Nine fun surprises about my Sony 600

Tanzaku · 01-26-2010, 12:31 PM

Now that I've had my Sony Reader PRS-600 for a few weeks, I've learned some things about this that are very pleasant surprises. Maybe these have been mentioned elsewhere and I missed them, but just in case, here goes . . .

When I want to flip forward through a book an indeterminate number of pages, I can swipe like I'm turning a page but then hold the stylus down at the end of the swipe. The pages flip through at a very quick clip, fast enough to be speedy but slow enough that I can see what's on the page and stop when I get to the page I'm looking for. Then just lift the stylus and I'm there! Sure beats the "jump ahead 10 pages" that was on my older Sony 505.
Speaking of page turning, the Sony 600 has a noticeably faster page turn than the 505. I used to have to anticipate my arrival at the end of the last sentence on the page and start the turn early so as to not break the rhythm of my reading pace. Not with the 600. Page turns are almost instantaneous. Almost.
I started using Calibre to organize my 800+ books with tags and consistent author naming conventions. After uploading the files to the 600 using Calibre, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Sony had automatically created "collections" based on the tags. Unexpected and very neat! I never used collections on my 505 because they were a bit cumbersome to create. Not now!
I had stopped using a SDHC card in my 505 because it drained the battery so much faster than without it. They must have done something different in the 600 because the addition of the SDHC card doesn't seem to have the same effect on battery life. Some, but not nearly as drastic as it was on the 505.
Audio books are now a bit more practical because you can navigate more easily to the audio screen while reading along with the book. The 505 was a very cumbersome navigation from book to audio and back. With the 600, you are three steps away from the pause button. Better, but not perfect. (I wish there was a book mark feature in the audio files, a practical necessity to make this my primary audiobook device. What really hurts is that the audio loses its place if you connect to the computer and upload new books. Reindexing the library wipes out the current playback position. But, I digress.)
Although the physical size of the 600 is the same as the 505 and I was able to use the leather cover from the 505, I was disappointed that the lighted cover from Sony (model PRSA-CL1) does not fit the 600. The light wedge does not line up with the page window, so it's useless. That led me to try reading without any cover at all, just hand-holding the bare Reader. I love it! The back of the 600 is not the polished metal that it was on the 505. It's not sticky, but the rubberish back provides a bit of friction so the Reader is very comfortable to hold without worrying about it slipping out of my hand — and much lighter — without the cover. I scoffed at first at the neoprene slip case that came with the 600, but now I prefer it to the leather cover I had been using with my 505. Who knew?
Swiping to turn pages. I was skeptical. I thought I'd miss the two buttons from the 505 that allowed me to turn pages with either hand — a fatigue-relief factor. To the contrary, I love the light weight of the stylus and the ease of page turning with that natural swipe anywhere on the page. Now I prefer it and find the buttons on the 505 a restriction.
Somehow I missed that I could upload my notes as RTF using the Sony software. I knew I wanted the ability to make notes, but assumed I'd use them to find passages I wanted to remember but would eventually have to type them into my computer. Well, I still have do to some typing because the entire text of highlighted notes is not uploaded, just the first 100 characters. Too bad. At least it uploads the entire content of text notes.
Touch menus. So much faster! I was not expecting that! Way more convenient than the en buttons, arrows, and enter button on the 505.

There has been so much written about the difference in contrast and glare between the 505 and the 600 that I was hesitant to make the upgrade. I procrastinated. A steal of a deal from the Sony store convinced me to gamble. Now that I have the 600, I am so glad I made the leap. Sure, the contrast and glare are different and, like everyone else, I wish the 600 had the display of the 505. However, the improvements in the 600 are so dramatic, so useful, so user-friendly that if I'd known I was going to be this happy with it, I would not have hesitated for a micro-second.

Brooks

HarryT · 01-26-2010, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanzaku

When I want to flip forward through a book an indeterminate number of pages, I can swipe like I'm turning a page but then hold the stylus down at the end of the swipe.

You can also simply press and hold in one of the page turn buttons to achieve the same thing, of course. Personally I prefer to turn pages using the buttons, but I know that many people prefer to use the touch screen.

PlainBobMax · 02-01-2010, 05:55 PM

I have a question for you. You mentioned that with Calibre, the reader created collections based on tags. I'm wondering how it handled books with multiple tags -- Can one book be listed in more than one collection? Or did it just create the collection based on the first tag in the book's list?

rmm200 · 02-01-2010, 07:09 PM

It is referenced in as many collections as you have tags. Some of mine use Horror, Short Story, and Lovecraft. It appears in all three. Note there is only one copy of the book - collections are only a database reference. And it works great! Most people asking for Folders do not realize what an elegant solution Collections are.

Robert

PlainBobMax · 02-01-2010, 10:05 PM

Thank you. I didn't realize that. I figured it worked just like folders. Good to know.

haino · 02-02-2010, 05:09 PM

Thanks Brooks. Found it a really interesting and informative post

tvuongpham · 02-23-2010, 07:06 PM

I saw from a review of the PRS 700....
trick works for the PRS 600 too!

To quickly make a bookmark.. double tap the right corner of the page..
to remove.. do same..

This is much faster than.. using the buttons!

banjobama · 02-24-2010, 01:47 AM

The page turning info is in the user's manual for the PRS-600, as is the bookmark shortcut.

eksor · 02-24-2010, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanzaku

[*]Audio books are now a bit more practical because you can navigate more easily to the audio screen while reading along with the book. The 505 was a very cumbersome navigation from book to audio and back. With the 600, you are three steps away from the pause button. Better, but not perfect. (I wish there was a book mark feature in the audio files, a practical necessity to make this my primary audiobook device. What really hurts is that the audio loses its place if you connect to the computer and upload new books. Reindexing the library wipes out the current playback position. But, I digress.)
Brooks

Hi:
Excuse me, are you doing Option(button)->now playing(menu)->pause(menu)?
Or there is another way?
Thanks

eksor · 02-24-2010, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvuongpham

I saw from a review of the PRS 700....
trick works for the PRS 600 too!

To quickly make a bookmark.. double tap the right corner of the page..
to remove.. do same..

This is much faster than.. using the buttons!

Top right corner in th prs 700. It works much better with the stylus than with a finger.

Double tap again to remove

Single tap to add a note to the bookmark

Regards.

Kevin2960 · 02-24-2010, 08:49 AM

Thnx Tanzaku, very useful comments, had my 600 just 2 hours, it's great, loaded with over 200 books too

foghat · 03-12-2010, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmm200

It is referenced in as many collections as you have tags. Some of mine use Horror, Short Story, and Lovecraft. It appears in all three. Note there is only one copy of the book - collections are only a database reference. And it works great! Most people asking for Folders do not realize what an elegant solution Collections are.

Robert

So, if I am understanding correctly, in Calibre, I can simply enter, 'The Dark Tower' as a tag on all the books part of the Dark Tower series, and after uploading to the 600, a collection called 'The Dark Tower' will automatically be created and will contain all books tagged as such?

If my understanding is correct, how would you order the books within this collection to be in the correct order (not alpha).

I was told in another post, within Calbre it is possible to create Series and set an order, but it would seem this functionality bypasses the Calibre series functionality.

banjobama · 03-12-2010, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foghat

So, if I am understanding correctly, in Calibre, I can simply enter, 'The Dark Tower' as a tag on all the books part of the Dark Tower series, and after uploading to the 600, a collection called 'The Dark Tower' will automatically be created and will contain all books tagged as such?

If my understanding is correct, how would you order the books within this collection to be in the correct order (not alpha).

Your first paragraph is correct.

I'm pretty sure you have to add the books in the order you want them to appear in your collection.When I add books to Collections using Calibre, the new ones just get added to the end of the list that already exists.

omk3 · 03-12-2010, 04:04 PM

When you use the series tag in calibre to put your books in a specific order, you have to move all the books in the series at the same time to the reader. Any new additions will appear on the end of the list, whatever series number you attach to them in calibre. The "series" you set in calibre appears as just another collection on the reader, it's just a collection where you explicitly set the order yourself.

HorridRedDog · 03-13-2010, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by banjobama

Your first paragraph is correct.

I'm pretty sure you have to add the books in the order you want them to appear in your collection.When I add books to Collections using Calibre, the new ones just get added to the end of the list that already exists.

Thank you very much. Much better than the way that I was doing it.

01-26-2010, 12:31 PM	#1
Tanzaku Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 225 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Anacortes, WA Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle 3	Nine fun surprises about my Sony 600 Now that I've had my Sony Reader PRS-600 for a few weeks, I've learned some things about this that are very pleasant surprises. Maybe these have been mentioned elsewhere and I missed them, but just in case, here goes . . . When I want to flip forward through a book an indeterminate number of pages, I can swipe like I'm turning a page but then hold the stylus down at the end of the swipe. The pages flip through at a very quick clip, fast enough to be speedy but slow enough that I can see what's on the page and stop when I get to the page I'm looking for. Then just lift the stylus and I'm there! Sure beats the "jump ahead 10 pages" that was on my older Sony 505. Speaking of page turning, the Sony 600 has a noticeably faster page turn than the 505. I used to have to anticipate my arrival at the end of the last sentence on the page and start the turn early so as to not break the rhythm of my reading pace. Not with the 600. Page turns are almost instantaneous. Almost. I started using Calibre to organize my 800+ books with tags and consistent author naming conventions. After uploading the files to the 600 using Calibre, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Sony had automatically created "collections" based on the tags. Unexpected and very neat! I never used collections on my 505 because they were a bit cumbersome to create. Not now! I had stopped using a SDHC card in my 505 because it drained the battery so much faster than without it. They must have done something different in the 600 because the addition of the SDHC card doesn't seem to have the same effect on battery life. Some, but not nearly as drastic as it was on the 505. Audio books are now a bit more practical because you can navigate more easily to the audio screen while reading along with the book. The 505 was a very cumbersome navigation from book to audio and back. With the 600, you are three steps away from the pause button. Better, but not perfect. (I wish there was a book mark feature in the audio files, a practical necessity to make this my primary audiobook device. What really hurts is that the audio loses its place if you connect to the computer and upload new books. Reindexing the library wipes out the current playback position. But, I digress.) Although the physical size of the 600 is the same as the 505 and I was able to use the leather cover from the 505, I was disappointed that the lighted cover from Sony (model PRSA-CL1) does not fit the 600. The light wedge does not line up with the page window, so it's useless. That led me to try reading without any cover at all, just hand-holding the bare Reader. I love it! The back of the 600 is not the polished metal that it was on the 505. It's not sticky, but the rubberish back provides a bit of friction so the Reader is very comfortable to hold without worrying about it slipping out of my hand — and much lighter — without the cover. I scoffed at first at the neoprene slip case that came with the 600, but now I prefer it to the leather cover I had been using with my 505. Who knew? Swiping to turn pages. I was skeptical. I thought I'd miss the two buttons from the 505 that allowed me to turn pages with either hand — a fatigue-relief factor. To the contrary, I love the light weight of the stylus and the ease of page turning with that natural swipe anywhere on the page. Now I prefer it and find the buttons on the 505 a restriction. Somehow I missed that I could upload my notes as RTF using the Sony software. I knew I wanted the ability to make notes, but assumed I'd use them to find passages I wanted to remember but would eventually have to type them into my computer. Well, I still have do to some typing because the entire text of highlighted notes is not uploaded, just the first 100 characters. Too bad. At least it uploads the entire content of text notes. Touch menus. So much faster! I was not expecting that! Way more convenient than the en buttons, arrows, and enter button on the 505. There has been so much written about the difference in contrast and glare between the 505 and the 600 that I was hesitant to make the upgrade. I procrastinated. A steal of a deal from the Sony store convinced me to gamble. Now that I have the 600, I am so glad I made the leap. Sure, the contrast and glare are different and, like everyone else, I wish the 600 had the display of the 505. However, the improvements in the 600 are so dramatic, so useful, so user-friendly that if I'd known I was going to be this happy with it, I would not have hesitated for a micro-second. Brooks

02-23-2010, 07:06 PM	#7
tvuongpham Banned Posts: 183 Karma: 2826564 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: Kobo Aura, Kindle Paperwhite 2nd gen, Kindle KB (dead) PRS-T1, PRS 350	*another new* feature for PRS 600** I saw from a review of the PRS 700.... trick works for the PRS 600 too! To quickly make a bookmark.. double tap the right corner of the page.. to remove.. do same.. This is much faster than.. using the buttons!

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02-01-2010, 05:55 PM	#3
PlainBobMax Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Northwest Ohio Device: Sony PRS-600	I have a question for you. You mentioned that with Calibre, the reader created collections based on tags. I'm wondering how it handled books with multiple tags -- Can one book be listed in more than one collection? Or did it just create the collection based on the first tag in the book's list?

02-01-2010, 07:09 PM	#4
rmm200 Groupie Posts: 195 Karma: 414 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bend, OR Device: Sony PRS-600	It is referenced in as many collections as you have tags. Some of mine use Horror, Short Story, and Lovecraft. It appears in all three. Note there is only one copy of the book - collections are only a database reference. And it works great! Most people asking for Folders do not realize what an elegant solution Collections are. Robert

02-01-2010, 10:05 PM	#5
PlainBobMax Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Northwest Ohio Device: Sony PRS-600	Thank you. I didn't realize that. I figured it worked just like folders. Good to know.

02-02-2010, 05:09 PM	#6
haino Connoisseur Posts: 59 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: none	Thanks Brooks. Found it a really interesting and informative post

02-24-2010, 01:47 AM	#8
banjobama Busy Read'n Posts: 980 Karma: 5039283 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Auburn, WA Device: Pocketbook Touch Lux 5	The page turning info is in the user's manual for the PRS-600, as is the bookmark shortcut.

02-24-2010, 08:49 AM	#11
Kevin2960 YODA's Uglier Twin Posts: 974 Karma: 6295251 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Leicester, UK Device: PRS-600 and 2 Kindle 3's - and now a K4 + HTC Desire HD	Thnx Tanzaku, very useful comments, had my 600 just 2 hours, it's great, loaded with over 200 books too

03-12-2010, 04:04 PM	#14
omk3 Wizard Posts: 1,454 Karma: 37243 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Europe Device: pocketbook 360, kindle 4	When you use the series tag in calibre to put your books in a specific order, you have to move all the books in the series at the same time to the reader. Any new additions will appear on the end of the list, whatever series number you attach to them in calibre. The "series" you set in calibre appears as just another collection on the reader, it's just a collection where you explicitly set the order yourself.

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