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Learn and Enjoy

4 Posts tagged with the sony_ereader tag
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With the huge quantity of paid and free eBooks available, it's easy to suddenly find yourself with a ReaderTM Library full of disorganised content.  Here are some tips for organising and managing your eBooks in the Sony ReaderTM software.

 

1.) Delete unwanted eBooks

First of all, consider whether you actually want all those eBooks.  Sure, it can seem like a treasure trove when you find the entire back catalogue of Jane Austen or Plato's Republic in Italian, but do you actually want to read them?   Sure, you can fill your Library and Reader to the brim (and it doesn't get any heavier to carry around!), but you don't have to.  Delete any titles that you think are just taking up space. Simply locate the books in your library and select them so they have a dark red rectangle around them:selected image.jpg

 

Then click on the 'More Actions' --> Remove button along the bottom-left of the screen:

remove_book.jpg

 

2.) Sort your eBooks

View the titles in list mode by clicking on the right option in the lower-right of the ReaderTM software window:list mode.jpg  .  You'll see that there are columns for Title, Author, Status, Date Added, etc.  You can select and drag these columns around to suit how you want to see the information.  Also, you can expand or contract the width of the columns by dragging on the edges of the column.  When you click on a column, you sort the eBook contents by that column's category.  For example, clicking on 'Author' will allow you to view the eBooks in alphabetical or reverse alphabetical order by author's name.

You can also sort in thumbnail mode thumbnail mode.jpg  using the drop-down menu in the upper-right part of the screen:sort_by.jpg .

Do bear in mind that, depending on their source, the eBook files may have inaccurate or missing information in some of the fields which will cause them to sort in unexpected ways.

 

3.) Identify your favourites

Select eBooks and then select add_to_faves.jpg  in the bottom of the Books screen.  The thumbnails acquire a heart symbol:favourite.jpg  .  You can then see your favourites in the dark red Favourites tab.

 

4.) Put the books into collections... and sync them

The 'Collections' feature allows you to group your books in a way that is useful to you.  Select the collections_tab.jpg Tab along the dark red bar and then click create new collection.jpgand give the collection a name.  If you want to rename a collection, select the collection and choose 'Rename' from the 'More Actions' button at the bottom of the screen. To add eBooks to a Collection, just select the titles and select add to collection.jpg  then select the Collection name. You can add eBooks to multiple collections. Double-clicking on the Collection will allow you to see its contents.

 

When you sync your device with the library, you will be given the option to sync your collections individually. This could be very useful if you don't want to move the entire Library onto the device.

sync_settings.jpg

Once synced, you can access Collections from the Home Screen of your device.

 

Consider these kind of collections:

  • Collections of eBooks by the same author.  This would be especially useful if the authors names were excluded from the Author field (see sorting, above).
  • If you are studying, create a collection for your text books and another for books you want to read for enjoyment.
  • Separate books by genre or language.
  • Perhaps you and your spouse or children have different tastes in books? Create a collection for each of you before you go on holiday.
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Once you learn how to transfer eBooks and other files from the ReaderTM software to the device, you will find it simple and enjoyable.

 

1.) First, you need to have the Sony ReaderTM software installed on your computer--either a Windows PC or a Mac.  You can read the system requirements for your computer and download the software here. You will be guided through the installation process. It is very similar to the installation process for other programs you may have experienced.

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2.) Download some eBook files that you want to transfer to your ReaderTM. You can get these from various free and paid sources.  Check out other tutorials in this section for suggestions on where to find eBooks.  Be sure to choose ePub, PDF or Text file formats to download[If you download a Kindle format eBook it will not work on your Sony ReaderTM.]

 

3.) Launch the ReaderTM software on your computer.  You will see that it has My Library and Store at the top and underneath a dark red bar with several file types listed:

buttons.jpg

 

4.) Locate the eBook files you've downloaded on your computer.  Choose 'Books' from the dark red menu bar and then select and drag the files into the software.  You will see a little plus sign appear near your cursor when the files are ready to be successfully transferred. The transfer of files may take a few minutes depending on the number of files you've dragged-and-dropped and how much processing speed your computer has.

 

5.) When the eBooks are successfully transferred, they will appear in My Library in a list or as individual icons. You can change the size and style of the display using these buttons in the lower right of the screen: 

Some eBook files include cover images, so you may see thumbnail images of the book cover.  Some eBooks files may just have the title typed in text or no cover at all:

possible_covers.jpg

 

 

USB_ends.jpg

6.) Using the USB cable that came with your ReaderTM, connect the device to your computer.  Plug the small USB end into the base of your ReaderTM, and plug the standard USB end into a spare USB port on your computer.

If you reader is not fully charged, plugging it in to your computer will start to charge the device.

 

 

7.) The ReaderTM software will detect that your ReaderTM is plugged in, and the icon for it will appear in the upper bar of the software, next to the Store icon:

Reader_button.jpg

When you click on the Reader icon, a new 'Sync' button will also appear in the ReaderTM software screen at the end of the dark red bar.

 

USB-connected_sm.jpg

 

8.) When the ReaderTM device detects that it is connected to the computer, you will see a 'USB connected screen:

 

Click on the 'Data Transfer Mode' button on the screen of the ReaderTM.

 

 

 

 

 

sync_settings.jpg

 

9.) Next,  click on the Sync tab on the computer screen. You will be given 'Sync Settings' options on the left-hand part of the screen about which type of files you want to 'sync' on to the ReaderTM. Since you have dragged your eBook files into the 'Books' category, you should ensure that the 'Books' tickbox is ticked.  You will see in brackets the number of 'Books' that will be transferred.

 

 

 

 

 

reader_capacity.jpgThe right-hand side shows you how much space is available on your ReaderTM. In future, you may need to delete some books in order to make room for new ones to be added.

 

10.) Press the 'Sync Now' button on the software, and the files will be transferred from the software on your computer to the device.  Be sure to allow the transfer to finish before unplugging either end of the USB cable.

 

 

sync_screen.jpg

11.) You should see your titles appearing as ' Recently Added books' on the Home screen of your the ReaderTM. If there were cover thumbnails included in the files, then these will also appear on the screen of your reader. 

 

Congratulations! You're ready to start reading!

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Thinking about getting a new, Reader™ Wifi®?

Or, thinking about going on holiday?

 

Very often, we bring too many books with us on holiday. Sometimes, we don't even get around to reading all of them!  When packing to come home, though, there's always the dilemma of whether to leave the books behind to make room for all those souvenirs.

 

In this video, you'll see some of the reasons why a Reader™ can make your holiday that much more relaxing. Lighter than a single paperback, you can still pack it full of over a thousand trashy reads or high-brow texts. And it retains its charge for up to one month, so you can leave the charger at home!

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Alex takes us through how to use the advanced Dictionary functionality and the really useful Annotation feature when reading ebooks.