Oh bother. They didn't fix the ePub/PDF library book issue

[SeaBookGuy]

I agree they tend to reflow badly in readable sizes (anything besides tiny "small"), but I'm willing to put up with it for the occasional book. There was never a problem at all if you only read Epub books.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

How many devices is one limited to with ADE? One at a time?

According to the ADE FAQ's: "You can activate up to six computers and six devices. If you reach the limit, contact Customer Service to increase your allowable activations." You can see the FAQ's on Adobe's website here: http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/faq/

Also, to answer your other question, I crop the margins on Overdrive PDF's on my PRS-900. It makes a big difference on how well the books display and read for smaller text but not so much for medium & larger. I used to avoid borrowing PDF's on my PRS-505 if possible. To be fair the 7" screen makes a significant difference on viewing PDF's too so it might be helpful to compare my opinion to someone that has the -350 or -650.

Luckily my library has significantly increased the number of available EPUB's in the last year so there is a lower probability that I have both EPUB's and PDF's checked out at the same time. However I will be really disappointed if Sony hasn't fixed this issue on the next-generation models!

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

To be fair the 7" screen makes a significant difference on viewing PDF's too so it might be helpful to compare my opinion to someone that has the -350 or -650.

Luckily my library has significantly increased the number of available EPUB's in the last year so there is a lower probability that I have both EPUB's and PDF's checked out at the same time. However I will be really disappointed if Sony hasn't fixed this issue on the next-generation models!

There are still enough desirable Overdrive PDF titles out there for this to be a concern. I was considering holding off until November, to get a 950 if the larger screen makes a particular difference; I'm leaning against a 900 (now) as I'd want the lockable zoom.

[NNolan]

P. S. What's the title of the "bad" PDF so we're forewarned!

The PDF in question was a murder mystery called "Shakespeare's Landlord". The download from the library may not have been clean. The other test PDF I got from the library has no effect on the 350's ability to open Overdrive ePubs, so it looks like Sony has fixed the problem that the 300 had.

I haven't tried zooming any of the PDFs because cropping the margins and/or choosing a larger font size works fine, just like they were ePubs. Of course, I'm just looking at novels, not anything complicated, with columns or graphics.

I'm really impressed with how much this little booger can do.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

There are still enough desirable Overdrive PDF titles out there for this to be a concern. I was considering holding off until November, to get a 950 if the larger screen makes a particular difference; I'm leaning against a 900 (now) as I'd want the lockable zoom.

I agree. I still have quite a few titles on my wishlist that are only in PDF format. I love the 7" screen on the -900 and would like to upgrade to the -950 for the new touchscreen. That's why I'm hoping the -350/650/950 models have fixed the Overdrive EPUB and PDF mixed files issue.

The 7" screen makes a big difference to reading PDF's in my opinion. I find that I can keep Small text plus crop the margins and all of the text fits on a single page at a reasonable font size for my eyes. No more page overflow that messes up the PDF readability. The current book I am reading from the library was available in both EPUB and PDF formats. The EPUB had a long waiting list. Nobody wanted the PDF so I checked that out since I knew my -900 could handle it just fine!

[SeaBookGuy]

Thanks for the further info -- I find PDF books on a 6" screen in "small" on my 505 just out of comfy range for reading unflowed, preserving the formatting. There's one I started that's double-columned on a page that'd be awesome using the new feature that shows 1/4 page at a time it seems! (Have You Seen ... ? - a 1000 page book of movie reviews, if you're curious)
One of the books that only comes in PDF that I'd like would be The Omnivore's Dillema.

[thename]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Thanks for the further info -- I find PDF books on a 6" screen in "small" on my 505 just out of comfy range for reading unflowed, preserving the formatting. There's one I started that's double-columned on a page that'd be awesome using the new feature that shows 1/4 page at a time it seems! (Have You Seen ... ? - a 1000 page book of movie reviews, if you're curious)
One of the books that only comes in PDF that I'd like would be The Omnivore's Dillema.

Actually, that one's available as EPUB from SPL and KCL.

[SeaBookGuy]

Thanks - I hadn't realized that. They have two ebook listings for it, and I only saw the other PDF-only one.

[petercreasey]

Originally Posted by NNolan

There must have been something wrong with that particular PDF that gave the 350 heartburn. I downloaded a different PDF book from the library, opened and closed it and then opened another ePub library book and everything is just fine now.

N, How did you recover from the initial problem with the pdf and your 350?

Also, what do you mean exactly by the term "library pdf"? Is this a special pdf of some kind and other pdf's are fine? Etc.??

[elcreative]

In a way, yes... this problem refers to PDF/ePub conflicts with library borrowings using Overdrive... you can have either PDF or ePub on the eReader at any one time but not both. It doesn't affect PDFs/ePubs from other sources which happily co-exist on the reader.

Originally Posted by petercreasey

Also, what do you mean exactly by the term "library pdf"? Is this a special pdf of some kind and other pdf's are fine? Etc.??

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by elcreative

In a way, yes... this problem refers to PDF/ePub conflicts with library borrowings using Overdrive... you can have either PDF or ePub on the eReader at any one time but not both. It doesn't affect PDFs/ePubs from other sources which happily co-exist on the reader.

Models after the 505 do not have this issue at all.

[elcreative]

I think you'll find that it's models including and after the PRS900 that no longer have this problem... other people (and threads) would support this...

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Models after the 505 do not have this issue at all.

[NNolan]

Originally Posted by petercreasey

N, How did you recover from the initial problem with the pdf and your 350?

Also, what do you mean exactly by the term "library pdf"? Is this a special pdf of some kind and other pdf's are fine? Etc.??

Just deleting the bad PDF seemed to put everything back to normal. And as long as I download all my DRMed Overdrive files (either ePub or PDF) into the Sony Library software (Sonys and ADE still don't play together too well on Macs) everything continues to work just fine.

[Traecer Prime]

Originally Posted by NNolan

Just deleting the bad PDF seemed to put everything back to normal. And as long as I download all my DRMed Overdrive files (either ePub or PDF) into the Sony Library software (Sonys and ADE still don't play together too well on Macs) everything continues to work just fine.

Wait, so if you're on a Mac and using the Sony Reader software, a PRS-300 (or 505 or 600) WON'T have this format conflict problem? Odd!

I have this exact setup but I DON'T want to test it now because I have several Overdrive PDFs I don't want to go bad until I'm finished with them. Go ahead, call me a coward!

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by Traecer Prime

Wait, so if you're on a Mac and using the Sony Reader software, a PRS-300 (or 505 or 600) WON'T have this format conflict problem? Odd!

I have this exact setup but I DON'T want to test it now because I have several Overdrive PDFs I don't want to go bad until I'm finished with them. Go ahead, call me a coward!

I think maybe you misunderstood. You can install ADE on a Mac, but it will not recognize the Sony ereaders as a plugged-in device. That's why ADE on a Mac and the Sony ereaders don't play nice together. On a Mac, you have to use the Sony Reader Library software instead of ADE for transferring books. It is not like this on a PC. ADE on a PC does play nice with the Sony ereaders. Your ereader shows up as a device, and you can transfer files with ADE on a PC rather than Sony Reader Library.

Starting with the PRS-300/600, Sony made this ADE Mac conflict invisible by allowing the Sony Reader Library to work with your ADE password. It was not the case for PRS-505 users. You had to first authorize your ereader with ADE on a PC! Then you could use it with Sony Reader Library on the Mac. It caused a lot of headaches initially for people to figure that one out! It was ok for me because I have Windows installed in Bootcamp on my Mac. It was not ok for some people who didn't have a PC or Windows.

Yes, the PRS-505 has the EPUB and PDF Overdrive library book conflict regardless of whether you are using a Mac or PC. I cannot speak for the PRS-300 or -600 since I do not have that model. Hope that helps!