New PRS-505 owner - it's a bit complicated

gPerry · 07-13-2009, 05:26 AM

Hi everyone, just want to introduce myself.

I just took the plunge and bought a prs-505 in blue, but the actual specifics are a bit complicated, so I thought I should come here and clear up a few things. I don't actually have the device in hand yet, so some bits may be a bit fuzzy, it'll be another day or two before I get the actual device.

Basically, I'm British, but on an extended holiday in China. My wife bought the reader for me from TaoBao, the chinese equivalent of ebay. I assume the reader will have a US firmware, because the blue one isn't available in the UK to my knowledge (have checked SonyStyle, Waterstones, Play.com, Amazon). We asked the seller not to modify the firmware, as most auctioneers advertise hacked versions to support Chinese language.

Anyway, here are my questions:

Firmware: what would be the best firmware to install? I understand there are various firmware versions floating around, and the latest may not necessarily be the best. I will mainly using it in the UK, hopefully using UK based eBook stores. I may want to apply some of the hacks that are available.
Font hacks: Although not a big reader, my wife may at some point want to read chinese language ebooks. I understand there are various font hacks available - which one do the forumites recommend? I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty, having hacked chinese language support into most of the devices she uses.
Fonts: I've previously worked as a freelance graphic designer, so I have licenced copies of many nice fonts. Does anyone have any opinions as to the best choice of font for eBook reading? I've always been fond of the Adobe fonts, Myriad and Mystral.
Formats: I already have a bunch of ebooks in LIT format, and I'm setting up calibre while I await delivery. What would be the best format to convert to on the reader - LRF, EPUB or PDF?

That's all for now. I'm sure I have more questions when I get my hands on the reader. I hope people won't be put of from replying by the massive obelisk first post. Thanks in advance for your help.

pepak · 07-13-2009, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gPerry

[*]Firmware: what would be the best firmware to install? I understand there are various firmware versions floating around, and the latest may not necessarily be the best. I will mainly using it in the UK, hopefully using UK based eBook stores. I may want to apply some of the hacks that are available.

1.1.0.18040 available from Sony. The others are pretty much the same thing, with just a few minor adjustments (different date format, for example). Also, many hacks are designed to work with 18040 only.

Quote:

[*]Fonts: I've previously worked as a freelance graphic designer, so I have licenced copies of many nice fonts. Does anyone have any opinions as to the best choice of font for eBook reading? I've always been fond of the Adobe fonts, Myriad and Mystral.

I am using Times, Arial and Courier copied from my Windows, but then my knowledge about fonts is almost zero...

Quote:

[*]Formats: I already have a bunch of ebooks in LIT format, and I'm setting up calibre while I await delivery. What would be the best format to convert to on the reader - LRF, EPUB or PDF?

As long as you keep your original files intact (for future conversion needs), you can use any of these formats. Each will have some advantages and disadvantages. PDF will be slow and will not resize fonts very well. EPUB has all the bells and whistles, allows real italics etc., but I am not impressed with Adobe renderer's speed, stability, pagination and the lack of full justification. LRF only supports limited subset of formatting and only fake italics, but is fast, stable and with full justification. The choice is up to you, depending on your needs.

Ea · 07-13-2009, 07:31 AM

Like pepak, I find that lrf is fast, stable and it has full justification, which I prefer. I don't like the faked italics, but I can live with them. As for .lit - I usually buy DRM'd books in this format if possible, and then converts them in Calibre. Works well for me. The only thing that annoys me about using Calibre, is that it doesn't pre-paginate books, and it takes a little while to opne a book the first time. I've set the base font size to what I prefer, so at least I don't need to resize the book (and paginate again).

About fonts; Caecilia has been mentioned a number of times as a font that gives a nice clear image. I use Georgia myself (slightly unwilling to spend money in order to try out Caecilia).

richman · 07-13-2009, 03:07 PM

Finally got around to doing the font's hack with Caecilia. It does look very sharp and dark, I like it. At first after I flashed it, I was reading ebooks I had on it and I didn't notice any difference. But after more research found out it only works for LRF ebooks, not epub.
Then I opened an ebook that was in LRF and yeah I noticed the difference.
I have the clock installed too, which is nice. My basic lrf font is bigger now and bolder the way I like it , I used caecilia BOLD. It was easy to do. Also, I put my name and other info onto my device info page so if I lose it maybe they will return it.

gPerry · 07-15-2009, 12:27 PM

Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it, especially as you probably get a lot of posts asking the same questions.

Reader arrived today - absolutely loving it. Already half way through my first book. So far have only used LRFs with the built-in fonts, I can cope with that for now. I'll probably install the chinese fonts when I get the chance, see if I can mix them in with Fontin somehow.

The firmware is US, 1.1.01.25200 - so if I want to do any customisation I will need to reflash to another firmware, right? In that case I might as well flash the UK version - can anyone tell me where to find the version I need?

ahi · 07-16-2009, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepak

PDF will be slow and will not resize fonts very well.

Unless it is a PDF specifically sized for the roughly 9cm x 12cm screen--in which case it will be the fastest of all the formats, and the best looking if it is thoughtfully prepared. Particularly with eBooks that use Chinese characters.

- Ahi

gwynevans · 07-17-2009, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gPerry

The firmware is US, 1.1.01.25200 - so if I want to do any customisation I will need to reflash to another firmware, right? In that case I might as well flash the UK version - can anyone tell me where to find the version I need?

As it happens - https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...183#post482183

07-13-2009, 05:26 AM	#1
gPerry Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Sony prs-505	New PRS-505 owner - it's a bit complicated Hi everyone, just want to introduce myself. I just took the plunge and bought a prs-505 in blue, but the actual specifics are a bit complicated, so I thought I should come here and clear up a few things. I don't actually have the device in hand yet, so some bits may be a bit fuzzy, it'll be another day or two before I get the actual device. Basically, I'm British, but on an extended holiday in China. My wife bought the reader for me from TaoBao, the chinese equivalent of ebay. I assume the reader will have a US firmware, because the blue one isn't available in the UK to my knowledge (have checked SonyStyle, Waterstones, Play.com, Amazon). We asked the seller not to modify the firmware, as most auctioneers advertise hacked versions to support Chinese language. Anyway, here are my questions: Firmware: what would be the best firmware to install? I understand there are various firmware versions floating around, and the latest may not necessarily be the best. I will mainly using it in the UK, hopefully using UK based eBook stores. I may want to apply some of the hacks that are available. Font hacks: Although not a big reader, my wife may at some point want to read chinese language ebooks. I understand there are various font hacks available - which one do the forumites recommend? I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty, having hacked chinese language support into most of the devices she uses. Fonts: I've previously worked as a freelance graphic designer, so I have licenced copies of many nice fonts. Does anyone have any opinions as to the best choice of font for eBook reading? I've always been fond of the Adobe fonts, Myriad and Mystral. Formats: I already have a bunch of ebooks in LIT format, and I'm setting up calibre while I await delivery. What would be the best format to convert to on the reader - LRF, EPUB or PDF? That's all for now. I'm sure I have more questions when I get my hands on the reader. I hope people won't be put of from replying by the massive obelisk first post. Thanks in advance for your help. Last edited by gPerry; 07-13-2009 at 05:32 AM.

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07-13-2009, 07:31 AM	#3
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	Like pepak, I find that lrf is fast, stable and it has full justification, which I prefer. I don't like the faked italics, but I can live with them. As for .lit - I usually buy DRM'd books in this format if possible, and then converts them in Calibre. Works well for me. The only thing that annoys me about using Calibre, is that it doesn't pre-paginate books, and it takes a little while to opne a book the first time. I've set the base font size to what I prefer, so at least I don't need to resize the book (and paginate again). About fonts; Caecilia has been mentioned a number of times as a font that gives a nice clear image. I use Georgia myself (slightly unwilling to spend money in order to try out Caecilia).

07-13-2009, 03:07 PM	#4
richman Addict Posts: 269 Karma: 58 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: sony prs-505 BLUE,itouch,netbook	Finally got around to doing the font's hack with Caecilia. It does look very sharp and dark, I like it. At first after I flashed it, I was reading ebooks I had on it and I didn't notice any difference. But after more research found out it only works for LRF ebooks, not epub. Then I opened an ebook that was in LRF and yeah I noticed the difference. I have the clock installed too, which is nice. My basic lrf font is bigger now and bolder the way I like it , I used caecilia BOLD. It was easy to do. Also, I put my name and other info onto my device info page so if I lose it maybe they will return it.

07-15-2009, 12:27 PM	#5
gPerry Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Sony prs-505	Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it, especially as you probably get a lot of posts asking the same questions. Reader arrived today - absolutely loving it. Already half way through my first book. So far have only used LRFs with the built-in fonts, I can cope with that for now. I'll probably install the chinese fonts when I get the chance, see if I can mix them in with Fontin somehow. The firmware is US, 1.1.01.25200 - so if I want to do any customisation I will need to reflash to another firmware, right? In that case I might as well flash the UK version - can anyone tell me where to find the version I need?

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