PRS-T1 PRS-T1: Navigating big SD Cards and Viewing Scanned-Book PDFs?

[vishcompany]

Originally Posted by RKanarek

vishcompany: I am shocked and appalled to read that the Sony PRS-T1 would need to be hacked in order to display files in a folder view! I truly can’t fathom the thinking, if any, behind building a device that can handle 32GB of Ebooks, but which deliberately thwarts any attempt to organizer them! I confess I was hoping to devote my scant spare time to reading, not screwing around with some gadget!

Do you -- or does anyone -- know if having hundreds of Ebooks in folders will cause it to run more slowly? (As I mentioned in a different thread, my new Aluratek 7” Libre Color [UNLIKE my previous 5” Libre Pro] has a mania as far as repeatedly and unnecessarily scanning it memory/ies so as to create useless commingled alphabetized lists of its contents.)

Thanks to all for the information, and thanks for the Relaunch hint.

Originally Posted by RKanarek

Regarding the metadata-directory tree debate, with *all* operating systems supporting shortcuts (Windows), hard links or symbolic links (Linux, et al.), or something that could be used in to achieve a similar effect (DOS), I don’t see the advantage sorting eBooks by metadata. I also don’t see any reason whatsoever for not at least allowing the user to (also) navigate the ebooks on the device in a traditional, file based way. Surely, creating a directory viewing utility for one of these devices must be absolutely the easiest part of creating the devices themselves.

If you never did it, the thought of hacking your device maybe sounds scary or atrocious. I also was very much concerned, when I installed PRS+ on my 350 for the first time.
But.
As a matter of fact, it's really easy and also fairly safe. It's not like you are asked to perform things in a command-line window, which you don't understand. It's merely double-clicking an exe-file, wait for a minute or two and then just pick up your device and enjoy the additional features. Both hacks (PRS+ on the older devices and the root hack on the T1) leave the original OS pretty untouched. They just add extra functionality. The process is just as "risky" as a regular firmware update. With many people having done this and reported back it being safe, I now consider these hacks "safe".

Regarding the discussion folder view vs. tags: I think it's funny, that nowadays nobody even thinks of questioning the usefulness of id3-tags in music players, but when it comes to books people are still stuck in thinking of their book organizing in a rather "analogue way": one book in one place. Actually I used to think just like that. Created a folder structure like this: Language - Genre - Author - Book.
But what if I have books of one author in both languages I'm reading? What if I remember the title, but not the author? What if I just want to have a list of all books by the author, regardless of language or Genre?
These are no theoretical questions, but real situations I encountered back in those days, when we all were really happy, when bookeen finally allowed folder view in their devices. You very soon end up stumbling into the limitations of strictly organizing your books according to one single principle. That's why libraries need a central catalogue. To look up "tags".
Just thinking of manually creating links gives me a headache.
I - once and for all - dumped my books into calibre and sorted out the tags. It was a bit of an effort, but it's worth it. Ever since I just enjoy reading and don't need to screw around with my gadget, if I don't want to.

But as others have stated before me: have it your own way, get ReLaunch and browse away, that's just fine.
Speaking for myself, I see the point, why sony didn't bother adding this feature. Once gotten used to tags, I don't want anything else. I have ReLaunch on my device, but I use it for anything but opening my books.

Regarding the number of books and speed of the device: I have about 200 books on the T1 right now and it's not slower. But then, 200 is not really many.

[Analogus]

Just my thoughts to this topic (folders versus tags):

I personally use BOTH. Reasons for tags explained vishcompany.
Reasons to use folders could be found:

I for example use my reader even for short files with just, say, PDF with working hours for the running month which I get over email. I copy them with other files in a folder named 'december' without tagging. I don't want to clutter up Calibre with those temporary files. Opening this files on the reader I manage with the folder-explorer from PRS+.

If Sony would be more open minded, they could do/say following:

1) Ad some 'explorer' to the reader
2) Give customers a hint, that copying books is possible WITHOUT their (ridiculous) software and opening/organizing could additionaly be done with folders.

Besides:
I wonder how and why Sony produces software which doesn't follow the clear estethic line of other products. Interface often is as terrible as the velocity and sometimes stability. Ever tried to use SonicStage?!

A.

[vishcompany]

Fair enough. In this kind of situation I would do just the same. Viewing and organizing documents in an office-like situation asks for different means of organization than a library.

Besides: Heck yes, I did encounter SonicStage. It once declared, that I was not allowed to transfer a file to my computer, because I did not have the rights to do so. It was an MD mic-recording of my own ensemble! How stupid is that???
I quit Sony then, the PRS's are the first Sonys ever since. And I avoid their own software by all means. Thank god, there is calibre and Alf.

[user38]

Originally Posted by RKanarek

While you fine folks have made clear the eccentric (to me) way that the Sony PRS-T1 arranges files, no one has mentioned whether it can handle a large number of files efficiently and sensibly. As I mentioned, my new AluraTek Libre Color 7” seems to have a mania for v...e...r...y... s...l...o...w...l...y... scanning and rescanning its file system. How about the PRS-T1?

I just picked up my PRS T1 yesterday. I have a large collection of (mostly) public domain books which I have downloaded to Calibre and tagged.

About a year ago I bought a Sony 650 and loaded 2000 books onto it. It works fine.

Last night (as a test) I loaded 357 books onto my PRS T1 via Calibre 0.8.28. The PRS T1 is very responsive (more responsive than my 650) but I did notice I maxed out the collections at about 112. Also it took a long time to load (about 20 mins for the books and 40 mins for the meta data). However, there was no slowdown with this number of books.

I think I will have to reorganise my tags before doing a big install. I have no idea how the device will respond with a very large collection as I understand the PRS T1 uses a different OS to the 650. Given the time required to load the books (about 3 hours per thousand) it will probably be some time before I can give you an answer.

[RKanarek]

’38:

Thanks for taking the time to experiment and report back!

I’ve been avoiding Sony for years after my attempt to get my Malaysian “Japanese” tape deck factory repaired was not met by any signs of intelligent life. The slow file loading and category limit you encountered does little to assuage my fears about Sony. Real fears, as I’ve just ordered one of the little buggers (and a 32GB microSD card to boot [pun intended]).

If I had any sense -- If only! -- I would have just donated the money to the ASPCA and stuck to trusty old paper books. Then I, and some furry little critters, could have all been happy.

[user38]

I have done a bit more testing with the PRST1 and Calibre. I now believe there is no limit to the number of Collections created on the PRST1 via Calibre tags. However, when I did my previous test (with 112 collections) I notices that the PRST1 would not let me create a new Collection. If you intend to manage the Collections via Calibre tags I don't see this as an issue.

One of the problems I had with the number of Collections was the PRST1 recognising the Calibre "series" metadata as Collections. I finally figured out (via this forum) that there was a problem with my PRST1 plugin setup. By default the Sony PRST1 plugin forces the Reader to recognise tags and series as Collections. You can fix this through Preferences,Advanced,Plugins,Device Interface plugins,Customise plugins. (The options allow you to create Collections from tags, series and/or authors.)

Incidentally, I noticed that when copying books to the PRST1 it creates a thumbnail of the cover. I think my issue with the transfer of metadata (taking twice as long as the transfer of the books) was with this thumbnail creation. I am currently loading 1600 books to my Reader (an overnight job). I will let you know how it turns out.

[David58117]

I know it's not a humongous collection, but I've got 1,238 on mine and for what it's worth, have no slow downs. I only have maybe 4-5 collections (all made from the reader itself) of series and favorite authors I'm working my way through.

Otherwise, I just have a collection of books I'm currently reading for easy access. Also, if you tap at the bottom center (over the page numbers) of the "books" section, you get a very good slider for speedy browsing of authors in your library.

[user38]

Well, I sent 1,628 books to my PRST1 last night. It took 52 minutes to upload the books and 234 minutes to upload the metadata. This works out to about 3 hours per thousand books.