Reader Library vs Reader for PC

Shopaholic · 12-13-2011, 03:59 PM

Interesting observation between the two Sony library management software programs. I was reading a thread on a book & it had me wondering when I bought it and what I paid.

I bought it from Sony so I opened the Reader for PC. It only shows books purchased with the NEW software. Absolutely NOTHING prior to that. WTH???

I opened the old software, Reader Library and not only were all my old purchases there to see when I bought and available for redownload if need be, it also had the books I bought with the new software.

Glitch or faulty programming? If they want us to migrate to the new software shouldn't all of our purchases be available for redownload & not just the ones bought through it?

Many people ask if they can use both, do I need both etc? I'd say YES absolutely!! If for whatever reason you need to redownload a book you bought prior to using the new software it doesn't appear that you can. That's awful!

The other thing I noticed is that with the new one it lists Transaction ID and date and then you have to click on it to view the details of that purchase - title, date & price. With the old software it shows the covers of whatever you bought & when you bought it. It doesn't show prices though. I had to go through my emails for that.

Things that make you go hmmm

vxf · 12-13-2011, 04:12 PM

Yes, the new software is far from ideal.

It has all sorts of bugs with auto-delivery and with management of periodicals. Worst of all, in this sense, is the fact that it just won't import some periodicals purchased from SONY's store - it downloads them, but doesn't import them.

Of course, not being able to DELETE sony-store content is also annoying. You can do it with the old software.

Sync still freezes, while it seems pretty stable with the old software (but that was after a couple of patches...). Sync also suffers from a bug on the new software where it tends to 'turn on' even if you deselect all folders.

The old software allows you to see handwritten annotation on pages - the new one does not - it creates a tag you have to click on to see handwritten notes in a separate box. Exporting of annotations is also buggy with the new software, often miss-aligning stuff on pages.

The old software also allowed for 'drag-and-drop' transfer between books and devices.

The new software does not seem to support memory cards on my 950 - it just doesn't seem them.

On the other side, the new software allows for wifi syncing of pages and annotations. Seems to work with my 950, although I hear there are differences with the T1 - not sure, someone else might know more.

Shopaholic · 12-13-2011, 05:13 PM

But absolutely none of that has anything to do with not being able to download previous book purchases. You're going off on a tangent. The new software doesn't seem to have any record of books purchased with the older software even though it's the same account.

That's a problem!

Bookworm_Girl · 12-13-2011, 05:20 PM

Interesting. I hadn't noticed until you pointed it out. I went into the account settings and looked at transaction history and sure enough it's only the recent purchases since installation in the list. However, your entire purchase history is still available for download. They just show up in the home screen of the app rather than through your account page like the old software. I see all 400+ books going back to March 2007 on the homepage. Many of these were free books, and I wish I could delete them forever. It makes the software very slow to use every time it communicates with the server to generate this list. They need to create home and archive groups like the Kindle desktop software has.

vxf · 12-13-2011, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

But absolutely none of that has anything to do with not being able to download previous book purchases. You're going off on a tangent. The new software doesn't seem to have any record of books purchased with the older software even though it's the same account.

That's a problem!

Sorry, I did not read your post carefully - I thought you were asking what the differences between the two pieces of software were.

I am using the new software to upload books and to extract annotations - but it has too many bugs to manage my 'archive' of ebooks. So I did not worry about old books. I simply extracted those from the old software and archived them separately.

trekker99 · 01-12-2012, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Interesting. I hadn't noticed until you pointed it out. I went into the account settings and looked at transaction history and sure enough it's only the recent purchases since installation in the list. However, your entire purchase history is still available for download. They just show up in the home screen of the app rather than through your account page like the old software. I see all 400+ books going back to March 2007 on the homepage. Many of these were free books, and I wish I could delete them forever. It makes the software very slow to use every time it communicates with the server to generate this list. They need to create home and archive groups like the Kindle desktop software has.

I just ran into this today. I was like where on earth is the page showing all my previous purchases. This really sucks. At least I still have Reader Library 3.3 installed on my other computer.

I did manage to delete a sony bought book and it reappeared in the home screen allowing me to download again.

Bookworm_Girl · 01-12-2012, 12:35 PM

Yes, you can delete a downloaded Sony book from your hard-drive. It will break the path from the library. Reader will then show the download icon should you want to redownload it again in the future. My complaint is that you can't get rid of the icon period. They need options like Amazon has, i.e. the ability to sort the non-downloaded icons into a cloud/archive screen and the ability to see all your purchases (like Reader Library does) on an account page and allow you to delete a book from your account forever. It is a big mess for me since I have hundreds of purchases from the Sony store. What I noticed this weekend was that Reader also eliminated the quick search button making it even more difficult to find your books. I learned that you can put it in list view and then sort by author or title and then press the first letter of what you want on the keyboard to get you close. Why would they eliminate the search box?

Avwriter · 01-12-2012, 03:30 PM

Weird. For what its worth, keep in mind, that if you have the T-1, you can see and download all of your previous purchases directly on the reader. I keep the old Reader Library on my PC, and use it to download and back up my purchases from Sony. I also use it to shop for books. Once I have made a purchase, I then download it to my T-1 using WiFi. I have never bothered to get the new software, and have yet to find a need to physically connect my T-1 to my PC.

Shopaholic · 01-13-2012, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avwriter

I have never bothered to get the new software, and have yet to find a need to physically connect my T-1 to my PC.

So how did you get the update for the T1?

petercreasey · 01-13-2012, 03:00 PM

You can easily get firmware updates without using the Sony software. You just download the install file and run it as instructed.

Also, we use the WiFi approach to download Sony-purchased books to the T1 thereby bypassing the auto-sync problem.

Bro Pete · 01-28-2012, 11:01 AM

I wish I had never updated my software. Is there a way to re-install Reader library? When Sony updated the software it replaced Reader Library with reader for PC and reader library is gone. I loved the drag and drop, search, and freedom from sync.

Bookworm_Girl · 01-28-2012, 11:51 AM

You can still install the old software. Sony has both the old and new versions on their e-support website for download. Here is a link to the 650 support page.
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/mod...d#/downloadTab

joc3721 · 01-30-2012, 06:36 PM

Anybody know how to get the books in the old system into the new reader for pc version? My reader library only shows a few of the books I've purchased (they're all in the new system). I called Sony about the deleting issue, apparently it can't be done in the new reader for PC software. Kind of a pain. They said it's due to the "cloud." I was hoping to manage books in the reader library but can't get the books into it.
I have a T1 and prs 650. When these die, I may look at Kindle, if their book management system is better (can't be much worse).

12-13-2011, 03:59 PM	#1
Shopaholic Cockatoo Mom! Posts: 1,509 Karma: 1841741 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: PW4, Kobo: A1, Clara, Libra 2, iPad Pro 11, iPad Mini	Reader Library vs Reader for PC Interesting observation between the two Sony library management software programs. I was reading a thread on a book & it had me wondering when I bought it and what I paid. I bought it from Sony so I opened the Reader for PC. It only shows books purchased with the NEW software. Absolutely NOTHING prior to that. WTH??? I opened the old software, Reader Library and not only were all my old purchases there to see when I bought and available for redownload if need be, it also had the books I bought with the new software. Glitch or faulty programming? If they want us to migrate to the new software shouldn't all of our purchases be available for redownload & not just the ones bought through it? Many people ask if they can use both, do I need both etc? I'd say YES absolutely!! If for whatever reason you need to redownload a book you bought prior to using the new software it doesn't appear that you can. That's awful! The other thing I noticed is that with the new one it lists Transaction ID and date and then you have to click on it to view the details of that purchase - title, date & price. With the old software it shows the covers of whatever you bought & when you bought it. It doesn't show prices though. I had to go through my emails for that. Things that make you go hmmm

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12-13-2011, 04:12 PM	#2
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	Yes, the new software is far from ideal. It has all sorts of bugs with auto-delivery and with management of periodicals. Worst of all, in this sense, is the fact that it just won't import some periodicals purchased from SONY's store - it downloads them, but doesn't import them. Of course, not being able to DELETE sony-store content is also annoying. You can do it with the old software. Sync still freezes, while it seems pretty stable with the old software (but that was after a couple of patches...). Sync also suffers from a bug on the new software where it tends to 'turn on' even if you deselect all folders. The old software allows you to see handwritten annotation on pages - the new one does not - it creates a tag you have to click on to see handwritten notes in a separate box. Exporting of annotations is also buggy with the new software, often miss-aligning stuff on pages. The old software also allowed for 'drag-and-drop' transfer between books and devices. The new software does not seem to support memory cards on my 950 - it just doesn't seem them. On the other side, the new software allows for wifi syncing of pages and annotations. Seems to work with my 950, although I hear there are differences with the T1 - not sure, someone else might know more.

12-13-2011, 05:13 PM	#3
Shopaholic Cockatoo Mom! Posts: 1,509 Karma: 1841741 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: PW4, Kobo: A1, Clara, Libra 2, iPad Pro 11, iPad Mini	But absolutely none of that has anything to do with not being able to download previous book purchases. You're going off on a tangent. The new software doesn't seem to have any record of books purchased with the older software even though it's the same account. That's a problem!

12-13-2011, 05:20 PM	#4
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,873 Karma: 36536965 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	Interesting. I hadn't noticed until you pointed it out. I went into the account settings and looked at transaction history and sure enough it's only the recent purchases since installation in the list. However, your entire purchase history is still available for download. They just show up in the home screen of the app rather than through your account page like the old software. I see all 400+ books going back to March 2007 on the homepage. Many of these were free books, and I wish I could delete them forever. It makes the software very slow to use every time it communicates with the server to generate this list. They need to create home and archive groups like the Kindle desktop software has.

01-12-2012, 12:35 PM	#7
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,873 Karma: 36536965 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	Yes, you can delete a downloaded Sony book from your hard-drive. It will break the path from the library. Reader will then show the download icon should you want to redownload it again in the future. My complaint is that you can't get rid of the icon period. They need options like Amazon has, i.e. the ability to sort the non-downloaded icons into a cloud/archive screen and the ability to see all your purchases (like Reader Library does) on an account page and allow you to delete a book from your account forever. It is a big mess for me since I have hundreds of purchases from the Sony store. What I noticed this weekend was that Reader also eliminated the quick search button making it even more difficult to find your books. I learned that you can put it in list view and then sort by author or title and then press the first letter of what you want on the keyboard to get you close. Why would they eliminate the search box?

01-12-2012, 03:30 PM	#8
Avwriter Addict Posts: 369 Karma: 1422834 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: GA Device: Sony PRS 505, 600, 350, T-1, PW1, Voyage, Oasis2	Weird. For what its worth, keep in mind, that if you have the T-1, you can see and download all of your previous purchases directly on the reader. I keep the old Reader Library on my PC, and use it to download and back up my purchases from Sony. I also use it to shop for books. Once I have made a purchase, I then download it to my T-1 using WiFi. I have never bothered to get the new software, and have yet to find a need to physically connect my T-1 to my PC.

01-13-2012, 03:00 PM	#10
petercreasey Wizard Posts: 1,188 Karma: 1119516 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony: PRS 950 & T1, Kobo: Aura One & Forma	You can easily get firmware updates without using the Sony software. You just download the install file and run it as instructed. Also, we use the WiFi approach to download Sony-purchased books to the T1 thereby bypassing the auto-sync problem.

01-28-2012, 11:01 AM	#11
Bro Pete Connoisseur Posts: 76 Karma: 52944 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Central Texas Device: Sony PRS 650	I wish I had never updated my software. Is there a way to re-install Reader library? When Sony updated the software it replaced Reader Library with reader for PC and reader library is gone. I loved the drag and drop, search, and freedom from sync.

01-28-2012, 11:51 AM	#12
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,873 Karma: 36536965 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	You can still install the old software. Sony has both the old and new versions on their e-support website for download. Here is a link to the 650 support page. http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/mod...d#/downloadTab

01-30-2012, 06:36 PM	#13
joc3721 Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Sony PRS 505	Anybody know how to get the books in the old system into the new reader for pc version? My reader library only shows a few of the books I've purchased (they're all in the new system). I called Sony about the deleting issue, apparently it can't be done in the new reader for PC software. Kind of a pain. They said it's due to the "cloud." I was hoping to manage books in the reader library but can't get the books into it. I have a T1 and prs 650. When these die, I may look at Kindle, if their book management system is better (can't be much worse).

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