MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Firmware update for PRS-500 available

RWood · 11-16-2009, 10:49 AM

Now the question is, "What two-week period can I be without my Reader?"

It is unheard of for a mainline company to support hardware this old -- both in terms of time since release and in generations (at least two generations ago.) Plus they are paying for the shipping. (I have never seen this before. It is hard enough to get most companies to pay for the shipping for returning items that failed in the first thirty-days.)

I suspect that there will be a difference in the used market prices for 500s with and without the upgrade. Some of us thought the custom hacks were nice but went back to the standard firmware

There is another side to the equation that we have not mentioned yet. Sony gets a chance to examine the usage on a wide assortment of Readers from people who used the Reader. They can check the wear of buttons, how have the springs held up, what plating wore off, &c. This will be the largest collection of heavily used Readers available and they can study them for the price of a firmware upgrade/trade-in.

Since Sony was the only source of DRM BBeB books they can allow you to download their ePub replacements from the Sony store so support there is not needed. While I do not know for sure, I suspect that support for the BBeB non-DRM format (LRF) will be in the firmware as it is supported by the current 300/600 line and is said to be a native format for the display. Then again, I can always use Calibre to convert LRF to the new ePub format.

I like the 500, I'm upgrading the firmware.

11-16-2009, 10:49 AM	#54
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Now the question is, "What two-week period can I be without my Reader?" It is unheard of for a mainline company to support hardware this old -- both in terms of time since release and in generations (at least two generations ago.) Plus they are paying for the shipping. (I have never seen this before. It is hard enough to get most companies to pay for the shipping for returning items that failed in the first thirty-days.) I suspect that there will be a difference in the used market prices for 500s with and without the upgrade. Some of us thought the custom hacks were nice but went back to the standard firmware There is another side to the equation that we have not mentioned yet. Sony gets a chance to examine the usage on a wide assortment of Readers from people who used the Reader. They can check the wear of buttons, how have the springs held up, what plating wore off, &c. This will be the largest collection of heavily used Readers available and they can study them for the price of a firmware upgrade/trade-in. Since Sony was the only source of DRM BBeB books they can allow you to download their ePub replacements from the Sony store so support there is not needed. While I do not know for sure, I suspect that support for the BBeB non-DRM format (LRF) will be in the firmware as it is supported by the current 300/600 line and is said to be a native format for the display. Then again, I can always use Calibre to convert LRF to the new ePub format. I like the 500, I'm upgrading the firmware.