Frequently Asked Questions
What
are the hardware & software requirements to read Palm eBooks?
Installing
the Palm Reader and eBooks -- Palm OS
About
the Palm Reader
General
Questions
What
are the hardware & software requirements to read Palm eBooks?
You'll
need a Palm OS or PocketPC/Windows CE Personal Digital Assistant (PDA),
or a Windows or Macintosh desktop (or laptop) PC.
Palm OS
Hardware:
- PDAs
including: Palm III series, V series, VII series, m100 series, m125
series, m500 series; Handspring Visor series; TRG Pro; Sony CLIE;
IBM WorkPad.
- 134KB
of free memory for the Palm Reader application, plus sufficient free
memory for each book (varies from 200KB to 2MB, depending upon the
length of the book).
NOTE
for Palm Personal users:
The Palm Personal will not work with the
Palm Reader. It doesn't have enough memory to handle all of our eBooks
and there are some important technical differences in the Palm Personal's
operating system that make it a less suitable platform for the Palm
Reader.
Palm OS
Software:
- Palm
OS 3.0 or greater.
- Synchronization
software for downloading the Palm Reader and eBooks to your Palm device
(e.g., the Palm Desktop software)
PocketPC/Windows
CE Hardware:
- PocketPC
series handhelds
- 167-260K
of free memory for the Palm Reader application, plus sufficient free
memory for each book (varies from 200KB to 2MB, depending upon the
length of the book)
- 256KB
free program space
PocketPC/Windows
CE Software:
- PocketPC
or PocketPC 2002
- Synchronization
software for downloading the Palm Reader and eBooks to your PocketPC
device (e.g., the ActiveSync® 3.1 software).
Windows:
- Windows
98 / ME / NT 4.0 / 2000 / XP
Macintosh:
- Mac
OS 8.6 or later, using CarbonLib 1.5 or later/Mac OS X 10.1 or later
Installing
the Palm Reader and eBooks -- Palm OS
Assuming
you have installed the Palm Desktop software on your computer, here
are the instructions for installing our eBooks on your Palm OS device:
NOTE:
Your Palm ebooks are delivered in a Zip file. Zip is the most popular
Internet format for delivering archives of files. Your Zip file contains
your eBooks as well as our popular Palm Reader software.
Two popular
tools for opening Zip files are:
NOTE:
We've had reports of some versions of ZipIt
corrupting the contents of our Zip files and causing crashes on Palm OS
handhelds.
Use one
of the above tools to extract the files from the Zip file. Store the
files in a folder that you will be able to locate easily. Remember where
you have stored your extracted files!
- Launch
the Palm Desktop tool.
- On the
left-hand side of the application window you will see "Install." Click
on "Install."
NOTE: On Mac Palm Desktop select "Install Handheld
Files..." from the HotSync menu.
- A dialog
box will pop up. Click on "Add."
- Browse
to the files you unzipped. Select PalmReader.prc (double-click on
it).
- Click
"Done." Then click OK.
- Click
"Install" again. Then click "Add."
- Browse
to the .pdb file(s) that you unzipped. Those are the book files.
- Select
one and double-click on it.
- Click
"Done". Then click OK. Repeat steps 7 through 9 until you've added
all your books.
- HotSync
your Palm OS device as you normally do.
- Launch
the Palm Reader software on your Palm OS device. It will prompt you
to open a book.
Note
to first-time customers: You will initially find Palm Reader under
"Unfiled" applications.
- Select
the eBook you wish to open and unlock it (you only need to do this
once) using your name (as it appears on your credit card) and the
your credit card number (the unlock code).
Please
see the reader
guide for more information on using the Palm Reader.
About
the Palm Reader
What
is the Palm Reader? Why do I need it? Can I use a different Reader?
The Palm Reader is a PDA application used to read Palm Digital
Media eBooks on your Palm OS or PocketPC/Windows CE device. Without the
Palm Reader, you will not be able to read Palm Digital Media eBooks, and
other eBook Readers will not work with Palm Digital Media eBooks. Palm
Digital Media eBooks are encrypted to protect the authors' work. In addition,
the Palm Reader can display styled text (italicized, underlined, etc.)
and formatting as well as perform functions not found on other Palm OS
eBook readers. There is no charge to download and use the Palm Reader.
For more information about the Palm Reader go to Using the Palm Reader.
Is the
Palm Reader compatible with the new line of PocketPCs?
Yes, the Palm Reader is compatible with the following PocketPCs:
- Hewlett-Packard Jornada
420, 430, 430se, 540, 545, 547, 548, 680, 690, 720, and 820
- Compaq
iPAQ H3600 series, iPAQ H3100 series and Aero 1500 series
- Casio
Cassiopeia E115, E-125 and EM-500 series.
Can I
read non-Palm Digital Media files or PC files with the Palm Reader?
The Palm Reader can read doc files. A doc file is a type of PDA file
that ends in either .pdb or .prc. These text files have been specifically
packaged for use on a PDA. Doc format is pretty much a standard for
PDA documents, and the latest version of the Palm Reader can view them.
Can I
have more than one eBook at a time in the Palm Reader?
Yes, as long as you have enough memory on your PDA to hold all your
eBooks in the Palm Reader.
What
can reduce the speed and performance of the Palm Reader?
We've had a few reports of Palm Reader being slow on some machines.
In those cases, the slowness was due to the presence of certain HackMaster
software. The most common of these was "TealEcho" which, like a lot
of similar software, is always running in the background and can seriously
degrade the performance of the entire machine. Removing this should
dramatically speed up Palm Reader.
The latest version of the Reader may experience difficulty with memory
allocation in some circumstances, usually on older hardware. One workaround
is to perform a reset in order to defragment the dynamic memory heap.
Another is to disable any hacks that may be using dynamic memory. Note
that this dynamic memory is not the same as that used to store applications,
books and other data, so you may have a lot of "free memory" showing
in the Launcher but still encounter memory problems when trying to run
the Reader.
If I
erase my eBook from the Palm Reader, will I be able to read it again at
a later time?
Yes, as long as you keep a copy on your desktop machine, you can reload
it on your PDA as often as you wish. When you reload it, you will need
to enter your user name and unlock code. If you lose or accidentally
delete your copy, you can re-download it from Your Account. For the
first time, it's now possible to build up your own library of your favorite
books that won't ever age or deteriorate!
Can the
Palm Reader display foreign characters?
Yes.
How do
I categorize books installed on my Palm OS handheld?
-
Launch the Palm Reader(tm) application from the application screen
on the Palm OS® handheld.
-
Tap the Menu icon in the Graffiti® area.
-
From the Options menu select Book Info.
-
On the Book Info screen from the Category drop down menu select the
category of your choice.
-
Tap Ok.
General
Questions
Can I
download and install an eBook from your web site directly to my wireless
PDA?
No, you first need to download the eBook to your desktop PC and then
hotsync it to your PDA.
If I
change devices from a Palm OS handheld to a PocketPC handheld or vice
versa, do I need to re-purchase my eBooks?
No, our eBooks are formatted as .pdb files and they work on both Palm
OS handhelds and PocketPC/Windows CE devices.
If I
lose my eBooks, will I be charged for another download?
No, you can download your eBooks from your account as often as needed.
Why doesn't
Global Find find text in my eBooks?
Searching through the text of every book loaded on your Palm would
take a long time. Global Find will find text in any annotations or bookmarks
you've made. For finding text in Palm Digital eBooks, use the Find command
in the Palm Reader.
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