At about noon, UPS delivered my new Sony 505 ereader! It's red! It took about 45 minutes to charge (via USB port on the computer). Until the end of March, the reader comes with 100 free downloads from the Sony ebooks store--classics only, of course. That means public domain stuff that's only $1.99 to start with. But that's fine, because I am one of those crazy English-major types who read Shakespeare and so forth for fun. The first thing I downloaded was Dracula. :)
Now, I got 100 free downloads, and I grabbed about 30 books right off even though I don't have to get them all today. Then I dumped them all onto the reader at once just like I do with my MP3 player and new songs. Um, don't do this. Because books are bigger than songs. It's been about 30 minutes and it's still downloading. I can't disconnect or read anything until it's done, and the library has locked up in the meantime.
The Sony library site is not great. It's kind of awkward to navigate. I also don't like that you can't turn on the reader if it's plugged in. You have to unplug it, turn it on, then plug it back in, and the first time I tried that it turned itself off after a few minutes anyway. That was right after it had finished charging, though.
Once these stupid free books have downloaded, I'm going to try putting another ebook on the reader, a pdf version that I bought a few months ago from a small publisher and never did get around to reading. I think it'll be perfect for the Sony. I'll post later to let you all know how it works.
I am frankly awed that I got the reader today--I thought it would be at least a week, probably two. Yay for UPS!
Edit: the troubleshooting section of the manual said to yank that puppy's connection and restart. So now I have books!
7 comments:
I'd be jealous only I got 'real' books in the post today. :) I'm coming to the conclusion I'm too lazy to use an e-reader; I haven't downloaded any new songs to my MP3 in over a year.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
If these stupid books don't download soon I'm tempted to yank the cord out and give up. I'm not a patient person. Lucky you with your real books! Frankly, saying that an ereader gives instant gratification has so far not been the case. In the almost-three hours since I got it, the only words I've read on the thing are "Do not disconnect." I could have read a big chunk of a real book in the same amount of time.
Which actually is a pretty good idea, now that I think of it.
I haz big jealous....
How does the e-ink look? Does it really look like paper? I haven't made it down to the sony store to see one in person, I'm afraid if I did I'd leave with a hole in my pocket shaped like a $300 bill.
I am curious how it looks as well. I have a notoriously slow internet connection to begin with, but I don't tend to get a lot of reading done during the day anyway. Have a great weekend. I will be waiting to hear how it goes with this new fangled technology.
Jeremy and Jamie--the eink isn't exactly like paper, but it's definitely not a backlit computer screen. It's very pleasant on the eyes. I'm 45 pages in on a badly written fantasy novel (reads like something I'd have written in high school), but the novelty factor is enough that I'm going to finish the thing, I think. The print is dark gray on a light gray background, with good contrast. It reminds me more of a newspaper than a book. I like it, though!
Ooooo...(drools on keyboard).
I think I might have to have one of those thingys some day. Keep us posted on your e-reader journey.
I'm really liking it already. I'm just worried I'll drop it.
Post a Comment