Bought the PRS-505 today...woohoo!

Kai Winters · 06-19-2009, 01:43 PM

Hi all,
After much "fence sitting" and "waffling" I finally purchased an ereader. I bought the Sony 505 and after fiddling around with it for the past 2 hours I am thrilled with it.
I was waffling between the kindle2 and the 505 and have exhaustively researched them both...whew lots of reviews and user comments.
I chose the 505 because of its' size, robust build...I hope lol, and its' cost.
I do not need nor want the kindle's ability to download anywhere, nor did I like the size and format of the device. Its' cost was also much more than I wanted to pay.

I already have 40ish books downloaded from the Baen Free Library...all at no cost...and most are duplicates of my already purchased and very well worn paper backs and hard covers. I prefer reading sci-fi novels but enjoy classics as well.
I also bought this device for its' PDF ability. I read a lot of reviews and users manuals of a variety of things and this allows me to download the reviews to the 505 and read where I want also eliminating the need and waste of printing the document only to discard it later at some point.

Thanks to those that helped me off the fence.
Any suggestions regarding its' use would be appreciated.
I use the elibrary but also use Calibre and the Adobe Digital Editions.
Kai

toomanybooks · 06-19-2009, 01:58 PM

Welcome to the Sony cult. I have had my Sony for several months and love it. It sounds like you are well on your way. If you like reading news you should check out Calibre's ability to download and sent news sites to your Sony.

MickeyC · 06-19-2009, 02:42 PM

Kai congrats on your new toy. I've had my 505 for over a year and a half and really like it.

What color did you get?

kelly1010 · 06-19-2009, 02:42 PM

YAY!! Enjoy your new toy!! I LOVE mine.

columbus · 06-19-2009, 03:46 PM

Kai Welcome to Mobilread. You are obviously already an astute and thoughtful person having bought a Sony. I guess you have one of the silver ones - these impart many gifts. (IQ +50, insight into the future etc. etc

)

Enjoy your membership of Mobileread - ask and any problems will be answered by one of our knowledgeable members.

Don't forget to check out the more than 10,000 public domain free downloads here - all lovingly formatted for your reader by MR members.

Enjoy

dordale · 06-19-2009, 07:12 PM

Congrats Kai!
Hope you enjoy your 505 as much as I enjoy mine!!

dordale

benham · 06-19-2009, 07:18 PM

Curious what you had to fiddle around with for 2 hrs...

dreams · 06-19-2009, 07:25 PM

Welcome to MR and congratulations on your new Sony, Kai Winters.

You sound like you already have the basics understood. Lots of free sci-fi out there.

We also have quite a few authors on this site who very generously offered their work to us. Be sure to check out the Deals, Freebies, and Resources thread along with the Writers' Corner. Watch for various avatars as that will clue you to some other authors.

Don't forget to check out the beautifully formatted ebooks on this site. The members who upload them for us take pride in producing nice looking ebooks.

Ask questions if you need help and have fun following the threads.

PS.... what color did you get?

Elsi · 06-19-2009, 07:27 PM

Hello Kai -- Welcome to MobileRead and congratulations on your purchase.

While it is true that the Sony 505 supports PDF files, I've found that to be of little value. Earlier this year, I read two PDF books on the Sony. Both of those books were formatted for A-sized (US letter-sized) paper and were too small to read as-is on the Sony. Selecting the "increase font" option resulted in a readable, but not pleasant presentation. There were forced line breaks where the original text had the breaks, which meant that the resizing only did a partial re-flow. As I said, the result was readable, but just barely. Fortunately, these were very short books. I won't approach PDFs for the Sony again unless I can get ones that were created explicitly for the Sony's screen size.

With that said, I am glad to have my Sony 505 reader. I also have *lots* of books from Baen/Webscription loaded onto my reader. I've also bought 20+ Multi-format books from Fictionwise which I can read on the Sony. My hubby bought me the lighted cover (the one with the lightwedge in it) and I make sure to have a book queued up on the Sony whenever we're in the car at night. The lightwedge doesn't bother his eyes as much as a book light had. Otherwise, I'm still partial to my Kindle 1.

You've joined a very dynamic online community and will find lots of people here who own and love their Sony readers.

Stitchawl · 06-19-2009, 07:57 PM

Welcome to the Sony world, Kai! I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine. On the other hand, I hope you get more work done than I do because I'm always reading on my Sony! Like you, I read a lot of Sci-fi (just finished 'Foundation' for the umpth time!) There are thousands of great Sci-fi books already formatted for the Sony, but you can always reformat others using Calibre. Very easy to use. Have fun!

Stitchawl

Cabe · 06-19-2009, 08:29 PM

Columbus has the right of it, my silver 505 also imparted a 40% increase in win and a tertiary beard.

Teddman · 06-19-2009, 08:46 PM

Congrats on your purchase... I scored a 505 during the $199 Borders sale and have been enjoying it for the past week; it's also my first e-reader.

I've found the 505's PDF ability to be acceptable, though not perfect. It usually preserves paragraph breaks, but will give a ragged-right margin. That's pretty much a limitation of the small screen displaying pdf's formatted for larger displays. They're still plenty readable if it doesn't bother you too much.

My favorite format for the 505 (besides lrf) is rtf, which the 505 reads natively and displays with full justification. Looks just like a paperback. Best of all, you can reformat the font and sizing in just about any text editor.

Kai Winters · 06-19-2009, 11:07 PM

I have the "silver" 505.
I work in a lab and have the luxury to read between testing so I read a lot. I have always read a lot, since a little kid.
benham I added books, removed books, played around with the settings, etc.
I like Calibre quite a bit and have downloaded/converted some with calibre. It was effortless.
I have also played around with the rtf format...actually have used that format for probably well over 10 years or more.

I spent several hours total reading tonight and must say the "black flash" is no big deal. It was a bit disconcerting at first but I got used to it quickly. Fortunately one of the books I dl'd was one I was in the middle of in paper back mode lol. I put that one back on the shelf and it is ereading from here on out.
Thanks to all the well wishers, etc.
Much appreciated,
Kai

GraceKrispy · 06-20-2009, 05:48 AM

Congratulations on your newest purchase! You made an excellent decision(especially the SILVER part).

If you haven't already, check out http://search.overdrive.com/ to see if your local library carries pdf or epub that can be read on your 505. My library adds books each time and it's a great way to cycle through readnig material without spending a dime (or worrying about late fees!).

Enjoy your reader!

Coops · 06-20-2009, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by columbus

Don't forget to check out the more than 10,000 public domain free downloads here - all lovingly formatted for your reader by MR members.

Enjoy

I'd downloaded the index of all the free downloads available on this site... and finally got around to scanning through t it and downloading any that caught my eye.... now have ~ 200ish in my library waiting to be read/reread.

Lots of great stuff in there - and well worth browsing through....

Coops

06-19-2009, 01:43 PM	#1
Kai Winters Lover of Books Posts: 218 Karma: 1073074 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Northern NY Device: iPhone 7+	Bought the PRS-505 today...woohoo! Hi all, After much "fence sitting" and "waffling" I finally purchased an ereader. I bought the Sony 505 and after fiddling around with it for the past 2 hours I am thrilled with it. I was waffling between the kindle2 and the 505 and have exhaustively researched them both...whew lots of reviews and user comments. I chose the 505 because of its' size, robust build...I hope lol, and its' cost. I do not need nor want the kindle's ability to download anywhere, nor did I like the size and format of the device. Its' cost was also much more than I wanted to pay. I already have 40ish books downloaded from the Baen Free Library...all at no cost...and most are duplicates of my already purchased and very well worn paper backs and hard covers. I prefer reading sci-fi novels but enjoy classics as well. I also bought this device for its' PDF ability. I read a lot of reviews and users manuals of a variety of things and this allows me to download the reviews to the 505 and read where I want also eliminating the need and waste of printing the document only to discard it later at some point. Thanks to those that helped me off the fence. Any suggestions regarding its' use would be appreciated. I use the elibrary but also use Calibre and the Adobe Digital Editions. Kai

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06-19-2009, 01:58 PM	#2
toomanybooks Addict Posts: 302 Karma: 1039424 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: Ipad, Ipod Touch, KIndle Fire	Welcome to the Sony cult. I have had my Sony for several months and love it. It sounds like you are well on your way. If you like reading news you should check out Calibre's ability to download and sent news sites to your Sony.

06-19-2009, 02:42 PM	#3
MickeyC Grand Sorcerer Posts: 16,732 Karma: 12185114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Florida Device: iPhone 6 plus, Sony T1, iPad 3	Kai congrats on your new toy. I've had my 505 for over a year and a half and really like it. What color did you get?

06-19-2009, 02:42 PM	#4
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	YAY!! Enjoy your new toy!! I LOVE mine.

06-19-2009, 03:46 PM	#5
columbus Wizard Posts: 999 Karma: 5487540 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: In my own imagination. Device: Sony Prs 650, 505	Kai Welcome to Mobilread. You are obviously already an astute and thoughtful person having bought a Sony. I guess you have one of the silver ones - these impart many gifts. (IQ +50, insight into the future etc. etc ) Enjoy your membership of Mobileread - ask and any problems will be answered by one of our knowledgeable members. Don't forget to check out the more than 10,000 public domain free downloads here - all lovingly formatted for your reader by MR members. Enjoy

06-19-2009, 07:12 PM	#6
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	Congrats Kai! Hope you enjoy your 505 as much as I enjoy mine!! dordale

06-19-2009, 07:18 PM	#7
benham Guru Posts: 882 Karma: 5565888 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Townsend, WI Device: Palm TX, PRS-505 (BLUE)	Curious what you had to fiddle around with for 2 hrs...

06-19-2009, 07:25 PM	#8
dreams It's about the umbrella Posts: 25,112 Karma: 56250158 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony 505\| K Fire \| KK 3G+Wi-Fi \| iPhone 3Gs \|Vista 32-bit Hm Prem w/FF	Welcome to MR and congratulations on your new Sony, Kai Winters. You sound like you already have the basics understood. Lots of free sci-fi out there. We also have quite a few authors on this site who very generously offered their work to us. Be sure to check out the Deals, Freebies, and Resources thread along with the Writers' Corner. Watch for various avatars as that will clue you to some other authors. Don't forget to check out the beautifully formatted ebooks on this site. The members who upload them for us take pride in producing nice looking ebooks. Ask questions if you need help and have fun following the threads. PS.... what color did you get?

06-19-2009, 07:27 PM	#9
Elsi Wizard Posts: 2,366 Karma: 12000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas, USA Device: Kindle; Sony PRS 505; Blackberry 8700C	Hello Kai -- Welcome to MobileRead and congratulations on your purchase. While it is true that the Sony 505 supports PDF files, I've found that to be of little value. Earlier this year, I read two PDF books on the Sony. Both of those books were formatted for A-sized (US letter-sized) paper and were too small to read as-is on the Sony. Selecting the "increase font" option resulted in a readable, but not pleasant presentation. There were forced line breaks where the original text had the breaks, which meant that the resizing only did a partial re-flow. As I said, the result was readable, but just barely. Fortunately, these were very short books. I won't approach PDFs for the Sony again unless I can get ones that were created explicitly for the Sony's screen size. With that said, I am glad to have my Sony 505 reader. I also have lots of books from Baen/Webscription loaded onto my reader. I've also bought 20+ Multi-format books from Fictionwise which I can read on the Sony. My hubby bought me the lighted cover (the one with the lightwedge in it) and I make sure to have a book queued up on the Sony whenever we're in the car at night. The lightwedge doesn't bother his eyes as much as a book light had. Otherwise, I'm still partial to my Kindle 1. You've joined a very dynamic online community and will find lots of people here who own and love their Sony readers.

06-19-2009, 07:57 PM	#10
Stitchawl Opsimath Posts: 12,344 Karma: 187123287 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Device: Sony PRS-650, iPhone 5, Kobo Glo, Sony PRS-350, iPad, Samsung Galaxy	Welcome to the Sony world, Kai! I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine. On the other hand, I hope you get more work done than I do because I'm always reading on my Sony! Like you, I read a lot of Sci-fi (just finished 'Foundation' for the umpth time!) There are thousands of great Sci-fi books already formatted for the Sony, but you can always reformat others using Calibre. Very easy to use. Have fun! Stitchawl

06-19-2009, 08:29 PM	#11
Cabe Connoisseur Posts: 99 Karma: 403 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Portsmouth, UK Device: Sony PRS-505, iPhone	Columbus has the right of it, my silver 505 also imparted a 40% increase in win and a tertiary beard.

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06-19-2009, 08:46 PM	#12
Teddman Addict Posts: 242 Karma: 695 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505	Congrats on your purchase... I scored a 505 during the $199 Borders sale and have been enjoying it for the past week; it's also my first e-reader. I've found the 505's PDF ability to be acceptable, though not perfect. It usually preserves paragraph breaks, but will give a ragged-right margin. That's pretty much a limitation of the small screen displaying pdf's formatted for larger displays. They're still plenty readable if it doesn't bother you too much. My favorite format for the 505 (besides lrf) is rtf, which the 505 reads natively and displays with full justification. Looks just like a paperback. Best of all, you can reformat the font and sizing in just about any text editor.

06-19-2009, 11:07 PM	#13
Kai Winters Lover of Books Posts: 218 Karma: 1073074 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Northern NY Device: iPhone 7+	I have the "silver" 505. I work in a lab and have the luxury to read between testing so I read a lot. I have always read a lot, since a little kid. benham I added books, removed books, played around with the settings, etc. I like Calibre quite a bit and have downloaded/converted some with calibre. It was effortless. I have also played around with the rtf format...actually have used that format for probably well over 10 years or more. I spent several hours total reading tonight and must say the "black flash" is no big deal. It was a bit disconcerting at first but I got used to it quickly. Fortunately one of the books I dl'd was one I was in the middle of in paper back mode lol. I put that one back on the shelf and it is ereading from here on out. Thanks to all the well wishers, etc. Much appreciated, Kai

06-20-2009, 05:48 AM	#14
GraceKrispy It's Dr. Penguin now! Posts: 3,909 Karma: 4705733 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: (USA) Device: iPad mini, Samsung Note 3, Sony PRS-650 (rarely used now)	Congratulations on your newest purchase! You made an excellent decision(especially the SILVER part). If you haven't already, check out http://search.overdrive.com/ to see if your local library carries pdf or epub that can be read on your 505. My library adds books each time and it's a great way to cycle through readnig material without spending a dime (or worrying about late fees!). Enjoy your reader!