UK: Expansys refurbished model deal!!

[tinyblob]

My silver one arrived a while ago - didn't think it was going to turn up which would've been a disaster seeing as i'm off on holiday for a week tomorrow!
Mine was in absolutely perfect condition, though i was a little worried when it wouldn't power on after i plugged it in. Turns out that you need to charge it for about 15-20 minutes before it can turn on at all.

[Tripitaka]

Had the same scare until I read it needs about 40 mins from cold! Apparantly the battery bar is a little unreliable when it's first charged so use the red light going out as an indicator of full charge before updating the firmware!

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by Tripitaka

Had the same scare until I read it needs about 40 mins from cold! Apparantly the battery bar is a little unreliable when it's first charged so use the red light going out as an indicator of full charge before updating the firmware!

This is a good idea

Hope you guys love your Readers! Grab a PSP charger so you can read on vacation without bringing your computer (AC charger, cheaper than what they sell for the Reader, but it works perfectly).

[tinyblob]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

This is a good idea
Grab a PSP charger so you can read on vacation without bringing your computer

Superb! I saw the Sony charger for £24.95 and thought that i'd be better off just sourcing my own adaptor!

Annoyingly i only have a USB charger for my PSP..

[pdurrant]

It arrived.

No fancy box, but readers, simple tan cover, USB cable, CD-ROM and some paperwork.

It looks like new - no scratches, or marks. It's working fine. I'm trying it out with Calibre, as I'm on a Mac. I couldn't get Calibre-converted ePUBs to read on it, but converting to from the original PRCs to LRF with Calibre seems to have done the trick.

An excellent buy.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've just ordered one myself - it will be interesting to compare it with my CyBook. With the £10 off voucher I got from

http://tinyurl.com/10quidoff

the total cost including UK postage was just £131.40. (Oh - and I used a mailinator.com address to get the voucher, just in case.)

I'll report back when it arrives - hopefully tomorrow.

Paul

[Faenad]

Originally Posted by tinyblob

Superb! I saw the Sony charger for £24.95 and thought that i'd be better off just sourcing my own adaptor!

Annoyingly i only have a USB charger for my PSP..

I was really annoyed by the fact that the PRS-505 will only charge from an USB port, and not from an USB charger. Pointless limitation.

I purchased a PSP charger on Ebay for 5.45 USD including shipping from everydaysource last october. It's a compatible one (Not Sony branded) but it works perfectly and you can't beat the price

[douglasamcintosh]

Just ordered mine Woo and indeed Hoo!

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It arrived.
It looks like new - no scratches, or marks. It's working fine. I'm trying it out with Calibre, as I'm on a Mac. I couldn't get Calibre-converted ePUBs to read on it, but converting to from the original PRCs to LRF with Calibre seems to have done the trick.

What version of firmware is it running? ([Menu]Settings/About).

It might simply be that it's running 1.0, which wouldn't have the ePub support in it. If so, the standalone updater (WinXP version, at least,) can be found here. I don't think they do a Mac version, sorry!

[Adamastorx]

Hi!

I've just ordered one too.
I'm new to the ereaders and I thought 150€ was a fine price to give it a try; I was almost decided for the Cybook, but I decided do it this way. Get use to the ereaders and maybe later, in the new models coming this year maybe, upgrade to another product.
My question is: I live in Spain. Should I upgrade to the 1.2 European firmware? Is there any advantage on that? Anyway, if so, where can I download it from?

Is it worth it to use the Customizer found on this forum?

Thanks in advance.

[pdurrant]

Ah - that would be it. I had a quick look around for firmware updaters, but didn't find a link in the wiki. Now added to the Sony reader FAQs

Thanks.

Originally Posted by gwynevans

What version of firmware is it running? ([Menu]Settings/About).

It might simply be that it's running 1.0, which wouldn't have the ePub support in it. If so, the standalone updater (WinXP version, at least,) can be found here. I don't think they do a Mac version, sorry!

[ulsterfry]

I bought one as well... it arrived yesterday in perfect condition... but can I carry out a firmware update on it ( I live in the UK)?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It arrived.

No fancy box, but readers, simple tan cover, USB cable, CD-ROM and some paperwork.

It looks like new - no scratches, or marks. It's working fine. I'm trying it out with Calibre, as I'm on a Mac. I couldn't get Calibre-converted ePUBs to read on it, but converting to from the original PRCs to LRF with Calibre seems to have done the trick.

An excellent buy.

Sounds like you may need a firmware update.

[astra]

If it is a blue reader you need an American software upgrade

[pdurrant]

If it's got firmware 1.0 (like mine had), you can update to 1.1 using the updater linked in a previous post.

As far as I can tell, there's no on-line updater to take the PRS-505 to the European 1.2 firmware.

I don't know what the differences are between 1.1 and 1.2, but before 1.1 it couldn't read ePUBs.

Originally Posted by ulsterfry

I bought one as well... it arrived yesterday in perfect condition... but can I carry out a firmware update on it ( I live in the UK)?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I don't know what the differences are between 1.1 and 1.2, but before 1.1 it couldn't read ePUBs.

I think the only difference to the user is how the date is displayed. In the US version is it Month/Day/Year and in UK version it is Day/Month/Year.

BOb