"New" Reader for PC software question

[kellynj]

I have a couple of questions about the "new" Reader for PC software. I just updated to it tonight & I'm already really concerned about the format. I buy direct from publishers as well as use the Reader Store so I have books in my library from various sources. Since I read a lot of series & authors & I HAVE to be able to read the books in order I set up collections a long time ago. With the new software, when I connect my Reader (it's a PRS515) will the collections themselves & the book order within the collections load back into the library software properly? I'm watching the books SLOWLY populate the library now & I'm panicking at the thought of having to manually reset all the collections & populate them (I have over 1400 books & over 40 collections). Other question is for anyone with a lot of books in their library - I finally updated to this in large part because of the hang delays in the old software - has Sony finally fixed that or am I better off reloading the old software back onto here? Thanks.

[Jaede]

There's been no fix that I've seen to make the new software run better than the old. The old software rocked as far as not slowing up the more books you put into it. I don't know if the T1 or T2 can work with the old software, but it might be better off for you to go back to it if you can.

If you can't I'd recommend going with Calibre to manage all your books. I have a PRS-T2, and it works great with collections. I have about 4k books split up into 450 collections. I've used Calibre to create the collections onto the Reader, and it will even slot them alphabetically.

It will be a bit of work for you to work 1400 books over into something Calibre can manage for you, but it might be worth it. And no matter how many books you load in Calibre it almost never slows down.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Since you are using an older Sony ereader, then you can still use the older Reader Library software. Your best option might be to just go back to using that since you are familiar with it already. Not many people are happy with the reduced functionality of the new Reader software. Did you actually uninstall the old software already? It might still be on your computer and then you don't have to start over. The old and new software are two different programs and exist independently on your computer (rather than just being a newer version of the old program and overwriting it).

Unfortunately for me, the T1 and T2 do not work with the old software so I didn't have this option. Not being able to order books in collections anymore is the main reason why I abandoned the new Reader software and switched to calibre. I also had about 1000 books and dozens of collections. The calibre software can auto-download the metadata info for your books and sort them into ordered series for you so it might be faster than you think to switch. calibre can be a little overwhelming when you first use it because it is full of so many features. For example, I was able to customize it to do things such as automatically sort some of my collections by publication date and some by date read and others by series order.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do and Happy New Year!

[kellynj]

I use Calibre for books I need to transfer into epub format (old books I picked up before epub existed or small indie books that don't come in that format mostly) but I'm not familiar with setting up & loading the entire library into Calibre & using it for collections. Is there a thread or a primer somewhere on how that would work?

I did find that the old software is still there - and still running thankfully so I still have it. The new software does show my library, collections and all - even lets me create & edit collections - but it runs even slower then the old software, which is saying something.

Other question - what files do i need to be copying to transfer all the books & the library to another computer? With the new software, it found a bunch of files & populated everything correctly. I'd like that ease with loading everything on a new computer.

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by Jaede

If you can't I'd recommend going with Calibre to manage all your books. I have a PRS-T2, and it works great with collections. I have about 4k books split up into 450 collections. I've used Calibre to create the collections onto the Reader, and it will even slot them alphabetically.

Could you tell me please how you do that? Or point me to a step by step tutorial on how to do it?

[Bookworm_Girl]

Here is an old post that I wrote to describe how I transitioned from using the Sony software to calibre. Reading the whole thread might be helpful, but it's several pages long.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...0&postcount=96

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Here is an old post that I wrote to describe how I transitioned from using the Sony software to calibre. Reading the whole thread might be helpful, but it's several pages long.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...0&postcount=96

Thanks so much. I'll work my way through your post as soon as I can.