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Old 09-05-2010, 10:51 AM   #1
lemonade
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Which alternative firmware?

I'm currently using the latest incarnation of the eBookApps firmware and so far it's been excellent. I was wondering how it compares with the PRS+ firmware. Has anyone tried both?
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Old 09-05-2010, 11:08 AM   #2
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They are a totally different thing. Very little comparison is possible, really:

* PRS+ is based on the original Sony firmware, focusing on fixes that can be done through modification of internal files: directories support, extra applications, dictionaries, better (more detailed, anyway) keyboard control... The rendering engine is unchanged.

* EbookApplications is a brand new firmware which has very little to do with the original firmware. As such, it doesn't have its shortcomings (e.g. the long "prepare" time when the device is disconnected from USB), but also its good features (e.g. LRF support is gone). My major problem with EbookApplications is that it is in VERY EARLY stages of development and as such lacks a lot of features I consider a must (e.g. the ability to actually format e-books, with headers being rendered in different size font than body text). IF that is fixed sometime, it MAY become a viable replacement of the original firmware (and PRS+), but so far, if you want to read something better than mere plaintext files, you are pretty much out of luck with this firmware.

At the moment, I would say stay away from EbookApplications, unless you are a would-be Reader hacker - the firmware may not be usable for actual reading, but it is an AMAZING leap forward in terms of what's possible to do with your Reader and it opens some great possibilities in the future.
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Old 09-05-2010, 01:54 PM   #3
bbsc
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I am using the EbookApplications firmware on my 300, and I like reading on it that way. I like the way my books look, I hate margins, and it is so much work editing each epub file to remove the margins manually.

I also like the way that it deals with pdfs better.

I haven't tried PRS+ yet, because I am so happy with the firmware I am using.
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Old 09-05-2010, 03:49 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lemonade View Post
I'm currently using the latest incarnation of the eBookApps firmware and so far it's been excellent. I was wondering how it compares with the PRS+ firmware. Has anyone tried both?
They are 2 different things, as pepak stated above, but the best thing about them is: you can install PRS+ firmware and then still use eBookApps on top of it.

PS
PRS+ 300 support thread is here
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Old 09-05-2010, 10:25 PM   #5
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Thank you

Thanks for the info and advice guys. Very interesting. I think I'll keep using the eBookApps firmware for the time being since I like the features and it hasn't given me any real problems so far. I wonder if the new Sony devices will incorporate any of the functionality achieved using these non-standard firmwares...
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Old 09-06-2010, 08:31 AM   #6
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I've been a happy PPS+ user for quite awhile now. I've tried the ebookapplications firmware and liked it but had two gripes...

the first... and most important is that all bold/italics, etc in epub books are gone!

Secondly... it won't recognize any books/bookmarks already on the reader. So even though they say you can switch between the Sony firmware and theirs, it's basically useless because you have to have two copies of your books on the reader (one where Sony needs it and one where ebookapplications needs it) and your bookmarks aren't shared either!
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Old 09-07-2010, 02:23 PM   #7
jswinden
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I cannot help but wonder if Sony will lock down their new readers like Amazon did with their newest Kindle WiFi and Kindle WiFi + 3G readers. Hackers are having a difficult, and thus far, unsuccessful attempt to jailbreak them. I hope not, but I would not be surprised if Sony does the same.
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