PRS-350 How Do You Download Books To Sony PRS 350?

[Silverone]

Hello,

Im new here & new to ebook readers. Im getting a Ebook reader for my birthday in December so I have lots of time to decide which one I want.

I am trying to decide between the Amazon Kindle 3 3g & the Sony PRS 350.

I know with the Kindle 3g how to download books to the Kindle. Even for this numpty!

But I don't know how to download books to the Sony. Am I right in saying the Sony comes with a disk you put into the computer that tells it all it needs to know?

How do you get the books from the computer to the ereader?.

Please keep your answers un technical because im a numpty!

Thank You xxx

[Silverone]

Hello,

Im new here & new to ebook readers. Im getting a Ebook reader for my birthday in December so I have lots of time to decide which one I want.

I am trying to decide between the Amazon Kindle 3 3g & the Sony PRS 350.

I know with the Kindle 3g how to download books to the Kindle. Even for this numpty!

But I don't know how to download books to the Sony. Am I right in saying the Sony comes with a disk you put into the computer that tells it all it needs to know?

How do you get the books from the computer to the ereader?.

Please keep your answers un technical because im a numpty!

Thank You xxx

[java24]

I am new to ereaders as well and got the prs-350 yesterday. U can download the Sony software for free from their site to check out, but I am using calibre to get the books on which is awesome, you just sync it with calibre and they are put on your device through USB. Calibre is free as well. Having played with a kindle 3 I like the 350 much better.

[bmatt]

It is my understanding that the new Sony Readers do not come with a disc, as the device has everything you need built in, maybe a ROM on board with proper drivers for Windows/MAC? Not sure. From there you can download the Sony software or any of the alternatives. I downloaded the Sony Library software to my computer and have played with it. If you have ever used iTunes the interface is very similar. It'll even interface with your browser, if I go to Kobobooks.com and click on download ePub on any of the books I own the Sony Library software pops up and automatically imports it to my library, it is pretty nice though some people don't like it. Since I have not had a Reader device yet I cannot speak beyond that, though.

[SkyDream]

Basically all Sony PRS-Reader use the Sony Reader Library (download from Sony or from the CD) to manages your e-Books and download them to your reader.

But you may try calibre (latest version 0.7.19, download here) which has a lot more features and supports PRS-350 too. calibre manages your e-books, convert them between many formats (pdf, epub, mobi, etc.), download news from the web and send all those to your reader. calibre supports a lot readers (sony, kindles, nook, etc.).

calibre has it's own forum at MR.

Without getting technical, you can also load books to Kindles and Sony Readers without any software. You just use a USB connection and copy the files directly to the appropriate folder on the reader. Although this is an option, it is probably not the best option as the books are not placed into collections.

I will say that with the newest Sony Readers the Sony Library software works a 100 times better and faster than it did with the older readers. So I think the Sony Library software would probably be your best option as it requires the least technical skills.

[igorsk]

If you get books without DRM [Digital Rights Management], such as public domain books from here, FeedBooks or Project Gutenberg, or Baen ebooks, you can just drag&drop them to the Reader's USB drive without any extra software.

If you plan to buy books from Sony's store, you'll need to install Sony's eBook Library which can be downloaded (or use the installer on the Reader itself).

There are many other shops that sell books compatible with Sony Readers. Some sell DRM-free books (such as Webscriptions, Angry Robot or Pan Macmillan) - those can be just copied, as I mentioned above. The others usually use Adobe DRM and will need Sony software and, sometimes, Adobe Digital Editions, installed. Some of the more well-known are BooksOnBoard and Borders.

You can search for ebooks that are compatible with Sony Reader using Inkmesh.

Another source of ebooks for Sony Readers are public libraries (mostly limited to U.S.). See if you have one nearby here.

[Silverone]

Buying books from the sony store, they all come up in $ im in the uk. How does that work?

Thanks xxx

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by Silverone

Buying books from the sony store, they all come up in $ im in the uk. How does that work?

Thanks xxx

Change your location from the US to the UK in Preferences then you should be able to access the UK book store but it's not going to be the same as you see now. I believe I've read that it connects to Waterstones.