Pocket Pro--a couple of discoveries

[Egbert]

Some more things found while playing around with it:
-ZIP support is... barely usable for comic book viewing. First, you have to rename file extensions from .cbz and .cbr to .zip and .rar. Then you have to make sure that the files were added in sequence to the compressed file. Finally, I don't know whether this is due to the archive format I tested (zip file) or because of the image format (png), but I wasn't able to use the page-turning buttons to go to the next image in the archive. I tested a .rar file containing JPEG images, and that seems to work.
-The USB plug fits a bit too securely. I have to give it a really firm tug to pull out the plug.

[griffonwing]

Ship off an email to Astak or Robertb. The allowance to read the CBR and CBZ file extensions should be an easy firmware fix.

Also, I think I remember reading somewhere that RTF files need to be renamed DOC in order to be read. If so, add that in as well. Having the firmware treat XXX as YYY should not be too difficult.

[slayda]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Ship off an email to Astak or Robertb. The allowance to read the CBR and CBZ file extensions should be an easy firmware fix.

Also, I think I remember reading somewhere that RTF files need to be renamed DOC in order to be read. If so, add that in as well. Having the firmware treat XXX as YYY should not be too difficult.

According to the list I saw on the PP, it did not mention RTF (even though the Hanlin V5 does list it).

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by slayda

According to the list I saw on the PP, it did not mention RTF (even though the Hanlin V5 does list it).

Likely an oversight. RTF should work.

[griffonwing]

Yeah, I read that DOCs are simply glorified RTFs. Take an RTF, rename it to DOC and it should work, that is unless the file has a lot of extra MS-BS code.

In that case, Open the DOC, save it as RTF, then simply rename the RTF to DOC and see if that works.

[KarateMonkey]

I just tested it with a couple rtf files that I had loaded.

They look fine. The only weird thing I noticed was that the page count was inconsistent. When I first opened one of the files up it said I was on page 1 of 4. I advanced the the next page and it said I was on page 2 of 78, then 3 of 100 something, and so on.
After a half dozen page turns it seemed to figure out what the correct page count was and stopped changing.

I've also noticed that a couple odt files I moved over show up in the Pocket Pro as rtf.

[AnemicOak]

Quick question for those of you who have used a PP/v5. When you switch it off/back on after reading does it start on the last page you were reading (like a Sony or Kindle) or does it reboot and take you to the library/folders (like the Gen 3 & Opus)?

[emellaich]

BTW,

In the reviews, one of the folks also mentioned that if you held the page forward button down for more than two seconds it would skip forward 10 pages.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by KarateMonkey

I just tested it with a couple rtf files that I had loaded.

They look fine. The only weird thing I noticed was that the page count was inconsistent. When I first opened one of the files up it said I was on page 1 of 4. I advanced the the next page and it said I was on page 2 of 78, then 3 of 100 something, and so on.
After a half dozen page turns it seemed to figure out what the correct page count was and stopped changing.

I've also noticed that a couple odt files I moved over show up in the Pocket Pro as rtf.

Looks like ODT file format might have fooled it although it should not. Would it open an ODT? If anything it might try open as a zip file.

The page number thing happens in other formats as well. What is happening is that the reader is dynamically trying to figure out how many pages there are but did not complete the task when the page was displayed so it just showed how much it has counted up to that point. It can be confusing. Unfortunately it doesn't keep the page number once it has calculated it so it will go through this non-sense again the next time you open the book. It should remember after the first time IMHO.

Dale

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by emellaich

BTW,

In the reviews, one of the folks also mentioned that if you held the page forward button down for more than two seconds it would skip forward 10 pages.

This is documented in the manual.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Quick question for those of you who have used a PP/v5. When you switch it off/back on after reading does it start on the last page you were reading (like a Sony or Kindle) or does it reboot and take you to the library/folders (like the Gen 3 & Opus)?

Depends on how you shut it off. Most often just pressing the on/off button will simply lock the screen and pressing it again will get you back exactly where you were. This is like Sony in that it is a sleep mode. There is no need on this device to shut it completely off to try and save battery life. If you hold the on/off button down for a couple of sections it is like shutting off your computer and it will have to reboot the next time you turn it on. Sony has this mode also.

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

The page number thing happens in other formats as well. What is happening is that the reader is dynamically trying to figure out how many pages there are but did not complete the task when the page was displayed so it just showed how much it has counted up to that point. It can be confusing. Unfortunately it doesn't keep the page number once it has calculated it so it will go through this non-sense again the next time you open the book. It should remember after the first time IMHO.

Although this also happens in MS Word. When you open a large document it can take several seconds to get the correct page number.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Depends on how you shut it off. Most often just pressing the on/off button will simply lock the screen and pressing it again will get you back exactly where you were. This is like Sony in that it is a sleep mode. There is no need on this device to shut it completely off to try and save battery life. If you hold the on/off button down for a couple of sections it is like shutting off your computer and it will have to reboot the next time you turn it on. Sony has this mode also.

Perfect, thanks.

[KarateMonkey]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Looks like ODT file format might have fooled it although it should not. Would it open an ODT? If anything it might try open as a zip file.

The page number thing happens in other formats as well. What is happening is that the reader is dynamically trying to figure out how many pages there are but did not complete the task when the page was displayed so it just showed how much it has counted up to that point. It can be confusing. Unfortunately it doesn't keep the page number once it has calculated it so it will go through this non-sense again the next time you open the book. It should remember after the first time IMHO.

Dale

It seemed to open the odt files just fine.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by KarateMonkey

It seemed to open the odt files just fine.

That is interesting, so ODT is a supported format. PowerPoint is likely supported as well I would bet, it was on the old V3 although it was a bit fussy on complicated files. It supports office files.

Dale