Sony PRS-505

[Acextreme]

A few things I would like to know about the Sony Reader PRS-505. From what I understand, it opens PDFs but can only be viewed via reflowing the texts, hence some PDFs might not open correctly, especially 2 column pages, am I right?

So it doesn't have a zoom mode where you can pan around and view PDFs as it was originally designed? How about bookmarks or TOC support? And I presume it cannot highlight/annotate as well, right?

How does the PRS-700 fare against the PRS-505 in PDF support? Does the 700 have bookmarks or TOC support? Does it allows you to highlight/annotate?

Thanks.

[wallcraft]

I assume you know that Sony is about the release the PRS-300 (like the 505 but with a 5" screen and a few other changes) and the PRS-600 (like the 700 but with a dictionary, hand written notes and no built in light).

If you have a Windows PC, try your PDFs in Sony's Windows ebook Reader. The screenshots in that thread are from a version emulating a PRS-505, but the latest version emulates a PRS-700. Probably the next version (end of the month) will emulate a PRS-600 and be available on Macs. All PDFs are viewable "full page" in portrait or half page in landscape mode, but reflow only works for text and only for some text.

The PRS-700 (and presumably the PRS-600) has a zoom mode for PDFs, as well as reflow. It can also annotate and highlight, via the touch screen.

[Momo_Germany]

Hi Acextreme,

Both the PRS-505 as well as the PRS-700 allow to create bookmarks in pdfs, epubs, rtfs etc. And I'm sure also the PRS-300 and the PRS-600 will have this function.

Greetings,
Momo

[Acextreme]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, the reason I posted this was because my PDF's content page have links and that software actually allows me to click on those links to bring me to the appropriate pages. But my question is, does the physical readers (i.e. PRS-505 and PRS-700) allows me to do that too?

Furthermore, any bookmarks made in the PDF using Adobe Acrobat Professional can be opened in the software but what about in the physical reader itself? Does it have access to those bookmarks? And when you bookmark PDFs in the physical readers, does those get saved into the PDFs itself so that when you open using Adobe Acrobat, you can access those bookmarks too?

And if I am not mistaken, the PRS-700 can annotate and highlight PDFs but not the PRS-505? The software I am using is 2.5 which I believe is the latest version, hence it emulates the PRS-700? Is it safe to say whatever can be done in that software, the PRS-700 can do too (i.e. highlight and annotate, access to bookmarks within PDFs, supports links, etc)?

For the Kindle DX, the bookmarks made in the PDFs are not accessible and links are not supported. Also, bookmarks made in the DX itself does not affect the PDF document; it's stored seperately. And of course, if the PRS-700 can highlight and annotate PDFs, then -1 for the DX. Well, the only advantage of the DX is that its screen is larger as compared to both the 505 and 700; both the Sony readers only have 6 inch screen, correct me if I am wrong.

The initial question raised of whether there is a zoom mode has yet to be answered. Since both the Sony readers have only 6 inch screens, do both of them allows you a zoom mode where the user can pan around the zoomed PDF?

Thanks. Darn, makes me feel I should have gone with the Sony but again, the smaller screen might be a bigger problem than any lack of features.

[JonB]

Re Navigation in PDFs. Yes. The PRS-505 does allow you to navigate via links in a properly formatted PDF. Good example is the Sony PRS-505 User Guide which has navigable links.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by Acextreme

... my PDF's content page have links and that software actually allows me to click on those links to bring me to the appropriate pages. But my question is, does the physical readers (i.e. PRS-505 and PRS-700) allows me to do that too?

Yes, but only links that are internal to the book. (e.g. you cannot access the web.

Originally Posted by Acextreme

Furthermore, any bookmarks made in the PDF using Adobe Acrobat Professional can be opened in the software but what about in the physical reader itself? Does it have access to those bookmarks? And when you bookmark PDFs in the physical readers, does those get saved into the PDFs itself so that when you open using Adobe Acrobat, you can access those bookmarks too?

Sony bookmarks and Adobe bookmarks are not the same. An Adobe bookmark is treated like a Table of Content entry. You have to navigate through the TOC pages to use Adobe Bookmarks. Sony bookmarks act more like traditional paper book book marks. It folds the corner of the page. You can later access your bookmarks by the bookmark navigation page.

Also bookmarks are kept in a separate file than the book. Its an XML file called catch.xml. Where the PDF bookmarks are part of the PDF book.

Originally Posted by Acextreme

And if I am not mistaken, the PRS-700 can annotate and highlight PDFs but not the PRS-505? The software I am using is 2.5 which I believe is the latest version, hence it emulates the PRS-700? Is it safe to say whatever can be done in that software, the PRS-700 can do too (i.e. highlight and annotate, access to bookmarks within PDFs, supports links, etc)?

For the 505 that is true. I assume that is also true for the 700. If I apply a bookmark with the SONY software the bookmark will show up on the book. Since the 505 cannot search. I often run the search on the software and place bookmarks on those pages so I can later reference those pages on my reader.

Originally Posted by Acextreme

The initial question raised of whether there is a zoom mode has yet to be answered. Since both the Sony readers have only 6 inch screens, do both of them allows you a zoom mode where the user can pan around the zoomed PDF?

The zoom mode only exists on the 700. The 505 only reflows the text. I use tools like soPDF, pdfmanipulate and PaperCrop to make PDF readable on my device. Usally removing the margins is all it takes to make a book readable on the device. All are free and found here on this site.

Reflow is a hit and miss with two columns sometimes the reflow properly reflows two column text sometimes it does a bad job.

For those problem PDF you can use PaperCrop a tool designed just for reading two column text on smaller screens. The only downfall of PaperCrop is that it turns your PDF to images (makes a copy). But it works and is extreamly easy to use.

Originally Posted by Acextreme

Thanks. Darn, makes me feel I should have gone with the Sony but again, the smaller screen might be a bigger problem than any lack of features.

There is no replacement for a larger screen. Not having to do any form of workaround is ideal. Of course what you give up is portability. The 505 is small enough to fit in my back pocket. And the new 300 is even smaller.

=X=

[Acextreme]

Oh, thanks, =X=. That answered everything I needed to know perfectly.