waiting for my 350

[gudrun45]

I ordered a 350 reader a few days ago and am now impatiently waiting for it to arrive.
In the meantime I've put holds on some books at the library and am looking around for freebies.
Just now I found one at the Sony Reader Forum. When I went to Sony to download it, I was informed that you had to have their software to do so. So I installed that and got the book alright.
But, I'm wondering, why do I need so many programs? I've got the Adobe one, supposedly needed for library books, and Calibre for books other than adobe epub (right?), and now the Sony thing.
Is there a way to buy Sony books and download and open them to Calibre?
I'm new to all this, obviously, and it is getting confusing.

Thanks,
Gudrun

[amujee]

I'm kind of in the same boat.
I ordered mine on Monday evening and it's supposed to arrive tomorrow. In the meantime, I've been on this forum everyday and learning as much as I can (thank you mobileread!).
Calibre is my main tool and repository for all my different reading material. I used it to import, strip the DRM (using a plugin), and convert a Kindle book to epub. I also imported and converted some comics from cbz to lrf. And lastly, I have my pdf textbook files.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Hi, gudrun45. You must be very excited about your new 350. I can understand your confusion. Technically all you need is the Sony Reader Library software. I use it the majority of the time. You can manage all of your books with it. That includes books from the Sony store, books from the library, books with ADE DRM from other stores like Borders or Kobo, and books in the public domain (or your personal folders) without DRM.

Many people don't like the Sony software. They think it is too basic and slow. So they use calibre to manage their library. Calibre is very powerful with lots of user control. You can use it to convert books from one format or another. You can change the formatting of your books like the font and line spacing. You can revise metadata like the title or book cover image. However, calibre cannot handle DRM books on its own.

If you use DRM books, you still need either ADE or Sony. These software tools apply the encryption to the book. Once the encryption is applied and the EPUB or PDF book is stored to your hard-drive, then you can use calibre to add the book to your calibre library and transfer it to your ereader.

The exception is library books because it has a special time-expiration date. Library books have to be transferred via ADE or Sony software.

In summary, Sony software is stand-alone and also required for Sony bookstore downloads. Calibre is stand-alone for non-DRM content. You need calibre + (ADE or Sony) for DRM content.

[delphin]

To add to what was just said by Bookworm_Girl. If you want library books you MUST have either the current Sony software, or Adobe Digital Editions (ADE).

I have both, and find that I prefer ADE's quick simple interface for grabbing library books and transferring them to the Sony.

If you go to the Adobe site, you can download Adobe Digital Editions, then go ahead and authorize it, and you can start actually downloading your books.

Authorization is needed to get a "Digital Rights Management" (DRM) key, which is needed to download most copyrighted EPUBs.

Once you go through the full blown Adobe ADE authorization procedure, you are issued a lifetime DRM key that will let you later authorize up to six devices for use with the books you buy or borrow from the library.

This means you can download and preview your books on your PC right now, and then later, when your PRS-350 arrives, just authorize your Sony reader from the menu in ADE, and you should be able to seemlessly transfer and read the books you have already downloaded.

The only caution I would give in this regard, is that to be able to later authorize your PRS-350 and read DRM protected Adobe EPUBs, you MUST use the FULL registration and authorization with Adobe.

Adobe also offers a quick anonymous way to quickly authorize and start using ADE, but currently this only gives you a non-transferable authorization key that can NOT be used to authorize other devices (anonymous authorization is fine to just read one copy of a book on your PC with ADE, but can NOT transfer books to other devices, like your PRS-350).

You will want to get your full Adobe authorization key from Adobe anyway, because it's also needed so you can buy e-books from Sony, Borders, Kobo, Google Books, and others.

If you later also install the "Sony Reader Library" Software, it should sense the Adobe Install and use the same DRM Key to Authorize the Sony Reader Library.

So if you grab ADE from Adobe, you should be able to start downloading and enjoying your libraries services right away.

Hope, you like your new Sony when it arrives. I thought mine was one of the nicest new toys that I have treated myself to in years.

[Poppaea]

On the other hand you could just download the Sony Reader Library from Sonys website and forgo the ADE alltogether. As Bookwormgirl said, you don't need it when using the Sony Reader Library.

ADE will be no help in buying books whereas you can browse the Sony bookstore via Reader Library. That's as easy as can be!

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

On the other hand you could just download the Sony Reader Library from Sonys website and forgo the ADE alltogether. As Bookwormgirl said, you don't need it when using the Sony Reader Library.

ADE will be no help in buying books whereas you can browse the Sony bookstore via Reader Library. That's as easy as can be!

I thought you still had to have ADE installed on the computer even if you use just the Sony Library? If I remember correctly they said it was needed to authorize DRM books or something like that. No?

When I got my new computer and tried to borrow library books I needed to download ADE in order to do so even though I just use the Sony software not ADE.

[Poppaea]

As far as I know you have to authorize your computer and the Reader Library with your ADE password, but you do not need ADE to get books from the library. I lend them through the Reader Library.

[anabolina]

Congrats on your new purchase gudrun45!

I agree Shopaholic, when I tried to download a couple of library books last week with only the Sony Reader, it made me set up an ADE account and download the software, but maybe I didn't have to and just followed the prompts :-) It's like that article I read about some website in England that added a line to their usage agreement everyone had to click to access them and the line was something about giving the company your soul or something else weird. Yeah, I'm like that and just click through. :-)

You certainly don't need Calibre at this point gudrun45. I didn't bother with it until I had more than 100 ebooks and it still annoys me in on occaision. I will NOT get over it's saving the books to a program defined area rather then the nice My Ebooks folder which I still use. Duplication had been known to annoy me. I like for things to be in their place so this actively annoys me about the program and I think about it every time I open Calibre. :le sigh: Yeah, you'll be fine with the Sony Reader Library software most of the time.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Technically all you need is the Sony Reader Library software. I use it the majority of the time. You can manage all of your books with it. That includes books from the Sony store, books from the library, books with ADE DRM from other stores like Borders or Kobo, and books in the public domain (or your personal folders) without DRM.

Reader Library has ADE on board to enable you to read DRM'd books with your reader. I don't know if you have to verify your reader with the ADE account or not, as I had ADE for my former reader and thus can't recall correctly now, but I download the library books from the German library as well as the books from the Singapore lib over Sony Reader Library.

Actually I really think it is all you need to know and use as a beginner. When you feel there should be more and are a bit more confident after a while, you can add programms like Calibre and Plugins and so on. But for starters SRL is great!

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

As far as I know you have to authorize your computer and the Reader Library with your ADE password, but you do not need ADE to get books from the library. I lend them through the Reader Library.

I apologize if I wasn't clear. I didn't mean you had to get the library books through ADE, I don't either. I use the Reader Library too. I meant to that you still need to have the ADE software installed on the computer in order to do so even if you're going to borrow the books and have them go into the Sony Reader Library software.

You don't have to use the ADE, it just has to be on the computer. Why though, I couldn't tell you. lol

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

As far as I know you have to authorize your computer and the Reader Library with your ADE password, but you do not need ADE to get books from the library. I lend them through the Reader Library.

Yes, that's how I understand it. There are several people who have posted they use Reader Library without ADE installed. It doesn't work the other way. If you use ADE for PC, then you have to install Reader Library to get the drivers for ADE to recognize your ereader.

[gudrun45]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

....but I download the library books from the German library .....!

You download books from a German library??? I don't suppose that can be done from a foreign country?
I am German, living in the US and it would be so neat to be able to borrow German books.

[delphin]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

As far as I know you have to authorize your computer and the Reader Library with your ADE password, but you do not need ADE to get books from the library. I lend them through the Reader Library.

In the past I think Sony needed the Adobe ADE DRM libraries. I'm not sure if it still makes you download and install, Adobe ADE first, or just grabs and installs the DLL's itself, but you definitely DO have to go through Adobe authorization.

This is because Adobe manages your master ADE authorization key. This is a good thing because it means that no matter where you get a DRM protected book title, you can be sure that your reader will properly decrypt it. If you buy another e-reader that is not made by Sony, you don't have to worry that the Sony Reader Library might refuse to transfer titles.

Also, if you write down your account login and password from Adobe, you can always go back to them to re-authorize your copy of ADE if your PC crashes.

I don't think Adobe lets other companies issue Adept DRM keys, and to make matters worse, older versions of the Sony Reader Library were screwed up and would try to reauthorize through Adobe independently a second time, which would screw up the DRM so that you could not load previously downloaded DRM titles.

Sony has an updated version that fixes this, and this should be what you get with any newly purchased Sony PRS series e-readers, but I would suggest that if you do want to use the Sony Reader Library, you always get the latest updated installer from the Sony website before installing.

Someone mentioned about the tendency to just click-trough without reading the software license agreement. Well I DID read it, and sorry, I just don't trust Sony to install software on my PC after their famous DVD rootkit case. Not when the license agreement says they can do pretty much ANYTHING they want.

The ONLY reason I bought the PRS-650 is that I was able to see from posts on this forum that you can use the reader WITHOUT loading their Reader Library Spyware, er ... I'm sorry, "Reader Library Software".

[delphin]

Originally Posted by gudrun45

You download books from a German library??? I don't suppose that can be done from a foreign country?
I am German, living in the US and it would be so neat to be able to borrow German books.

Once I got a library card from my local library, I found that I could download e-books from them while traveling far from home.

So the trick is to get a library in Germany with web based e-book checkout services to let you register, if you don't have such an account already.

Perhaps you can share an account with a trusted family member who still resides in Germany?

If the service somehow notes your IP address and refuses to work from the U.S. you may still be able to get access by installing the free TOR proxy software on your PC, and overriding the 'exit node' so that it will always use a site in Germany.

[delphin]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

As far as I know you have to authorize your computer and the Reader Library with your ADE password, but you do not need ADE to get books from the library. I lend them through the Reader Library.

In the past I think Sony needed the Adobe ADE DRM libraries, not sure if it still makes you download and install Adobe ADE first, or just grabs and installs the DLL's itself, but you definitely DO have to go through Adobe authorization.

This is because Adobe manages your master ADE authorization key. This is a good thing because it means that no matter where you get a DRM protected book title, you can be sure that your reader will properly decrypt it. If you buy another e-reader that is not made by Sony, you don't have to worry that the Sony Reader Library might refuse to transfer titles.

Also, if you write down your account login and password from Adobe, you can always go back to them to re-authorize your copy of ADE if your PC crashes.

I don't think Adobe lets other companies issue Adept DRM keys, and to make matters worse, older versions of the Sony Reader Library were screwed up and would try to authorize through Adobe independently a second time, which would screw up the DRM so that you could not load previously downloaded DRM titles.

Sony has an updated version that fixes this, and this should be what you get with any newly purchased Sony PRS series e-readers, but I would suggest that if you do want to use the Sony Reader Library, you always get the latest updated installer from the Sony website before installing.

Someone mentioned about the tendency to just click-trough without reading the software license agreement. Well I DID read it, and sorry, I just don't trust Sony to install software on my PC after their famous DVD rootkit case. Not when the license agreement says they can do pretty much ANYTHING they want.

The ONLY reason I bought the PRS-650 is that I was able to see from posts on this forum that you can use the reader WITHOUT loading their Reader Library Spyware, er ... I'm sorry, "Reader Library Software".