Sony Reader in Europe?

tkmmusician · 06-13-2010, 04:55 AM

Hi, everyone ...

I live in Paris and am very close to buying a Sony Reader Daily Edition. I know that I can't use the wireless here (the Sony store in Paris doesn't even sell it) but the main reason I want it is the bigger screen.

My question: who has experience in buying a unit in the USA and then using it here in Europe, particularly France? My worry is that I'll get back here and because of geographic restrictions I won't be able to buy the books online that I really want (books in English). Anyone familiar with this?

Thanks so much in advance!

Mike_73 · 06-13-2010, 05:44 AM

Hi, there are so many free books online. I'm sure that someone soon will jump in and give you the links to project guttenberg or googlebooks or.... (or just google them). Make sure you don't get "to the dark side"...

Otherwise, there are people who work with prepaid giftcards and such (if you want to go with the Sony store).
Other than that, there are a lot of stores that sell English books which are not bound to any particular device. So they mostly use formats that can be used on most of the readers.

I have a Sony touch and almost exclusively read in English. But I still hold my US Credit card, too.

dreams · 06-13-2010, 06:02 AM

Welcome to MR, tkmmusician. Mike_73 is correct, there are many stores to purchase epub format now. I think that sometimes you don't know about geographic restrictions until you try to buy something.

These book search engines are great for finding book stores and comparing their book prices.. AddAll, eBookPrice.Info, and Inkmesh

MR has free ebooks that have been beautifully formatted by some very dedicated MR members. ePub format and Sony BBeB / lrf format

Free ebook sites.. feedbooks.com and manybooks.net and Project Gutenberg

Free and for purchase ebooks .. smashwords.com and baen.com Plus Baen has a free library

You can explore using Calibre to manage your library of DRM free books and Kovid, the creator, frequents the forums here. We even have a dedicated Calibre forum.

Have fun in the forums and ask if you have any questions.

neilmarr · 06-14-2010, 04:28 AM

Hya TKM. I'm in France, too, and bought a Sony PRS-505 early last year. It's been a fantastic device and has never given me a moment's trouble (since I bought a mains charger about a month after getting the device). Mind you, the Sony store itself and most other major online stores are pretty useless to anyone outside the USA. No big deal, though. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and -- even though I'm anything but a techie -- I always manage to get the books I want without too much trouble. Good luck and best wishes. Neil

bevdeforges · 06-14-2010, 07:00 AM

I live just outside Paris, and I bought my Sony PRS600 through Amazon.co.uk - from the beginning, I "registered" it as a US unit (it's part of the set up process) because I bought it to have access to English language books, mainly from the US. (Saves dragging dead tree books back in my suitcases when I go back to visit.)

I buy from the Sony store in the US using gift cards (bought for me by a friend there) and when buying my books, if the site asks for my home address, I give that of my friend. (Heck, she bought the gift cards, so I figure she's as much "point of purchase" as anyone...)

I have tried using my US credit card, but the system apparently checks to see that your address matches the billing address on the card (which is here in France), but I may change that soon anyhow.

I also buy from Kobo - prices quoted in US dollars (not sure how I managed that). Have looked at books on the Waterstones and WH Smith sites, which do not seem to have the same sorts of restrictions - though their prices on everything that has interested me so far are higher than either the Sony store or Kobo. Still, they serve multiple readers, so I expect they'll sell to anyone with a credit card. (I do have a UK issued credit card, and will probably use that.)

One thing (may be just superstition on my part) - I normally buy the book and download it without my Reader attached to the computer. Don't know if it makes a difference, but I've never had any problem doing things this way. Normally use Calibre to actually transfer the books to and from the Reader.

Hope any of this helps.

Old guy, new toy · 09-05-2010, 12:34 PM

Hello, this is my first post (not a techie, I like things simple, and prefer legal.)
I live in Belgium, and bought a Sony PRS300 in the USA in August as a gift for my daughter. We did not try to register or use it until back here in Belgium. Now we cannot get it up and running. We got a name & password from SONY in Germany, but we cannot register or authorize the reader. We don't even get a message - The reader screen stays blank with a Triangle and an "!" inside for hours, and never changes. We have found some very very small print on the back of the box "Use of the eBook story from Sony is limited to residents of the USA." How can we start to use this E-book here in Belgium? Or as a second option Germany or France, as we go there a lot more often than the USA. We'd be happy (enough) to buy some books from Sony, and look forward to the many in E-pub.

igorsk · 09-05-2010, 02:10 PM

You don't need to register the device to use it. Sounds like the battery just ran out. If you don't have an AC charger (PSP charger will do), connect the USB cable to computer and make sure it doesn't turn off or go to sleep by itself. If the batter is completely flat, it might take around an hour for red light to appear.

SkyDream · 09-05-2010, 04:26 PM

Note that the Sony Bookstore can't legally be accessed from outside US.
You can't buy books from Sony if you live outside the US.

Don't know the details but that's the way it is.

Buy ePub books from any other european bookstore and load it onto your PRS using calibre or Sony Reader Library. You don't have to buy books from Sony.

06-13-2010, 04:55 AM	#1
tkmmusician Senior Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: (Sony Touch, maybe)	Sony Reader in Europe? Hi, everyone ... I live in Paris and am very close to buying a Sony Reader Daily Edition. I know that I can't use the wireless here (the Sony store in Paris doesn't even sell it) but the main reason I want it is the bigger screen. My question: who has experience in buying a unit in the USA and then using it here in Europe, particularly France? My worry is that I'll get back here and because of geographic restrictions I won't be able to buy the books online that I really want (books in English). Anyone familiar with this? Thanks so much in advance!

09-05-2010, 12:34 PM	#6
Old guy, new toy Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Sony PRS-300 PocketEd	Hello, this is my first post (not a techie, I like things simple, and prefer legal.) I live in Belgium, and bought a Sony PRS300 in the USA in August as a gift for my daughter. We did not try to register or use it until back here in Belgium. Now we cannot get it up and running. We got a name & password from SONY in Germany, but we cannot register or authorize the reader. We don't even get a message - The reader screen stays blank with a Triangle and an "!" inside for hours, and never changes. We have found some very very small print on the back of the box "Use of the eBook story from Sony is limited to residents of the USA." How can we start to use this E-book here in Belgium? Or as a second option Germany or France, as we go there a lot more often than the USA. We'd be happy (enough) to buy some books from Sony, and look forward to the many in E-pub. Last edited by Old guy, new toy; 09-05-2010 at 12:43 PM. Reason: Incomplete

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06-13-2010, 05:44 AM	#2
Mike_73 Guru Posts: 750 Karma: 1323 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: PRS-505, PRS-600, iPad 16GB Wifi, Kindle Voyage, Nexus 6, Razr HD	Hi, there are so many free books online. I'm sure that someone soon will jump in and give you the links to project guttenberg or googlebooks or.... (or just google them). Make sure you don't get "to the dark side"... Otherwise, there are people who work with prepaid giftcards and such (if you want to go with the Sony store). Other than that, there are a lot of stores that sell English books which are not bound to any particular device. So they mostly use formats that can be used on most of the readers. I have a Sony touch and almost exclusively read in English. But I still hold my US Credit card, too.

06-13-2010, 06:02 AM	#3
dreams It's about the umbrella Posts: 25,110 Karma: 56250158 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony 505\| K Fire \| KK 3G+Wi-Fi \| iPhone 3Gs \|Vista 32-bit Hm Prem w/FF	Welcome to MR, tkmmusician. Mike_73 is correct, there are many stores to purchase epub format now. I think that sometimes you don't know about geographic restrictions until you try to buy something. These book search engines are great for finding book stores and comparing their book prices.. AddAll, eBookPrice.Info, and Inkmesh MR has free ebooks that have been beautifully formatted by some very dedicated MR members. ePub format and Sony BBeB / lrf format Free ebook sites.. feedbooks.com and manybooks.net and Project Gutenberg Free and for purchase ebooks .. smashwords.com and baen.com Plus Baen has a free library You can explore using Calibre to manage your library of DRM free books and Kovid, the creator, frequents the forums here. We even have a dedicated Calibre forum. Have fun in the forums and ask if you have any questions.

06-14-2010, 04:28 AM	#4
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Hya TKM. I'm in France, too, and bought a Sony PRS-505 early last year. It's been a fantastic device and has never given me a moment's trouble (since I bought a mains charger about a month after getting the device). Mind you, the Sony store itself and most other major online stores are pretty useless to anyone outside the USA. No big deal, though. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and -- even though I'm anything but a techie -- I always manage to get the books I want without too much trouble. Good luck and best wishes. Neil

06-14-2010, 07:00 AM	#5
bevdeforges Addict Posts: 288 Karma: 1094000 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Essonne, France Device: Kobo Forma; Sony PRS600B; Sony 350; Sony T-2	I live just outside Paris, and I bought my Sony PRS600 through Amazon.co.uk - from the beginning, I "registered" it as a US unit (it's part of the set up process) because I bought it to have access to English language books, mainly from the US. (Saves dragging dead tree books back in my suitcases when I go back to visit.) I buy from the Sony store in the US using gift cards (bought for me by a friend there) and when buying my books, if the site asks for my home address, I give that of my friend. (Heck, she bought the gift cards, so I figure she's as much "point of purchase" as anyone...) I have tried using my US credit card, but the system apparently checks to see that your address matches the billing address on the card (which is here in France), but I may change that soon anyhow. I also buy from Kobo - prices quoted in US dollars (not sure how I managed that). Have looked at books on the Waterstones and WH Smith sites, which do not seem to have the same sorts of restrictions - though their prices on everything that has interested me so far are higher than either the Sony store or Kobo. Still, they serve multiple readers, so I expect they'll sell to anyone with a credit card. (I do have a UK issued credit card, and will probably use that.) One thing (may be just superstition on my part) - I normally buy the book and download it without my Reader attached to the computer. Don't know if it makes a difference, but I've never had any problem doing things this way. Normally use Calibre to actually transfer the books to and from the Reader. Hope any of this helps.

09-05-2010, 02:10 PM	#7
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	You don't need to register the device to use it. Sounds like the battery just ran out. If you don't have an AC charger (PSP charger will do), connect the USB cable to computer and make sure it doesn't turn off or go to sleep by itself. If the batter is completely flat, it might take around an hour for red light to appear.

09-05-2010, 04:26 PM	#8
SkyDream Wizard Posts: 1,377 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Europe Device: PRS-650, iPod touch 4G, iPad 3	Note that the Sony Bookstore can't legally be accessed from outside US. You can't buy books from Sony if you live outside the US. Don't know the details but that's the way it is. Buy ePub books from any other european bookstore and load it onto your PRS using calibre or Sony Reader Library. You don't have to buy books from Sony.

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