Sony's Windows ebook Reader

wallcraft · 07-26-2008, 11:53 AM

Sony PRS-50X owners will already be aware of this, but for the rest of us note that the eBook Library Software for your PC acts as a Windows ebook reader and does not need a PRS-50X. It now supports ePub, so it is an alternative to Adobe DE for Windows. See the attached screenshots of Sony and Adobe on an ePub of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The attachment shows the standard view which always uses about a 600x800 pane to display the ebook, but there is also a full screen view which may be better for actually reading ebooks. I think the 600x800 view is effectively emulating the PRS-505, but I'll leave it to PRS-505 owners to comment on how close the emulation is. If it is close, then this provides one way to get "screenshots" of what the PRS-505 will show. I tested a PDF and it looked identical, although I did not find a rotate option for the Windows version, see Full size .pdfs - screenshots and/or best option available now? (posts 7 & 9, photo from post 9).

HarryT · 07-26-2008, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

I think the 600x800 view is effectively emulating the PRS-505, but I'll leave it to PRS-505 owners to comment on how close the emulation is.

The emulation is very close indeed. In full-screen view, the text is exactly what you'll get on a "real" PRS-505; higher resolution doesn't change the "amount" of text displayed; it just makes the text larger.

I use the eBook Library software for checking the appearance of all the Sony Reader books I create - the emulation of a real device is excellent.

Elsie · 08-04-2009, 01:26 PM

Hope one of you can help me with this ...

I have been thinking of buying a PRS 505 mainly so that I can read certain public domain books which are available as PDFs on the internet. I was just about to reach for my debit card when I discovered that the 505 might not actually be up to the job of displaying PDFs properly. My researches led me here ... I downloaded the Windows ebook Reader from wallcraft's link and tried one of my PDFs in it - perfect result! Margins, paragraphs, even pictures, all spot on, and the font was easily large enough to read.

So my question is this - is what I see using the Reader on my PC necessarily what I will get once I have forked out for a 505 and connected it up? Do PDFs sometimes transfer across perfectly like this? Or do they always get scrambled?

An answer to this question might save me much grief and expense - so many thanks in advance!

Elsie

wallcraft · 08-04-2009, 01:40 PM

The current Sony Desktop Reader emulates a PRS-700. The only difference this makes in the emulator is the number of font sizes (zoom levels) which is 3 for the PRS-505 and 5 for the PRS-700. So what you see in the Desktop Reader is the same as you will see on the PRS-505. All you need to do is copy the PDFs over via USB (either in Desktop Reader or Calibre, or manually by treating the PRS-505 as a disk drive).

Note that some PDFs don't display (reflow) as well as your test PDFs do.

Sony is about to come out with two new readers, the PRS-300 and PRS-600. The former is like the PRS-505 except with a 5" screen (vs 6") and no memory expansion for ~$200. The latter is like the PRS-700, with a 6" touch screen. The PRS-700 is in general better than the PRS-505 for PDFs because it has a zoom mode as well as a reflow mode. The PRS-600 at ~$300 looks to be a very good choice for those who want to read PDFs on a small screen. We don't have full details of the PRS-600 (due this month), so there might be a "gotcha" we don't know about, but my recommendation would be to wait for the PRS-600 to see if it fits your needs. See Wiki: PRS600 for what we know so far,

Elsie · 08-04-2009, 02:05 PM

Wallcraft - thanks very much for such a prompt and informative reply. As I understand it, reflow is only a problem when you need to zoom in - so if the font is large enough to read, I shouldn't need to worry about it. Have I understood that right?

The PRS-600 does indeed sound interesting, and I shall add it to my list of options.

Thanks so much for your advice.

Elsie

wallcraft · 08-04-2009, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elsie

As I understand it, reflow is only a problem when you need to zoom in - so if the font is large enough to read, I shouldn't need to worry about it.

Correct. The full-page view you get on the smallest size setting is the original page as it would appear on paper. The other font sizes give you "reflow".

Don't forget that the PRS-505's screen is much smaller than the 600x800 window you see on a typical desktop screen. The PRS-505 is also 600x800 pixels but its pixel density is 166 pixels per inch. So what you are seeing on the desktop is exactly what will appear on the PRS-505, except for its overall size on your monitor. Most peoples eyesight isn't good enough to read the text on a typical letter/A4 PDF in full page view on the PRS-505.

Elsie · 08-04-2009, 02:30 PM

Erm, yes ... Good point about the screen size, which makes the 600 look even more attactive.

Thanks again.

lilac_jive · 08-04-2009, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elsie

Hope one of you can help me with this ...

I have been thinking of buying a PRS 505 mainly so that I can read certain public domain books which are available as PDFs on the internet. I was just about to reach for my debit card when I discovered that the 505 might not actually be up to the job of displaying PDFs properly. My researches led me here ... I downloaded the Windows ebook Reader from wallcraft's link and tried one of my PDFs in it - perfect result! Margins, paragraphs, even pictures, all spot on, and the font was easily large enough to read.

So my question is this - is what I see using the Reader on my PC necessarily what I will get once I have forked out for a 505 and connected it up? Do PDFs sometimes transfer across perfectly like this? Or do they always get scrambled?

An answer to this question might save me much grief and expense - so many thanks in advance!

Elsie

As a little add- I'll point out that if you are looking for public domain fiction, many of them are on here in the LRF format, which is what Sony natively reads. And they're free of course

Check out the "EBooks" tab at the top of any page on here.

doreenjoy · 08-04-2009, 03:15 PM

I second using the EPUB or LRF files here on Mobile Read as opposed to PDF.

If you have PDFs with small-ish fonts, you can change the Sony 505's orientation to Landscape, which makes the PDFs much easier to read.

Elsie · 08-05-2009, 12:10 PM

Thanks very much for all the helpful replies. My problem is that the things I most want to read are only available as PDFs. It seems that all I really need is a reader with a larger screen - but since I'm in the UK, the Kindle DX is out of the question, while the Iliad is prohibitively expensive. Everything else on the market seems to have the same six-inch screen. A little experimentation on the laptop suggests that 8 inches would be perfect, and even 7 would be an improvement ... Oh, well.

Thanks again for all your help.

lilac_jive · 08-05-2009, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elsie

Thanks very much for all the helpful replies. My problem is that the things I most want to read are only available as PDFs. It seems that all I really need is a reader with a larger screen - but since I'm in the UK, the Kindle DX is out of the question, while the Iliad is prohibitively expensive. Everything else on the market seems to have the same six-inch screen. A little experimentation on the laptop suggests that 8 inches would be perfect, and even 7 would be an improvement ... Oh, well.

Thanks again for all your help.

What kind of books are these? Technical documents?

07-26-2008, 11:53 AM	#1
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	Sony's Windows ebook Reader Sony PRS-50X owners will already be aware of this, but for the rest of us note that the eBook Library Software for your PC acts as a Windows ebook reader and does not need a PRS-50X. It now supports ePub, so it is an alternative to Adobe DE for Windows. See the attached screenshots of Sony and Adobe on an ePub of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The attachment shows the standard view which always uses about a 600x800 pane to display the ebook, but there is also a full screen view which may be better for actually reading ebooks. I think the 600x800 view is effectively emulating the PRS-505, but I'll leave it to PRS-505 owners to comment on how close the emulation is. If it is close, then this provides one way to get "screenshots" of what the PRS-505 will show. I tested a PDF and it looked identical, although I did not find a rotate option for the Windows version, see Full size .pdfs - screenshots and/or best option available now? (posts 7 & 9, photo from post 9). Attached Thumbnails Attached Images Last edited by wallcraft; 07-26-2008 at 12:05 PM.

08-04-2009, 01:26 PM	#3
Elsie Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: None	Quick question about the Sony and PDFs Hope one of you can help me with this ... I have been thinking of buying a PRS 505 mainly so that I can read certain public domain books which are available as PDFs on the internet. I was just about to reach for my debit card when I discovered that the 505 might not actually be up to the job of displaying PDFs properly. My researches led me here ... I downloaded the Windows ebook Reader from wallcraft's link and tried one of my PDFs in it - perfect result! Margins, paragraphs, even pictures, all spot on, and the font was easily large enough to read. So my question is this - is what I see using the Reader on my PC necessarily what I will get once I have forked out for a 505 and connected it up? Do PDFs sometimes transfer across perfectly like this? Or do they always get scrambled? An answer to this question might save me much grief and expense - so many thanks in advance! Elsie

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08-04-2009, 01:40 PM	#4
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	The current Sony Desktop Reader emulates a PRS-700. The only difference this makes in the emulator is the number of font sizes (zoom levels) which is 3 for the PRS-505 and 5 for the PRS-700. So what you see in the Desktop Reader is the same as you will see on the PRS-505. All you need to do is copy the PDFs over via USB (either in Desktop Reader or Calibre, or manually by treating the PRS-505 as a disk drive). Note that some PDFs don't display (reflow) as well as your test PDFs do. Sony is about to come out with two new readers, the PRS-300 and PRS-600. The former is like the PRS-505 except with a 5" screen (vs 6") and no memory expansion for ~$200. The latter is like the PRS-700, with a 6" touch screen. The PRS-700 is in general better than the PRS-505 for PDFs because it has a zoom mode as well as a reflow mode. The PRS-600 at ~$300 looks to be a very good choice for those who want to read PDFs on a small screen. We don't have full details of the PRS-600 (due this month), so there might be a "gotcha" we don't know about, but my recommendation would be to wait for the PRS-600 to see if it fits your needs. See Wiki: PRS600 for what we know so far,

08-04-2009, 02:05 PM	#5
Elsie Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: None	Wallcraft - thanks very much for such a prompt and informative reply. As I understand it, reflow is only a problem when you need to zoom in - so if the font is large enough to read, I shouldn't need to worry about it. Have I understood that right? The PRS-600 does indeed sound interesting, and I shall add it to my list of options. Thanks so much for your advice. Elsie

08-04-2009, 02:30 PM	#7
Elsie Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: None	Erm, yes ... Good point about the screen size, which makes the 600 look even more attactive. Thanks again.

08-04-2009, 03:15 PM	#9
doreenjoy 01000100 01001010 Posts: 1,889 Karma: 2400000 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Polyamorous	I second using the EPUB or LRF files here on Mobile Read as opposed to PDF. If you have PDFs with small-ish fonts, you can change the Sony 505's orientation to Landscape, which makes the PDFs much easier to read.

08-05-2009, 12:10 PM	#10
Elsie Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: None	Thanks very much for all the helpful replies. My problem is that the things I most want to read are only available as PDFs. It seems that all I really need is a reader with a larger screen - but since I'm in the UK, the Kindle DX is out of the question, while the Iliad is prohibitively expensive. Everything else on the market seems to have the same six-inch screen. A little experimentation on the laptop suggests that 8 inches would be perfect, and even 7 would be an improvement ... Oh, well. Thanks again for all your help.

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