PRS 600 Questions: wikipedia offline, wifi sdhc, rss feeds

[okalyddude]

Hello, I am trying to finalize my decision on which E reader to get (I can't believe I haven't gotten one yet, after finally seeing one in person!)


For various reasons, I have narrowed it down to the PRS 600, though I am still looking around, reading the forum, etc. So I apologize if a few Qs are duplicates.


-What is the maximum storage? I saw somewhere that 16 GB SD and 16 GB sony stick is the maximum, can someone verify this?

-Is there any way to put an offline cache of wikipedia, or any other encyclopedia, on it? If it was a regular encyclopedia in pdf or other form, you'd need to use the search function, and it'd be tedious but do-able. Wikipedia I believe has an all-text offline version you can download.. and at 32 GB I would gladly take it.

-Can you edit the dictionary? For instance, if someone were to find a way to supplement the dictionary entries with wiki or encyclopedia data, could this be done?

-Would it be possible to use the new SD cards for the BeBook to get Wifi? If it would require a firmware update, how likely is that? If it would require a hack, how likely is that? http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/06/b...pdate-eyes-on/

-Are RSS feeds possible (I suppose I'd really only want it through Wifi, but if you really wanted you could use it USB)

-I've heard (read) mixed reviews on glare, touch screen negatives, etc... but somewhere else a comparison showed the 600 comparable to the kindle, and the 300 / 500 the clear winners (the kindle and 600 still very readable, while the 700 the most annoying) Comments?

-Does it really not come with a nice leather case that opens, as other models have? Any recommendations on a good replacement (I read that the slip cover it comes in is garbage)

-Lack of light: every an issue? Recommendations on a leather case with built in light (not the overpriced sony one) ?




Wikipedia or any encyclopedia, or other methods of supplementary resource tools would be a deal breaker for me.

Wifi is kind of an extra thing. It'd be nice, and neat down the road if possible. It'd be great for newspapers, weather, etc. But as I have a wifi enabled phone that'll always be with me, and a netbook some of the time, I'm pretty well covered on the things you need wifi for (mainly RSS feeds, news, weather)

Kindle's system is out because I often travel or live outside the US, and wouldn't want that system figured in to the cost of my device. Also, I'm aware there's other models that have wifi (or are coming out) but are more expensive (300 is probably my cut off, would prefer a bit cheaper honestly..), bigger (want it big enough to read, small enough to carry, 7inch model, paper size kindle, all too big), etc, and detract from the main purpose (I just need to read more books, and I like to travel) and others are 3rd parties that have had pretty mediocre reviews, or are practically impossible to find information on (Asbuka wisereader, onyx boox). From past experiences, going sony is never a bad call, even if others promise more at a competitive price...

[okalyddude]

Though obviously if someone DOES have another recommendation, I'd take a look...

And I should mention that I don't care too much about the online store options. I hear sony's is better, though honestly I'm going to download a lot of books (many of which I own, have owned before, friends own and could just borrow, want to sample new authors, etc...) and continue to by certain books in hard copy form if I find them worth it. I still want a library one day, something that may be a contentious issue, but I still do see the advantages of real books (more than just to show off to people how many fancy books you have) They are ascetically pleasing, you can scribble in them permanently, you can loan them to people (and usually not get em back...)

But I am very interested in the library function. Does that work quite well?

Edit again: I keep thinking of more Qs:


-How do foot notes work? I have seen how charts and graphs and pictures work (better in the normal book format, but tolerable in PDF) but I haven't seen what about foot notes...

For instance, does it display them small text bottom of the screen, can you have clickable links that take you to the end of the book to read an end-note, then come back?

-How about quick chapter selection, or scrolling through multiple pages? or any other method to skim a book without searching for something specific. I know in some books, searching chapter 1 etc would be good enough, but some (game of thrones series, highly recommend reading it before it's an HBO series) do not have chapter titles or numbers, just character names.


-Multiple language dictionaries? Or a download-able translator? Seems like it'd be easy enough with the search function or touch screen... That would be nice in random occasions. (I'm thinking of the times when I would have my e-reader only)

[FragFrog]

Some points:

RSS: this is possible through Calibre, simply add a feed and sync when you connect the reader to your PC.

Storage: 16Gb seems the max, but honestly, you almost certainly won't need it. I have now put 130 books on my reader and it's consumed about 60Mb. Now some full-image PDF books will be bigger, but generally this is easily offset by the small size of normal books.

Glare / etc: I really have not found this to be an issue at all. As mentioned often, it merely means you have to tilt your reader a few degrees sometimes to prevent a glare from a direct light source.

WiFi: this would be awesome, but I don't see it happen anytime soon.

Case: it does indeed only come with some slip cover that is not that bad (reader fits inside snugly and prevents scratches and small bumps), but it won't protect your reader from hard objects crushing the screen if you put it in a bag.

Light: You might have seen my review of the official Sony cover. This would fix two issues at once: a good replacement for the slip cover and a lightsource that's always available and from what I heard will last ages on a single battery. Of course, yes, it's hell'a expensive. Still, I have had little trouble reading at night by the light of a single candle.

Library: the EBL (default software) that ships with it is in my opinion useless. Far better is Calibre, a free open source program maintained by members of this very forum.

Footnotes: I noticed those in a Terry Pratchett book I read appeared at the very end of the book - not so good. On the other hand, others appeared right where they ought to be, especially with PDF books. It really is a case-by-case situation, some books will work well, others won't.

Chapter selection: in the options menu (simply hit the 'Options' button while reading) is a 'Table of contents' option that shows a list of chapters, subchapters, etc, if supported by the book. In my experience, most do. For scrolling multiple pages you actually get a scrollbar you can use to quickly skip to certain parts in the book, or you can enter a pagenumber to jump to. Overall, not bad.

Multiple language dictionaries: no go, at least, not so far. There is a Russian group that seemed to have found a way to hack the device and upload a russian dictionary (I think - my Russian ain't so good ) but nothing official. It's English or English you're stuck with. Of course, nothing is stopping you from uploading a text dictionary to your device and switch to that to lookup words, but that is of course not as easy as the build-in function.

[okalyddude]

I guess finding pdf or other normal text formats of large resources (multi language dictionaries, wikipedia, encyclopedias, thesaurus) is the only solution right now.

At least there is a search function, so I could figure out how the file is formatted and perform a search to find the word or section I want...

I guess I'll just cross my fingers that these hackers will find a way to supplement the dictionary, or add other resources, to make them easy to use.

This is the only reason I was interested in the maximum space. If you can, why NOT load it up with resources that may come in handy when you are not near an internet source, or simply don't have your laptop / pda. Sure, I'll put a lot of books on there, and probably use that Calibre for lots of news, magazines, etc (it does look quite handy) but I won't likely use music (maybe audio books - it DOES have the text to audio feature also, if there's no audio file to supplement a book?) or anything else that'll eat up that much space... Not sure how big the text only wikipedia is right now, or other encyclopedias, but I'm guessing reasonably large.

Guess I'll have to cross my fingers on foot notes too, that it works on the few books I really need it on.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by FragFrog

Footnotes: I noticed those in a Terry Pratchett book I read appeared at the very end of the book - not so good. On the other hand, others appeared right where they ought to be, especially with PDF books. It really is a case-by-case situation, some books will work well, others won't.

Isn't something like this down to whoever compiled the ePub file with the publishers having chosen to make footnotes clickable links in the latest discworld book with their being at the back of the book being effectively just where they were being stored rather than how you should have read them.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by okalyddude

(it does look quite handy) but I won't likely use music (maybe audio books - it DOES have the text to audio feature also, if there's no audio file to supplement a book?)

okalyddude--As far as I know, none of the Sony Readers have text to speech capabilitites.

dordale

[okalyddude]

Originally Posted by dordale

okalyddude--As far as I know, none of the Sony Readers have text to speech capabilitites.

dordale

Well that's lame ... I thought most of the new ereaders of all brands could at least do this.

Can you read and have an audio file playing at the same time, pretty easily? I don't generally listen to too many audio books, but it's nice once in a while, and sometimes nice to have both.

I saw someone on the wishlist page suggest that it could automatically play an audio file and keep up in the book... I doubt that it could do that, except with a voice to speech support...

Is voice to speech a possible hack and add?

[Haesslich]

Originally Posted by okalyddude

Well that's lame ... I thought most of the new ereaders of all brands could at least do this.

Can you read and have an audio file playing at the same time, pretty easily? I don't generally listen to too many audio books, but it's nice once in a while, and sometimes nice to have both.

I saw someone on the wishlist page suggest that it could automatically play an audio file and keep up in the book... I doubt that it could do that, except with a voice to speech support...

Is voice to speech a possible hack and add?

Uh, most readers DON'T do text-to-speech at the moment, so I don't see how this makes it any more lame than the iRex readers, or most anything save the Kindle or some of the Hanlin or Hanvon devices (which were either available only in China, or else were produced for other companies' under a different brandname). You could do both, but I'd consider it a waste of battery life - and the reader's player software isn't the best. You'd be better off reading on an iPod Touch if you want music and text.

Plus, given that voice-to-speech requires software that's not on there, you'd need to have someone come up with a whole new OS for the Sony Reader, which has yet to be done the last time I looked. You might as well buy a Kindle instead, if text-to-speech is THAT important to you. Just learn to do without ePub and prepare for your Amazon overlords to confirm whether the books on your reader are approved.

[DrMoze]

Sounds like you want a netbook or multifunction phone/pda more than an ebook reader, which are primarily geared for (and best at) simply reading books. Try to add too many functions ("feature bloat") and the whole device goes down the crapper imo.

[okalyddude]

nah I've already got a netbook, and specifically said that text to speech is not important. Just trying to figure out the parameters. Having options is nice. But having an audio book on my phone would be adequate, if I decided to start using those more.

I'll probably order the 600 today or soon, but am wondering if maybe I should wait to see if prices will decline soon....

And as I said, i'm not as worried about wifi because mostly I'd want it for news. While having a pdf of a newspaper WOULD be cool, my phone has wifi, (and netbook, which I don't always have like my phone) and news is generally quick reads. The ereader will still be great for downloading magazines and such, which you read longer.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by okalyddude

-Does it really not come with a nice leather case that opens, as other models have? Any recommendations on a good replacement (I read that the slip cover it comes in is garbage)

I don't know where you read that, but it's entirely wrong; the slip case certainly isn't "garbage".

I have the standard Sony leather cover. Good quality, and works well, but there are other choices, such as the M-Edge covers.

[okalyddude]

Alright, well as long as it protects it from damage, it's fine.

[benham]

I liked Frag's review of the cover on the other thread.

If you put a Word doc on an SD card will it be readable on the unit or does it need to be synced somehow?

[Haesslich]

Originally Posted by benham

I liked Frag's review of the cover on the other thread.

If you put a Word doc on an SD card will it be readable on the unit or does it need to be synced somehow?

No, Word DOC and DOCX files have to be converted first by eBook Reader or Calibre to RTF or some other format. It's actually in the manual on page 44:

Word files will be automatically converted into RTF files during
transfer to the Reader only if Microsoft Word is installed on your
computer.

[benham]

Got it thanks! Can you store them in the Sony Library or ADE?