Delays in notetaking & highlighting

Pipes · 08-02-2010, 12:00 AM

I bought the Sony Daily Edition because it seemed more "PDF" friendly, and I liked the idea of highlighting as I read. I currently have 60 books (mostly PDFs) and over 700 notes on my reader (the notes are mostly highlighted sections about 2-3 sentences long). After reading and highlighting the first few books/pdfs, I noticed a lag of several seconds while the reader "processed" the note. This lag has gotten progressively longer, forcing me to become increasingly selective with highlighting. It now takes about 3-4 minutes for each note to process!

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is there a solution or some sort of work-around (besides highlighting using Reader Library)? I chose the Daily Edition over the KindleDX because this Sony model was supposedly better able to handle academic-type reading (PDF manipulation, highlighting). The disruptive time delay is pretty much a show-stopper for me if I can't figure out how to minimize it.

Thanks.

vxf · 08-02-2010, 08:33 AM

Yes, I have the same problem, but with the PRS900.

The more notes you have, the slower notetaking/highlighting becomes.

I have resorted to not keeping many documents on the device. I read a PDF, annotate it, download it to my laptop through SONY's software (so I can view the annotations on my laptop) and delete it from the device.

That way, I never have more than a couple of PDFs and 100-200 notes on the device, and the speed is decent.

Otherwise, it becomes completely unmanageable.

Another alternative I have used is to store the annotated PDFs on an SD card, instead of using my PC. But then you have to take the card out of the reader to 'regain speed'. And when you put it back in it takes hours to re-sync. So I prefer the PC solution.

Note that, if you use SONY's software, you can always move the annotated document back to the PRS.

peitsao · 08-02-2010, 09:16 AM

Same problem here with the 600. I love the touch screen and like the way you can save the notes to a word file which is much nicer than Kindle note files. However, the Kindle software across devices is more efficient. No perfect reader it seems.

Pipes · 08-05-2010, 12:23 AM

Thanks for the posts. I wonder if the Kindle or the iPad has the same problem (long delays in "processing" due to having lots of notes).

NoHolyGrail · 11-08-2010, 06:45 PM

Does anybody know if this lag problem is present in the newer models (PRS-650, for example)?

vxf · 11-08-2010, 06:55 PM

It is in the PRS950.

It seems it still stores notes and annotations in the same way. So you still have to store annotations using the Reader Library software -- if you keep all of them on the device, it slows to a crawl.

Same thing for having a large number of papers. I mean, why support external memory support when even 1 GB worth of stuff will slow the device to a crawl?

Prince Hal · 11-10-2010, 12:55 AM

Am I reading this wrong? Are you saying that if you make notes or highlight passages in books on the Sony, then if you add too many, it takes minutes to make the note before you can continue reading?

Sorry, I am tired and must be reading this wrong. Can you clarify please?

Prince Hal · 11-10-2010, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pipes

Thanks for the posts. I wonder if the Kindle or the iPad has the same problem (long delays in "processing" due to having lots of notes).

I have probably 400 - 500 highlighted sections ranging from a couple of sentances to complete pages on about 20 books, and no slow down on the K3.

Prince Hal · 11-10-2010, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vxf

It is in the PRS950.

It seems it still stores notes and annotations in the same way. So you still have to store annotations using the Reader Library software -- if you keep all of them on the device, it slows to a crawl.

Same thing for having a large number of papers. I mean, why support external memory support when even 1 GB worth of stuff will slow the device to a crawl?

Then what is the point of having a reader whose orientation is to take notes and highlights, if it slows to a crawl with relatively so few? Say it isn't so.

NoHolyGrail · 11-10-2010, 04:43 AM

Actually, I haven't yet experienced this lag. I have about 800 notes on my Reader (PRS-600) at the moment. Most of my notes are highlights and keyboard-input (not drawing-input). Adding a highlight or notes with the on-screen keyboard is usually relatively fast; occasionally there will be a delay of a few seconds. I seldom use the "draw" type of annotation, but when I do have only sometimes noticed a small delay. I do however notice a very lengthy delay whenever I use the "eraser" function in the annotation screen.

Also possibly relevant is that I hardly have any PDFs. Almost everything is in EPUB or RTF. And in total, I only have 44 books on my Reader, and the most heavily highlighted ones are journal article-length, not book-length. Lastly, I do not use the Sony software on my computer. So, maybe one of these many variables is why I've not experienced a lag.

doreenjoy · 11-10-2010, 05:12 PM

I proofread manuscripts on my 350 so I have hundreds of highlights and annotations on it. Haven't noticed a slowdown.

You might try doing a soft reset. It's possible there is a random OS thread running that's slowing things down.

digital_steve · 11-10-2010, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

You might try doing a soft reset. It's possible there is a random OS thread running that's slowing things down.

Best help reply ever

vxf · 11-10-2010, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prince Hal

Am I reading this wrong? Are you saying that if you make notes or highlight passages in books on the Sony, then if you add too many, it takes minutes to make the note before you can continue reading?

Sorry, I am tired and must be reading this wrong. Can you clarify please?

That's exactly what I am saying. Once you finish writing a note, you save it by either closing the annotation window or turning page. Once you start having a large number of notes, this 'save' freezes your device.

With 200 or so annotated PDFs, about a full minute.

vxf · 11-10-2010, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I proofread manuscripts on my 350 so I have hundreds of highlights and annotations on it. Haven't noticed a slowdown.

You might try doing a soft reset. It's possible there is a random OS thread running that's slowing things down.

I am really curious. I have spoken to many users and everyone has complained about delays when having many notes - you are the first one I hear saying otherwise. And I have tried everything, including resets. Finally, I am sure it is the notes - if I delete them from the device, things to back to full speed. Also, I know it's not a defective device issue - I had two different PRS900s and I just got a new PRS950. They all slow down.

Could it be because of format? Most of my annotations are on PDF files. I don't see why it would make a difference...

Or sheer quantity? You say you have 'hundreds'. I know on 200 or so PDFs, I had over 1,500 notes and annotations. At that point, the device was unusable. But I noticed a slowdown even earlier...

In any case... I deal with it by transferring all files to my PC nowadays and deleting stuff from the device as soon as I read it.

But yes, it is disappointing.

doreenjoy · 11-10-2010, 09:18 PM

Huh. I probably have over 1,000 annotations on my reader right now, and it's pretty speedy. I'd say it's behaving normally.

I have only 300 books on it. No SD card (this is a 350).

All of the books I've annotated are EPUB. I usually open my manuscripts in Atlantis word processor and save them to EPUB, then transfer them to the reader.

I also don't have any DRM'd content on the reader ATM, if that makes a difference.

At one point last week I noticed sluggish response time (not even when reading a book, I was going through Collections at the time). I did a soft reset and it was fine again. At that time, I had about 200 annotations in one EPUB file on the device.

ETA: Just did a quick count, I have about 850 total annotations. Some are hand drawn (circles around errors) but most are highlights.

08-02-2010, 12:00 AM	#1
Pipes Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: PRS-900	Delays in notetaking & highlighting I bought the Sony Daily Edition because it seemed more "PDF" friendly, and I liked the idea of highlighting as I read. I currently have 60 books (mostly PDFs) and over 700 notes on my reader (the notes are mostly highlighted sections about 2-3 sentences long). After reading and highlighting the first few books/pdfs, I noticed a lag of several seconds while the reader "processed" the note. This lag has gotten progressively longer, forcing me to become increasingly selective with highlighting. It now takes about 3-4 minutes for each note to process! Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is there a solution or some sort of work-around (besides highlighting using Reader Library)? I chose the Daily Edition over the KindleDX because this Sony model was supposedly better able to handle academic-type reading (PDF manipulation, highlighting). The disruptive time delay is pretty much a show-stopper for me if I can't figure out how to minimize it. Thanks.

11-10-2010, 12:55 AM	#7
Prince Hal Zealot Posts: 149 Karma: 1856 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: California Device: Galaxy Player 4.2; Nexus 3 (wifi only); Nook HD+ (possibly)	Can you clarify? Am I reading this wrong? Are you saying that if you make notes or highlight passages in books on the Sony, then if you add too many, it takes minutes to make the note before you can continue reading? Sorry, I am tired and must be reading this wrong. Can you clarify please?

11-10-2010, 09:18 PM	#15
doreenjoy 01000100 01001010 Posts: 1,889 Karma: 2400000 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Polyamorous	Huh. I probably have over 1,000 annotations on my reader right now, and it's pretty speedy. I'd say it's behaving normally. I have only 300 books on it. No SD card (this is a 350). All of the books I've annotated are EPUB. I usually open my manuscripts in Atlantis word processor and save them to EPUB, then transfer them to the reader. I also don't have any DRM'd content on the reader ATM, if that makes a difference. At one point last week I noticed sluggish response time (not even when reading a book, I was going through Collections at the time). I did a soft reset and it was fine again. At that time, I had about 200 annotations in one EPUB file on the device. ETA: Just did a quick count, I have about 850 total annotations. Some are hand drawn (circles around errors) but most are highlights. Last edited by doreenjoy; 11-10-2010 at 09:21 PM.

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08-02-2010, 08:33 AM	#2
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	Yes, I have the same problem, but with the PRS900. The more notes you have, the slower notetaking/highlighting becomes. I have resorted to not keeping many documents on the device. I read a PDF, annotate it, download it to my laptop through SONY's software (so I can view the annotations on my laptop) and delete it from the device. That way, I never have more than a couple of PDFs and 100-200 notes on the device, and the speed is decent. Otherwise, it becomes completely unmanageable. Another alternative I have used is to store the annotated PDFs on an SD card, instead of using my PC. But then you have to take the card out of the reader to 'regain speed'. And when you put it back in it takes hours to re-sync. So I prefer the PC solution. Note that, if you use SONY's software, you can always move the annotated document back to the PRS.

08-02-2010, 09:16 AM	#3
peitsao Addict Posts: 211 Karma: 32760 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Allegheny Mountains Device: Kobo mini, PW3,NookST	Same problem here with the 600. I love the touch screen and like the way you can save the notes to a word file which is much nicer than Kindle note files. However, the Kindle software across devices is more efficient. No perfect reader it seems.

08-05-2010, 12:23 AM	#4
Pipes Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: PRS-900	Thanks for the posts. I wonder if the Kindle or the iPad has the same problem (long delays in "processing" due to having lots of notes).

11-08-2010, 06:45 PM	#5
NoHolyGrail Connoisseur Posts: 82 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 3 (previously owned PRS-500, PRS-600)	Does anybody know if this lag problem is present in the newer models (PRS-650, for example)?

11-08-2010, 06:55 PM	#6
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	It is in the PRS950. It seems it still stores notes and annotations in the same way. So you still have to store annotations using the Reader Library software -- if you keep all of them on the device, it slows to a crawl. Same thing for having a large number of papers. I mean, why support external memory support when even 1 GB worth of stuff will slow the device to a crawl?

11-10-2010, 04:43 AM	#10
NoHolyGrail Connoisseur Posts: 82 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 3 (previously owned PRS-500, PRS-600)	Actually, I haven't yet experienced this lag. I have about 800 notes on my Reader (PRS-600) at the moment. Most of my notes are highlights and keyboard-input (not drawing-input). Adding a highlight or notes with the on-screen keyboard is usually relatively fast; occasionally there will be a delay of a few seconds. I seldom use the "draw" type of annotation, but when I do have only sometimes noticed a small delay. I do however notice a very lengthy delay whenever I use the "eraser" function in the annotation screen. Also possibly relevant is that I hardly have any PDFs. Almost everything is in EPUB or RTF. And in total, I only have 44 books on my Reader, and the most heavily highlighted ones are journal article-length, not book-length. Lastly, I do not use the Sony software on my computer. So, maybe one of these many variables is why I've not experienced a lag.

11-10-2010, 05:12 PM	#11
doreenjoy 01000100 01001010 Posts: 1,889 Karma: 2400000 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Polyamorous	I proofread manuscripts on my 350 so I have hundreds of highlights and annotations on it. Haven't noticed a slowdown. You might try doing a soft reset. It's possible there is a random OS thread running that's slowing things down.

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