PRS505 Firmware update: epub, DE, and reflow -- oh my!

[methlp]

Hey all,

All of this talk about the new firmware has me bummed, because the screen got all whacked out on my PRS-500. But the thought of PDF reflow, really has me a little excited because I have an insanely large collection of technical books on PDF, that were horrible reading on my old 500.

I was wondering if any of you guys would be able to snap a few pics of the PDF reflow working on some 8 1/2 x 11 or A4 sized PDFs, and the difference from start to magnified. And possibly some pics in landscape mode.

That would really help me decide if I should take the plunge again and buy a new 505.

[Hadrien]

I'll do a full review of the firmware on my blog, later today.

One thing that Sony should update on the 500 is the PDF support. I'm not talking about reflow but replacing the PDF support with something closer to the upgrade: background is white instead of grey, and the font are crisp.

[Peto]

Originally Posted by DrMoze

Jeez, let go of the whole dictionary thing already! It's a Reader, not a 'Looker-Upper'! If you want a dictionary that badly, get a Kindle.

You obviously don't read in foreign languages...

[stepanok]

hi everyone
I have a couple of questions and i would be gratefull if anyone can help me out.

I downloaded the new firmware and installed it on my 505 and then i downloaded the Adobe DE. I have two questions.
First, i imported a book in pdf format in my sony library but the fonts are too small so i go to medium size. Now, although the book looks fine in the library ( text aligned, fonts readable size) when i look for the book on my 505 the medium size fonts are way to big and the text is no longer aligned. In other words what i see in on my pc ( i.e sony library ) is not what i see on the 505...Why is that?????

Secondly, are books in epub format NOT aligned on the right or is it just me????

thanks!!!!

[hmgreen]

I'm a bit confused. I have the Sony software on 2 Windows machines, both are authorized with my Sony Connect id. I have downloaded ADE. Don't have an Adobe ID. So - in order to use ADE for Eoub books, do I need to authorize my Reader with a new Adobe ID on these computers? If so, does this conflict in any way with my Sony account? Being new to ADE, I need (and I will bet others will too!) what the procedure is.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

[igorsk]

You need to activate ADE only if you plan to read EPUB or PDF files with DRM. Sony's activation is for protected BBeB files and is independent from Adobe's.

[JeffElkins]

I did the update under Linux/VMware/XP and it worked great! The PDF format has gone from blech to very good. Color me impressed.I'm glad to have SDHC support, but I still won't get any use from it since the software isn't folder-based. I can't imagine how long the 505 would take to update itself after insertion of a full 8Gb card.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by DrMoze

Jeez, let go of the whole dictionary thing already! It's a Reader, not a 'Looker-Upper'! If you want a dictionary that badly, get a Kindle.

Actually I think the firmware update has just made the idea of dictionary support more realistic. Why? Because of how you can delete a book directly from the 505 without plugging the 505 into your computer. I know -- seems to make no sense but here's why.

the process to delete a book from the Reader without using your computer requires a confirmation. The confirmation requires that you use your finger to touch an icon in the middle of the Reader screen. Voila -- touchscreen capability.

If the firmware update can add touchscreen capability for deleting a book from the 505, why can't a touchscreen dictionary be added in a future update? Seems possible to me. In fact, if I were Sony, I would offer a firmware update that was built around well-recognized dictionaries -- such as the American Heritage 4th edition here in the U.S. -- and can sell the firmware separately, as an option for those interested in the feature. Something to think about.

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Actually I think the firmware update has just made the idea of dictionary support more realistic. Why? Because of how you can delete a book directly from the 505 without plugging the 505 into your computer. I know -- seems to make no sense but here's why.

the process to delete a book from the Reader without using your computer requires a confirmation. The confirmation requires that you use your finger to touch an icon in the middle of the Reader screen. Voila -- touchscreen capability.

If the firmware update can add touchscreen capability for deleting a book from the 505, why can't a touchscreen dictionary be added in a future update? Seems possible to me. In fact, if I were Sony, I would offer a firmware update that was built around well-recognized dictionaries -- such as the American Heritage 4th edition here in the U.S. -- and can sell the firmware separately, as an option for those interested in the feature. Something to think about.

There's no touch screen capability. It says "press mark", which is the button to mark a page.

[thorswitch]

I'm sorry I keep having so many questions and stuff - as you may have guessed, I'm not all that whippy on devices and files and stuff. Thanks for your patience, though!

Ok - where I'm at right now: .pdf files and Adobe Secure files (such as purchased through Fictionwise) will load on my reader. Because my eyes suck, though, I always have to increase the font size - even on the books I buy from Sony CONNECT. The Sony books I have to bump to "medium" but the .pdf/Adobe stuff has to go to "large." On the Sony books, there's never been a problem, but with the .pdf/Adobe stuff, when I increase the font, I get all sorts of weird page breaks. Basically, it takes the text that's supposed to be on one page (including any footer info like the page number, title or author's name) and reflows it over however many screen-pages it needs at the bigger size, but when it gets to the end of that page and the beginning of the next one, instead of continuing to flow the text on the same screen-page, I have to flip to the next screen-page to read the next bit. It's not horrible, and I can adapt to it if it means a wider choice of content, but if anyone knows how to make it reflow properly, so that the footer information is gone and the text keeps flowing for the duration of a chapter before breaking off, that would be great!

Another issue I've run into is that last night, I downloaded all of the Tor.com free .pdf books, and even though the .pdf file name is the name of the book and the author, when I moved them to the Reader, all I get on the Reader index/library screens is a 10-digit number .pdf. For example, the book "Reiffen's Choice" by S.C. Butler is a file named "Butler, S. C. - Reiffeins Choice.pdf." That was the name I saw when I downloaded the file, and when I look for the file on either my hard drive OR on the Reader drive (using the Windows File Browser) that's the file name that shows. When I turn on the reader, however, and go to look for it among all the listed books, it shows up as "9780765353719.pdf". It also shows up with that numeric name on both the ADE and the CONNECT utilities. I'd had a previous .pdf file that had a numeric name, and I was able to rename it to the title of the book, and it worked fine, but I tried changing the file names slightly on these books, and all I still got were the numbers.

Has anyone else run into this with the Tor books (or any others, for that matter?) Were you able to figure out a way to get it to actually tell you the name of the books? And has anyone figured out a workaround for the hard page breaks?

Thanks!!

[stacis16]

Originally Posted by Enola

Leaping Gnome... you = MY HERO!!!!!

Ditto for ME!

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

Thanks, NatCH!

With a green screen name comes great responsibility, and you have not disappointed.

I understand now. ePub is the open source of eBabel.

I am all for it!

Well said! .... I think.

Originally Posted by methlp

I was wondering if any of you guys would be able to snap a few pics of the PDF reflow working on some 8 1/2 x 11 or A4 sized PDFs, and the difference from start to magnified. And possibly some pics in landscape mode.

If you live near a SonyStyle store you can probably see it for yourself, if you like: just put one of your PDF files on an SD card and put it in the display Reader at the store. That'll let you open the file easily enough.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by rhadin

The confirmation requires that you use your finger to touch an icon in the middle of the Reader screen. Voila -- touchscreen capability.

If the firmware update can add touchscreen capability for deleting a book from the 505....

I ask pardon of all readers in advance for my impending apparent rudeness. I don't mean to be rude, but this is an important point, and I don't want anyone getting a mistaken idea, so I feel a need to be ... blunt on the matter:

<bluntness warning>

The PRS505 does NOT have touchscreen capability.

</bluntness warning>

Adding it would require a hardware change, so no firmware update is going to do the trick.

[Peto]

Actually it does. If you press the center of the screen hard enough you activate the Radical Ultimate Shutdown Function.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by Peto

Radical Ultimate Shutdown Function.

Otherwise known as "FUBAR" right?