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benn600 · 05-17-2007, 02:54 AM

It never fails when I get a new product...there is ALWAYS some little or even a bit larger issue that just bugs me like crazy. For a while, I didn't think there would be something with the Sony Reader...but then I started wanting to take advantage of its features.

I am a pretty avid music listener / photo taker. So, I obviously want to keep those items on my device. This led me to needing an SD card...no biggie, I have a 2 GB one I can use! That should be enough for my favorite music and photos.

Then I realized the easiest way to sync my content would be with my media management software, J River Media Center. Knowing it's abilities are great, it will automatically convert my FLAC audio to MP3 files. It can also downsize my photos a bit so they don't take so long to display.

But then I realized I need books! The Sony Connect software is nice but has a lot of issues that really make it a pain...such as not telling me where books are actually stored easily. My preferred method would be to keep a folder of books where I want and then have them automatically copied over. Well, it's no surprise that Media Center can do this for me. So I now have my special Books folder, top music, and specially selected photos syncing whenever I plug in my SD card (not via the reader).

I scanned all the cover art in by hand for my music and therefore, get amazingly clear and sharp cover art for every song I have. It is incredible how good it looks considering the displays limitations. The photos are also good, too, and I really like the zoom and pan feature!

Of course, I have to get to the bad part! When books are loaded to the SD card, they are much slower! Opening them takes a good 10-25 seconds! Plus, changing font sizes or making other changes can take a great deal of time as well. I'm not going for the SD card because it has more space for books. I want it because it's convenient. I can have it automatically sync everything. Since I will be getting a lot of free books, it works well...all I do is download new books to my special folder and MC will automatically copy them to my SD card when I sync.

Problem: I do not know of a way to auto sync the internal memory. Plus, this means that I will have to sync two separate items--the SD card and the Reader. This is not good! I liked it how one sync did it all because then if I was too lazy to sync for a song, syncing for a song AND a new book might be worth it.

Too bad it wouldn't automatically sync the SD card books to its internal memory just as a buffer...only to be updated each time the SD card is reinserted. I have no idea how to solve this dilemma and am not extremely happy about it, lol. I think for now I may just suffer with the long delay but it is really quite long! 25 seconds is a long time to wait when that could be part of a page of reading and a "oh, it's not worth the boot up wait ... I'll just sit quietly and wait."

05-17-2007, 02:54 AM	#1
benn600 Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 50 Join Date: May 2007	SD Card Issues It never fails when I get a new product...there is ALWAYS some little or even a bit larger issue that just bugs me like crazy. For a while, I didn't think there would be something with the Sony Reader...but then I started wanting to take advantage of its features. I am a pretty avid music listener / photo taker. So, I obviously want to keep those items on my device. This led me to needing an SD card...no biggie, I have a 2 GB one I can use! That should be enough for my favorite music and photos. Then I realized the easiest way to sync my content would be with my media management software, J River Media Center. Knowing it's abilities are great, it will automatically convert my FLAC audio to MP3 files. It can also downsize my photos a bit so they don't take so long to display. But then I realized I need books! The Sony Connect software is nice but has a lot of issues that really make it a pain...such as not telling me where books are actually stored easily. My preferred method would be to keep a folder of books where I want and then have them automatically copied over. Well, it's no surprise that Media Center can do this for me. So I now have my special Books folder, top music, and specially selected photos syncing whenever I plug in my SD card (not via the reader). I scanned all the cover art in by hand for my music and therefore, get amazingly clear and sharp cover art for every song I have. It is incredible how good it looks considering the displays limitations. The photos are also good, too, and I really like the zoom and pan feature! Of course, I have to get to the bad part! When books are loaded to the SD card, they are much slower! Opening them takes a good 10-25 seconds! Plus, changing font sizes or making other changes can take a great deal of time as well. I'm not going for the SD card because it has more space for books. I want it because it's convenient. I can have it automatically sync everything. Since I will be getting a lot of free books, it works well...all I do is download new books to my special folder and MC will automatically copy them to my SD card when I sync. Problem: I do not know of a way to auto sync the internal memory. Plus, this means that I will have to sync two separate items--the SD card and the Reader. This is not good! I liked it how one sync did it all because then if I was too lazy to sync for a song, syncing for a song AND a new book might be worth it. Too bad it wouldn't automatically sync the SD card books to its internal memory just as a buffer...only to be updated each time the SD card is reinserted. I have no idea how to solve this dilemma and am not extremely happy about it, lol. I think for now I may just suffer with the long delay but it is really quite long! 25 seconds is a long time to wait when that could be part of a page of reading and a "oh, it's not worth the boot up wait ... I'll just sit quietly and wait."