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Sony Reader Question

Ktrek

Ktrek

Captain
Captain
I was wondering if anyone here has a Sony Reader and are the Star Trek ebooks compatible without any extra work to convert formats or whatever? I am seriously thinking of buying one and making all my future Star Trek purchases in ebook form if they are compatible. I also want to purchase past ebooks that are not available in hardcopy form. I'm especially interested in the recent COE series and the TNG novellas currently being released. If anyone can help me make a decision that would be most kind and helpful. I'm trying to make a decision before my birthday at the end of March. Thanks!

Kevin
 
Ktrek said:
I was wondering if anyone here has a Sony Reader and are the Star Trek ebooks compatible without any extra work to convert formats or whatever? I am seriously thinking of buying one and making all my future Star Trek purchases in ebook form if they are compatible. I also want to purchase past ebooks that are not available in hard copy form. I'm especially interested in the recent CoE series and the TNG novellas currently being released. If anyone can help me make a decision that would be most kind and helpful. I'm trying to make a decision before my birthday at the end of March. Thanks!

Kevin
Click to expand...
I have a Sony Reader PRS-505 and I do read a lot of Star Trek on it.
 
JWolf,

Can I ask what format you download the ebooks in and where you purchase from?

Kevin
 
I purchase from either BooksOnBoard, Fictionwise, and Simon & Schuster. I purchase in MS Reader and convert to read on the Sony.
 
I guess my next question will be to ask if Pocketbooks will be soon releasing their ebooks in a format compatible with the Sony Reader?

Kevin
 
Thanks Jon! I looked over what they have and there are a lot of Star Trek books, which unfortunately I already have in paperbacks.

I'm wondering if this format will continue to be supported by Sony and also by Pocketbooks for a long time to come or would it be better to wait and see what will come along next? The Sony Reader is the closest I have ever come to considering no longer buying dead tree versions but I'll likely only buy it to be able to read ebooks that are not available in print. I so want to read Mere Anarchy and also Slings and Arrows but I cannot stand reading books on my PC for any extended period of time.

Kevin
 
Howdy.

I have a Sony 505 Reader on the Way. I read up on the Sony and Amazon's Kindle along time before making the decision. It came down to that I like Sony's Hardware better than Amazon's. I Have a Ton of Purchased Trek Books in .lit format and since they can be converted I knew I would never run out of Content. Plus you can Download books from Sony/Borders online store. I already have done so I bought the Voyages to imagination Guidebook on Trek Lit in Sony Format. But I think I'll largely be staying .Lit format and converting. I can't wait to get the reader.
 
I wanted to jump on the bandwagon here, as well. I got a 500 last Christmas and I'm a total convert. I buy almost nothing in "dead tree" format any longer. It's just so incredibly convenient to carry my Sony Reader everywhere, especially on vacation. And, as mentioned above, there IS already a ton of Trek (and other) lit available for the Sony Reader. But, until the every helpful JWolf communicated with me last week, I wasn't aware how easy it apparently is to convert .lit format books to Sony Reader format. So, that's my next project.

Enjoy your new toy. I have to say, as much as I like my 500, I have a feeling the changes they've made to the 505 in terms of button placement and shape will be a definite improvement.

Happy e-reading! :thumbsup:

p.s. -- Oh, and the only downside I've found so far is that, if you're travelling on a plane they make you turn off your reader for take-offs and landings. I recommend taking a magazine or something. :cool:
 
When talking about the 500/505 and the Gen3, the PDF support is currently not good. And no DRM protected DRM will work at all. The problem is that the screen is 6" and it's not good for displaying letter sized PDF.

That said, Sony is said to be revamping PDF support for the 505.

The Sony Readers PRS-500 and PRS-505 read text, RTF, and BBeB (with and without DRM). There are very good tools in Book Designer and Libprs500 for converting content. In fact, I am reading Sword of Damocles on my 505 and just recently finished Warpath. The one thing I really like is not having to worry about lugging multiple books around when I am close to finishing on of them.
 
Well, I did make the decision to purchase the 505 and I took it back. As far as reading books downloaded from the Sony ebook store they were fine and I have to say the 505 screen has amazing clarity. If I was a huge modern day novel reader I probably would have kept it but I really wanted it for more than just downloading novels. There are many older titles and books that I tried to format for the 505 and I could not do it and gave up. I tried several software applications and various techniques I found online but I could never get them formatted to where I felt like I could live with the text. It always screwed up the formatting.

Anyway, if a reader becomes available in the $100.00 price range that will read the Star Trek ebooks I might just buy one for that only but otherwise I'm sticking to the tried and true method of "paper". Hasn't failed me in 50 plus years! Don't expect it will in my lifetime!

Kevin
 
Hi- I've lurked here a long time but this is my first post.
I recently got the Sony Reader 505 and have been busy catching up on the SCE/COE stories and I'm enjoying them very much. I've bought about 25 stories so far, but there are two stories, Troubleshooting by Robert Greenberger and Signs From Heaven by Phaedra M. Weldon that are not in the Sony store. I'm not too keen on buying from another source and converting, especially since talk of different types of files just confuses me more. So I guess my question is this:Does anyone know when/if they will be available at the Sony store?

Many thanks in advance for any insight from anyone!!!

Marcia
 
Hi Marcia,

welcome to the Sony Reader fold! ;)

I can't answer your question about when particular books will be available at the Sony store, but I've noticed new releases tend to show up within a couple of weeks of their general release (much better than when I first got mine.)

But, I also wanted to let you know that I just taught myself the conversion process suggested by JWolf and it's really not difficult at all. There are 2 freeware programs to download, and the directions are pretty simple. It probably took me a total of 30 minutes this first time, from downloading and installing both software packages, buying the book, going (very methodically) through the conversion process and uploading to my reader. I'd guess that, without having to download and install the software and after getting past the learning curve, the process will probably take a couple minutes tops. And it's substantially expanded my available library. I'm a happy camper, indeed. :angel:

Just a thought in case you want to give it a shot. I've been waiting for "The Buried Age" to show up on the Sony site for months, and it's nowhere in sight, which is what prompted me to give this process a try. Worked like a charm. I've got the book cover art and everything. On my reader, it looks just like the books I've bought at the Sony store.

Whatever you decide, happy e-reading! :thumbsup:
 
Trekkie Monster, what programs are they? I may very well give them a try. If I can get Trek books without having to wait for the Sony store to get around to adding them and they look the same on my Reader who am I to complain!

Also, I may find out the books are cheaper elsewhere than from Sony, and that would make me happy too!! :angel:
 
I alway buy Trek Novels in Microsoft Lit format and convert them using libprs500, do a google search to DL
 
If I ever buy any eBooks, I will probably use eReader, as they seem to be one of the few (if not only) providers where I can get them for use with a Mac.

So my question is this: Are all Trek eBooks available for eReader as well as Sony?
 
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