hi oldlady, please, don't feel worried about asking for help ! that is what this forum is all about, and you'll see there are a lot of people who are all too happy to take you by the hand.
for calibre, don't be afraid. i recommend you start by watching the video tour that kovid has made which you can find
here. it will give you a quick overview of the basic functions and should help you understand what you need to know to use it. it's really a lot easier than it seems at first ! i promise. and if you've got questions after that, come back and ask us !
now, as for downloading books from mobileread, it's very easy and you can even put them on your sony without using calibre (but, calibre will make it much easier to manage your library, so i do recommend you give it another shot, and ask for help if you need it).
download the book you want by clicking on the title in the book thread, and save it to your computer somewhere easy to find. i recommend creating a folder somewhere called "ebooks" or similar, to keep them all together. for the sony you want either epub format or lrf.
plug your sony into your computer using the usb cable. if it's the first time you've plugged it in, you will see a little message in the bottom right of your screen, telling you the computer has detected a new device, and after a few seconds it should say that it's ready to be used. if it's not the first time, it will go straight to the next step : you should see a window pop up called something like "external disk" and asks you what actions you want windows to do.
it should look something like this :
scroll down the list of options until you see "open the folder to show the files" (or something similar ; i'm translating from the french display on my computer) with a picture of a folder next to it. select that, and click ok. it should open a new file explorer window.
if that doesn't happen, no worries. just open the file browser yourself by double clicking on "my computer" : you'll see the sony appear in the list of drives, with it's own letter. it will be called something like "external disk" and it will probably be the last one on the list. double click to open the drive. i don't know exactly how the 505 file system looks but on the 700, which i have, there is a folder called "database", inside that one there is a folder called "media", inside that one a folder called "books". once you're in the folder called books, unless you've deleted them, you'll see the files which are the sample books from sony which come pre-loaded. you can delete them, or leave them on there, as you like.
open a new file explorer window, and navigate to where you put the ebook you'd like to read. click on it, and drag it into the sony folder. you'll see a dialogue box called "copying file".
when the copy is finished, eject the sony from your computer using the "eject device securely" function (in the system tray in the bottom right of your screen, next to the clock), or, in your file browser, right click on the drive, and in the menu that comes up, select "eject". when your computer tells you it's safe, unplug the sony.
i'm not quite familiar enough with the 505 to tell you exactly how to use it, but when you turn it on, you should probably see a screen which gives you some options, like "go to library" ; when you get into the library, you'll see the list of books on your device, including the one you put there. if you still have all the samples from sony it might not be on the first page.
if you don't know how to use the 505 someone around here can give you more detailed instructions, just ask.
good luck ! i'm sure you'll get it figured out in the end, and pretty soon you'll find it really easy !
edit : i see pdurrant was faster, and can give you better advice about the 505. i told you there were lots of friendly people around here to help you.
