If you were to get another reading devise....

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

From reading many of the posts here, it makes lots of people cry..........

Doesn't make me cry. In fact, it does what it's supposed to do. Works for me on a number of different versions of Windows and computers. I think it could be other third party software that's causing most of the problems.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Doesn't seem to be to "intuitive" for the newbies.

True, some don't read the instructions first, but even when they do, it seems a lot have problems, just from the posts I'm seeing.

However, that being said........there is the other side of the coin. Like the post below.....many have no problems with it.

Hmmmm........I see a poll coming........

Reader Library is similar to iTunes.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CarolB

What would it be? I have a 600, but my sister is trying to convince me to get a Kindle 2 at tax time to supplament my present reader. She figures with the books she has (hundreds) and the free ones on there all the time that it'll be worth it. I'd consider it, but I'm afraid that if I do, that I'll neglect my 600 and I don't want to do that. I paid good money for it and even though the books are cheaper and the screen a little crisper on the Kindle, I still love my Sony. What would you do?

You have a 600 that you like. Your sister has a K2 that she likes. Most of the free eBooks that come out for the K2 also come out for the Sony. And sometimes you do get free eBooks in ePub that won't work with a K2.

It's quite easy to strip the DRM from most Kindle eBooks provided they are in AZW and not Topaz (TPZ or AZW1).

I would say keep your 600 and forgo a K2. If you do decide to get a second reader have a look at the forthcoming larger screen readers.

[WT Sharpe]

If I were to get another device, it would be a tablet computer that I would use it mainly for writing, but that I would also use for reading PDFs, graphic novels, and those books that require a color reader.

I would still use my dedicated e-ink readers for reading books.

And if I had money beyond that to burn, I'd get a large reader, perhaps a Kindle DX or Sony Daily Edition.

[kcnightfang]

Honestly, I haven't had a problem with the Sony Reader Library software, just the back end when I was trying to activate my PRS-900. In fact, despite the fact that it seems like an Adobe AIR app and doesn't scroll with my mouse wheel, I have found it superior to Calibre, as far as straight file management and usage. It's pretty straightforward IMHO. (I am a Mac user, so take my impressions with a grain of salt if you use Windows.)

Apple is not announcing anything at CES, they're not even attending. They are holding an event later this month (the 27th), however, they have not said anything about what is going to be talked about other than it's in the "mobility" space. I would guess it's the RAT (Rumoured Apple Tablet), but it could be a new Ipod. *shrug*

(I would happily pay real money for an app that grabs a cluster of blog/LJ posts, with comments, and throws them all into the same document.)

Instapaper does an excellent job of this in my experience. It's a read-it-later webapp, with a handy bookmarklet. It allows you to output all your saved articles/pages in a text-only Epub of Kindle document. So far I love the results on my 900. Oh, and it's free.

[lionel47]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Have you wondered why there are so many firmware updates for the EZ Reader? Just think about it.

From what I have been reading, the updates have added functionality and improved things like faster page turns and there have also been bug fixes. Personally, I view it as continuous improvement; you get updates with other software and hardware.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by lionel47

You may as well buy a Kindle now. Apple's new tablet is probably going to be an LCD screen. Besides, do you want to be locked in to only being able to use your purchases with Apple hardware and iTunes?

I lost about $700 worth of music and movies when my mirrored server crashed last week (both hard drives blew and the data is unattainable...don't ask). Got on the phone today with Apple to see about restoring my and my wife's library. You'd figure they have a record of everything we bought over the years. No go. What you pay for is the license to download the content once from iTunes and to store it on 5 devices (including PCs).

If they ever do an ereader, my bet is it will be tied down the same way.

The Kindle is not much better, IMHO.

Same happened to me with about 600 movies, legally purchased from iTunes.
Apple's helpdesk was spectacular (as are all my experiences with Apple and Sony support). They've put 95% of those movies again into my download pipeline (about 5% simply haven't been available anymore). After I was able to rescue my harddisk, I had to contact them to empty my download pipeline, for not having to download >> 200GB of data.

But I agree in general: Wouldn't there be any DRM, it would be way easier to backup ones data. You easily could have it on 2 gadgets for example.

[AZMerf]

Originally Posted by lionel47

Got on the phone today with Apple to see about restoring my and my wife's library. You'd figure they have a record of everything we bought over the years. No go. What you pay for is the license to download the content once from iTunes and to store it on 5 devices (including PCs).

I am glad I am not the only one who found this out the hard way. Sort of amazing given sites like Audible that lets you download it again if you have a problem.

[krighton]

selling my 505 to get a new ebook reader...will probably get a 900 since i'm not a herd animal by nature (kindle).

[Dr. Drib]

If I got another device I'd be insane!

For some obscure (insane?) reason, I'm lusting after a PRS-900.


Don

[paintlady]

ok, so i will admit to several things...first that i am a little old lady who has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century...second, that i received a sony prs 600 for christmas because a) my eyesight is so bad that i "need" the larger fonts to be able to read without a magnifying glass and b) my son thought it was easier to buy me an e-reader than it was to build me a new bookcase...and third, that i do not understand all of these letter-thingies (drm, epub, cLit, etc) that all of you young folks seem to have a handle on...

since christmas day, i have purchased (and read) not only the 22 books i purchased from sony (and several "freebies")...but also, thanks to calibre, read many of my weekly/daily favorite news publications (yes, i somehow figured out how to "fetch news" using calibre) (a total, i am guessing, somewhere in the range of 35 to 40 publications)

my complaints re: sony are minimal...and, with the exception of my having already worn all of the silver finish off of the "next page" button, are NOT hardware related...i like the look, feel, and general appearance of my lovely RED reader...but here is the crux of my irritation with sony...primarily, the selection (actually the lack thereof) of books available at the sony reader library!!! i find more books at amazon that i "cannot live without" and probably more than i will ever be able to read in this lifetime!! i am not quite sure why an electronic version of a book can be available on amazon and not on sony...but that is the way it is...additionally, one of the books (Public Enemies) that i purchased from sony had little or no editing, and whoever published it, did not even run spell-check prior to making it available for purchase...(please pardon my own misspellings and errors in grammar, i am only a little old lady, not an author or book publisher) when i called sony customer service about it, the CSR was rather rude to me and had the attitude "well, you bought it and read it...why should we refund your money?" what a disservice to the author!

as an aside...i am extremely fond of amazon's stand regarding First Amendment rights in regard to book reviews and discussion forums...they post ALL book reviews; sony censors any book reviews they feel do not "ensure the best customer experience"...which explains why i have not yet seen anything less than a 4 star review...i have noticed that several books have a 2 or 3 star rating on the title page and only ONE 5 star review posted in the customer reviews section...some of my own reviews (admittedly 1 or 2 stars based on my own "customer experience") have, even WEEKS after i have written them, have not been approved by sony...three cheers for the "customer experience" at amazon and their support of the First Amendment!

but, i digress...all of that being said...my son purchased my sony prs600 from AMAZON...along with an amazon gift card so i chould purchase to my heart's content (actually just the limit of the gift card)...imagine our surprise on christmas day that i COULD NOT just plug in my device, click on my amazon selections and sit down with a nice cup of tea to enjoy my new toy???

yes, i have read many of these posts here, and understand that there are (complicated) work-arounds...yet, i do not really understand EXACTLY how to download an amazon or barnes and noble book to my sony...it all just seems to intricate for my little pea-brain...i dont WANT to work around...(when you are as old as i am, infantile temper-tantrums are an acceptable way of venting frustration, and one of the few benefits issued with one's medicare card and social security check)

so...it seems to me...that since i do not want to exercise all sorts of mental gyrations just to download a book from amazon and a book from barnes and noble, i have no choice but to purchase several different readers...a kindle for amazon, a nook (assuming that the nook was actually available for sale), a sony and now, perhaps an iThing

it would be so very NICE to just have ONE reader that was programed to accept a purchase from ALL of the e-book retailers and not have all of this frustration!!!

shall i wait for the kindle 3 and the nook 2 and iThing (revised)?

maybe i should just make my son build those bookcases anyway?

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by paintlady

i do not really understand EXACTLY how to download an amazon or barnes and noble book to my sony

In you have a Windows PC, buying from Amazon for the Sony is very easy. Get unswindle.pyw (perhaps you will need to install python, get Python 2.6.4 x86 MSI). Install Kindle for PC. Buy the Kindle ebook, and select your K4PC device to download to. Click on unswindle and get back a DRM-free MOBI ebook. Convert from MOBI to ePub using Calibre.

The only real issue is that some Kindle ebooks are TOPAZ and unswindle works on AZW only. The easiest way to check is to download the sample to K4PC first and unswindle will tell you that it is a TOPAZ.

Buying from B&N is only slightly harder, but I don't think B&N has many ebooks not in the Sony or Kindle stores.