Create a collection

[Dave Berk]

Originally Posted by cassidym

One more question on collections. When you copy a book into a collection, it still remains in the basic Reader Book list. So, I assume you are now taking up twice the space with that one book. Correct?

Nope. A collection is more like a playlist.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by cassidym

One more question on collections. When you copy a book into a collection, it still remains in the basic Reader Book list. So, I assume you are now taking up twice the space with that one book. Correct?

No. The book is only stored once in memory - you just have two "index entries" to it, one in the collection, and the other in the main book list.

[MickeyC]

Great! I wasn't sure. My Sony is just getting on a year and it's half full. Didn't want to have to start deleting books even those I've read.

[fglaysher]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

"Series" and "Tags" to each book. Once you have done this you can navigate the books using the Tags browser. Also, Authors and Publishers are automatically set up as "Tags" too. When you use "send to device" your series and tags will become collections on your Sony reader.

BOb

--

Bob, thanks for offering your view on Calibre. I don't share it. I have no desire to waste my time and energy entering "series" "tags" "collections" and so on. I've already done that. I want to READ the books that interest me, focusing on CONTENT, not the trivia of either Sony or Calibre's categorization systems. Both are so ineffective and time-consuming I wonder if data isn't being collected by Sony's bookstore or whatever, trying to track people's reading and use of the device.

I'd almost recommend anyone NOT to buy a Sony Reader until this major issue is resolved, if it ever is, which seems increasingly unlikely. Calibre isn't the solution. It would be nice to load on 1200 plus books ONCE and have them accessible, instead of constantly have to switch 30 to 50 in and out all the time. The large add-on cards are hence a waste of money. Someone else where on mobileread mentioned he's bought several small cards and switches them out, which is faster, but, in my view, still shows Sony hasn't figured this problem out yet let alone faced that it exists.

If anyone knows if there's a way of entirely deleting Sony's software and replacing it with a THIRD piece of software, I'd really appreciate it hearing about.

Thanks,

Fred

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by fglaysher

Bob, thanks for offering your view on Calibre. I don't share it. I have no desire to waste my time and energy entering "series" "tags" "collections" and so on. I've already done that.

If you say so. Calibre does support this, just not in the way you want. That doesn't mean it doesn't work. I'm guess you could have imported your folder taxonomy in less time than it took to write these few message.

On the Sony reader itself you are totally correct. It doesn't not have very good navigation at all for the large amount of books you are wanting to deal with.

Sorry I couldn't help.

BOb

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by fglaysher

--

Bob, thanks for offering your view on Calibre. I don't share it. I have no desire to waste my time and energy entering "series" "tags" "collections" and so on. I've already done that. I want to READ the books that interest me, focusing on CONTENT, not the trivia of either Sony or Calibre's categorization systems. Both are so ineffective and time-consuming I wonder if data isn't being collected by Sony's bookstore or whatever, trying to track people's reading and use of the device.

I'd almost recommend anyone NOT to buy a Sony Reader until this major issue is resolved, if it ever is, which seems increasingly unlikely. Calibre isn't the solution. It would be nice to load on 1200 plus books ONCE and have them accessible, instead of constantly have to switch 30 to 50 in and out all the time. The large add-on cards are hence a waste of money. Someone else where on mobileread mentioned he's bought several small cards and switches them out, which is faster, but, in my view, still shows Sony hasn't figured this problem out yet let alone faced that it exists.

If anyone knows if there's a way of entirely deleting Sony's software and replacing it with a THIRD piece of software, I'd really appreciate it hearing about.

Thanks,

Fred

Why the need to carry so many books at once?

[fglaysher]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Why the need to carry so many books at once?

Why should I want to constantly play around with loading books and switching things in and out, except the new ones I download or create?

What's the need of a SD slot and Pro Duo that each take 8 gigs or more cards but can't possibly be used? Does Sony think people have nothing else to do but pass info to their tracking system?

In a way, if your question is how Sony regards the problem, it's like the Detroit automotive companies saying why shouldn't Americans want to buy our cars, without considering the decades of recalls, millions upon millions, the rollovers, blowups, fires, constant maintenance, failures to start 15% of the time when you turn the key (I had a brand new one of those), etc....

In my view, Sony's Reader is going the same way as GM if they don't start really supporting it and listening to their customers. I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone, though I think it's still the best device on the market. There are too many bugs in it still for the average non-technical user. For use in serious study, which is why I bought it, I'm constantly having to deal with its limitations when they shouldn't even be there in the first place. It sounds as thought their newest model is even more problematical than the 505.

Fred

[sherman]

@fglaysher

This looks to do what you want with regarding to copying books to the reader.

It is a file manager tool for the reader. It is NOT an ebook library management software, but it CAN create collections based on sub directories.

You can use either the program or windows explorer to copy your folders of ebooks to the appropriate directory on the reader (database/media/books). If you have separate folders inside of this directory, these can easily be turned into collections by the program.

It is a very handy piece of software when one doesn't want to use Calibre or the Sony ebook library software to transfer books.

[Peto]

Originally Posted by fglaysher

Why should I want to constantly play around with loading books and switching things in and out, except the new ones I download or create?

What's the need of a SD slot and Pro Duo that each take 8 gigs or more cards but can't possibly be used? Does Sony think people have nothing else to do but pass info to their tracking system?

In a way, if your question is how Sony regards the problem, it's like the Detroit automotive companies saying why shouldn't Americans want to buy our cars, without considering the decades of recalls, millions upon millions, the rollovers, blowups, fires, constant maintenance, failures to start 15% of the time when you turn the key (I had a brand new one of those), etc....

In my view, Sony's Reader is going the same way as GM if they don't start really supporting it and listening to their customers. I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone, though I think it's still the best device on the market. There are too many bugs in it still for the average non-technical user. For use in serious study, which is why I bought it, I'm constantly having to deal with its limitations when they shouldn't even be there in the first place. It sounds as thought their newest model is even more problematical than the 505.

Fred

Hello Fred,

I guess you are a really fast reader since you need to replace your books in the 505 "constantly". One thing you should know is that, if you managed to have all your books properly organized in one or two cards, you would end up needing to recharge the Reader constantly, since the cards drain the battery bad. If you have your files sorted out in your PC and have more or less decided what you want to read next (which is what probably takes more time having so many books to pick from), loading them into the Reader shouldn't take beyond a few minutes. I don't use Calibre or the ebook library at all. I just transfer the files directly into the 505. If you use lrf files, you will need the ebook library to prepaginate the books, though. You don't need it with other files, I think, not with PDFs in any rate.

On the other hand, there is an utility called bookswap that let's you transfer books to and from the sd into the internal memory. Maybe it can be useful to you. Here's the link: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21636

But you don't want to use the Reader with the cards in, specially if they are big capacity ones. The bigger the card, the bigger the drain.

Ah, one more thing. My guess is that the slot cards were actually thought for music. Have not read it anywhere, but there is no real use for the mp3 function if you just have the internal memory to resort to.

[fglaysher]

Originally Posted by sherman

@fglaysher

This looks to do what you want with regarding to copying books to the reader.

It is a file manager tool for the reader. It is NOT an ebook library management software, but it CAN create collections based on sub directories.

You can use either the program or windows explorer to copy your folders of ebooks to the appropriate directory on the reader (database/media/books). If you have separate folders inside of this directory, these can easily be turned into collections by the program.

It is a very handy piece of software when one doesn't want to use Calibre or the Sony ebook library software to transfer books.

Sherman,

Thanks for letting me know about the File manager and collection creator for PRS505. I've read the entire thread and info and it sounds like exactly what I've been wanting! I'm going to install it and let you know how it goes ASAP.
I appreciate it.

Peto, thanks too for the suggestion. I'll check that out too.

Fred

[fglaysher]

Originally Posted by fglaysher

Sherman,

Thanks for letting me know about the File manager and collection creator for PRS505. I've read the entire thread and info and it sounds like exactly what I've been wanting! I'm going to install it and let you know how it goes ASAP.
I appreciate it.

Peto, thanks too for the suggestion. I'll check that out too.

Fred

Sherman,

I've installed it today. See details at
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...824#post309824

Thanks.

Fred

[sherman]

Sorry I can't help you there, when I tried it it worked flawlessly for me.. go figure..

[fglaysher]

Originally Posted by sherman

Sorry I can't help you there, when I tried it it worked flawlessly for me.. go figure..

I wonder, did you name every directory 8 letters or less, no spaces?

I'm uninstalling and trying that now to see if it helps. I must have installed it incorrectly.

Thanks for your help.

Fred