I am perfectly content with my Reader after this new update.

[seajewel]

Absolutely, positively. I was really excited about my Reader before, but there were things that made me look towards switching to the Cybook. No more!

1. Before, I only bought .lit files and converted to .lrf, because I wanted to ensure my books would be readable across different devices. Now, I'm hopeful that devices will add support for .epub. Hopefully more vendors will add .epub books.

2. Before, I had to apply the Unicode Patch (and believe me, I was really thankful that it was there) but it had a few quirks that were a bit annoying, such as having to reset every time I wanted to add books to the device. Now, I've used the Universal Flasher to put my font of choice across-board (by placing one font file in the folder and editing the main.xml file to only use that font instead of 3 different ones, because there is a limit to how big the font files can be when flashing). No more resetting.

3. And it still does everything it ever did before. I don't really want or need to read pdfs, so that function doesnt' excite me quite as much, although i think it is a big deal for many people. But most of all, the battery life is good, the reading experience is superb, and my Reader is beautiful.

Thanks, Sony. I didn't even expect the promise of epub or pdf reflow coming to fruition.. but it did, and great job.

P.S. in retrospect, almost any kind of firmware release would have done just as well by me, since what I really needed was a method to unbrick my Reader (and trust me, I did need it while fiddling with different font files). Epub support is good for the future, but not very useful for me in the present.

[scarter]

Originally Posted by seajewel

Epub support is good for the future, but not very
useful for me in the present.

I tried the .epub format by downloading "Tarzan" in that format from Feedbooks. A couple of observations: it looks even better than the standard Sony format, and it loads instantly without reformatting. I'm glad that Sony supports it.

[seajewel]

It sounds great, just not many vendors sell epub books yet, and calibre doesn't support **** to epub yet. When that day comes, though..

Originally Posted by scarter

I tried the .epub format by downloading "Tarzan" in that format from Feedbooks. A couple of observations: it looks even better than the standard Sony format, and it loads instantly without reformatting. I'm glad that Sony supports it.

[frank10]

that's good to hear. i am most frustrated by the pdf support of my 500.

maybe we 500 owners will get a firmware update soon

[jaxx6166]

I have to add my love of the reader to this thread as well.

After my first one bit the dust from a 5 foot drop on tile I went out today and bought myself a brand new one...AND the new book cover with the light. Snazzy!!!

I can't wait to try it with the missus tonight lol.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by seajewel

Absolutely, positively. I was really excited about my Reader before, but there were things that made me look towards switching to the Cybook. No more!

For me, the benefits of the CyBook remain as they always have been:

- Dictionary lookup.
- User-loadable fonts.
- User-replaceable battery.
- MobiPocket support.

The first of these is now (IMHO) a major disadvantage of the Sony compared to all its "competition". It is the only major player in the eBook market not to support dictionaries. I was hoping that Sony would have addressed this issue in this firmware upgrade.

[acidzebra]

Coming from the mobipocket world, I did miss the dictionary function at first. Except that every REALLY difficult word wouldn't be in the limited mobi dictionary I had anyway (not to mention the foreign-language books). Quicker to whip out the blackberry and grab a definition online.

There is a dictionary hack for the PRS-505, as I am sure you are aware, but I haven't tried it.

I've always been format-agnostic - as long as I can freely convert from and to a format, I couldn't care less (I hope Kovid is still working on lrf2html or I'm hosed ). I avoid DRM-based books on general principles.

Maybe in a year or two I will wish for the user-replaceable battery, but odds are by then I will have gone for a color model

Different strokes for different people. If the Iliad was lower in price, I might have bought that.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by acidzebra

Coming from the mobipocket world, I did miss the dictionary function at first. Except that every REALLY difficult word wouldn't be in the limited mobi dictionary I had anyway (not to mention the foreign-language books). Quicker to whip out the blackberry and grab a definition online.

When I had a Sony PRS-500 I didn't think I'd ever want to use a dictionary on an eBook Reader (after all, I never use one when I'm reading paper books). For me, though, at least, now I've got a very good dictionary on my Gen3, I wouldn't want to buy another eBook reader which didn't support them. I find myself using it all the time, and that it enriches the reading experience considerably. As you say, though, there are certainly other ways of achieving this.

Different strokes for different people.

Certainly. All purely a personal opinion.

[seajewel]

I don't mind the lack of dictionary lookup too much, although I would use it if it were available. User replaceable battery does sound like a GREAT feature, and I hope next iterations of Sony will have that. I don't mind missing mobipocket support now with epub available, especialyl because publishers really are starting to pay attention.. Booksonboard just released preorder of mobipocket AND epub for an upcoming hugely popular book, which makes me think epub will be widely available soon.

User-loadable fonts.. well, this is something i have wanted for a very long time. I'll have to say, though, that I think user loadable fonts create some problems, at least from my experience of hacking/patching new fonts into the Reader.. especially with pagination. A new font usually requires a reset of the reader's cache, and I imagine it might play havoc with the accurate page numbers of the Sony.. I think this must be one of the big reasons Sony hasn't implemented it. However, with the Universal Flasher, I loaded my own custom fonts and am very happy with the state of the reader, so I don't mind the lack of custom fonts as much as I did before the update came out. (the unicode patch was a bit finicky to deal with, although I would never have bought the Sony without the patch being available)

Originally Posted by HarryT

For me, the benefits of the CyBook remain as they always have been:

- Dictionary lookup.
- User-loadable fonts.
- User-replaceable battery.
- MobiPocket support.

The first of these is now (IMHO) a major disadvantage of the Sony compared to all its "competition". It is the only major player in the eBook market not to support dictionaries. I was hoping that Sony would have addressed this issue in this firmware upgrade.

[alexxxm]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I wouldn't want to buy another eBook reader which didn't support them. I find myself using it all the time, and that it enriches the reading experience considerably.

I completely agree: it's the thing I most miss in the Reader.
For me - not natural born english speaker - it was a real help while reading on the Rocket Ebook.
Moreover, I remember how easy it was to create your own dictionary... e.g. I made a Buddhist dictionary from a simple HTML file in a matter of minutes, and this made reading buddhist texts much easier ...

alessandro