help about reader

ejmonkey3 · 02-06-2007, 05:35 PM

hey everyone im new to the forum and i need a little bit of help. im really intrested in getting one of these sony readers. i was hoing for some positive and negative feedback about it. please tell me whats bad and whats good about it from experience. thanks

sammykrupa · 02-06-2007, 05:39 PM

One interesting bad thing has occured to me during the use of my Reader:

Any dust that gets on the screen appears magically on every page.

(-:

But seriously, it appears that the screen can break under even the slightest bit of pressure.

Other than that, extremely cool device.

Sam Krupa

NatCh · 02-06-2007, 06:15 PM

Well, as sammykrupa said, the display is easily the most fragile part of the Reader, but it seems to be more robust than the iLiad's screen. That's probably mostly because it's a smaller screen. I don't feel all that nervous about it, myself (and yes, I have accidentally dropped mine a time or two

)

Let's see, positives and drawbacks ... well most of these are going to be pretty subjective, so you'll have to decide for yourself if you like the aspects or not.

The Reader is great for displaying RTF files (but it won't show embedded pix), and it works very nicely with BBeB (Sony's format) files. It will display PDF files, but if they're originally A4 (letter) sized they'll almost certainly be too small to read on the 6" screen. PDF files that are sized to the Reader's screen work well, though depending on who you ask the font may seem a bit "washed out." It doesn't do encrypted PDFs at all. And there are a number of homebrew apps around the forum to aid you with adjusting A4 files to something that displays better on the Reader.

The power usage is very small, I charge mine about every 2 weeks, but that's because I've gotten to where it bothers me if the battery meter doesn't show completely full -- you can usually get a whole month without having to recharge.

The page turn buttons are placed so they're fairly easy to reach left-handed, but not right-handed -- I'd suggest you find a demo device to check this on since everybody's hands are different.

Jumping around within a book is a bit cumbersome, but actually reading one, page by page, front to back, is what the Reader is optimized to do, so it's exceedingly simple and straightforward. The bookmark feature is very nice and easy to use.

Most of the drawbacks, in my opinion, are wrapped up in the PC software, but we're expecting an update to this sometime soon, so it may (ought to) improve with that. Further, you don't really have to use the ConnSoft if you don't want to. There are a growing number of tools to get around even using it, and you can always just put your files directly on an SD Card/Memory Stick and access them that way if you prefer.

Hmmm. Well those are the points off the top my my head, I'm sure others have more to add though.

I really love mine, I pretty much take it everywhere, unless it's somewhere I'm sure I won't have time to read.

ultim8fury · 02-06-2007, 06:20 PM

not really that's a pretty good summation. I'd have to agree that the screen isn't as fragile as some people fear. I've dropped mine a few times and it goes with me everywhere mostly it ends up in my back pocket no damage has occured.

My only negative comment is again in line with NatCh in saying that the supplied software is lacking in stability, features and polish. Hopefully these things will be addressed.

NatCh · 02-06-2007, 06:36 PM

Oh, yeah, I should have mentioned that the flat file structure (no sub-folders) is kinda annoying, though the Collections do take some of the edge of it -- of course you have to use the ConnSoft to make collections ....

I find I really don't keep enough books on it for the flat files to make a really difference to me, just the next 10 or so I plan to read.

And of course, it's a lot lighter than most hardback books ....

ejmonkey3 · 02-06-2007, 08:37 PM

thank you everyone for the feedback it really does help

RWood · 02-06-2007, 09:06 PM

Adding to what NatCh said, there are a lot of format conversion tools available through the MobileRead Wiki Conversion Tools page.

I have also dropped my Reader with no loss or damage.

The Reader does shut itself off after an hour of inactivity and has a quick turn on that goes directly to the last page you were on.

There is over 90 MB of internal storage even without an add-in card (SD or Memory Stick) so you can carry about 80 - 100 books with you with out an additional card.

It will also play mp3 and acc sound files and display jpeg images. However judging by the amount of posts about these two areas, it is not a well used feature of the Reader.

For me reading on the device is a pleasure. I now read about 25% more books in a week than I did before. The screen, like a beautiful woman, is easy on the eyes.

jthunt11 · 02-07-2007, 06:36 AM

I have had mine for about a weeks now. I use it every day. The PDF converter posted here works great for what I need.

There are only 2 downsides that I can see. One is page navigation. Getting to the page you are on (I do some of my reading on a PC) takes a few. It would be nice to be able to put in a page number. Also the zoom functions are worthless. You can zoom in but its fixed to one side only. You can't move the zoomed in viewpoint.

All in all. Its exactly what I needed in a ebook reader.

I had a Nokia 770 that I tried to use as a book reader but it just didn't cut it. It was great for internet and movie playing though.

HarryT · 02-07-2007, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthunt11

Also the zoom functions are worthless. You can zoom in but its fixed to one side only. You can't move the zoomed in viewpoint.

The zoom functions are not "worthless" at all for formats such as RTF. They do exactly what you'd expect - retain the current reading position while making the text larger. I tend to format my books for 16pt text, and use "Small" text size in good light, and "Medium" in better light. Works great.

The issue with PDF is that it's a "page based" format, and hence the "zoom" works completely differently. With RTF, etc, all it does is make the text bigger and "re-flow" it for the larger size.

jthunt11 · 02-07-2007, 08:44 AM

Ahh.. I don't read any files except PDFs. So let me rephrase that, Its useless for me.

yvanleterrible · 02-07-2007, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthunt11

Ahh.. I don't read any files except PDFs. So let me rephrase that, Its useless for me.

If you have the Pro version of Acrobat, when you install it, it also installs an other item in the Word menu, that gives you conversion controls. You can proceed in a batch conversion to bring all of your pdfs to rtf. Then you can macro these files to reader format.

02-06-2007, 05:35 PM	#1
ejmonkey3 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2007	help about reader hey everyone im new to the forum and i need a little bit of help. im really intrested in getting one of these sony readers. i was hoing for some positive and negative feedback about it. please tell me whats bad and whats good about it from experience. thanks

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02-06-2007, 05:39 PM	#2
sammykrupa Reader of the Reader Posts: 103 Karma: 107 Join Date: Apr 2006 Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	One interesting bad thing has occured to me during the use of my Reader: Any dust that gets on the screen appears magically on every page. (-: But seriously, it appears that the screen can break under even the slightest bit of pressure. Other than that, extremely cool device. Sam Krupa

02-06-2007, 06:15 PM	#3
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Well, as sammykrupa said, the display is easily the most fragile part of the Reader, but it seems to be more robust than the iLiad's screen. That's probably mostly because it's a smaller screen. I don't feel all that nervous about it, myself (and yes, I have accidentally dropped mine a time or two ) Let's see, positives and drawbacks ... well most of these are going to be pretty subjective, so you'll have to decide for yourself if you like the aspects or not. The Reader is great for displaying RTF files (but it won't show embedded pix), and it works very nicely with BBeB (Sony's format) files. It will display PDF files, but if they're originally A4 (letter) sized they'll almost certainly be too small to read on the 6" screen. PDF files that are sized to the Reader's screen work well, though depending on who you ask the font may seem a bit "washed out." It doesn't do encrypted PDFs at all. And there are a number of homebrew apps around the forum to aid you with adjusting A4 files to something that displays better on the Reader. The power usage is very small, I charge mine about every 2 weeks, but that's because I've gotten to where it bothers me if the battery meter doesn't show completely full -- you can usually get a whole month without having to recharge. The page turn buttons are placed so they're fairly easy to reach left-handed, but not right-handed -- I'd suggest you find a demo device to check this on since everybody's hands are different. Jumping around within a book is a bit cumbersome, but actually reading one, page by page, front to back, is what the Reader is optimized to do, so it's exceedingly simple and straightforward. The bookmark feature is very nice and easy to use. Most of the drawbacks, in my opinion, are wrapped up in the PC software, but we're expecting an update to this sometime soon, so it may (ought to) improve with that. Further, you don't really have to use the ConnSoft if you don't want to. There are a growing number of tools to get around even using it, and you can always just put your files directly on an SD Card/Memory Stick and access them that way if you prefer. Hmmm. Well those are the points off the top my my head, I'm sure others have more to add though. I really love mine, I pretty much take it everywhere, unless it's somewhere I'm sure I won't have time to read.

02-06-2007, 06:20 PM	#4
ultim8fury Addict Posts: 219 Karma: 368 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK Device: PRS500, Looking at 700	not really that's a pretty good summation. I'd have to agree that the screen isn't as fragile as some people fear. I've dropped mine a few times and it goes with me everywhere mostly it ends up in my back pocket no damage has occured. My only negative comment is again in line with NatCh in saying that the supplied software is lacking in stability, features and polish. Hopefully these things will be addressed.

02-06-2007, 06:36 PM	#5
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Oh, yeah, I should have mentioned that the flat file structure (no sub-folders) is kinda annoying, though the Collections do take some of the edge of it -- of course you have to use the ConnSoft to make collections .... I find I really don't keep enough books on it for the flat files to make a really difference to me, just the next 10 or so I plan to read. And of course, it's a lot lighter than most hardback books ....

02-06-2007, 08:37 PM	#6
ejmonkey3 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2007	thank you everyone for the feedback it really does help

02-06-2007, 09:06 PM	#7
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Adding to what NatCh said, there are a lot of format conversion tools available through the MobileRead Wiki Conversion Tools page. I have also dropped my Reader with no loss or damage. The Reader does shut itself off after an hour of inactivity and has a quick turn on that goes directly to the last page you were on. There is over 90 MB of internal storage even without an add-in card (SD or Memory Stick) so you can carry about 80 - 100 books with you with out an additional card. It will also play mp3 and acc sound files and display jpeg images. However judging by the amount of posts about these two areas, it is not a well used feature of the Reader. For me reading on the device is a pleasure. I now read about 25% more books in a week than I did before. The screen, like a beautiful woman, is easy on the eyes.

02-07-2007, 06:36 AM	#8
jthunt11 Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Ohio, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	I have had mine for about a weeks now. I use it every day. The PDF converter posted here works great for what I need. There are only 2 downsides that I can see. One is page navigation. Getting to the page you are on (I do some of my reading on a PC) takes a few. It would be nice to be able to put in a page number. Also the zoom functions are worthless. You can zoom in but its fixed to one side only. You can't move the zoomed in viewpoint. All in all. Its exactly what I needed in a ebook reader. I had a Nokia 770 that I tried to use as a book reader but it just didn't cut it. It was great for internet and movie playing though.

02-07-2007, 08:44 AM	#10
jthunt11 Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Ohio, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Ahh.. I don't read any files except PDFs. So let me rephrase that, Its useless for me.

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