Sony Reader

[numberland]

I am considering getting a Sony Reader (PRS-300, 505 or 600) but have heard bad things about it's software. I want to be able to use it under either MacOS or Linux. Does anyone know whether this is possible for any/all of the above models?

ION:Uni is going well except for having been ill for much of the last two weeks (am catching up) and life is insanely busy.

Comments

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

I got one for Christmas last year. I find it a bit annoying to use. The menus are a bit fiddly, and you can't skip forward to a known place (by page number, percentage through the book, or anything) unless you've previously bookmarked it on the device. When "switched off" it guzzles battery at an alarming rate, and when it's used up you have to plug it in for about a day constantly before it even registers that it's started charging; to get around this you have to find a secret hidden "Really Really Shut Down" option several levels deep in the advanced menu. Also, a couple of weeks ago something went wrong with the screen and it developed a solid white strip down the right-hand edge, which prevents it displaying words there.

I'm afraid I don't know whether it runs on Mac or Linux.

[numberland.livejournal.com]

What version do you have? This seems entirely inconsistent with the devices I've seen (all of the ones I've named). It should use zero battery when not page turning and certainly the 505 which is the only model available then (IFAIK) you could just enter a page number to go to that page. You might have a faulty battery.

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

It is a 505.

How would you enter a page number? It doesn't have a keypad, just a bunch of on-screen menus and hardware buttons corresponding to them. As far as I've found, you can only jump to the beginning, the end, or bookmarks you've previously set.

I thnk the battery thing is standard - when I discovered the discrepancy between the advertised "read War and Peace five times before the battery runs out" and my experience (read a short novel once before the battery runs out), I did some searching online and discovered the advertised claim only refers to when it's switched off using the hidden secret option, and it's common for the battery to run out more quickly when you just "switch it off" using the "off" button.

[numberland.livejournal.com]

Using the number keys AFAIK. This may be just true of the 300 though. Hmm. Each seem to miss one thing I really want, it is annoying.

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

You could be right, but I can't find a menu option to do it.

Maybe it depends on the format of the ebook and what metadata it was saved with?