PRS-350 My First E-Reader and Lots of Questions!

[GoodCompany]

I just got my first ereader, a Sony PRS-350. Thanks to postings on this site, I found out about a great deal (that included a free cover) from PC Richard, though it took close to a month for it to arrive (they were back ordered). I have several questions, probably too many for one post, but I figure I let anyone respond to anything they like.

1. When I charged the reader for the first time, the charging process kept stopping with a message if I received this message repeatedly to call customer service. I was in and out of my apartment much of that day and thought my PC going to sleep was causing the recharging stoppage. I woke my PC up and the charging would begin again. However, when I was home for the evening and could monitor it, I noticed the charging was stopping even when the PC was not asleep. I disconnected and opened the reader and even though it had been indicating that it wasn’t fully charged, I had 4 full bars. Customer service offered to send me another USB cable, but I’m curious if anyone has had a similar situation. Also, does the recharging have a “memory,” so I should wait to recharge until it’s pretty low?

2. I’ve read a lot of posts about people who prefer Calibre to the Sony Library, but I’m not really getting a picture of what people don’t like about the Library. I know there are syncing issues, but I won’t be using that feature. If I decide to use Calibre, do I bypass installing the Library all together or do I need to have both? For a few more days, I’m just enjoying the preloaded Pride and Prejudice which somehow I’ve never read -- but I already have my short list of what I want to load once I decide between Sony or Calibre.

3. Is there anytime when it is more efficient to use sleep mode rather than to shut down the reader completely or is sleep mode just convenience? It seems to boot up so quickly when it’s fully turned off I can’t see why you wouldn’t just shut it down between reads (or perhaps it’s so quick because I don’t have much loaded yet).

4. I’ve read (and can see) that the stylus is not the sturdiest. Will any stylus work? I saw one at Target made for ipads and wondered if that would do the job.

5. Many public domain titles come in many editions. On Amazon people review not only the book, but the quality of the particular edition, some seem to be pretty spotty. Is there a site or sites where people do a similar thing for non-Kindle editions? For example, I’m looking to get the ever popular complete Sherlock Holmes and would like to find some reviews as to which edition would be best.

Thanks for any and all suggestions and, as I’m sure these questions have all be asked countless times, feel free to link me to a previous thread I might have missed.

Happy Reading!

[bevdeforges]

Can't help with all your questions, but I can tell you that you don't have to choose between Reader Library software and Calibre. The two co-exist very nicely. You need some form of ADE (Adobe Digital Editions) to download purchases from the Sony store (or from other vendors that sell DRM'd books). If you have Reader Library set up, all your ADE purchases will show up in there.

Calibre is handy for making changes to the tags, and generally managing your e-book library to a greater level of detail than you can do with the Sony software. I normally download purchased books to the Reader Library, then add them to my Calibre library, where I adjust the metadata, tag them ("read" and "not read" for instance) and then upload them to the Sony Reader. I also use Calibre to remove books I've read from the Sony Reader as needed, while keeping copies on my PC for reference or if I should decide to re-read something. (I really don't feel the need to always carry hundreds of books with me on the Reader, especially those books I read but wasn't terribly impressed with.)

But as you play around with Calibre, you'll find your own ways to organize your stuff and shift between your PC files and your Reader.
Cheers,
Bev

[Ken401]

A few thoughts:

1. I have never had this problem. I think the issue is more about the number of recharge cycles than battery memory. I recharge when I get down to one bar to limit the number charge cycles.

2. When you are just starting out with an ereader, the Sony Library is fine. Later on you may find it limiting and will appreciate Calibre's features.

3. Power down fully to conserve battery. Most of us find significantly longer start up times though. I just use the sleep mode.

4. Any stylus will work on these screens.

5. Not sure about this one. This might be where you will later appreciate Calibre as it can convert non-DRM'd formats into other formats.

Enjoy!

[CraftyDan]

GC,

For #5, check here on MobileRead for a large library of PD books. These have been carefully formatted by those who take pride such things and are FREE.

Your reader can open the LRF and EPUB books without conversion. There's a lot of overlap between both sections, but you'll find a few listings that are only in one or the other.

[GoodCompany]

Thanks so much for these replies -- really helpful! And thrilled to discover the library right here in front of my eyes that I hadn't noticed full of titles I'd love to explore. What a great site!