Have a problem accessing Reader store

[volt81]

Have a problem accessing Reader store. Can somebody help to solve it. The wi-fi connection is good 2-3 stripes however can't access reader store it says "coming soon" that's it.

[sehuxle]

I find it staggering that a company the size of Sony seems unable to provide a UK bookstore. Amazon has one, Kobo has one, Google has one plus theres also Waterstones and The Book Depository and no doubt other smaller one.

I mean how hard can it be:smileyshocked:

[MACMAN12]

I called into my local Sony store at the weekend and they have been told that the reader store will appear sometime in February. Not good enough.

[pancakey]

Originally I heard the store would open late October, then in November I heard December, in December, January and now in January, February.

The trouble is other things seem to be tied to the store, e.g. if you try to go to the library it tells you you need an ID that you get when you sign up to the store, but the store's not there.

I think in the meantime, they should at least put up some web pages telling us what we are supposed to do to get IDs, use the library, use DRM books from other stores etc, etc.

In fact, even if the proper store isn't ready, maybe they could have launched an empty store that we could have signed up to in readyness to get our IDs.

[sehuxle]

pancakey wrote:
Originally I heard the store would open late October, then in November I heard December, in December, January and now in January, February.
The trouble is other things seem to be tied to the store, e.g. if you try to go to the library it tells you you need an ID that you get when you sign up to the store, but the store's not there.
I think in the meantime, they should at least put up some web pages telling us what we are supposed to do to get IDs, use the library, use DRM books from other stores etc, etc.
In fact, even if the proper store isn't ready, maybe they could have launched an empty store that we could have signed up to in readyness to get our IDs.

As an owner of the PRS-650 to get an ID you need to use Adobe Digital Editions (ADE), with this you then can get books from the various places online, such as Kobo, Waterstones etc. This method has been standard for all Sony readers prior to the T1.

You install ADE on your PC, sign up (uses your email address). This authorises your PC, then plug in the reader and use ADE to authorise that as well. Books are then downloaded via ADE on to your PC then transferred to the reader via USB. The process is very easy.

Presumably this should still work with the T1

[carpetmojo]

There is another layer after ADE , syncing it to Reader for PC. (I think)

I seem to have done it - but sadly have no idea how I did it. I can buy stuff on wifi, basically, so I assume I 've accomplished something.

The test will come when they finally open the Reader Store - but, apart from Potter stuff, I can't see what it can bring to the ebook buying market..... Unless, of course, it's incredibly easy to buy & transfer books, and the prices and choice is at least as good as all the the competition

My fingers are crossed, 'cos I reckon the T1 is now a great piece of kit.

And I never thought I'd admit that - I do still love, and use, my x50s though

.

However, as of now,  I use Calibre for everything, it's so much clearer and easier, and there are certain other advantages to this nifty ebook management system.

[roxydog12345]

If I had realised that the Sony E-reader store was not open in the UK and was not due to be opening imminently, I would not have bought this product.

We rang Sony, quite irritated as I had given this to my dad as an early Christmas present and he couldn't get the online store to work, who told us that it would be open on Christmas Day. It was not and they are now extremely evasive on the date. Draw your own conclusions as to why the operative may have thrown out the date of 'Christmas Day' when faced with the complaint that it was a rubbish Christmas present! Thanks to this delay, we are out of the 28 day return period, calculated?

Having now gone back to read the UK website, with the view of contacting the Advertising Standards Agency, it is clear that Sony have no intention of opening this store any time soon and have carefully worded their product information with this in mind.

In the 'overview' of the product, under the title 'All the books you need' it states "Find an access point and you’re ready to go with Wi-Fi built in. Get immediate access to websites such as Wikipedia and Google search to find additional information on what you are reading." My underlining. The average reader sees this and thinks that all they have to do is find a wifi point to get all the books they need – it is after all under a heading called ‘all the books you need’. However, on closer reading, what it is saying is that you can look things up about the books you are reading. A very clever way of not stating in black and white that there is a supported ereader store and thereby running afoul of advertising laws, but vague enough to not flag up the point that books cannot be downloaded direct from a supported store. Personally, I don't think paying extra for wifi, when all I can use it for is to look up facts about what I am reading, is worth it. Most of us have phones with that capability on it and how many of us actually look up supporting material whilst we are reading (English students accepted!)

In the same section it states "Wide choice of supported formats such as EPUB, PDF, Text so you can read practically anything." Of course, unless you knew that the majority of stores i.e. WHsmith, Amazon, etc do NOT sell pdfs, you wouldn't realise that, yes OK it does support pdfs, but you can't buy many books in pdf format. You have to down load a convertor. With no ereader store to download compatible products from, it is up to the user to convert the products it can download. Try finding an online retailer that sells its books in pdf or pub…I couldn’t.

In the 'get ebooks' section, its states "You can easily purchase, borrow or get eBooks for free from a wide range of places (including your favourite bookstores and libraries). Download a great selection of titles, transfer them onto your Reader and carry all of them with you anywhere you go without breaking your back.' My underlining. Hidden in there is the clear sign that you cannot download direct onto the device you have to go through your desktop.

Looking at this in detail, it is clear that Sony has worded its specs very carefully. They have not made it clear that the ereader store is not accessible in the UK, but have carefully worded the descriptions so you cannot claim they sold access to the store as part of reader.

This product should contain a warning that extra software is needed to convert books bought from most retailers into something this device can support (i.e. pdf). It should highlight that books cannot be downloaded straight to the device and so the wifi is only useful for browsing. It should also warn that it does not support the AA format for audio books (that used by Audible and iTunes and it seems all other large audio book retailers) and that again, extra software is needed.

I never would have thought that Sony would be the kind of company to be obtuse about its products and, in my opinion, undertake advertising that confuses the average purchaser. Judging by the amount of queries on the internet on this, a lot of us were taken in by the existence of the mythical ebook store. I am still minding to report this as misrepresentation to ASA.

I wonder if we can get them on the 'coming soon'. What is exactly is 'soon' Sony?

[carpetmojo]

oxydog - while agreeing that Sony should have tried hard to get the Reader Store & T1 launch together, it will just be another bookshop you know - although it'll hopefully start with a huge redused price/special offer festival!

If you're (or Dad's) sensible, you'll hunt around for good prices and products anyway.

However - if I read your post correctly - you can download books from other bookshops directly, and you do not have to go through your PC

(I admit I find it just as quick, or quicker,  being a Calibre user.)

As many on this Forum know, I was not in at the head of the queue when tech skills were handed out. However, I managed to get the T1 on the Reader store / register/whatever it is, and I already have an Adobe ID, but even I saw how to do it the first time.

I also realised that you had to do this to be able to use the wifi, whether the Store was up and running or not.

And if I could do it -  anyone can, I assure you !!   :smileymischief:

So I did it, it took about 10 mins, and I can buy books/transfer free ones/ search with Google, all wifi-ly on my T1 - all the usual suspect stores, Gutenberg, MobileRead, etc... plus a few stranger ones.

For the more usual method of getting books, paid for or free, as I like to have downloads saved to file rather than the Sony software, and prefer using a PC anyway, I use Calibre, and have no trouble. But I also have Reader & Adobe library, which are fine, I just think Calibre's the bees knees.

Now, I have never been averse to saying what I feel, or think, or find complaints with, about Sony readers, but I'm very happy with the latest generation, it's a great bag of tricks.:smileyhappy:

[carpetmojo]

Oh, and I meant to say - you obviously weren't quite aware of epub, it's the most widely used format worldwide, and sites like Smashwords give you the option of epub, PDF , and others.

kindle editions, of course, have a "lock"  DRM which - in theory - means you can't read it on any reader except their machine.

[mikebugg]

I also puchased this for myself for Christmas and have already read three books on it from my Local Library (downloaded as EPUB files).  I have puchased successfully books from both Waterstones and Kobo ( WH Smiths). I used the software supplied by Sony and have not as yet experimented with Calibre although I will probably do so as Amazon has a book I want that is not available at either of those two stores.

The WIFI on the Reader was needed to return the Library book as my local library only allows three downloads at a time.

From what I can see from looking at the Google book store on line, I do not think that either Sony or Google will be any cheaper than Kobo.

I agree it is annoying that a product does not do exactly what you were led to believe it would, but it is still a great product.

[cazza21]

Hi everyone ive just bought a sony e reader and was really looking forward to downloading all my favorite books on it till a message came up on my reader that the reader store wont be ready till the spring. I was so dissapointed, and i guess from the dates of previous posts that it was launched a few months ago. what i cannot fugure out is why launch a book reader in the uk if the uk stores not ready. For a company as big as sony thats really bad management. I browsed the american site and that has every book you need and want and thats what made me get the reader, but i made the mistake of buying the reader before i checked they had as store like that over here.  As i said before very dissapointing. I am still keeping the reader because i really like it, i just hope when they say spring it is spring.