Two questions about using PRS 600

eric11210 · 08-04-2010, 10:14 AM

Hi folks,

I've been trolling around the forums here for a few weeks and doing lots of reading about various devices. I finally settled on the Sony Touch and ordered one from Borders (I live overseas and they had the cheapest shipping). Just registered here for the first time today after my reader finally arrived.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who had great information which helped me make a purchase choice. Now to see if I really like it.

As I said, it just arrived today and so these two questions are based on first impressions:

1. I expected the touch screen on the reader to work the same way as my iPhone, but have been disappointed. As near as I can tell, and please do correct me if I'm wrong, there is only a choice of forward when using the touch screen to look at a book. For back, as far as I can tell, I need to use the physical buttons. If someone knows differently and knows of a way to make it use right sweep to move forward and left sweep to move back, I'd really love to know.

Also, another thing I noticed right off the bat was that the size of the default font is too small for my taste. I know how to switch the size to a larger one (just press the magnify button and then choose a size), but wondered if there is any way to make the thing default to a larger size rather than my having to manually change it for each book I read (especially since I have Calibre downloading daily newspapers, it would be a real annoyance to have to constantly reset the size for the newspaper each morning).

I did try to search but found no information.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions on both these questions.

Eric

Juliette · 08-04-2010, 10:23 AM

Hi

Well, you can go back without the button- you have to swipe your finger the other way you swiped to go forward. You can change the settings both to go forward and go back to adjust your ideal standards.

eric11210 · 08-04-2010, 10:28 AM

You are right. I stand corrected. I had been trying to do it with a newspaper Calibre uploaded and couldn't get it to work for some reason (I have a sneaking suspicion it may be because the newspaper was formatted for iPad since I'd wanted to try it on my iPhone, though I never bothered since transferring it was too much trouble). However, with a regular book in ePub format, it does work, though I'm finding the buttons to be more responsive anyway so will likely stick with those. Thanks. And on to the other question. . .

Eric

elcreative · 08-04-2010, 10:37 AM

As far as size is concerned... look at calibre, you can set the default size which usually equates to small... I use 13.5 which I find comfortable... experiment and read the manual, it's now a substantial program with lots of less-than-obvious abilities...

eric11210 · 08-04-2010, 11:03 AM

Could you tell me how I do that? I've been hunting for it but haven't found it. Thanks,

Eric

elcreative · 08-04-2010, 11:18 AM

Try Preferences/Conversion.... then set Base Font in "Look and Feel" tab... not necessary to change format, you can convert from a format to the same format e.g. epub to epub and that'll change Base size to your Prefs setting... and you can select more than one file at a time and do the lot at one go... If you want more detailed calibre help then head over to the calibre forum...

Juliette · 08-04-2010, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elcreative

Try Preferences/Conversion.... then set Base Font in "Look and Feel" tab... not necessary to change format, you can convert from a format to the same format e.g. epub to epub and that'll change Base size to your Prefs setting... and you can select more than one file at a time and do the lot at one go... If you want more detailed calibre help then head over to the calibre forum...

Yes, that would be exactly that. If your file is not DRMd, of course.

eric11210 · 08-04-2010, 02:33 PM

Well I tried it. It doesn't seem to do anything for my newspapers that Calibre downloads, which is the primary issue I'm having. I still have to go in and manually reset the font size on the reader. I'm considering instead creating a combined news source where I take all the different built in newspapers that I'm downloading and combine them so it creates just one "book." This way at least I only have to change the size of the font once when I first look at the newspaper rather than doing it for each different paper I look at.

Thanks in any case for the suggestions though.

Eric

Juliette · 08-04-2010, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric11210

Well I tried it. It doesn't seem to do anything for my newspapers that Calibre downloads, which is the primary issue I'm having. I still have to go in and manually reset the font size on the reader. I'm considering instead creating a combined news source where I take all the different built in newspapers that I'm downloading and combine them so it creates just one "book." This way at least I only have to change the size of the font once when I first look at the newspaper rather than doing it for each different paper I look at.

Ow, sorry

let us know if you've found a solution to the issue (even if it means having a "book"). You could also try to post on the Calibre boards in the forum, they could know a better solution!

eric11210 · 08-04-2010, 08:36 PM

Thanks. I may do that. I have a feeling the problem is in the coding of the recipes. I recall reading that there was a way to strip away the CSS and replace it with a different one and I imagine most of the recipes simply stick with the CSS that comes with the newspaper rather than stripping it away and creating a new one. If I ever actually feel like spending lots of time learning python coding I may try to see if I can figure out how to change it. For now, it's more an annoyance than anything else. I just wish Sony's software was better. There seems to me no reason why I shouldn't be able to set a default size for the font it uses.

Eric

jj2me · 08-04-2010, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric11210

Thanks. I may do that. I have a feeling the problem is in the coding of the recipes. I recall reading that there was a way to strip away the CSS and replace it with a different one and I imagine most of the recipes simply stick with the CSS that comes with the newspaper rather than stripping it away and creating a new one. If I ever actually feel like spending lots of time learning python coding I may try to see if I can figure out how to change it. For now, it's more an annoyance than anything else. I just wish Sony's software was better. There seems to me no reason why I shouldn't be able to set a default size for the font it uses.

Eric

You might try to add CSS to change font size into Calibre. I don't have Calibre installed at the computer from which I'm typing this, but IIRC there's two Calibre Preference places where you can add CSS, in the Viewer Preferences and in the Convert Preferences. If you're not reading your newspapers on a PC, then the Viewer is out. I guess you could try to convert the default newspaper that's fetched by Calibre to make the font bigger, but of course the disadvantage is that that's an extra step. Here's the mobileread thread for CSS in Calibre.

E.g., try something like this for a test:
body {font-size:120%;}
h1 {font-size:160%;}
h2 {font-size:140%;}

Try it twice if it doesn't work the first time. I and another poster both saw no effects on CSS changes the first time, then mysteriously they took effect from then on. Makes no sense, I know, but worth a try.

eric11210 · 08-05-2010, 06:30 PM

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't really have much time to work on anything with this right now (I wasted nearly two weeks downloading books from here and elsewhere and getting them all nice and neatly organized and am now very behind on work so I'm playing catchup while itching to get back to playing with my new reader) but I will take a look later.

Eric

08-04-2010, 10:14 AM	#1
eric11210 Addict Posts: 295 Karma: 400001 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Sony Reader PRS-600	Two questions about using PRS 600 Hi folks, I've been trolling around the forums here for a few weeks and doing lots of reading about various devices. I finally settled on the Sony Touch and ordered one from Borders (I live overseas and they had the cheapest shipping). Just registered here for the first time today after my reader finally arrived. Anyway, thanks to everyone who had great information which helped me make a purchase choice. Now to see if I really like it. As I said, it just arrived today and so these two questions are based on first impressions: 1. I expected the touch screen on the reader to work the same way as my iPhone, but have been disappointed. As near as I can tell, and please do correct me if I'm wrong, there is only a choice of forward when using the touch screen to look at a book. For back, as far as I can tell, I need to use the physical buttons. If someone knows differently and knows of a way to make it use right sweep to move forward and left sweep to move back, I'd really love to know. Also, another thing I noticed right off the bat was that the size of the default font is too small for my taste. I know how to switch the size to a larger one (just press the magnify button and then choose a size), but wondered if there is any way to make the thing default to a larger size rather than my having to manually change it for each book I read (especially since I have Calibre downloading daily newspapers, it would be a real annoyance to have to constantly reset the size for the newspaper each morning). I did try to search but found no information. Thanks in advance for any suggestions on both these questions. Eric

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08-04-2010, 10:23 AM	#2
Juliette I eat books Posts: 601 Karma: 5124 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Milan, Italy Device: Gen3 PRS-505 PRS-600 PB360 PB302 K2 Opus BebookMini OnyxBoox K3 KDXG	Hi Well, you can go back without the button- you have to swipe your finger the other way you swiped to go forward. You can change the settings both to go forward and go back to adjust your ideal standards.

08-04-2010, 10:28 AM	#3
eric11210 Addict Posts: 295 Karma: 400001 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Sony Reader PRS-600	You are right. I stand corrected. I had been trying to do it with a newspaper Calibre uploaded and couldn't get it to work for some reason (I have a sneaking suspicion it may be because the newspaper was formatted for iPad since I'd wanted to try it on my iPhone, though I never bothered since transferring it was too much trouble). However, with a regular book in ePub format, it does work, though I'm finding the buttons to be more responsive anyway so will likely stick with those. Thanks. And on to the other question. . . Eric

08-04-2010, 10:37 AM	#4
elcreative Wizard Posts: 2,888 Karma: 5875940 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: PRS505, 600, 350, 650, Nexus 7, Note III, iPad 4 etc	As far as size is concerned... look at calibre, you can set the default size which usually equates to small... I use 13.5 which I find comfortable... experiment and read the manual, it's now a substantial program with lots of less-than-obvious abilities...

08-04-2010, 11:03 AM	#5
eric11210 Addict Posts: 295 Karma: 400001 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Sony Reader PRS-600	Could you tell me how I do that? I've been hunting for it but haven't found it. Thanks, Eric

08-04-2010, 11:18 AM	#6
elcreative Wizard Posts: 2,888 Karma: 5875940 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: PRS505, 600, 350, 650, Nexus 7, Note III, iPad 4 etc	Try Preferences/Conversion.... then set Base Font in "Look and Feel" tab... not necessary to change format, you can convert from a format to the same format e.g. epub to epub and that'll change Base size to your Prefs setting... and you can select more than one file at a time and do the lot at one go... If you want more detailed calibre help then head over to the calibre forum...

08-04-2010, 02:33 PM	#8
eric11210 Addict Posts: 295 Karma: 400001 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Sony Reader PRS-600	Well I tried it. It doesn't seem to do anything for my newspapers that Calibre downloads, which is the primary issue I'm having. I still have to go in and manually reset the font size on the reader. I'm considering instead creating a combined news source where I take all the different built in newspapers that I'm downloading and combine them so it creates just one "book." This way at least I only have to change the size of the font once when I first look at the newspaper rather than doing it for each different paper I look at. Thanks in any case for the suggestions though. Eric

08-04-2010, 08:36 PM	#10
eric11210 Addict Posts: 295 Karma: 400001 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Sony Reader PRS-600	Thanks. I may do that. I have a feeling the problem is in the coding of the recipes. I recall reading that there was a way to strip away the CSS and replace it with a different one and I imagine most of the recipes simply stick with the CSS that comes with the newspaper rather than stripping it away and creating a new one. If I ever actually feel like spending lots of time learning python coding I may try to see if I can figure out how to change it. For now, it's more an annoyance than anything else. I just wish Sony's software was better. There seems to me no reason why I shouldn't be able to set a default size for the font it uses. Eric

08-05-2010, 06:30 PM	#12
eric11210 Addict Posts: 295 Karma: 400001 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Sony Reader PRS-600	Thanks for the suggestions. I don't really have much time to work on anything with this right now (I wasted nearly two weeks downloading books from here and elsewhere and getting them all nice and neatly organized and am now very behind on work so I'm playing catchup while itching to get back to playing with my new reader) but I will take a look later. Eric

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