What do you do if you can't find the book you want on Sony Connect?

hamh · 10-08-2007, 05:22 PM

What do you do if you can't find the book you want on Sony Connect?

Do you look for it in another non-sony format?

Buy another Ebook reader so that you can read the book in that specific format?

Or simple move on?

NatCh · 10-08-2007, 05:28 PM

I try to find another format and convert, if I can.

hamh · 10-08-2007, 05:37 PM

will most of the books go to the mobipocket side? will I miss a lot if I stick with the sony connect camp?

For example, I would like to find the book "7th habits of highly efficient people". But it is only available in mobipocket format, but not sony bbeb format.

Alisa · 10-08-2007, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hamh

will most of the books go to the mobipocket side? will I miss a lot if I stick with the sony connect camp?

For example, I would like to find the book "7th habits of highly efficient people". But it is only available in mobipocket format, but not sony bbeb format.

That is the question a lot of us are asking right now. Personally I think Sony and Amazon would both get more business if they'd use a more open format rather than competing for titles and then trying to lock the customers in to one shop or the other. Sadly I'm not optimistic that they're going to come to agree with me any time soon. If I could read .mobi on a Sony Reader I would already own one, if not two, by now and I'd probably have been buying titles from the Connect store for months now. Sure, I'd buy from other sites, too, but they'd have some money from me which is better than the no money they currently have. As it is, I'm still waiting while they slug it out.

NatCh · 10-08-2007, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hamh

will most of the books go to the mobipocket side? will I miss a lot if I stick with the sony connect camp?

Sorry, can't answer that: my crystal ball is in the shop -- I bricked it while trying to pick super-lotto numbers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hamh

For example, I would like to find the book "7th habits of highly efficient people". But it is only available in mobipocket format, but not sony bbeb format.

Are you certain it's only available in mobi? Perhaps it's available somewhere in one of the formats that can be converted (like .LIT for instance, and un-like BBeB -- or Mobi, for that matter)?

vivaldirules · 10-08-2007, 05:56 PM

At hundreds of dollars each, one reader will have to be enough for me. I also hate the time I have to waste learning and dealing with additional devices. So if Sony doesn't sell the title and I can't find it in a convertible format then it's time for a paper copy.

igorsk · 10-08-2007, 06:21 PM

Actually, Sony said

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

We specifically asked about Mobipocket support, and by extension, other secure reading format support. Sony's response was very interesting: they said they weren't interested in locking potential users out of their Readers, that while they are open to entertaining the notion of other reading applications on the PRS line, but that those who control those other applications may not be so open to the idea.

I wonder why don't they release an SDK then so that we can add the missing formats? Oh well, I guess we'll have to do it the hard way...

drgnbear · 10-08-2007, 06:28 PM

I bitch and complain. If I want to read the book bad enough I either buy it or find it on-line in a convertable format. Seriously this is my biggest beef with Sony. I have no problem paying for my content I just want it ALL to be available to me. What pisses me off the most is when the first book of a series is not available but all of the rest of them are...

hamh · 10-08-2007, 06:32 PM

i was able to find the book in prc mobipocket format. But too bad that is not support on the sony reader...

hamh · 10-08-2007, 06:36 PM

and I'm so ready to get the sony 505, but because of the books collection, I hestitate and thinking if I should go for the cybook gen3...

where do you guys find books besides from the ebooks store?

RWood · 10-08-2007, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

Sorry, can't answer that: my crystal ball is in the shop -- I bricked it while trying to pick super-lotto numbers.

Are you certain it's only available in mobi? Perhaps it's available somewhere in one of the formats that can be converted (like .LIT for instance, and un-like BBeB -- or Mobi, for that matter)?

In fact the book is at Fictionwise and available in Mobipocket, MS LIT, and Palm formats. As NatCh said, get the LIT version and convert.

I have the Sony Reader and feel no envy for other readers (with the possible exception of the iLiad's slightly larger screen.)

I have converted many books from Palm (PDB) and MS (LIT) for use on the Reader. BookDesigner does a wonderful job and libprs500 is even easier with a one-step conversion process.

The Alternative · 10-08-2007, 08:35 PM

Quote:

I have converted many books from Palm (PDB) and MS (LIT) for use on the Reader. BookDesigner does a wonderful job and libprs500 is even easier with a one-step conversion process.

Could you go over the steps on converting PDB files to LRF using the Bookdesigner software? I've had no trouble with pdf, doc, txt, lit, rtf, etc. but the steps to converting from PDB escape me. I seem to get error messages whenever I try to open this format in BD.

porkupan · 10-08-2007, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

I wonder why don't they release an SDK then so that we can add the missing formats? Oh well, I guess we'll have to do it the hard way...

I guess, they feel that releasing the SDK would hurt their profits. And they are interested in making money in the business of selling content. The Mobi application for PRS would take this part of business away from Sony and give it Amazon. I don't think Sony would like that.

On the other hand, the amateur or user-written applications Sony may not have so much trouble with. Like an FB2 reader might not bother them too much since they don't perceive the FB2-based libraries as a threat to their business.

So, Sony may make it relatively easy for users to add their own applications (based on hacks), but make it legally difficult for the competitors to put their applications on the Readers.

RWood · 10-08-2007, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Alternative

Could you go over the steps on converting PDB files to LRF using the Bookdesigner software? I've had no trouble with pdf, doc, txt, lit, rtf, etc. but the steps to converting from PDB escape me. I seem to get error messages whenever I try to open this format in BD.

I don't do all of it in BD. I do the first part, converting PDB to either RTF or HTML in ABC Amber Palm Converter. It is free from Process Text Group. You can then edit this file before loading into BD or just load it straight into BD. (I do as much editing as I can before I load to BD.) I hope this helps.

tidixon · 10-09-2007, 12:00 AM

buy it used on amazon -> convert to loose leaf using circular saw -> convert to pdf via scanner w/ adf -> pdflrf.99

10-08-2007, 05:22 PM	#1
hamh Connoisseur Posts: 57 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Chicago Device: iPhone 3G / Milestone / 505 / iPad 3G	What do you do if you can't find the book you want on Sony Connect? What do you do if you can't find the book you want on Sony Connect? Do you look for it in another non-sony format? Buy another Ebook reader so that you can read the book in that specific format? Or simple move on?

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10-08-2007, 05:28 PM	#2
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	I try to find another format and convert, if I can.

10-08-2007, 05:37 PM	#3
hamh Connoisseur Posts: 57 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Chicago Device: iPhone 3G / Milestone / 505 / iPad 3G	will most of the books go to the mobipocket side? will I miss a lot if I stick with the sony connect camp? For example, I would like to find the book "7th habits of highly efficient people". But it is only available in mobipocket format, but not sony bbeb format.

10-08-2007, 05:56 PM	#6
vivaldirules When's Doughnut Day? Posts: 10,059 Karma: 13675475 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Houston, TX, US Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	At hundreds of dollars each, one reader will have to be enough for me. I also hate the time I have to waste learning and dealing with additional devices. So if Sony doesn't sell the title and I can't find it in a convertible format then it's time for a paper copy.

10-08-2007, 06:28 PM	#8
drgnbear Evil alien overlord. Posts: 57 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2007 Device: Kindle	I bitch and complain. If I want to read the book bad enough I either buy it or find it on-line in a convertable format. Seriously this is my biggest beef with Sony. I have no problem paying for my content I just want it ALL to be available to me. What pisses me off the most is when the first book of a series is not available but all of the rest of them are...

10-08-2007, 06:32 PM	#9
hamh Connoisseur Posts: 57 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Chicago Device: iPhone 3G / Milestone / 505 / iPad 3G	i was able to find the book in prc mobipocket format. But too bad that is not support on the sony reader...

10-08-2007, 06:36 PM	#10
hamh Connoisseur Posts: 57 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Chicago Device: iPhone 3G / Milestone / 505 / iPad 3G	and I'm so ready to get the sony 505, but because of the books collection, I hestitate and thinking if I should go for the cybook gen3... where do you guys find books besides from the ebooks store?

10-09-2007, 12:00 AM	#15
tidixon Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: PRS-505	buy it used on amazon -> convert to loose leaf using circular saw -> convert to pdf via scanner w/ adf -> pdflrf.99

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