received reader

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by ultim8fury

There is a slight possibility of it being delivered tomorrow. Failing that it's on for Monday. It's gonna cost me though, stupid tax man.

One reason I don't want my girlfriend to ship it over to Europe is because I am worried it get stuck at customs. I have had bad experience with them before ;(

[Leaping Gnome]

I finally got mine Friday night at the Cincinnati (Kenwood) SonyStyle store. I called that morning and they had one left and I put it on hold. It was about a 90 minute drive, but that was the closest place to me that had one, I'm in Louisville. I checked the Borders around here and mostly to my question of "do you have the new Sony eReader?" I received blank stares or a response of "what's an eReader?" or "are you looking for audiobooks?". Yeah, I wouldn't count on Borders coming through.

When I went in SonyStyle they had three on display and the clerk told me they had received the three displays plus five to sale, the last of which I was buying. He said they expected to receive five more next week, if anyone in the area is interested.

So far it is a pretty cool device, I'm just reading the included Vanguard novel. I really like I could just open the box, pull it out and start reading. Two days later I still haven't unwrapped any of the cords or even looked at the manual. It is a little heavier than I expected, it is smaller than a paperback but a little heavier. I would have appreciated the page turn buttons on both sides of the display also for left and right hand use depending on how you are holding it, I don't think the little joystick can turn pages can it? I know, I can hold it by the bottom with my right hand and use the page thing, just not as comfortable.

Also, has anyone else noticed on the Vanguard novel that they seem to leave a lot of empty space at the bottom? Are all the Sony-bought novels this way?

[Bob Russell]

Originally Posted by Leaping Gnome

Also, has anyone else noticed on the Vanguard novel that they seem to leave a lot of empty space at the bottom? Are all the Sony-bought novels this way?

I hadn't noticed that until you mentioned it. I am reading it in the medium size, where it doesn't show up that much. Nor does it seem apparent in the large size text. But you're right about small... it's odd that so much blank space is there.

The only thing I can figure is that it's because of some sort of expanded "widow protection", in an attempt to format the book so that paragraphs don't break up between pages too much.

As far as not having page turn buttons on the right side, I agree. It would be nice, and more comfortable. But I was told that there is electronics in the right hand side panel that prevents another page turn button. Additionally, the joystick control with the ring is not customizable for page turning. I agree that it would have been nice to do that also. But like you indicate, it's a great device even if it doesn't meet every quality we could desire in a reader yet!

[diabloNL]

Originally Posted by ultim8fury

There is a slight possibility of it being delivered tomorrow. Failing that it's on for Monday. It's gonna cost me though, stupid tax man.

Did you let the people who send it to you put the invoice in the box? My plan is to let my friend ship it as "gift" without an invoice inside and hope it will clear without paying.

[ultim8fury]

Unfortunately marking an item as a gift will only double the tax-free zone to £36 if you want it insured and I'm sure that you do then they have to mark its value.

That said, I don't believe books are subject to import taxes so it might be worth trying to mark it as a book. I will investigate this further.

I've attached the importing/exporting start kit guide from the .gov website for information purposes. Looks to be a hefty read but could help in finding a tax-free loop hole to evade paying.


EDIT2 : after reading the attached document it appears they've segmented off all the useful information about what does and doesn't attract customs duty into a 3 volume of books they call "The Tariff" to get access to it you have to pay £245 per year.

EDIT3 : Might be worth giving these guys a ring to find out what gets through cheaply or even free.

For details about the rates of duty applying to particular goods you can call the HM Revenue & Customs Tariff Classification Service Enquiry Line on Tel 01702 366077

[slayda]

Originally Posted by Leaping Gnome

I really like I could just open the box, pull it out and start reading. Two days later I still haven't unwrapped any of the cords or even looked at the manual.

Hey Gnome, I did the same with mine since the battery showed as fully charged. Then the reader died on me. Worked fine after I charged it. The battery indicator was still the same - showing fully charged. I did notice that the red LED was on when I first started using it before I charged it the first time. Until I read the manual & saw how it indicates full charge, I thought my reading it was just backwards but it wasn't.

Has anyone else noticed this or is my battery indicator bad?

[NatCh]

It may take the monitoring circuit a charge or so to figure out what "charged" really looks like.

[sarahw2275]

As of two hours ago I am the very proud owner of a Sony Reader. I live in the UK and it was dispatched on Friday evening from the US and arrived this morning!!
I'm going to play now, but wanted to say thanks to forum member geekraver.