major credit cards over time, and they all delivered within parameters.

[The-eBook-Reader]

Thanks tovare. That's not too bad; it adds an extra $1.50-$1.75 to a $9.99 bestseller. That's still probably cheaper than most non-US stores with ePUB. The last time I used my credit card here in the states to buy something from Canada, my stupid credit card charged me like 3.5%. Bastards.

Edit: Disregard those numbers, folks; my math is awful.

Brain + damage = me forgetting to move the decimal point one more space to the left.