Trying to read with PRS 350

[gudrun45]

Okay, I'm to the point now, where I am actually trying to read a book on this device. So far it is more frustrating than anything else.
I'm setting the font size to medium. It does that, but at the same time it switches me to page 240. I was on page 3.
How to get back to page 3 or even the beginning? Yes, there is a slider. I figured that out. I can put in page numbers, but for that I'd have to figure out how to call up the keyboard. Not worth it.
Earlier, I accidentally managed to go back to the table of contents of the book and pick chapter 1. I can't seem to find that option anymore, and I've been reading and reading the user manual.
Help????

Gudrun

[Shopaholic]

Click on the Options button, then Go To and then whatever you want. Select Page number and you can use the slider or click on the enter page number and the number screen shows up where you can enter the exact number of page you want.

You must be touching the slider or something that changing font sizes gets you to page 240. It doesn't do that for me.

[delphin]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

Click on the Options button, then Go To and then whatever you want. Select Page number and you can use the slider or click on the enter page number and the number screen shows up where you can enter the exact number of page you want.

You must be touching the slider or something that changing font sizes gets you to page 240. It doesn't do that for me.

An ultra quick short cut to change page numbers is to just tap the page number itself down in the status bar (single tap, not double tap). This is just a little tricker to tap with your finger tip on the 350 than it is on the 650 and 950 because the status bar is a little smaller, but it's not too hard once you get the hang of it.

This is a WEIRD one. The page select and font select are not even in the same pop-up dialog box, so I don't see how you could accidentally change one while trying to change the other one.

And unless there was a glitch of some kind, the page numbers should never change that radically unless you have a weirdly formatted or broken e-book.

LRF books will re-paginate on font changes, but usually not by such a large factor, and on EPUB you just get in-between page numbers, like 10-11 of 234 (because bigger fonts mean it takes several screen page changes to get through a full page in the book).

Take some time to get familiar with your 350, and try it with some more ebook titles, and I think you will find it works quite nicely.

[gudrun45]

Originally Posted by delphin

This is a WEIRD one. The page select and font select are not even in the same pop-up dialog box, so I don't see how you could accidentally change one while trying to change the other one.
And unless there was a glitch of some kind, the page numbers should never change that radically unless you have a weirdly formatted or broken e-book.

It happened with two different books. The first one was a book from the library. I then decided that I didn't like it and went to a freebie.
When opening this book, the font size reset itself to small. So, again, I changed it to medium, and again it ended up on a page toward the very end of the book.
I certainly hope I will get used to the reader and end up liking it. Too much money invested in it and the lighted cover to not like it.

[delphin]

Originally Posted by gudrun45

It happened with two different books. The first one was a book from the library. I then decided that I didn't like it and went to a freebie.
When opening this book, the font size reset itself to small. So, again, I changed it to medium, and again it ended up on a page toward the very end of the book.
I certainly hope I will get used to the reader and end up liking it. Too much money invested in it and the lighted cover to not like it.

It should NOT be changing page numbers like this unless the book is screwed up somehow.

What kind of e-book format are these books?

How did you put the books on the reader?

I presume this a new reader, not something used off of ebay?

Edit:

Never mind, I see in the treads you posted that you got your reader through Walmart.

I NEVER buy tech items from Walmart, after almost giving in and buying a Netbook from them, only to find that they special order a CRAP version with HALF the battery life (3 cells vs 6 cells) though, mysteriously, it wasn't a penny cheaper than the non-crippled version that I bought on sale elsewhere.

[gudrun45]

Originally Posted by delphin

It should NOT be changing page numbers like this unless the book is screwed up somehow.

What kind of e-book format are these books?

How did you put the books on the reader?

I presume this a new reader, not something used off of ebay?

No, it's a brand new reader. The books are epub, and I put them on with the Reader Library. Just dragged them over.

[delphin]

Originally Posted by gudrun45

No, it's a brand new reader. The books are epub, and I put them on with the Reader Library. Just dragged them over.

Curiouser and curiouser, as they say.

I have never seen this, but I don't use Reader Library on a Mac, and didn't buy my Sony at Walmart.

Hopefully some one who has seen something like this will chime in here . . .

You might want to grab some free books from the www.feedbooks.com public domain section and see if this also happens with them.

I have found feedbooks has the best formated free EPUB titles, and haven't had a single problem with any of them, so this should at least allow a 'apples to apples' comparison.

In the mean time, is the reader working ok, other than having to reset the page numbers after loading a book and changing the font?

[mcrmama]

I got my 650 at Walmart and have not had this issue. Walmart was the only retailer that had them locally at the time.

Hope you can sort out what is happening. Have fun playing with your new toy. I love mine!

[Poppaea]

To go to a certain page quick you tap on the slider and than double tap on the little white box that opens up above the slider. This will start a pop up with a digital keyboard.

As for the strange jumps to the end of the books I have no clue what you could have done with it to make it happen

[delphin]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

To go to a certain page quick you tap on the slider and than double tap on the little white box that opens up above the slider. This will start a pop up with a digital keyboard.

As for the strange jumps to the end of the books I have no clue what you could have done with it to make it happen

Actually Poppaea, I think BOTH are just a single tap -

There are a TOTAL of two taps involved so maybe that's what you were thinking.

- One tap on the page number to open the Page Number Pop-Up Dialog Box.

- One tap on the "Enter Page #" button that appears at the top left in that Dialog Box.

This gives you the on-screen page number keypad, then just a couple more taps to type in the page number and hit "Go".

You can do the fist tap, wait a fraction of a second for the window, and do the second tap so close together that you can have the page number keypad up in about 1 second flat.

Even after you add in the time to enter a page number on the touch screen keypad that pops up, you can go to any page in the book within 4 or 5 seconds if you are in a hurry.

This is a faster than I could manage on any of the other e-readers I have used including the Kindle and Nook, and MUCH faster than I could find a specific page in a paper book.

[Asawi]

I'm wondering why this happens (cause it REALLY shouldn't), and what I'm thinking is that maybe, when changing the font size your finger somehow touches the section where the page numbers are and thus a page change happens.
Try using the stylus instead of the finger and see if it still happens.
Also, I think there is a fnction somewhere to calibrate the screen so it recognizes where your pointer is. Not sure where though...

[delphin]

Originally Posted by Asawi

I'm wondering why this happens (cause it REALLY shouldn't), and what I'm thinking is that maybe, when changing the font size your finger somehow touches the section where the page numbers are and thus a page change happens.
Try using the stylus instead of the finger and see if it still happens.
Also, I think there is a fnction somewhere to calibrate the screen so it recognizes where your pointer is. Not sure where though...

I Think I have it figured it out - it's pretty simple when you think about it.

(Not absolutely sure, but this situation DOES duplicate what gudrun45 is describing)

I think what happened was that the reader was set to the Table Of Contents page when the Font Mode was changed, and a double tap was used where only a single tap was needed.

If you double tap where only a single tap is needed, then that unnecessary second tap is read after the reader has already closed the popup window, and if it lands on one of the hyper links in the TOC - BINGO -> THE PRS-350 CORRECTLY JUMPS TO SOME OTHER PLACE IN THE BOOK.

Now that I think back on it, this happened to me a few times when I first got my Sony, until I figured out that most of the time the Sony wants SINGLE TAPS (double tapping is only used to bring up the dictionary or mark text).

So most likely this is what happened.

[gudrun45]

Originally Posted by delphin

I Think I have it figured it out - it's pretty simple when you think about it.

If you double tap where a single tap is needed, then that unnecessary second tap is read after the reader has already closed the popup window, and then if it lands on one of the hyper links in the TOC - BINGO -> THE PRS-350 CORRECTLY JUMPS TO SOME OTHER PLACE IN THE BOOK.

Yes, on the second book I was on the table of contents when I switched the size. Not on the first one, though. There I had read a half a dozen pages in small size and then decided that I would be happier with a larger font.
Well, anyway, thank you all for your input. I will make sure only to tap once from now on and use the slider/number input if something does go wrong.
Otherwise the reader seems to be working ok. The only other complaint is that, while most of the time one quick swipe will bring up the next page, about every 5th or 6th page it takes about four or so swipes. I probably need more practice swiping.

[Asawi]

Originally Posted by gudrun45

I probably need more practice swiping.

Yep, I have had a bit of an issue with my swiping as well! My problem has been that instead of page change I end up having marked a section.
In another topic about broken styluses someone mentioned using a Q-Tip instead of the stylus, and now I do that whenever I'm reading. (I often have to put hand lotion on, so finger get greasy - not great for touch screens) I have found that just very small move with the Q-Tip (who has lots more precision that my clumsy finger and can be placed safely out of text area) gets the page turned.

[Poppaea]

@Delphin
Thank you for correcting me, did it from memory and memory seems to be not so good anymore

You will find out that the swipes don't need any force or anything. It needs some practice but the moment you find out your don't even have to actually touch the screen you will start to enjoy it immensely! Just hover with your finger close to the screen and see what happens...