Rate the available formats??

[Mrs.Babs]

Hi -- I'm SO, very, very new and I'm afraid I've hit information overload. So, if this is somewhere, please point me in the right direction and I'll catch-up.

So, I got my new red PRS-505 last week and I'm in love. I'm enjoying it way too much and foresee years of book loving goodness ahead. I've constructed my very own case from ideas here and I've dug through topics like there is no tomorrow. But I've confused myself and need someone to walk me through this.

If the .lrf format isn't available from the store I'm wanting to buy/download a title from, how do I pick the best format from the list? Is there a if this isn't available get this one? I've gotten the impression that conversions are pretty easy -- do some work better than others?

Thanks for helping the new kid,
PB

[zelda_pinwheel]

the best format for archival purposes and for reading is epub, the industry standard, and the 505 can read that natively. so if you can get that you should. it's usually sold as "adobe epub" if there is drm on it (this can be removed ; search for "adobe adept drm circumvented"). some websites (like BooksOnBoard) call the pdf format "adobe digital edition" so be careful not to get them mixed up, it's easy to do.

on BooksOnBoard, the epub icon looks like this :


the pdf icon looks like this :


if you can't get epub, the MS Reader (lit) format is a very good format to convert. you can also try mobipocket format or ereader, however the formatting and meta-data may not be as rich in these formats. for converting, you can take a look at calibre (see the dedicated forum for more info about that), it's a brilliant tool developped by one of our own members, for library management, format conversion, and rss feeds.

[JSWolf]

With the advent of ePub, I'm hoping that these complex type eBooks that are in PDF will be coming out in ePub where we can actually view them on our 6" screens with proper reflow.

[Mrs.Babs]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

if you can't get epub, the MS Reader (lit) format is a very good format to convert. you can also try mobipocket format or ereader, however the formatting and meta-data may not be as rich in these formats. for converting, you can take a look at calibre (see the dedicated forum for more info about that), it's a brilliant tool developped by one of our own members, for library management, format conversion, and rss feeds.

Ok --- first thanks for pointing me to the solution for the thing that was causing me a headache -- I had a book that it wasn't allowing on my Reader -- you solved my problem!!! Thanks.

Now I have the newbie question about Calibre. I use a Mac; so Calibre is of great interest to me. I downloaded it before I even got my reader. Then I got to reading about some pagination issue whereby people were still using the Sony software to load the reader. But I never could quite grasp why or what this issue is??? Is Calibre a full on replacement to the Sony Software? I have books I have gotten (mind you they were free) from the Sony Connect Site, am I right that I can't get those on my Mac to use Calibre?

(I use XP on my Mac with VMWare -- but would prefer to do my library bits from my Mac.)

Thanks again for the help -- I keep thinking I have this understood and then I get caught by what I know is the stupid question of the week.
PB

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Mrs.Babs

Then I got to reading about some pagination issue whereby people were still using the Sony software to load the reader. But I never could quite grasp why or what this issue is???

It's really a non-issue. The Sony needs to index a .LRF books so it can provide page numbers. There is an index for each of the 3 font sizes (5 on th 700). The Sony eLibrary Software creates this index on the fly when you transfer a book to the Sony with it. Calibre doens't do that. However, the first time you open the book on the device if the index isn't present the reader will create the index. It doesn't take to long for most books. It is only done the first time you open the book at a certain font size. So, if you open the book and it indexes for the small font. It is done. Unless you change to the med font, then it will create an index for that size ONCE.

Also, this may not even happen for/with ePub format.... I don't know.

BOb

[dordale]

Mrs. Babs--

Welcome to the forum!

I'm pretty sure that the pagination issue you've seen reference to is that the Sony Software will "pre-paginate" a book before loading it onto the reader. Basically, your computer figures out where the page breaks should be in each font size and then sends that information to the reader. This makes the book load much faster the first time you open it up on your reader or switch font sizes for the first time.

Calibre doesn't have the ability to do this, so when you send a book to the reader with Calibre, the first time you open the book on the reader, it could take awhile while the reader figures out where the page breaks are. Not a big issue once the book is loaded.

As far as I know the only way to load Sony DRM'ed books from the Sony Connect Site is through the Sony Software.

Enjoy your reader!!

dordale

[dordale]

Looks like BOb beat me to the answer by 2 mins!

dordae

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by dordale

As far as I know the only way to load Sony DRM'ed books from the Sony Connect Site is through the Sony Software.

dordale

Not at all. The only way to "buy" and "download" them is with the Sony software. But, you can use calibre or Explorer/Finder to copy them to your Sony just fine.

BOb

[sigma8]

Originally Posted by Mrs.Babs

Then I got to reading about some pagination issue whereby people were still using the Sony software to load the reader. But I never could quite grasp why or what this issue is??? Is Calibre a full on replacement to the Sony Software? I have books I have gotten (mind you they were free) from the Sony Connect Site, am I right that I can't get those on my Mac to use Calibre?

From what I can tell, epub files do not need to pre-paginate. When I load epub files onto my device, pulling them up is instant. Changing font size is instant. Both the first time and everytime. As a consequence, I changed my default output format in Caliber from LRF to EPUB.

Caliber is mostly a full-on replacement, yes. There are differences: Caliber doesn't interface directly with an eBook store. You'll have to buy or download your books and then pull them into Caliber. Unless I'm mistaken, Caliber also can't do things like update your reader's firmware, should Sony release a new one (this is a rare event, though).

Like you, I also just bought a 505 (merely days ago!), I too run a mac (and have VMware), and you know what? I haven't even looked at the CD that came with the reader yet. I haven't installed the Sony thing at all--but I've been using caliber to upload tons of free books and newsfeeds from the web.

I actually have a question for you: about those 100 free books.. What exactly do you do to get them? You just have to sign up for an account? Can you pick any 100 books? Or does it limit you to like a list where they say "pick 100 from this list", and how comprehensive is that list?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by sigma8

I actually have a question for you: about those 100 free books.. What exactly do you do to get them? You just have to sign up for an account? Can you pick any 100 books? Or does it limit you to like a list where they say "pick 100 from this list", and how comprehensive is that list?

Those are all public domain books which you can d/l for free right here in our eBook section. So, keep that Sony CD right where it is and check out our d/l section. There are tons of .LRF and more and more ePUB being added all the time.

Oh, and they are formated better than those from Sony. Check out Harry's Sherlock Holmes Omnibus or his many Dickens contributions.

BOb

[Mrs.Babs]

Originally Posted by sigma8

I actually have a question for you: about those 100 free books.. What exactly do you do to get them? You just have to sign up for an account? Can you pick any 100 books? Or does it limit you to like a list where they say "pick 100 from this list", and how comprehensive is that list?

Wow, a question *I* can answer!! That's the way to make a newbie feel welcome!

Ok, the 100 Free books are all Classics and they are in the Sony Connect store with blue and white covers on them. All I had to do was authorize my reader and poof at the bottom of the check-out screen I see 100 Free book credits for Classics only. Note these are listed at $0.99 in the store books.

Now, I'm so new and probably not as picky as many others, but I'm reading that all (and more) of the Sony Classics are here on Mobile Read better formatted. I was just about to compare two books to see if I see a difference when I got stuck on formats/Calibre and realizing I don't know very much.

I do know that the Sony Software has been beaten to death, but I'm adding my two big complaints about the store -- it is REALLY hard to sort down to what I'm looking for -- like genre then by author then by price AND I hate that you can't build a cart and then download the whole thing at once. I wanted to download a bunch of books and it takes twice as long with all the extra clicking.

I do promise to take photos of my case that I made soon -- I'm beyond proud, but I fear that my husband might have plans to ask me to make one for his Kindle. (Yes, on the same day we both one Sony for me and a Kindle for him -- we are undecided who won.)

Thanks -- the help here is amazing. I'm moving to Calibre as I type -- that will make my life so much easier.

PB

[dordale]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Not at all. The only way to "buy" and "download" them is with the Sony software. But, you can use calibre or Explorer/Finder to copy them to your Sony just fine.

BOb

BOb--Thanks for the correction! I learned something new today.

dordale

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by sigma8

From what I can tell, epub files do not need to pre-paginate. When I load epub files onto my device, pulling them up is instant. Changing font size is instant. Both the first time and everytime. As a consequence, I changed my default output format in Caliber from LRF to EPUB.

Be a little careful about this. Time to change font size in a ePub book is proportional to your position in the book. So it is very fast at the beginning of the book, and slows down as you move through it. For short books it shouldn't be an issue though.

[murraypaul]

As an alternative answer:
Your preferred future-proof format might be LIT.
My would you want a Microsoft format for your Sony reader?
Because
a) It is trivial to strip the DRM out
b) Once you've done that you can unpack the LIT file and get at the actual HTML file inside it.
Then you have a standard non-restricted HTML file that can be read by or converted to any device you want.
You can also make any changes to the layout, font faces and sizes, etc... that you want.
You actually have the book text, rather than just the ability to use certain applications to view the book.

[RWood]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

As an alternative answer:
Your preferred future-proof format might be LIT.
My would you want a Microsoft format for your Sony reader?
Because
a) It is trivial to strip the DRM out
b) Once you've done that you can unpack the LIT file and get at the actual HTML file inside it.
Then you have a standard non-restricted HTML file that can be read by or converted to any device you want.
You can also make any changes to the layout, font faces and sizes, etc... that you want.
You actually have the book text, rather than just the ability to use certain applications to view the book.

From what I read in the first post, she is on a Mac and I remember reading that there are problems using the LIT format on a Mac. Perhaps Mobipocket?