PRS-500 Did I buy a lemon?

affa44 · 03-03-2011, 02:50 AM

I purchased the unit from e-bay Australia and have just found out that it was never sold by Sony Australia and therefore is not supported locally. I purchased an EPUB book from the local Borders on-line store and couldn't drag it across on either the sony library or adobe digital editions. I did contact Borders and although the rep was very helpful couldn't fix the problem. I contacted calibre and received a very curt reply that calibre no longer supports un-upgraded prs-500s. Unfortunately the only upgrading available on the sony website is for the library and I have downloaded that.
Any suggestions apart from the rubbish bin?

elcreative · 03-03-2011, 08:18 AM

Epub is not supported on PRS 500 without upgrade requiring return to Sony... use lrf files instead or RTF... calibre will convert then all you need to do is get it to mount on your computer so you can just drag'n'drop files across... but basically fairly lemonish...

rhadin · 03-03-2011, 08:41 AM

The PRS 500 was Sony's first of the new series readers and originally released about 4 years ago. I hope you got it very cheaply. You would have been better off with the Sony 505, which was the replacement model for the 500. It had a better screen and could handle ePub format files with a downloadable upgrade to its firmware.

elizilla · 03-03-2011, 01:14 PM

In Calibre, just right click on a book, and choose "Convert books". I'd start by doing an individual book, as proof of concept. You'll get a pop-up screen. In the upper left corner is the "input" format, leave this as whatever it is. On the upper right corner there's a "output" format, set this to LRF. Click OK, and the pop-up will close, and in the main screen in the lower right corner there'll be a little moving wheel labeled "Jobs: 1". When it stops moving, it's done.

At this point, see if you can send the converted book to the PRS-500.

Assuming it works, you can bulk convert the rest.

(If it's a DRM book, it will tell you this and refuse to convert it. That's its own can of worms. But a non-DRM book should be converted easily.)

affa44 · 03-03-2011, 07:21 PM

Hi guys,
thanks for the comments - unfortunately I tried to convert a DRM book - no luck - definitely a lemon! I must check the Australian e-bay seller's description - might get my money back - yea, I'm an optimist!

elizilla · 03-03-2011, 11:24 PM

Can you go back to wherever you got the DRM book from, and download a version in LRF format? Some sites have a choice of formats.

affa44 · 03-04-2011, 04:32 AM

thanks elizilla - unfortunately Borders Australia is in a similar situation to Borders USA, as I understand it.
There's no mention on their website of an alternative format - and I believe that things are in turmoil because of the appointed administrators.
If the unit is as old as other contributors have suggested it is perhaps best if I look for a new unit.

Hoyt Clagwell · 03-04-2011, 05:13 PM

I would not call it a lemon. The PRS 500 does everything that it was designed to do. There are plenty of LRF books on this site that you can load on your reader.

affa44 · 03-05-2011, 04:53 AM

It's a lemon in terms that I can't buy/download any book that I want.
However I wasn't aware that MobileRead had book downloads. I thought that it was a forum for e-reader problems.
Thanks for broadening my knowledge - I have already selected a number of the books available.

doreenjoy · 03-07-2011, 02:06 AM

Wasn't there a firmware update for the 500 to allow it to use EPUB files? Wracking my brain...

Solicitous · 03-07-2011, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

Wasn't there a firmware update for the 500 to allow it to use EPUB files? Wracking my brain...

There was and IIRC it required the reader to be sent back to Sony as the update needed to be done in the factory.

Gravitas · 03-07-2011, 07:33 AM

I have only just replaced my 500 with a 505. And only then because the battery on the 500 was going, an Waterstones in the UK were doing very cheap refurbished 505s.

I used Calibre to convert none DRMd books to lrf, Baen books and others sell lrf books. I still have my 500, in case of emergencies.

delphin · 03-07-2011, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by affa44

Hi guys,
thanks for the comments - unfortunately I tried to convert a DRM book - no luck - definitely a lemon! I must check the Australian e-bay seller's description - might get my money back - yea, I'm an optimist!

There are pluggins for Calibre that will seamlessly fix that little problem you had in converting DRM books. They were developed by third parties and to avoid legal hassles involving the removal of DRM, the author of Calibre can't include them in the main release or offer any support.

It's not likely, but on the off chance you have problems getting the Calibre DRM pluggins to work, a guy going by the moniker 'Apprentice Alf' has also created several stand alone tools that will help straiten out your DRM issues, so you can freely convert your files.

Calibre will then let you archive BOTH the EPUB and LRF versions, which is really cool since that will allow you to also keep a copy of the original EPUB so you will have that available if you later upgrade to another reader which supports this newer format.

I'm pretty sure that if you Google around a little, and get your Calibre configuration tweaked so that you can buy and convert books seamlessly, you will have a much higher opinion of your Sony.

And since you were also pleased with some of the free offerings on Mobileread, here is another source for really great free ebooks.

EDIT: Along with Mobileread you might also want to check out the public domain section of www.feedbook.com

At feedbooks, I don't see LRF but you can grab the EPUB formatted versions, which should all convert cleanly and quickly to LRF in Calibre

Also, if you get tired of dealing with EPUB -> LRF conversions, Sony says that the version 2.0.00.09180. firmware update for your reader will support EPUB, but I don't see it available for download from Sony anywhere on their site.

Sony may want to get the reader back and charge you for doing the update. If you don't want to put up with that, you may want to see if the hacked firmware available for your reader here on Mobileread includes any links to copies of the original Sony version 2.0.00.09180. The folks who are using hacked firmware nearly always copy the original firmware when hacking the readers firmware so that the reader can be restored in case of trouble.

affa44 · 03-14-2011, 03:31 AM

Thanks again guys for all the advice.
At a recent Melbourne e-book meeting I was alerted to Apprentice Alf's blog and am following up his advice. With a busy lifestyle, I'm finding it difficult to devote enough uninterrupted time to follow up all the advice & tips.
But I'll keep at it!
Thanks again

delphin · 03-14-2011, 08:00 AM

Calibre and the required plug-ins have a little bit of a learning curve that you have to deal with, but keep at it because once you figure it out it really does work well.

Also, don't feel that you are somehow stuck with learning how to use Calibre only because you got a 'lemon', because folks would have been recommending this software regardless of which reader you bought.

Calibre is a very popular program, which is used by folks with ALL kinds of reader hardware from Nooks to Kindles to the Latest Sonys, because it's GREAT for organizing ebook collections.

In fact lots of people prefer Calibre to the software provided with their reader for use in organizing their ebook collections.

So get Calibre installed with the required plugins, and it should be fairly painless to convert your books to LRF. Believe it or not, there are some folks who actually do this even with the newer Sony ebook readers that work with EPUB directly, because they like how the LRF books are formatted on their Sony better!

03-03-2011, 02:50 AM	#1
affa44 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 592 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Tongala, Victoria, Australia Device: Sony PRS-500	Did I buy a lemon? I purchased the unit from e-bay Australia and have just found out that it was never sold by Sony Australia and therefore is not supported locally. I purchased an EPUB book from the local Borders on-line store and couldn't drag it across on either the sony library or adobe digital editions. I did contact Borders and although the rep was very helpful couldn't fix the problem. I contacted calibre and received a very curt reply that calibre no longer supports un-upgraded prs-500s. Unfortunately the only upgrading available on the sony website is for the library and I have downloaded that. Any suggestions apart from the rubbish bin?

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03-03-2011, 08:18 AM	#2
elcreative Wizard Posts: 2,888 Karma: 5875940 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: PRS505, 600, 350, 650, Nexus 7, Note III, iPad 4 etc	Epub is not supported on PRS 500 without upgrade requiring return to Sony... use lrf files instead or RTF... calibre will convert then all you need to do is get it to mount on your computer so you can just drag'n'drop files across... but basically fairly lemonish...

03-03-2011, 08:41 AM	#3
rhadin Literacy = Understanding Posts: 4,833 Karma: 59674358 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The World of Books Device: Nook, Nook Tablet	The PRS 500 was Sony's first of the new series readers and originally released about 4 years ago. I hope you got it very cheaply. You would have been better off with the Sony 505, which was the replacement model for the 500. It had a better screen and could handle ePub format files with a downloadable upgrade to its firmware.

03-03-2011, 01:14 PM	#4
elizilla Addict Posts: 271 Karma: 610286 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Michigan, USA Device: Kobo Elipsa, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Sage, others	In Calibre, just right click on a book, and choose "Convert books". I'd start by doing an individual book, as proof of concept. You'll get a pop-up screen. In the upper left corner is the "input" format, leave this as whatever it is. On the upper right corner there's a "output" format, set this to LRF. Click OK, and the pop-up will close, and in the main screen in the lower right corner there'll be a little moving wheel labeled "Jobs: 1". When it stops moving, it's done. At this point, see if you can send the converted book to the PRS-500. Assuming it works, you can bulk convert the rest. (If it's a DRM book, it will tell you this and refuse to convert it. That's its own can of worms. But a non-DRM book should be converted easily.)

03-03-2011, 07:21 PM	#5
affa44 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 592 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Tongala, Victoria, Australia Device: Sony PRS-500	Hi guys, thanks for the comments - unfortunately I tried to convert a DRM book - no luck - definitely a lemon! I must check the Australian e-bay seller's description - might get my money back - yea, I'm an optimist!

03-03-2011, 11:24 PM	#6
elizilla Addict Posts: 271 Karma: 610286 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Michigan, USA Device: Kobo Elipsa, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Sage, others	Can you go back to wherever you got the DRM book from, and download a version in LRF format? Some sites have a choice of formats.

03-04-2011, 04:32 AM	#7
affa44 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 592 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Tongala, Victoria, Australia Device: Sony PRS-500	thanks elizilla - unfortunately Borders Australia is in a similar situation to Borders USA, as I understand it. There's no mention on their website of an alternative format - and I believe that things are in turmoil because of the appointed administrators. If the unit is as old as other contributors have suggested it is perhaps best if I look for a new unit.

03-04-2011, 05:13 PM	#8
Hoyt Clagwell Not an Addict Posts: 301 Karma: 5678807 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: The blue one next to the fish.	I would not call it a lemon. The PRS 500 does everything that it was designed to do. There are plenty of LRF books on this site that you can load on your reader.

03-05-2011, 04:53 AM	#9
affa44 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 592 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Tongala, Victoria, Australia Device: Sony PRS-500	It's a lemon in terms that I can't buy/download any book that I want. However I wasn't aware that MobileRead had book downloads. I thought that it was a forum for e-reader problems. Thanks for broadening my knowledge - I have already selected a number of the books available.

03-07-2011, 02:06 AM	#10
doreenjoy 01000100 01001010 Posts: 1,889 Karma: 2400000 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Polyamorous	Wasn't there a firmware update for the 500 to allow it to use EPUB files? Wracking my brain...

03-07-2011, 07:33 AM	#12
Gravitas Muppet Posts: 123 Karma: 107 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Nottingham, England, UK Device: Zen Vision :M / Nokia 5800 musicXpress / Sony PRS500	I have only just replaced my 500 with a 505. And only then because the battery on the 500 was going, an Waterstones in the UK were doing very cheap refurbished 505s. I used Calibre to convert none DRMd books to lrf, Baen books and others sell lrf books. I still have my 500, in case of emergencies.

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03-14-2011, 03:31 AM	#14
affa44 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 592 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Tongala, Victoria, Australia Device: Sony PRS-500	Thanks again guys for all the advice. At a recent Melbourne e-book meeting I was alerted to Apprentice Alf's blog and am following up his advice. With a busy lifestyle, I'm finding it difficult to devote enough uninterrupted time to follow up all the advice & tips. But I'll keep at it! Thanks again

03-14-2011, 08:00 AM	#15
delphin Evangelist Posts: 434 Karma: 346901 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: SONY PRS-650	Calibre and the required plug-ins have a little bit of a learning curve that you have to deal with, but keep at it because once you figure it out it really does work well. Also, don't feel that you are somehow stuck with learning how to use Calibre only because you got a 'lemon', because folks would have been recommending this software regardless of which reader you bought. Calibre is a very popular program, which is used by folks with ALL kinds of reader hardware from Nooks to Kindles to the Latest Sonys, because it's GREAT for organizing ebook collections. In fact lots of people prefer Calibre to the software provided with their reader for use in organizing their ebook collections. So get Calibre installed with the required plugins, and it should be fairly painless to convert your books to LRF. Believe it or not, there are some folks who actually do this even with the newer Sony ebook readers that work with EPUB directly, because they like how the LRF books are formatted on their Sony better!