MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Can't Login to Connect website w/dial-up

foxpaw · 02-01-2007, 10:56 PM

The problem: spent the last two days trying to open an account at the Connect eBooks website using the Connect Reader browser and kept getting a "Page not available" [HTTP error: 500] message when clicking the "Register" link. After three emails back and forth with the Connect Customer Support people, it seems they are clueless, unfortunately. I tried Sony Chat....again, absolutely no help; no one seemed to understand English!

I finally called Sony Tech Support (800-222-7669) and found a hardware tech who offered to go into the software and create an account for me. He tested it and it worked for him. An hour ago, I tried to login to my "new" account (I got the "Welcome to Connect" email as he promised.)....and, an hour later, the little circular arrows are STILL SPINNING trying to login to the Connect eBooks website. My brief moment of hope has come to a crashing end!

Observation: it appears that a dial-up connection (mine) is too slow to properly connect with the Connect website via the Connect Reader browser included with the PRS-500. The HTTP 500 error usually signifies a time-out problem, apparently.

Some facts: my computer is one-year-old Dell Windows XP SP1 running Norton Protection Center 2007 and using Internet Explorer 7. Dial-up speeds are usually 45.3 K....and, with Earthlink Accelerator, the machine is fast enough most of the time to make surfing quite pleasant. No problems accessing ANY other website in the universe that I know of.....just the Connect eBook Store! The PRS-500 worked fine; synced fine with my computer; software installed just fine; could browser the eBook Store just fine....just couldn't Register....and, now, Login.

The bottom line: my adventure into electronic books has come to end. I'll try to get Sony Style to take it back tomorrow and give me a refund. Otherwise, I guess I just write it off to experience and trash the thing! I love to read and was so very excited about the possibility of carrying hundreds of good books in a single, small, light device while I traveled all over the world with the military. No more 25lb bags of books to lug around! What a terrible dissappointment. But I thought it might save others the same heartache and disappointment if I posted this experience here. Dial-up just doesn't cut it with the Connect eBooks website....rendering this device useless. Too bad Sony doesn;t tell you that up front -- they just say "Broadband suggested."

02-01-2007, 10:56 PM	#1
foxpaw Foxpaw Posts: 8 Karma: 32 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Springfield, Virginia, USA Device: HTC/AT&T Titan, Kindle DX	Can't Login to Connect website w/dial-up The problem: spent the last two days trying to open an account at the Connect eBooks website using the Connect Reader browser and kept getting a "Page not available" [HTTP error: 500] message when clicking the "Register" link. After three emails back and forth with the Connect Customer Support people, it seems they are clueless, unfortunately. I tried Sony Chat....again, absolutely no help; no one seemed to understand English! I finally called Sony Tech Support (800-222-7669) and found a hardware tech who offered to go into the software and create an account for me. He tested it and it worked for him. An hour ago, I tried to login to my "new" account (I got the "Welcome to Connect" email as he promised.)....and, an hour later, the little circular arrows are STILL SPINNING trying to login to the Connect eBooks website. My brief moment of hope has come to a crashing end! Observation: it appears that a dial-up connection (mine) is too slow to properly connect with the Connect website via the Connect Reader browser included with the PRS-500. The HTTP 500 error usually signifies a time-out problem, apparently. Some facts: my computer is one-year-old Dell Windows XP SP1 running Norton Protection Center 2007 and using Internet Explorer 7. Dial-up speeds are usually 45.3 K....and, with Earthlink Accelerator, the machine is fast enough most of the time to make surfing quite pleasant. No problems accessing ANY other website in the universe that I know of.....just the Connect eBook Store! The PRS-500 worked fine; synced fine with my computer; software installed just fine; could browser the eBook Store just fine....just couldn't Register....and, now, Login. The bottom line: my adventure into electronic books has come to end. I'll try to get Sony Style to take it back tomorrow and give me a refund. Otherwise, I guess I just write it off to experience and trash the thing! I love to read and was so very excited about the possibility of carrying hundreds of good books in a single, small, light device while I traveled all over the world with the military. No more 25lb bags of books to lug around! What a terrible dissappointment. But I thought it might save others the same heartache and disappointment if I posted this experience here. Dial-up just doesn't cut it with the Connect eBooks website....rendering this device useless. Too bad Sony doesn;t tell you that up front -- they just say "Broadband suggested." Last edited by foxpaw; 02-01-2007 at 10:59 PM.