PRS-T1 Buying eBooks from the device?

mwerle · 12-05-2011, 07:45 PM

Hi,

Having just gotten my shiny new PRS-T1, I was a bit disappointed to find out the Sony shop isn't available in the UK yet.

Are there any other online eBook stores from which one can purchase and download the books directly from the device? This was a feature heavily advertised but doesn't appear to actually be available yet in the UK.

As my computers all run Linux I appear to be a bit stuck at the moment, since all the online stores I can find want something called Adobe Digital Editions, which isn't available for Linux, and require a PC to actually perform the purchase and download.

Thanks,
- Micha.

Gilmartin · 12-06-2011, 02:56 AM

I tried buying from Waterstones.com and gave up. Their site can be slow and user-unfriendly at the best of times, I found it simply not viable on the PRS-T1. The constant screen flashes were bad enough, but the fact that despite constant zooming, the text was too small to read was the killer. I threw in the towel and bought via my PC.
I hope Sony do a decent job of their UK site if they ever get around to opening it.

Abtacha · 12-06-2011, 05:55 AM

It should work with www.kobobooks.com. But you need to authorize the device with Adobe before you can open any DRM'ed books (pretty much everything from a major publisher). And to do that you need the Sony software (Reader for PC).

mwerle · 12-06-2011, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abtacha

But you need to authorize the device with Adobe before you can open any DRM'ed books (pretty much everything from a major publisher). And to do that you need the Sony software (Reader for PC).

So in other words, without access to a Windows PC on which I can install the software to 'register' my new eReader, I'm stuck? Gotta love DRM.

Talk about publishers shooting themselves in the foot - they've, at least temporarily, lost sales from me as I can't actually access their products.

Also not terribly happy that to use an advertised feature of the device requires access to a Windows (or Mac) PC, which was NOT mentioned. I specifically waited for the new WiFi eReader because it was supposed to be able to access online stores -without- needing a PC.

At least there's Project Gutenberg and a couple of non-DRM commercial places which I've found, but they don't exactly have the largest selection of current titles.

Thanks for the info, Abtacha.

- Micha.

Lalilulelo · 12-06-2011, 08:42 AM

I wonder if you can run Adobe thru Wine? (would be too much trouble & beats the purpose of a wifi ereader)

mwerle · 12-06-2011, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lalilulelo

I wonder if you can run Adobe thru Wine? (would be too much trouble & beats the purpose of a wifi ereader)

Some people have reported some success with this but I haven't tried it myself (no time). Apart from the Adobe software you also have to install a whole bunch of other Microsoft malarky.
There's also the issue that apparently every time Wine is updated, Adobe thinks the computer got reinstalled and it counts against your device limit, with no (easy) way to delete the old 'devices', so you quickly run out of the 6 device limit.

The best suggestions so far is to make a Virtual Machine specifically to buy eBooks which will never get updated.

And I fully agree with your last sentence!! That's why I started this thread - to see if anybody has had any success with buying directly from the device.

Cheers,
- Micha.

mwerle · 12-07-2011, 07:09 AM

Ok, here's an update:

I've now taken the time to try the software out on Linux using Wine, and it was partially successful: I could install Adobe Digital Editions and authorize to my Adobe ID. (Had to use a direct link to download the Adobe software; it can't be installed from the normal link on their website).

I then downloaded the latest version of the Sony "Reader for PC" software (trying the version supplied on the reader itself failed to install) and installed that successfully under Wine. It even said that 'This computer has an authorised Adobe ID' or whatever under 'Help -> About'.

I could then go to the Store in the Reader for PC software and it displayed some links to Waterstones and WH Smith, which, when clicked on, opened up in a web browser. So far so good!

Unfortunately, neither Adobe DE nor Reader for PC will detect the Reader when running under Wine. So close and yet so far...

Very frustrating.

As a last resort, I changed my Readers region from UK to US, and tried to sign on to the Sony store directly over WiFi. I managed to create an account (I think), but after the last step it took ages and finally popped up some error message about the connection not being available (Code -1087), which is ridiculous since I definitely had an Internet Connection. Whenever I try to sign in again, I get the same error, although it will let me browse the store catalog.
The reader still says it's not registered with an Adobe ID though.

Sony definitely needs to provide a way to register the damn reader (excuse my language!) directly from the device! I may be in the minority as far as using a Linux PC is concerned, but what about people (esp. older people such as my grandparents) who may not have a PC at all?

Cheers,
- Micha.

carpetmojo · 12-07-2011, 07:52 AM

Just caught up with you mwerle !

I have to say ,

, I doubt if I could repeat how I got the thing set-up for wifi, but it just worked one morning. Whether because I clicked, in the W'stones order page, the " Install Adobe " button, which I did, even though I already have an ID etc.. from my 650.
I reasoned perhaps the T1 wanted it's own ? Or it recognised I had one already and woke itself up, or whatever.... I just bought me first tome - which I then deleted, as it was a)rubbish, b) something I selected to see if was working, and c) only .99 - I stood the hit, I'm made of lolly...

mwerle · 12-07-2011, 08:12 AM

Ok, I think the connection error I was getting was because I had a different email address for my Adobe ID compared to the Sony US eBook store. (Great error message, not!)

I've changed them to be the same, and now I get a pop-up asking for my Adobe ID and password, but it refuses to accept them. I even went so far as to change the password to be the same between the Store and my Adobe ID. Nada. It always displays an error code (-50504) and asks for the details again.

As a last resort I upgraded the reader to the latest firmware (-really- hoping I won't start seeing the freezing/touchscreen problems reported by others), but still no joy.

I give up. Maybe when the reader store gets launched here in the UK I'll give it another shot; in the meantime, I'll enjoy DRM-free ebooks.

- Micha.

PS. @carpetmojo: you've got Windows; I'm sure if I had access to a Windows PC which is NOT behind a corporate firewall I might have more luck. But the point is, it should be possible to use this bleeding thing without needing several hundred quids worth of other equipment!!!

carpetmojo · 12-07-2011, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwerle

- Micha.
PS. @carpetmojo: you've got Windows; I'm sure if I had access to a Windows PC which is NOT behind a corporate firewall I might have more luck. But the point is, it should be possible to use this bleeding thing without needing several hundred quids worth of other equipment!!!

I agree totally ..........

mwerle · 12-10-2011, 03:16 AM

Ok, final update: I finally got access to a PC running Windows and got tthe reader authorised. I can now buy ebooks directly from it and check ebooks out from my library.

Still not impressed though by the amount of effort it's taken!

FinancialWar · 12-11-2011, 02:26 AM

moral of the story, don't run linux

mwerle · 12-11-2011, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by warakawa

moral of the story, don't run linux

What a bollocks statement.

I don't expect the bespoke software to be made available for any but the most popular OSs (which is the case here), but the reader should be fully usable nevertheless. What if I didn't have access to a PC at all?

There's absolutely no (technical) reason I can think of why the reader shouldn't be able to authorise and register itself with the Adobe DRM system over Wifi.

Bookworm_Girl · 12-11-2011, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwerle

There's absolutely no (technical) reason I can think of why the reader shouldn't be able to authorise and register itself with the Adobe DRM system over Wifi.

I agree with you! In the US you can do this wirelessly by attempting to access the Reader store. In my case I entered my existing account info and then it authorized my T1 all over Wi-fi. If you don't have an existing account, then it should allow you to create one. I don't know what happens in the UK or other countries that don't have a Sony Reader Store yet.

carpetmojo · 12-11-2011, 12:29 PM

That's neat - so when thr Reader store eventually opens, getting set for wifi will suddenly get a heck of a lot simpler - and wipe out of the "Help" requests ?

12-05-2011, 07:45 PM	#1
mwerle Micha Posts: 37 Karma: 3144 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Kobo Glo	Buying eBooks from the device? Hi, Having just gotten my shiny new PRS-T1, I was a bit disappointed to find out the Sony shop isn't available in the UK yet. Are there any other online eBook stores from which one can purchase and download the books directly from the device? This was a feature heavily advertised but doesn't appear to actually be available yet in the UK. As my computers all run Linux I appear to be a bit stuck at the moment, since all the online stores I can find want something called Adobe Digital Editions, which isn't available for Linux, and require a PC to actually perform the purchase and download. Thanks, - Micha.

12-07-2011, 07:52 AM	#8
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	Hi mwerle.... Just caught up with you mwerle ! I have to say , , I doubt if I could repeat how I got the thing set-up for wifi, but it just worked one morning. Whether because I clicked, in the W'stones order page, the " Install Adobe " button, which I did, even though I already have an ID etc.. from my 650. I reasoned perhaps the T1 wanted it's own ? Or it recognised I had one already and woke itself up, or whatever.... I just bought me first tome - which I then deleted, as it was a)rubbish, b) something I selected to see if was working, and c) only .99 - I stood the hit, I'm made of lolly...

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12-06-2011, 02:56 AM	#2
Gilmartin Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 1244690 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: UK Device: PRS-T1, PW2	I tried buying from Waterstones.com and gave up. Their site can be slow and user-unfriendly at the best of times, I found it simply not viable on the PRS-T1. The constant screen flashes were bad enough, but the fact that despite constant zooming, the text was too small to read was the killer. I threw in the towel and bought via my PC. I hope Sony do a decent job of their UK site if they ever get around to opening it.

12-06-2011, 05:55 AM	#3
Abtacha Addict Posts: 332 Karma: 6220000 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Germany Device: Kobo Aura HD	It should work with www.kobobooks.com. But you need to authorize the device with Adobe before you can open any DRM'ed books (pretty much everything from a major publisher). And to do that you need the Sony software (Reader for PC).

12-06-2011, 08:42 AM	#5
Lalilulelo Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 7298 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Algeria Device: Sony PRS-T1	I wonder if you can run Adobe thru Wine? (would be too much trouble & beats the purpose of a wifi ereader)

12-07-2011, 07:09 AM	#7
mwerle Micha Posts: 37 Karma: 3144 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Kobo Glo	Ok, here's an update: I've now taken the time to try the software out on Linux using Wine, and it was partially successful: I could install Adobe Digital Editions and authorize to my Adobe ID. (Had to use a direct link to download the Adobe software; it can't be installed from the normal link on their website). I then downloaded the latest version of the Sony "Reader for PC" software (trying the version supplied on the reader itself failed to install) and installed that successfully under Wine. It even said that 'This computer has an authorised Adobe ID' or whatever under 'Help -> About'. I could then go to the Store in the Reader for PC software and it displayed some links to Waterstones and WH Smith, which, when clicked on, opened up in a web browser. So far so good! Unfortunately, neither Adobe DE nor Reader for PC will detect the Reader when running under Wine. So close and yet so far... Very frustrating. As a last resort, I changed my Readers region from UK to US, and tried to sign on to the Sony store directly over WiFi. I managed to create an account (I think), but after the last step it took ages and finally popped up some error message about the connection not being available (Code -1087), which is ridiculous since I definitely had an Internet Connection. Whenever I try to sign in again, I get the same error, although it will let me browse the store catalog. The reader still says it's not registered with an Adobe ID though. Sony definitely needs to provide a way to register the damn reader (excuse my language!) directly from the device! I may be in the minority as far as using a Linux PC is concerned, but what about people (esp. older people such as my grandparents) who may not have a PC at all? Cheers, - Micha.

12-07-2011, 08:12 AM	#9
mwerle Micha Posts: 37 Karma: 3144 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Kobo Glo	Ok, I think the connection error I was getting was because I had a different email address for my Adobe ID compared to the Sony US eBook store. (Great error message, not!) I've changed them to be the same, and now I get a pop-up asking for my Adobe ID and password, but it refuses to accept them. I even went so far as to change the password to be the same between the Store and my Adobe ID. Nada. It always displays an error code (-50504) and asks for the details again. As a last resort I upgraded the reader to the latest firmware (-really- hoping I won't start seeing the freezing/touchscreen problems reported by others), but still no joy. I give up. Maybe when the reader store gets launched here in the UK I'll give it another shot; in the meantime, I'll enjoy DRM-free ebooks. - Micha. PS. @carpetmojo: you've got Windows; I'm sure if I had access to a Windows PC which is NOT behind a corporate firewall I might have more luck. But the point is, it should be possible to use this bleeding thing without needing several hundred quids worth of other equipment!!!

12-10-2011, 03:16 AM	#11
mwerle Micha Posts: 37 Karma: 3144 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Kobo Glo	Ok, final update: I finally got access to a PC running Windows and got tthe reader authorised. I can now buy ebooks directly from it and check ebooks out from my library. Still not impressed though by the amount of effort it's taken!

12-11-2011, 02:26 AM	#12
FinancialWar Banned Posts: 397 Karma: 85500 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sydney Device: Sony PRS350, Onyx M92, Onyx T68 (defective!)	moral of the story, don't run linux

12-11-2011, 12:29 PM	#15
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	That's neat - so when thr Reader store eventually opens, getting set for wifi will suddenly get a heck of a lot simpler - and wipe out of the "Help" requests ?