Am I asking too much?

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by semioticwafture

I was coming to the same conclusion, but I read that it's rather unstable (lots of freezes, sometimes multiple page turns in response to a single gesture/click). Are those problems fixed now (which firmware version)?

That was when it first came out. I find it's mostly attributable to user error. Readers are really old technology. I find that with the Sony when I'm trying to organize my collections on the device if I click a whole bunch of things really fast it will crash. That's my fault. I have to give the device enough time to recognize my various screen touches.

Touch. Pause. Touch. Pause. If I go - touch touch touch touch touch the system will crash because it can't process my requests that fast. Same as my windows computer. If I tell it to open too many programs at the same time and click a whole whack of things, it goes non-responsive.

As to page flipping, it's never happened to me. You have to learn how to adjust your touch to the device. Don't leave your finger on the screen too long or it will advance more than one page. That's what it's designed to do. It's a small learning curve to adjust to how hard and how long of a touch you need to make to turn the page so it only turns one page and doesn't trigger the dictionary function. Same thing goes for the button. Don't press & hold it too long or it will advance more than one page.

It's user error. It's a wonderful device. I like my Kindle but I love my Sony.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

This is indeed how Overdrive library borrowing works. You download the .acsm file, and Adobe Digital Editions then takes that file and downloads the book.

However, the Sony T1 can download library books directly. From the Sony website:

A number of devices support "over the air" purchasing of ePubs; I'd guess they'd be equally as able to get library books that way. The BeBook Neo (aka Onyx Boox 60) is one such device.

[semioticwafture]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Haha, I thought that is what I did answer you - that is why I tried to answer each and every point on your list.

Indeed, and very helpful it was too.

Support let me know today though that they are working on the USB issues. See this thread.

Unfortunately, as a programmer by trade myself I know what "will be fixed in a future update" often means

[HarryT]

If there's one thing I've learned in the years I've been using eBook readers for, it's this: NEVER buy a device on the basis of what might be added, changed, or fixed, in the future. If a feature is important to you, but a device that has that feature NOW.

[semioticwafture]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

That was when it first came out. I find it's mostly attributable to user error. Readers are really old technology. I find that with the Sony when I'm trying to organize my collections on the device if I click a whole bunch of things really fast it will crash. That's my fault. I have to give the device enough time to recognize my various screen touches.

Touch. Pause. Touch. Pause. If I go - touch touch touch touch touch the system will crash because it can't process my requests that fast. Same as my windows computer. If I tell it to open too many programs at the same time and click a whole whack of things, it goes non-responsive.

Dear God, we (speaking as a tiny cog in the software industry) have trained you to expect no better than this. I'm sorry if I played any part in it ;-(

If you're happy with it, that's fine. I'm not

[semioticwafture]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If there's one thing I've learned in the years I've been using eBook readers for, it's this: NEVER buy a device on the basis of what might be added, changed, or fixed, in the future. If a feature is important to you, but a device that has that feature NOW.

Amen.

[semioticwafture]

Originally Posted by jehane

I think you'll find these are in conflict. Library lending is generally of DRMed books, so you'll be required to register with ADE, which i *think* requires Windows/Mac. I don't think it's compatible with Linux/Unix though there may be workarounds out there.

I believe that what you say there does not imply that any of those three requirements are in conflict with one another, unless you read things into my requirements that aren't there. I'm just speaking as a persnickety programmer, nothing hostile there

As it happens, I don't plan to actually read books borrowed from a library, but I would very much like to support the vendors who take care not to leave libraries out in the cold.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by semioticwafture

I believe that what you say there does not imply that any of those three requirements are in conflict with one another, unless you read things into my requirements that aren't there. I'm just speaking as a persnickety programmer, nothing hostile there

As it happens, I don't plan to actually read books borrowed from a library, but I would very much like to support the vendors who take care not to leave libraries out in the cold.

As mentioned, though, it's also an issue if you buy ePub books with Adobe DRM (which essentially means if you buy ePub books from any of the major bookstores); they have to be loaded via ADE on a PC or Mac. Possibly best to avoid an ADE device if you don't want to be dependent on PC or Mac.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by semioticwafture

Unfortunately, as a programmer by trade myself I know what "will be fixed in a future update" often means

I only mentioned that to show that they are working on updates and didn't just blow me off and say - "hey, it's your fault, check that your usb is properly installed on your computer". Now you can take it as a bad omen or a good one, but since the launch on Nov. 22 of last year there has been already 3 major updates that infact did fix a lot of problems and added features. It might after all not be the programmers fault, but impossible deadlines that got pushed onto them, not enough time for beta-testing and such. If you are a programmer you should know what it means to say: "oh, that is a easy fix, give me 30 minutes" and hours later: click, click, click, oh that should do it, click click clack clack click click, ahhhhhh.

Originally Posted by HarryT

If there's one thing I've learned in the years I've been using eBook readers for, it's this: NEVER buy a device on the basis of what might be added, changed, or fixed, in the future. If a feature is important to you, but a device that has that feature NOW.

That is indeed a very good advice. For me personally as I mentioned before, some of the prbolems with my reader are non-issues to me. I can live with the usb problem - it works just fine, just not for hours at a time. Others might have a problem with it though.

[semioticwafture]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

I only mentioned that to show that they are working on updates and didn't just blow me off and say - "hey, it's your fault, check that your usb is properly installed on your computer". Now you can take it as a bad omen or a good one, but since the launch on Nov. 22 of last year there has been already 3 major updates that infact did fix a lot of problems and added features.

Well, I prefer to take it not as any form of omen, but simply as a report that USB mass storage support on the Odyssey is not solid. It's just a fact that that serious bugs like that in consumer electronic devices often go unfixed (I'm not really interested in assigning blame for that).

Still, perhaps the Odyssey supports some other standard means of transferring and arranging files? For example, perhaps I can easily root it and get ssh access over wifi? Or perhaps there's a micro SD slot and I could just always use that instead of built-in memory? Unfortunately I'm shy of that latter idea, because often SD card memory is treated differently by this kind of device, and so the software tends to be buggy when used in that configuration (it's not just android that does that).

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by semioticwafture

Still, perhaps the Odyssey supports some other standard means of transferring and arranging files? For example, perhaps I can easily root it and get ssh access over wifi? Or perhaps there's a micro SD slot and I could just always use that instead of built-in memory? Unfortunately I'm shy of that latter idea, because often SD card memory is treated differently by this kind of device, and so the software tends to be buggy when used in that configuration (it's not just android that does that).

Yes, micro SD is a option already. Performance wise and beeing stable it is no different than internal memory. The only thing you cannot put on the sd-card is dictionaries. I am using a 32 gb sandisk in mine. The one thing you lose if you remove the sd-card and reinsert: books are tagged as new again, and the Odyssey won't remember where you left of reading them. It does remember your notes, highlights, and bookmarks (they are saved into a seperate file). So if you are reading a book and you don't want to lose the page you are on, just make bookmark.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Yes, micro SD is a option already. Performance wise and beeing stable it is no different than internal memory. The only thing you cannot put on the sd-card is dictionaries. I am using a 32 gb sandisk in mine. The one thing you lose if you remove the sd-card and reinsert: books are tagged as new again, and the Odyssey won't remember where you left of reading them. It does remember your notes, highlights, and bookmarks (they are saved into a seperate file). So if you are reading a book and you don't want to lose the page you are on, just make bookmark.

Is it possible to put books on the SD card via USB? ie, does it mount on the PC as a separate drive from the internal storage?

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Is it possible to put books on the SD card via USB? ie, does it mount on the PC as a separate drive from the internal storage?

Yes, indeed it does allow access through USB. Sorry I forgot to mention that since semiotic wanted alternatives that do not involve USB. Is that a special feature that you CAN see it on the computer through USB? I was not aware of that.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Yes, indeed it does. Sorry I forgot to mention that since semiotic wanted alternatives that do not involve USB. Is that a special feature that you CAN see it on the computer through USB? I was not aware of that.

I only asked because of your mention that you lose the reading position in your books when you eject the card, which sounds like a bit of a nuisance. Presumably you could avoid that problem by loading content onto the card via USB.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I only asked because of your mention that you lose the reading position in your books when you eject the card, which sounds like a bit of a nuisance. Presumably you could avoid that problem by loading content onto the card via USB.

Ahh I see. The only reason I ever remove the card again is when I am testing something, or when I need my ereader to charge and still be able to play with it. Believe it or not, but removing the sd-card from computer, get it out of the micro-sd adapter and putting it into that fiddly small slot on the ereader is a lot faster than to connect the reader via USB, wait for it to connect, move files to sd-card, disconnect, and then wait until the Odyssey really does think you pulled the cable out. Removing the card while you read a book on it will simply put you back to the homescreen or library depending from where you opened the book. Moving or renaming a book (even internal memory) will mark the book new again and you lose the last opened page. I have not tried to replace a book with a different book with same name and see if it will be tagged "new" or not. I won't do that either since I do not try to chance it crashing or freezing. If I want to replace a book with a new version I would add the new version, and then delete the old.