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Old 01-03-2011, 03:26 AM   #4
SaraD
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Posts: 161
Karma: 2670
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Mead, WA, USA
Device: Sony 650, Basic Kindle 7th generation
To my knowledge the 2 big places you cannot get e-books for a Sony reader are Amazon and B&N. Borders and the Sony bookstores should be just fine (I have no personal experience). Books from small publishers such as BeWrite books and somewhat larger ones like Baen that have decided not to use DRM will certainly work just fine (my personal experience). Check Books on Board as an independent ebook store.

The question of whether or not a particular seller's ebooks work with a Sony reader mostly has to do with what kind if any DRM is used. B&N and Amazon both subsidize the price of their readers with profits from book sales so they lock their reader and books together. Sony simply sells a piece of hardware that uses Adobe Epub. Since B&N uses epub with something else thrown on top of it other epub books will work on a Nook, but not B&N books on a Sony.

After you spend some more time on the Sony subforum and perhaps check out the part of the wiki that covers the Sony readers much of the frustration you have about finding compatable ebooks will pass as you add knowledge. Also check out Calibre for ebook management instead of the Sony software. It can help you convert books from one format to another if there is no DRM blocking you.

Good luck! And remember that ebooks are just starting to become normalized and not on the bleeding edge of technology. Sometimes the learning process still involves getting cut a time or two, but it is getting better. I took 2 1/2 years to finally choose a reader after finding Mobileread so I am in a unique place of knowing quite a bit of theory, but I'm just now getting the practical experience to go with it. After so much reading I should not feel this awkward about what I'm doing, but...
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