Sony reader and Kobo

[dgillette.rm]

A different thread was discussing a series of books. I asked about getting them in ebook format. Someone stated that the series were all on Kobo. This is true. The Kobo site states that it supports the Sony reader and directs the downloading of Adobe DE. So far, so good. I all of the sudden remembered that Calibre and the Sony software are incompatible. I believe that it is stated that once you sync your reader to Calibre it will no longer sync with the Sony software with a complete wipe. Is this also true of Adobe DE? If so, can I download books from Kobo into the Sony software? If it matters, I am an Apple person. Also, before it is suggested, I have the Ipad Kobo software. I still want to know how to do this.

Sorry if this is the wrong forum. It appeared to me to be the best available.

[onewayherway]

I have the Sony 505 and I use sony reader software with the sony site, I also buy books from Kobo and use Adobe de with no problems, and I use Calibre with the free books I download.

[MSJim]

dgillette.rm:
Sony Reader software and Calibre are only incompatible in that they don't like to be open at the same time. You can use one, close it down, and open the other without problems.

Calibre does not "sync" your files the way Sony software attempts to. You must select the books to be transferred.

Given the number of posts I've seen here with re Sony sync problems, I'm not even a little bit tempted to try it. I like the illusion of control I get by manually selecting which books to transfer to, or delete from, my reader.

[dgillette.rm]

Originally Posted by MSJim

dgillette.rm:
Sony Reader software and Calibre are only incompatible in that they don't like to be open at the same time. You can use one, close it down, and open the other without problems.

Calibre does not "sync" your files the way Sony software attempts to. You must select the books to be transferred.

Given the number of posts I've seen here with re Sony sync problems, I'm not even a little bit tempted to try it. I like the illusion of control I get by manually selecting which books to transfer to, or delete from, my reader.

I agree that I do not use sync with the Sony software. I also do not use "export to ereader" or whatever the command is in Calibre. I seem to recall that the developer stated that once you do that in Calibre, the Sony software will no longer recognize your device. Maybe I am mistaken, or maybe that has changed. It was a long time ago.

Regardless, another person says this works between Sony and Kobo. Good to know.

[MSJim]

dgillette.rm:
I use Calibre exclusively to manage my library - including the "send to device" feature.
Sony still recognizes my reader if I happen to run the software, I just don't usually have a good reason to.

I'm all about making my life easier, so dealing with Sony's buggy software is something I can do without.

[Seabound]

Originally Posted by dgillette.rm

I agree that I do not use sync with the Sony software. I also do not use "export to ereader" or whatever the command is in Calibre. I seem to recall that the developer stated that once you do that in Calibre, the Sony software will no longer recognize your device. Maybe I am mistaken, or maybe that has changed. It was a long time ago.

Regardless, another person says this works between Sony and Kobo. Good to know.

You can use calibre and the Sony or ADE software will still recognize your device. Just don't use the Sony software to sync books to your device. Just drag and drop the DRM'd ebooks to the Sony reader icon. Or, if your eBooks don't have DRM, you can skip the Sony software altogether and just use calibre.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by dgillette.rm

I seem to recall that the developer stated that once you do that in Calibre, the Sony software will no longer recognize your device. Maybe I am mistaken, or maybe that has changed. It was a long time ago.

This may have been true with the old prs-500. The 500 had a separate driver it wasn't automatically recognized as a USB device. As of today any Sony ereader that reads ePub files mounts like any other USB drive and Calibre will do nothing that interferes with the Sony software recognizing the device.

Originally Posted by Seabound

You can use calibre and the Sony or ADE software will still recognize your device. Just don't use the Sony software to sync books to your device.

This is true, if you use both Sony and Calibre to send books to your device they seem to step on each other.

Originally Posted by Seabound

Just drag and drop the DRM'd ebooks to the Sony reader icon. Or, if your eBooks don't have DRM, you can skip the Sony software altogether and just use calibre.

Calibre will manage any ebook whether or not it is encrypted with DRM. I have used it to manage LRX and DRM'd ePubs right along side of my DRM free books. Calibre won't be able to view or convert DRM'd ebooks but it will manage them and send them to your device perfectly fine.

[dgillette.rm]

Thank you all for your informative replies.

[DrMoze]

Originally Posted by MSJim

dgillette.rm:
Sony Reader software and Calibre are only incompatible in that they don't like to be open at the same time. You can use one, close it down, and open the other without problems.

Calibre does not "sync" your files the way Sony software attempts to. You must select the books to be transferred.

Given the number of posts I've seen here with re Sony sync problems, I'm not even a little bit tempted to try it. I like the illusion of control I get by manually selecting which books to transfer to, or delete from, my reader.

Sony's sw doesn't attempt to synch if you tell it not to once. And using it gives full control of loading ebooks, not just an illusion.


I've been using Sony's ebook software (various versions) for almost 3 years now, with 3 Reader models, and never had a problem. (lrx, lrf, ePub, ADE from online library...) I don't synch--just drag&drop books onto the reader icon. Always works fine for me. I wouldn't call it buggy.