Quote:
Originally Posted by kacir
There are many, many things I do not like about Sony and about how they provide content for their Readers. Yet I have to to say you are not right.
PRS 500 *CAN* read pdf files.
You simply do not understand pdf.
It is *IMPOSSIBLE* to reflow pdf document automagically.
pdf document simply *does NOT have* the required info. It has no notions about lines, paragraphs, format. All information stored in the pdf file is "put letter A on this x,y coordinate, put letter B on that x,y coordinate". And that lack of "reflowability" is a feature. This lack of possibility to manipulate pdf file is what made pdf so popular with publishers, manual authors, electronic document submitters. You can "print out" the document into the pdf -- in other words create pdf document -- and you can be 100% sure that anybody can print the exact layout on any platform, and that nobody would be able to take your work and rehash it a little bit by reflowing it, changing paragraph style of fonts and publish it as his own work.
There are basically two ways to handle pdf *FORMATED FOR PRINTING ON THE A4 OR LEGAL PAPER* on a 6" screen.
- display it with 40% zoom - in which case the letters are really small
- display small fraction of the page at the time - in which case you have to scroll around like mad.
Please, do not blame Sony for your lack of common sense. Have you tried to print a pdf document on a 120x90m large piece of paper using very low resolution (166dpi) printer before rushing to buy Reader? Have you given it any thought at all?
PRS 500 has many shortcomings(*), yet it does support pdf documents very well. You can create pdf documents formatted for 90*120 mm page and the results are great. Complicated graphics, all fonts in the world including Russian, Central European (like Czech, Polish, Slovenian, ....), even Chinese or Japanese.
If you really do care about reading your average pdf files just buy a second-hand notebook (or tablet PC) with screen at least 15" big. Period. Until there are 15" large e-ink screens available you do not have to bother check pdf support on any e-ink ebook reader.
(*) like not being able to connect to the Reader without the use of specialized SW, lack of directory support, lack of user configurable font for txt files, weak rtf support, lack of user replaceable fonts (for non-english texts) ...
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I bought the reader thinking I won't have to spend hours trying to convert/reconvert/rebuild or what ever you what to call it! I simply don't have time for that crap...I bought the thing expecting pdf's would reflow or they would include some kind of software to convert it to their own stupid format but they can even do that right!
I agree adobe is just as bad....they have not said a thing since spouting off in January that the reader will support DE! Throw us a fricken bone here!!!
And I'm quite sure sony could make DE work on the 500 but it would be more profitable for sony to say screw the 500 and only add DE support for the 505.
That's what irritates me about this whole DE issue...I can see the 500 users getting screwed over and either having to spend the money to upgrade or buy a different reader. Hell I could give a rats @ss about DE alls I want is to
easily buy books from ebooks.com and put them on my reader is that so hard?
I hope Adobe and Sony prove me wrong but I doubt it
