Sony PRS-505 Portable Digital e-Reader System (Silver) Reviews

• The truth about PDF!

  
  By A3SDJ70H00OQCJ on 2007-11-12
  I've decided on a rating of 3 stars. If the E-reader is to be used for reading electronic books, I'd give it 5 stars. All the raves others give it are well-deserved.
  
  I had a different purpose in mind. I was intrigued by E-reader's claimed ability to handle PDF files. I have a collection of nearly 1,000 PDF song lyric sheets. My hope was to put them on the E-reader and forgo the thick binders I transport. I searched all over the web trying to get the specifics about PDFs on the E-reader, but the comments were so vague that I decided the only way to find out how good it was was to get one. I untimately ended up returning the unit and would award it NO stars as a device for quick document retrieval.
  
  There are two issues. One didn't matter to me. The other made the unit effectively useless.
  
  Searching the web for information will yield comments that PDFs are designed for letter sized paper, while the reader has its own dimensions. Such comments are often accompanied by instructions for reformatting documents or by an ad for software to do it for you. What this means in reality is that an entire letter size page is displayed on the reader. There is no scrolling. Rather, the print is VERY SMALL to allow it to fit on the 6 inch screen. This was not a problem for me, since my lyric sheets are in 18 point type.
  
  The deal breaker for me was the slowness with which the unit operated! Opening a 100 page document would cause the unit to appear to freeze. There was no indication that the unit was doing anything. A minute or more later, the document would open. In cases like this, it is human nature to push other buttons to elicit a response from the unit--some indication that the unit is working. These button pushes are buffered and execute once the document is open, performing the who-cared-at-the-time actions requested and then have to be undone.
  
  It is easy to think that one should simply wait, but waiting that long is difficult since there is no indication that the unit is doing anything and if it's not doing anything, once still has a long wait ahead. Also, even if there were an activity indicator, the time to open such documents is too long if one expects to be moving between documents as much as reading them.
  
  To add insult to injury, it takes almost as long to close a document as to open it.
  
  While large type PDF documents can be read on the E-reader, it is ineffective as a document retrieval system.
  
  

• Sony PRS-505 - WOW!

  
  By A2YQ126W9VCCXF on 2007-10-11
  The PRS-505 is Sony's second version of its portable book reader. This unit supports written documents in Sony's proprietary eBook format as well as PDF, RTF and text formats.
  
  The display on this unit is improved from the 1st generation, and the text is highly readable. The display could appear a bit brighter, but does not strain the eyes as the first generation did. Because of the display technology, the brighter the light in which the page is viewed, the more readable it is.
  
  There are a great many public domain titles available around the Internet for free. And Sony's CONNECT software enables users to brows the Sony bookstore and purchase titles.
  
  For a limited time, purchasers of this unit receive credit to download 100 books free from the "Classics" collection at Sony's CONNECT store.
  
  This unit also supports playing MP3 and AAC audio files, a feature that I haven't as yet tried.
  
  When connected to a computer, the memory of this units shows up as a USB Flash Drive, and unencrypted book and audio files can be "dragged" to the memory for viewing and listening without having to use Sony's software.
  
  Sony's software requires MS Windows, thus Macintosh and Linux users are out of luck; Macintosh users with Intel processor machines that can run windows via Boot Camp or virtualization (Parallels or VMware) can run Sony's software successfully through those mechanisms; this is the method that I am using on my Macintosh.
  
  All in all, if you are looking for a way to carry a bunch of reading material as well as personal documents, this product offers a way to do so conveniently and provides the possibility of traveling without a cumbersome laptop computer.
  
  

• Nice reader, but pricey

  
  By A12ARIJO8687XK on 2007-11-03
  I've read e-books for years on my PDA's from Palm to Pocket PC. I recently bought this reader from Sony, and I really like it. It has a much bigger screen than the Pocket PC phone I've been using most recently (XV6700), or any PDA I've used for that matter.
  Pros:
  -Supports RTF, TXT and PDF formats without any conversion. The included software makes it easy to add books to either the main memory or one of the memory cards-simply drag and drop.
  -Nice, clear text, readable under the brightest of lights. It's easy on the eyes, and after reading for hours on it, my eyes are not strained.
  -Supports mp3 playback while you're reading. Not a feature I use, but it may be nice for some.
  -It's light enough that my hands don't get tired holding it for extended periods.
  -Supports additional books on Memory Stick Pro Duo and Secure Digital. It's the first Sony product I've ever had that supported anything other than Memory Stick.
  -Ability to store multiple bookmarks to keep your place if you're like me and read many books at the same time.
  -Reads PDF files. None of my PDA readers could do that, I had to use Acrobat on the reader, which I didn't like.
  -Good battery life. My PDA's got 3 hours or so if I was lucky. Not sure how many hours I'll get off of a charge, but it seems like it'll be a lot.
  
  Cons:
  -No HTML support. Seems like it would've been easy to add this. There are free converters to convert HTML to RTF/TXT format.
  -Refresh rate is a bit sluggish. On my PDA's it would turn the page instantly, this one has a small delay to draw the page, but it doesn't bother me. If you think it might, you might want to try a demo unit at a retail store first. Still, it draws the page in a second or less.
  -No backlight. Probably not included due to battery life, but you can't read it in bed at night with the lights off. I bought a 15 dollar LED clip on light and use that, and it works great with it. This way I can read at night w/o bothering my spouse.
  -Price. This isn't cheap. It was worth it to me since I read virtually all my books as e-books, and I was sick of the small screens on my PDA. So I guess the value depends on how much you'll use it.
  
  

• Summary of Impressions of Sony Reader from an Owner

  
  By A3O60C5513YYD6 on 2007-12-16
  I bought the Sony Reader earlier this week. If you're reading this review, you may overlook it, looking for reviews published after the advent of Amazon's Kindle. The Kindle's been out for a couple of weeks and I bought the Sony deliberately instead of the Kindle (never mind the fact that Amazon's sold out of Kindle). So here's my review, my reflections and thoughts. I'm going to go kind of far afield, but I think you'll get more out of my review that way.
  
  I'm a lifetime reader. I'm the guy that's always got two or three paperbacks in my briefcase/backpack/suitcase. Part of it is the feeling that I may not like the one I'm reading and I might want to switch. Another part is that I'm perfectly comfortable reading a couple of books at the same time. I don't get confused and have a hard time understanding why people do.
  
  I've been looking for years for a better way to do this. I tried reading Ebooks on my Treo cell phone and in fact, read a couple that way. Joe R. Lansdale, I'm looking at you...Hap and Collins have had a home on my Treo for a while now. The only problem is you can't fit enough on your screen. One book is a couple of thousand page-downs on the Treo and, well, that's a lot of work. The font isn't too big and if you jack up the size (which you can do), well, multiple your couple of thousand page-down by a factor of two or three.
  
  Its a wierd synchronicity that I started looking at readers independenly of Amazon's producing the Kindle. It may be the media seeping into subconscious, but I swear I looked at a couple different ones before I even knew the Kindle was out. Finding the Kindle, I saw the advantages. The Wireless functionality makes the bookstore more or less obsolete and gets rid of my IPOD's reliance on the desktop computer. The Wikipedia functions, the lookup anything dictionary all sounded like a lot of fun. The Kindle was expensive, but let's face it, when you read as many books as I do, the cost savings in ebooks vs paper books (particularly those big heavy hardbacks) will make up the difference in short order.
  
  So, I learned all I could about Kindle vs. Irex Iliad (which is better than all of them and around $700) vs Sony Reader vs some older devices like the IBookman. The Sony Reader won and here's some of my reasoning:
  
  * I don't care that much about the wireless capability. Once installed, downloading a book to the Sony Reader takes a negligible amount of time. I think I downloaded a dozen books in about 2 minutes. The reliance on the PC that makes my experiences with the IPOD so special? So far, its been pretty easy. I kind of like using the computer this way.
  
  * My second reason is that I was able to go to a Sony Style store and actually pick up a Sony Reader. I was able to play with it, see how it feels in the hand. Without its cover case, its pretty light. In fact, it feels a little fragile. With the cover case, it feels like a book, even if the weight differential makes holding it a bit of a challenge at first. I couldn't do this with a Kindle and as much as I like ordering stuff online, I wasn't going to pay $400 until either I handled one or met someone who had.
  
  * The Sony bookstore seemed to be cheaper than Amazon's and Sony was offering a deal. Buy a Reader by the end of January and you get 100 free ebooks from Sony's classic library. Wow! Free books!
  
  * I got a Best Buy gift card for the holidays and another one for Amazon. And while you might be buying Best Buy when you buy through Amazon, you can't use Amazon to buy Best Buy. So, I wound up buying the Reader at Best Buy and the SD card through Amazon.
  
  Impressions:
  
  1). The software that comes with the Reader isn't ideal. The conventions used throughout Windows, Itunes, etc. are there for a reason and most of them aren't duplicated in the Reader software. In fact, the software is almost too easy. Download a book, upload it to the Reader. There's very little help in organizing, finding info about the book, etc. Sorting isn't that easy. Synching is done by selecting the book(s) on the screen and manually dropping them on the Reader icon. Doesn't sound bad, but when you get a couple dozen books in the library, figuring out which ones have been synched and which ones haven't may be a challenge. What's more, the descriptions of the books is lacking. You can't tell which books are in a series, which is first, if anyone actually liked them and I found places where descriptions literally ran into each other. This needs to be improved. Seriously. Oh! One thing...VERY IMPORTANT. The software will only run on Windows XP and Vista. If you have Windows 2000 or earlier, you're out of luck. This is important.
  
  2). The buttons on the Reader were stiff. They seem to have loosened up. One problem I've noticed is a tendency to hit the side buttons accidently. You can go to a specific page in a book (something I can imagine using too often) by clicking the numbered buttons on the side. But once you do, you have to go back into history to find your place. Note...this happens whenever I close the cover. There should be a function to 'lock' the buttons after a couple of minutes of inactivity. You can turn the unit off, if you think of it.
  
  3). The screen is sharp. Just as advertised, when you start reading, you quickly forget you're on a device. It is very much like reading a real book but without having to balance it, turn pages and deal with the bend into the binding. The Reader's reignited my love for the written word. It really is an upgrade in the craft of reading and writing.
  
  4). The selection of books in the Sony store is a little thin. Its certainly thinner than those available for the Kindle on Amazon. Both Amazon and Sony use proprietary formats so you can't just go from one to the other for the Reader (don't know if Sony stuff will work on Kindle). The offer from Sony Classics is certainly real, but its not always apparent which books are free and which aren't. I downloaded 4 books from Dickens and discovered one of them cost me $3. Having said that, I also discovered that there are MILLIONS of classic books for free online in Sony's format. The 100 book offer is there for you if you buy on time but there are a lot of items that I will never read and in which I have no interest. How likely are mnost people to want Abraham Lincoln's State of the Union? But its good to know its out there. If you need links to these sites, email me.
  
  5). There is a definite cool factor to the item. One of the best features is one that NO one seems to be talking about. I know my inlaws will love it for this one feature alone. You can blow up your text! No more too-fine print...you can pick one of three sizes of fonts. Note my earlier observation that the bigger the font, the more page turns. The 'annoying page flash' between page turns become unnoticeable very quickly. Read for a couple of hours and then read this review. You'll have noticed the first dozen page flashes and not a one after that.
  
  6). Its really easy to buy, download and add books to your Reader. REALLY easy. Its maybe too easy. I don't think I'm missing the wireless capability of the Kindle at all. In fact, I have too much on my Reader already, something like 40-50 books between ones I bought and ones I downloaded either for free from the Sony Classics offer or from websites. They all work, they all look great and most of them have some artwork (one I got off the website was for The Little Prince with original artwork in it...which is good, the artwork is critical to the story) in it. Its in black and white but generally good. Oh, and it really holds a charge. Once I charged it up, I've been using it for 5 days and haven't lost one bar from the battery thermometer.
  
  Pros:
  Fun and easy to use
  Its lightweight and you can hold a lot of books in the interior
  The e-ink technology is remarkable. Its a lot like reading a real book
  Fonts can be enlarged. This is important for older adopters but I find myself enlarging fonts as I stand reading during my commute.
  The functionality of importing Word documents is excellent, particularly since almost anything online can be copied and pasted into Word. But the title of the documents isn't able to be changed and links to other places within the document don't work right
  
  
  Cons
  There's a large selection of books out there but not as large as you might want and sometimes the list doesn't always make sense. For example, I was looking for Stephen Baxter Exultant series and they had 2 of the 4 books available.
  
  There's very little in the way of textbooks, professional or academic. I'd really like to see much more of this. Saving kids from having to carry textbooks is just the start. I'd love to see all kinds of manuals, website downloads, etc in the future.
  
  As noted in many other reviews, the ability to read PDFs is a good thing, but you can't read the actual contents because you can't zoom on them. So, it can be a useful for storage but not so much for reading.
  
  You can have hundreds of books on the Reader. But you can only read one at any given moment. This hasn't changed...
  
  
  Executive summary: Very cool device, like it alot. It doesn't do a lot more than advertised but what it does, it does well. I'm happy with my purchase and expect to use it often.
  
  
  

• why sony instead of Kindle?

  
  By A1MDDJ2XUPZZOE on 2007-11-20
  I own this device. Love it. The screen is perfect. It's easy to read on. It holds a ton of books and the biggest features is Sony Connects availability of titles. I always find what I am looking for. http://ebooks.connect.com/ I would recommend this device over the $100 more expensive Kindle unless your desire is to read the newspaper on your device. I don't read the newspaper so I don't want that one feature. I can easily buy and download books onto my Sony and the prices of the books are very reasonable. I love the product. I am a hardcore reader and that is what this device is made for. Someone who wants to save the wear and tear of reading on a device on their eyes. E-ink is worth the price.
  
  
  Kindle
  6 inch screen
  4 level grayscale
  10.3 ounces
  
  Sony E-book
  
  6 inch screen
  8 level grayscale
  9 ounces
  
  
  Hmmm.....if what you are paying for is the e-ink technology then Sony has Kindle beat with a savings of $100.
  
  
  
  
  
• Good but expensive, hate DRM
  By A2Q3ZQI8V9AQZ0 on 2007-11-14
  I had been thinking about buying this for quite some time. I wanted to read more but reading in bed for me with a big book is a pain. Traveling with just one book is a pain so I don't, bummed when I show up at my destination (or the airport) with nothing good to read. I was also hoping that I could turn some of my instrument flying charts into PDFs and display on the reader, reducing cockpit clutter.
  
  Amazon has a full description of the unit but in general you can think of it as an iPod for books. It allows you to go to the Sony equivalent of iTunes, purchase and download books. It's light, extremely thin, and totally lives up to the marketing when it comes to viewability. The breakthrough for this product and others like it is the display technology. I call it etch-e-sketch technology because once it creates the image on the screen, it stays there, no power required. Because of this the unit only uses power to wake up and turn the page (unless you are listening to music), battery life is very long. If the battery goes dead while you are looking at a page, it just stays on the screen (you think it's frozen). The marketing says it will stay charged for 7,000 page turns. I'm not getting anywhere near that but it does hold a charge for a week and charges by plugging into my laptop.
  
  This is the second rev of the hardware so they are using a newer version of the screen which has faster refresh time and ergonomics have been improved (can easily turn pages with either hand holding the unit). They also let you slew to any page and provide a way to for you to drill down on end-notes and create bookmarks on your books. They have increased the size of the internal memory to hold over 100 books (not tested by me yet) and ability to take not only the Sony memory stick but also SD memory cards. It will play music from any memory store and will read PDFs, text and a DRM format by Sony.
  
  Pros / Cons
  On the plus side:
  * It makes it super easy to take a bunch of books on vacation (stores over 100 and expandable with Flash [two kinds])
  
  * Super thin and light. Makes it easy to read anywhere.
  
  * Instantly download books that you want. Hear about a new book that I want to read, no more driving down to the bookstore (when I can get some time) only to find out that they don't have it.
  
  * Price of e-books is competitive.
  
  * Take other kinds of documents, text word, PDF. Big PDFs take too much processing power to change pages. I thought I could take my approach charts in the plane this way but it's not going to work out. I have not tested taking other documents.
  
  * Page turns much faster than version 1 of the hardware
  
  * UI for drilling down on footnotes or end notes cool. Very quick to browse back and forth.
  
  * Has ability to "bookmark" pages but the name of the bookmark is set automatically (bummer)
  
  * Can enlarge the page/text (small, medium, large).
  super clear display in any light. Totally lives up to ALL marketing in this regard.
  
  * NYT top 20 books are almost always available up in eBook format.
  
  * Can read books on a number of devices (multiple computer that I have and the reader also). I am not sure what the limit it or if it is tied to my user account or what. (more research needed)
  
  * Allows you to rotate to landscape but haven't needed that yet.
  Comes with a cover. No longer have to peel off a bunch of cash to buy it then purchase a cover.
  
  Down Side
  * Too expensive for what you get. I expect the price to drop.
  
  * Harder to quickly scan books like you can with a book. New version does allow you to jump to a page but you have to know what you want to jump to. You can also use the table of contents.
  
  * DRM. One can hope this changes. Can read books though on a number of devices (multiple computer that I have and the unit). I am not sure what the limit it or if it is tied to my user account?
  
  * How do you loan books to others like physical book if it has DRM on it.
  
  * Lock in like iTunes but I am hoping this will change.
  
  * Not every book in electronic distribution. This is controlled by the publisher author agreements. Most NYT top 20 almost always show up.
  
  * I'm not getting the battery life I expected. I need to investigate but it is lasting over a week (not playing music)
  monochrome but will display your photos and images from books.
  
  * Bookmarks don't allow you to change the name of them, it uses text from the bookmarked page
  
  * When taking large PDF files (like approach charts for flying) it's too slow to be usable.
  
  * No back light but I don't mind sacrificing for battery life, size and weight (I use a simple book light for total darkness).
  
  Summary
  
  I think I like it. It solved all the things that I was purchasing it for except for in-flight charts which are just too big. I'm reading a lot more and really like the instant gratification of being able to just click, download and read within one minute. I am bummed about not being able to share books that I read but we will see where this goes. I'll update this review as I get more flying time on it.
  
  
  
• Great Buy!
  By A38IXYK5ERU85 on 2007-11-09
  First I have to complain about people complaining who don't even OWN this item!
  I think it is fantastic. It is so light, compact, easy to read (the screen is
  the size of a paper back so no squinting necessary as with palm counterparts),
  easy to use, and no batteries required! Its re-chargeable and lasts for over
  7,000 page turns before needing more charge. This guy/gal dissing this product
  hasn't a clue, pointed out by the fact that they do not even own one. And the
  books on sony's site are cheaper than what you will find at a book store by at
  least a couple of bucks not to mention that this ebook reader can handle many different formats, so buy your books where you find the best price.
  One complaint, The connect ebooks store/library is in sore need of tech
  updating. It takes way longer than it should to do anything and they don't make
  it easy to unload your books back into the library, but they do have a great
  selection.
  All in all, I give this product 4.99 out of 5. Well worth the money and soooooo
  much better than reading off a palm or even an iphone (as i used to do).
  
  
• Unfortunate Purchase
  By A3ICVBOKPHI0XN on 2007-12-19
  I made the unfortunate choice of purchasing a PRS505 after trying one out at a Borders Book Store.
  
  I was impressed with the easy to read type, as well as the easy to manipulate controls. However, I only had the unit for a couple of weeks when I started noticing ghost images and text no matter how many times I changed pages.
  
  I called Sony Support, which resulted in my sending the unit in for repair. I had read about how bad Sony Repair can be, but I had no choice in the matter. There is only one authorized repair center in the United States.
  
  The unit was in their hands less than a week when I got a call from the Repair Center telling me that I had somehow managed to crack the screen, and the repair would cost me $277. It wasn't covered under warranty. I refused to pay and they sent the unit back. When I asked why the unit wasn't under warranty, they informed me that I had broken the screen somehow.
  
  This unit had always been sitting on my desk except for the times I used it. I explained to them that the unit had never been subjected to rough treatment. Their answer was that I must have cracked the screen while holding the unit for reading (thumb and forefinger on the side).
  
  Now I'm not a super strong individual, and I didn't do anything out of the ordinary while reading, but it strikes me as odd that Sony believes you can wreck one of these things simply by using it.
  
  When I got the unit back, I inspected it, and sure enough the screen is cracked; however, it wasn't sent to them that way. I could still read the screen when I sent it in, when I got it back, the screen was obviously ruined. It was packed with all the precautionary measures to insure nothing would damage the unit in shipment, so I know nothing happened out of the ordinary on my end.
  
  Sony Repair will obviously say or do anything they can in order to not honor their warranty, and the cost of the repair is almost the same as buying a new unit.
  
  If you get one of these things that doesn't have any problems, you'll probably be happy with the unit, but if it has a problem, you're stuck.
  
  Be warned!
  
  
  
  
  
• Voracious Reader Loves This Thing!
  By ALGTU8V40JVR on 2007-11-21
  I've been looking for this thing for years - Sony caught up! In the past several years, I've been using PDAs to read ebooks. I've literally worn three of them out.
  
  The Sony Reader, unlike the PDAs, is designed for reading books. I have the brown cover on mine, and it's like holding a book. I've turned it face-down to mark my page, forgetting it's not a paper book!
  
  Some of the things I like:
  
  *Easy on the eye - has been designed to mimic a real page of print. It's not like reading stuff on a little TV screen any more!
  
  *Lots of books available for download - Sony Connect has tons of books. They are PDF format. You also can read text (.txt) files on it. If you have non-locked ebooks, it is easy to convert html and lit files to txt files and then load them onto your book.
  
  *With txt files, you have a choice of small, medium, and large type.
  
  *It is not backlit, so it has a very long "up" time before it has to be recharged.
  
  *At 2 in the morning, if I run out of books, I can buy one, download it, and be reading in five minutes.
  
  *Ebooks cut down on all those paper books taking up space - especially in small apartments!
  
  *It's just right - like a book - to hold and read (PDAs were awkward), yet it is lightweight. It's also quite slender. When shut, it looks like a small leather notebook.
  
  *For the next few months, Sony Connect offers 100 free downloads of classic books. You have to download your 100 books by the cut-off time (February 2008).
  
  Caveats - the pages turn kind of slowly (but you get used to timing the way you hit the turn button, and it is not a big deal); those of you who want to read in bed in the dark so as not to bother a partner - it is not backlit.
  
  At $300, it may seem pricy, but when I think of the three awkward, non really for reading books PDAs I wore out, it seems a lot cheaper.
  
  ******************
  *IMPORTANT UPDATE:
  ******************
  I see two major issues in the negative reviews - two issues that I can help you solve with this update.
  
  Issue one: The Sony Library function that interfaces with your Reader gets fussy if you unplug your hardware without the "safely disconnect hardware" ok (look in your tray for the MS Safely Remove Hardware function). This causes a USB issue with your on-computer Library that you interface your Reader with.
  
  Issue two: PDF files (particularly your non-secure PDF books) do not have large enough font sizes to read.
  
  SOLUTION: libprs500, a totally freeware program - totally free, no strings. It works on all systems, it is easy to use, and it provides reformatting features right in the program! Oh - and it does work for 505s.
  
  I've been using libprs500 for over a month, and it has none of the USB issues, it does not crash or hang up, it does not tell you "do not disconnect." AND - it has an edit function that lets you reformat your book - you can ENLARGE the PDF PRINT SIZE. YAY!
  
  I suspect many people think their reader is broken due to the USB issue you may face if you disconnect your Reader without using your "Safely Remove Hardware" program. If you are having this type of issue, or if your Library won't connect with your Reader, try this little program - once you have your Reader connected and working properly, you can use your libprs500 for storing, uploading books to your Reader, and formatting and just use your Library to buy and download books from Connect.
  
  Yay!
  
  ANOTHER UPDATE!
  The software mentioned above has been renamed Calibre. Just search for Calibre and "Kovidgoyal" (the designer) and you will find it. It works like a charm - wanted to be sure you all could locate it, since the name changed.
  
  
• PRS-505 is Recognized Under Linux as a thumb drive
  By A1N4MQCREHN7PG on 2007-11-10
  This second generation device is twice as fast as its PRS-500 predecessor and it has eight black and white shades instead of the previous 4. Also, this version is recognized under linux so you no longer have to remove the memory card and plug it into your computer to copy files to the reader. All you do is plug in the USB port and linux recognizes the internal memory and the additional SD card you might have on your machine. Fast, brighter than before - very clear text too.
  
  Note: I use rtf and pdf files. If you use rtf, select all text and save as 16 font. For those who wish it read html, suggest you cut and past html text into your favorite word processor and format as just discussed. This process gives you a nice large font and is very easy on the eyes (three size settings are small, medium, and large). Using open office writer you can save your text to a pdf file and read it that way if you prefer pdf format (the rtf documents are faster). Great product. Desired improvement would be a version in a 8 and a half by 11 inch screen.
  
  
• But what about the service?
  By A1159W8S9A1X10 on 2007-12-07
  I owned an ebook of a previous model (PRS-500), and I must say franky, it was a great thing - all the backdraws aside, I used it a lot and enjoyed it a lot. 5 stars without hesitation.
  However, one morning I was walking around in NYC, with the ebook in my bag, and then I've found out that a part of the ebook's screen turned white and shows nothing. I could not comprehend how it could happen, there were no signs of any physical impact upon the device. A corner of the screen and several vertical and horizontal lines turned out permanently white, though other parts of the screen did display the text!
  To make it short, when I've send it back to Sony to be fixed (6 month after the purchase), they've replied that the cost of the repair will be 2 5 0 dollars! Just like buying a new one! 250 dollars! I've called the service, they sounded very apologetic but firm. 250 dollars including taxes. So the ebook is to be returned unrepaired. And of course, no one else can fix it...
  
  
• Definitely NOT for PDF, simply unreadable, Unhelpful help files
  By ASRUBBPMS7IJF on 2007-12-17
  It was almost a DOA experience. I dragged 3 PDF files into a newly purchased ebook reader yesterday. One was a 24 pages technical file with a size of 2.4M. Using either horizontal view or vertical view, the file was simple illegible. What was more annoying was that it took 3 minutes to shift between small font view to middle font view, and after that, 3 or 4 seconds to respond to the command to turn every single page. Yet the file was still not legible.
  
  As if this was not frustrating enough, when I tried an even larger file of 10m, pushing the size button was a death sentence. The ebook waited for 30 minutes to allow me open one page. After the next command, it just stayed frozen. Remember, this is not a computer, and I cannot find alt-ctrl-del to stop whatever process that was messing things up. After another two hours, (in the meantime I was watching PBS frontline video -- the Mormons) , already very much bored:), I found the book was still happily displaying the first page with a staying-there-forever attitude.
  
  I looked up in the ebook reader help, and it simply does not tell me what to do. So I went to bed with dreams of all strange thoughts, and this morning I find the ebook is still displaying that holy page, but the battery is drained.
  
  Searching on the internet, I found two interesting articles, one claims that the experience with a SONY ebook reader would be very good until you drop a few PDF files in it. Sony website support does tell you what to do when you ebook is frozen (this is the second article):
  
  There is a reset button at the back. Push it.
  
  But this is my question to SONY: since this is already in 3 out of your 6 hottest topics, why do not you put it in the help files?
  
  In conclusion:
  
  If you are thinking about using this ebook to read a lot of PDF files, the ebook is NOT for you unless your PDF files have super large fonts.
  
  
  
  
• Is perfect for the most part...
  By A2VOZX7YBT0D6D on 2007-11-26
  I have to say, I love this product, but people need to realize that it is what it is...a device for reading books. No, it is not perfect, and yes, it can be a tad slow at times. The reason for the slowness, is that the battery shuts off between pages, giving you the long battery life, so it takes a couple seconds to turn the battery on and turn the page. Think of it like when you have to lick your fingertip to turn a page. People have also complained about no backlighting, but if they had read about the product...done a little homework...before buying it, they would know it is a good thing there is no backlight. First, backlights cause eye strain, just like staring at a computer screen all day...and second, backlighting makes it impossible to read the screen in strong light, or with some types of polarized sunglasses on. The e-ink is a revolution to these type of electronic devices, making them function like a paper book page.
  As far as the downsides, yep, this device struggles with PDF's, but in reality, the primary job of this reader was to function as an electronic library. If you are going to be dealing with 1,000's of PDF documents or 100+ page PDF documents like some of the reviewers...save up and get a small laptop. This product functions extremely well doing what it is designed to do...provide books in an electronic format. I love the fact that I don't have to continually enlarge my library, especially with the small paperbacks that only seem to get read once or twice, then take up shelf space. I also like that I am cutting down on paper use and disposal space.
  The only downside so far is the Sony proprietary issue. Much like iTunes, they really do favor their own format for e-books, and that can be annoying when you want a book, it is available in an e-format, but cannot just be downloaded to the reader. There are softwares and techniques that others more qualified than me have covered, so I will not rehash them here...just know that some books may take a little more work than just downloading them. Also, it would be nice if they had a WiFi connection ability...so that books could be directly downloaded...it would be very handy on the road...so, hopefully the next generation will.
  
  Overall, I would recommend it to anyone that loves to read and would like the ability to carry a large number of books with them all the time...and be a tad more environmentally friendly to boot.
  
  Update* 01/27/08* - While I still stand by my review and my four-star rating, I do have to mention a couple annoying issues. First, why the heck didn't they include at least one A/C plug? I hate leaving stuff plugged in my computer all the time and if it sits unplugged for more than a week or so, it has to be recharged. I did find that a Sony PSP travel charger works with it and they are relatively cheap. I bought three of them, one for work, one that I keep in my electronic travel kit, and one at home next to the cell charger. So, not a huge deal, but get the PSP chargers, they are cheaper. The second issue has been mentioned by others, but it takes a while to get used to the Sony site. I really wish they would do a redesign....
  
  Update #2 August 19, 2008 - I still take this device everywhere with me and stand by the 4 star rating. That said, I would highly recommend spending the extra money on the Kindle. I am still very frustrated with the lack of a quality website by Sony in addition to having less material available. I would love to be able to get newspapers, magazines, and books delivered while I am on the bus or at the airport. There have been a couple times that I have ended a book mid-transit and would have killed to be able to download the next in the series without having to wait until after work to get home and search for it on my computer. If I could redo it, I would look past the Kindle's odd surface appearance and go with the convenience of being able to download files on the fly. I hope that Sony realizes their mistake and corrects it in the next version. If you don't mind having to search a website for books to download then have to attach them, I would save the money and go with the e-reader. If, however, you read the large number of books each year that I do, you may want to review the Kindle. I am afraid though, how much money I could accidentally spend if any book were only a button-click away.
  
  
• Read it if you can
  By AJMYS3D0YKDIS on 2007-12-14
  I was very excited to have this little piece of electronic after reading rave reviwes about it.
  Never, however , did it mention that luck and patience are what it takes to make it working....
  Every time I need to charge it, it is at least 1 hour 15 minutes off my life because that what it takes for this piece of junk to load my texts. Then, if it does not freeze (and it usually does), it would take another 15-20 minutes to actually open a book....
  So, my question is: was it worth it?
  The answer is: definitely not.
  
  Shame on Sony for selling an expensive device that simply does not deliver....
  
  
  
• Buyer Beware
  By A2X00DG6A65WG7 on 2008-01-05
  Santa brought me a Sony ebook Reader for Christmas and had it inscribed/personalized. Before books can be downloaded on the Reader, the Reader has to be authorized. My Reader cannot be authorized, readering the product USELESS. After spending 15 hours with Sony's Technical support, Sony's Reader System Support, and with Sony's Customer Service (what a misnomer!), I asked to return the product. I'm told it cannot be returned because it was personalized! WOW! Sony has no customer service and inadquate technical support. BUYER BEWARE.
  
  
• It does what an E-Reader is supposed to do!
  By A20HIWEJLLN7WN on 2007-11-26
  I got mine over the holiday and I love it. It is small and very easy to read. I read a couple of comments and people complained about backlighting, if you think about it, it is harder on the eyes with one. With this devices I read it and I did not struggle trying to see the pages. It is a little slow when turning pages but that's because to save battery life, it goes off after a while and you have to wait until the battery comes back on before it turns the page. Nothing major about that to me.
  
  I had no problems downloading the books from the site to my library or to the E-reader. I have not tried to download any PDFs as of yet, but I am sure that it will work easily.
  
  I have even brought a memory card, but I doubt I will need it unless I plan on going out of town for an extended period of time without my laptop or desktop.
  
  I found out that if you buy from other companies, I am a big fan of Extasy & Elloras Cave books, I downloaded them HTML then I had to copy and paste to a word document then save as a RTF file. It worked great. No pictures, but we are not looking for pictures on this. I only want to read.
  
  Overall, I gave this a five star because it is a great product. I looked into a Kindle and thought WTF. I do not want newspapers, I do not want to read blogs off it, so, I do need a device that is a hundred dollars more that I will only be using for book. A Kindle is good for those who need all that other crap but I do not. Think about it, once you have downloaded all your books and it is stolen, what to do then? You have to re-buy your Kindle and probably all the books. I am not sure, just guessing. With the Sony, it is in my library on my computer, which I have backed-up and I do not have to worry about loosing them.
  
  If you are looking for a nice E-Reader that is small and easy to use. The Sony PRS 505 is great.
  
  
  
• Sony's format => Nice, PDFs => useless
  By AP5448DCATXSJ on 2007-12-31
  The demo's of Sony's eBook format look nice, and they are. The zoom features work, and the pages look good. When zooming, the font is scaled up in size, and the number of pages in the document is changed accordingly. So, leaving the store, I was happy.
  
  My purpose for getting it, however, was to read PDFs, some of which are very large (> 750 pages, several +1000 pages). As said in other reviews, operations on large documents makes it appear to freeze. Opening the document, navigating the table of contents, displaying pages, changing from page to page, etc., are incredibly slow.
  
  The 'zoom' for a PDF document works as follows: Image a page with dimensions of 8.5 in x 11 in. Image the page has 1 in. margins on all around (top, bottom, left, right). Zooming the page will cut out the whitespace that is around the page, but leaves everything else in its proportion. The text is *NOT* resized. So, in the example, a page of 8.5 in x 11 in. becomes 6.5 x 9 in, and that is displayed in the device's screen. The text is too small to read...
  
  The software that Sony provides is clunky, but I supposed that you would get used to it with enough practice. Really, I expected that when I plugged the device in, Windows would make that sound, and then it would tell me that I plugged in a storage device. Then, I could just use Explorer to cut/copy/paste documents as usual. Not so. Plugging this device in and turning it on causes Windows to do nothing.
  
  Note also: A power adapter is *NOT* included in the box; it is an option to order. The device charges by using the included USB cable. Charging the device took about 45-60 minutes.
  
  Mine is going back in the morning...
  
  
• Sony Reader is without support
  By A1NE6GL9EL18LM on 2008-02-23
  Sony provides almost no support for this product. File transfers are a problem. Wish they had treated the device as any other storage device and not required their proprietary software.
  
  
• Horrible!!!!!!
  By A1Q9MSJ739HIRF on 2008-01-01
  I received the Sony e reader for Christmas and I am very dissatisfied with the unit for the same reason. My husband bought it at Borders and since I opened it they will not take it back. Sony will not do anything either. I guess I have to go to corporate. I swear that the one shown in Borders is a different one even though it is the same model that was bought for me. There is not where on the box, Sony web site or at Borders that you can not use just any pdfs' but only books bought on the Sony e-book site. It actually makes me sick. I was looking so forward to it too.
  
  
• Very Nice--Simply Elegant!
  By A7PKUXB4WKXTD on 2007-11-23
  Received this as a gift and it is very, very nice! I won't go into the specs as others have that covered. I'm somewhat techno-capable, but really not much more than the basics. This reader is quite simple to use. Downloading my free 100 classic books was a breeze (except for all the choices....dawdled over that!).
  
  The screen size may sound small in the specs, but it is a very comfortable size to read. Honestly, would not want a bigger screen as this is a very portable device . . . quickly feels like a paperback in hand. The eInk technology is quite easy on my eyes (unlike LCD backlit screens). As a general rule of thumb, if it is dark enough that you would need some room lighting to read a book, you will need a light to read this device. You can choose from 3 fonts sizes.
  
  Worried that it will not feel like the books you are used to curling up with? So was I, for about 5 minutes, and after that I became lost in the text. The pages are easy to turn, with little delay in the 2nd generation. The bookmark feature is quite handy.
  
  Sure, some readers offer more "bells and whistles" and have email and wireless capabilities. If you need that, great, look around more. I do not. I am an avid reader of books and as a book reader, this device is simply elegant and will not disappoint!
  
  
• Very nice! I would definitely recommend this!
  By A2SNRIDC4QCCXN on 2007-12-31
  I got my Reader as a gift. My husband and I had had what I thought was a purely academic discussion, comparing the Sony Reader and the Kindle, after which he ordered the former as a surprise gift for me. (Thanks, sweetheart!)
  
  For both of us, the Kindle lost points for looks and design (my husband was particularly put off by the cheap white plastic - it looks like something from one of the early Star Wars movies), plus - because I spend most of my time outside the US - I don't need/can't use the wireless offered by Kindle.
  
  In addition, I didn't want to have to pay Amazon every time I put something on my Reader and I also wanted to be able to share books with my husband, who is also thinking of getting a Reader. (These Readers would be great for universities, especially those with distance learning programs - the book costs include shipping and printing and paper - this method would certainly be a money saver - and a "green" plus, as well - for these programs!)
  
  I wish the Sony page had as many books on offer as Amazon does (or that Amazon would offer Reader-friendly format books along with Kindle format) but for this stage in the Reader-Kindle competition, Sony won us over.
  
  There are some small things that should be changed on the reader (mostly covered on the comments here) but the Sony Reader is a great thing for people who travel a lot; when I order English books from Amazon to be sent to me overseas, I have a guilty conscience about all the fuel consumption and shipping waste, plus I have to wait sometimes 2 weeks for my purchases to arrive. (Although I speak and read other languages, for relaxation I - like most people - greatly prefer reading in my mother tongue.) Using the Reader, I get a clear conscience on shipping, packaging, paper use AND fuel use, PLUS I get the books I want in minutes! :-)
  
  With government estimates saying there are about 8 million Americans abroad, hundreds of thousands of whom (especially government and military folks) use Amazon to buy and ship paper books, I (1) hope these things catch on and (2) hope Amazon sees the profits they can make by offering books in both formats!!
  
  
• Unable to Use Device
  By A3BHO7DR9FI19M on 2008-03-01
  E-reader 6IN Portable Silver E-book Approx 170 Pix/inch
  
  I received this unit on Janurary 10, it is now March 1, and it is still unusable. Sony support has been unable to help me solve the problem after several exchanges of information. Each technical exchange is closed automatically after 48 hours if I don't repond to them. Each new exchange results in a repeat of the same canned troubleshooting that failed on the earlier exchanges.
  
  I believe the problem to be with the Sony eBook Library software that is required to download books to the reader. In my case, that software hangs whenever the reader is connected to the USB port. As a result no books can be downloaded to my reader. It does work as a mass storage device, but that's not what I bought it for.
  
  I've given up on this device and written off the $300 as tuition for an education on Sony reliability and support.
  
  
• E-Book Reader PRS-505
  By A1H40Y8OLNWMUO on 2008-01-03
  Unfortunately this unit does not work with our system (not sure why) The support team tried at first to help but now choose not to respond to our needs. So! This item sucks, Sony Sucks and we will not be purchasing anything else from amazon or Sony. Thanks For Nothing! It was a $300.00 dollar mistake. Shame on you guys.
  
  Ken and Terri Giao
  
  P.S. From Terri Giao, this was my christmas present, thanks alot for nothing!!!!!
  
  
• Great product. Very versitile
  By A1DP4VN95WOK5S on 2008-01-23
  This review will cover many aspects of the product not covered in the other reviews,
  
  *7500 page views - The term used is somewhat confusing; This is actually screen refreshes. Navigating the menu, putting the unit in standby, and the little spinning "working" icon all refresh the screen. Also, since standby uses battery life, this 7500 number is based on one sitting with a new fully charged battery. I read 2 RTF books totaling 2347 pages in 2 days, only near the end of the second book did the first 1/4 charge indicator disappear. About 5 days later I started up a new book, and almost immediately the second 1/4 indicator disappeared.
  
  *Font Size. There are 3 relative font sizes. S-M-L. The actual pt size is based on the size the file is stored at. Thus if the base file is stored at 10px, then you will be able to choose, 8-10-12px as an example. The Base size for LRF files seems to be 16px, for a 12-16-20px font selection. The first time a font size is selected for a RTF there is a long wait while the computer formats the pages. When all font sizes have been chosen and formatted, for a given file, then the font can be quickly changed thereafter. If the base font size is too small, such as with RTFs, the size can be increased in a text editor then dropped back into the 505's memory.
  
  *Screen color - The screen color is equivalent to many newspapers. The white background is slightly whiter if the unit is tilted away about 45 degrees, which may explain why the viewer is sometimes pictured at an angle.
  
  *File delay - Opening any file the first time has a delay. The lowest delay is with LRF and LRX files--not surprisingly. RTFs, for example, can have a very long initial load time where there is not even a "working" icon, the unit appears to be locked up when it is not.
  
  *Page margins - RTFs do not seem to have margins, but the LRX files do. I'm pretty sure the only reason those margins are there is tradition. There is no need for them at any resolution, with the text window as small as it is, besides, the edges of the unit act a frame, eliminating the usual visual appeal of margins. Because of page margins, with larger font sizes, most paragraphs wont fit on a page. RTFs are the way to go for a better reading experience because they utilize the entire viewable window.
  
  *3rd Party support - This is where the Sony really shines compared to the Kindle and the reason I ultimately chose the Sony. There are many conversion programs out there to put a file in the best format for the reader. RTF works better than the native format or PDF, except for the aforementioned initial load delay. I've many Gigabytes of Manga. With the Sony I can drop the JPGs into the directory and read at my leisure. With the Kindle, I'd have to email-convert them.
  
  *Unit may be locked - This feature doesn't get hardly any mention but it is great! If you have pictures, stories, or music loaded you don't want children or co-workers to see, you can lock the unit.
  
  *Picture quality - About the same quality as a newspaper black and white.
  
  *Leather Cover - This leather cover is far more tasteful than I expected. The outer is leather the inner is cloth, with thin magnets on the corners. The inner clasp is made of plastic however, so it is not designed to accommodate constant removal and replacement of the unit.
  
  *File Indexing - Unfortunately, RTFs do not index well; they are listed by filename, but in a way this is better than how Sony indexes books. LRX files list books by first name not last. "The Duke of Saint-Simon" was listed under T, not D. "The Koran" was listed under T, for "Translated by Rev. J.M. Rodwell" Grouping files in the same folder will make them "collections" and somewhat easier to find; however, image files are all listed in added order, regardless of how they might be arranged in folders.
  
  *Memory Cards - These are inset so do not come out easily as some might fear. Using my pinky and pressing hard isn't enough to make them unlock, I have to use my fingernail to push them in deeply enough to unlock.
  
  *Sony Store - Most books are overpriced there. E-books have no minimum print runs, no appreciable storage fees, and shipping is almost nonexistent. There are also no return expenses. The only real cost associated with them is creating the file in the first place, after that everything is pure profit. Baen stated that their $5 books are more profitable than print. So much better that they give authors a bigger royalty. Yet e-books are being sold at hardcover prices. There were e-books for over $250 in the store. I don't mind paying a bit of a premium for an added benefit, such as reading a book before it is available in print, but with such a lower overhead, I expect to see some of that savings passed on to the customer. Hardcover prices for e-books clearly do not meet this requirement.
  
  *3rd Generation - Many people don't realize that the first Sony reader was the Libre released only in Japan. This is actually Sony's 3rd Generation reader, not the second as many believe.
  
  *Eye strain - Some this product's features are being inappropriately criticized. The lack of back light is a feature not an issue. Back lights cause eye strain over time, PDAs, with their back lights, are not designed to be continuously stared at for several hours , but this reader is. The off-white background is also easier on the eyes than pure white would be. Although I too would rather the white were slightly whiter, newspaper white is still acceptable.
  
  
• Great tool, with some limitations
  By A3AT6XE2HAJDTL on 2008-01-03
  This is the first time I've seen a reader that I think may actually be able to adequately replace a book. People have been predicting that computers would replace books for a long time, but the technology always comes up short . . . until now.
  
  The Electronic Ink screen is an amazing technology. The majority of readers (and the product description at Amazon) confuse it with a standard LCD display. It's much better than that. The important factor, as a reader, is that it's fairly high contrast, viewable from any angle, and uses no energy to display a page (only when changing the text). This technology causes much less eye-strain than a CRT or LCD display, and allows a fairly small battery to power the unit for many hours of reading on a single charge.
  
  Sony has wrapped this new display technology is a compact attractive case with very nicely designed controls. It opens like a book, is sized similarly, and is lightweight. The inclusion of multiple formats of flash memory means that it is EASY to carry several hundred books at a time. The hardware is amazing.
  
  Sony's software is adequate, if a bit uninspired. Their proprietary book format works well, but many popular titles are not available for this product.
  
  The product has drawn bitter criticism for it's limited support of PDF's, and I feel compelled to speak up in Sony's defense. This device is not intended as a laptop, or even a PDA, it's an electronic reader. As such, it's CPU and memory are doubtless fairly minimal. Remember every byte or RAM and transistor consumes power, and battery life was a critical design consideration. The text formats it supports are all pretty much lightweight markup layers over plain text, which are not CPU-intensive to process. PDF's on the other hand, can be bloated monsters. Worse, the PDF documents have embedded formatting information that determines size of the page and the layout of the document -- that's how they're SUPPOSED to work. So when you grab your boss's 400 page bloatware PDF with dozens of font changes and embedded graphics and toss it at a device that was designed primarily to display plain vanilla text, you ought to expect some problems! Because the PDF mandates the page layout, the poor reader can only display them in full page or fit-to-width modes, which look mighty small on this little screen. Again, this isn't a failing of the reader, it's a lack of understanding by the user. I created a PDF of a 400 page book, added some fairly minimal formatting, and adjusted the page size to something appropriate, uploaded it to my reader, and it looks and works great.
  
  
  
• Reader is great; ebook connect customer service is horrible
  By A2MNVJCID4DATM on 2008-03-04
  While I love the Reader, the awful ebook connect customer service is enough to make me regret buying the Reader. I have been in contact with their CS for a full month and many emails (they have no phone CS that I can find)and still, even though they have "escalated (my case) to their lead representatives", the case has not been resolved. It's quite easy to take care of: their software is not recognizing the credit numbers on 3 of 4 cards I received as gifts. They need to either fix it so I have $75 worth of credit with their ebook store or send me a check. Easy. Instead the poor public relations they are creating will hurt them more than $75 worth! My tale of woe has already driven three friends to Kindle (even with the wait!). One of the friends is the person who gave me the 4 gift cards.
  
  
• Too Bad 0 Stars Isn't An Option!
  By A3FRZJZXLDJ1UQ on 2008-04-26
  According to Sony's ads - you get 7,000 page turns out of one battery charge. Sounds like you can read several books with one charge. Great!
  
  So I charge it up and start reading. 400 pages later - the battery is dead. Hmmmm... must be a problem here. So I make a phone call to their tech support. This is where the product drops from 3-STARS to ZERO STARS!
  
  Tech Support: "Did you charge it up fully?"
  Me: "Yes, I charged it per the instructions, until the light went out."
  
  Tech Support: "Oh no. You have to charge it for 16 hours. Do a reset and then charge it up fully and it should work fine."
  
  This conversation took 30 minutes because he had to fill in my name, address, serial number, etc over the phone first.
  
  ME: "I did all that when I registered the unit online so I could buy books. Why can't you look it up?"
  
  Tech Support: "That registration is just for our marketing information. We don't have access to it in tech support."
  
  The conversation went downhill from there, basically ending up with me asking for a supervisor.
  
  Tech Support: "We don't have any supervisors here.... blah blah blah".
  
  (Side note: Having managed a call center of 120 employees I KNOW that you staff 1 supervisor for every 10 to 20 agents.)
  
  So I followed his instructions, reset, charged fully, and used it. For another 400 pages and a dead battery.
  
  I called the tech support back (now 15 days after the first call). The new tech support monkey can't find any record of me or my first call. I explain the problem and the details of the last conversation. He "registers" me again with all the same info, serial number, etc as last time.
  
  And even though I've already gone through this before, I get the same questions as before... "Did you fully charge the battery?" etc.
  
  Bottom line -- the 7,000 page turns is a "fuzzy" number. It means that you can turn the device on and press the page turn button 7,000 times. However, if you READ THE PAGES between those turns, you don't get 7,000. You only get 400 or so. Note though - a paper book with 300 pages will probably be 700 or so pages in ebook format. So you can't read a complete book without recharging it at least once in the middle. For 16 hours.
  
  I WISH I had recorded the phone calls to tech support. It would make a very entertaining YouTube video. Almost as stupid as the famous AOL phone call recording. I'd call them back and record it but I don't feel like wasting another hour of my time.
  
  I've ordered a Kindle and it arrived yesterday. Too bad I gave Sony any of my money and I now have ebooks that I can't transfer over to my new Kindle. But at least I won't be giving Sony any more money.
  
  
  
  
  
• Review after 4 weeks of use
  By A3DYRB5RNJQJ21 on 2008-10-16
  The following is copied from my blog entry on the PRS-505
  
  This review is based on several weeks of use with a personally purchased PRS-505. I understand that SONY just announced an upgraded reader - The PRS-700, but I feel this review can easily be extrapolated to provide you with an idea of how the 700 would compare.
  
  This review is unbiased and written from the perspective of a middle aged individual who enjoys casual book reading.
  
  I will not dwell on the specs or features of the product. These are easily obtained from the SONY website itself or from the many reviews posted on the web by others. In that sense this is more a discussion of my feelings about the product than a formal review that simply rehashes much of the product literature.
  
  First, some observations about e-ink and the vizplex display that both the SONY and Amazon kindle share. The "paper like" qualities you may hear about are simply somewhat overstated in all the literature and in the many reviews published on the net. The e-ink background is simply not paper "white" like one would expect (or hope for). To me it is more like the color of pages from an aged paperback book.
  
  Advantages to this screen over an LCD device are numerous for sure- it is static (no refresh or back lighting to strain the eyes); can be easily (and perhaps optimally) viewed outdoors; uses very little power. So little that a battery charge lasts up to several weeks (you'll read over and over on other reviews how power is only consumed when a page is refreshed and that a single battery charge will last for over 7,000 page flips etc.); doesn't get warm with use (again typically little or no power is being consumed thus little heat is dissipated; no blinking lights or distracting fans or noise. In short, it is pretty much as passive as a paper book in your hands.
  
  Some disadvantages of this particular screen and technology - The display is only 6" on the diagonal. Keep in mind the entire reader itself is smaller than a typical DVD case. This is something that many perhaps won't fully realize until they have the product in their hands. It does not scroll text. Instead It "flips" pages by refreshing the entire screen at once. The refresh cycle is roughly 1 to 2 seconds from the time a button to flip a page is pressed.
  
  Font size selection is limited to 3 magnification levels, but I suspect this is adequate for most users. The font type itself is fixed. I suspect others might wish they had some flexibility there.
  
  Like with a standard paper book, proper lighting is key to viewing the text comfortably. I would say the display is at its best outdoors in plain dayllight. Unfortunately most of my free time these days happens in the evenings and indoors. I find that my bedroom lighting is not entirely sufficient to allow me to comfortably read the device. I also suspect that the supplied binder blocks some of the light as I hold the reader with it, yet I am hesitant to bend it back all the way while reading since I suspect doing so will, over time, ruin the cardboard that gives it structure.
  
  I have therefore resorted to using a clip-on LED reading light (the PRS700 solves this by including front mounted LEDs integrally into the unit) with the device for my nightly reading sessions.
  
  Since the PRS-505 lacks wireless access, the only way to get reading material into the unit is via the supplied USB cable or by pre-loading a memory card (memory stick and SD- thank you SONY card slots are both available)
  
  The software that ships with the unit to facilitate the loading of ebooks unto the reader is functional if unexciting. It seems sluggish on my PC, but I will assume this is a function of my PC for now.
  
  I have only tried the Sony online book store to download a couple of the classic titles included with purchase (an ongoing promo lets you download 100 classic titles for free with purchase) These are mostly titles that are available elsewhere for free anyways, but gets you to practice the experience of getting a book from the SONY site in the hopes that you will plunk down some cash for a non-free book soon thereafter.
  
  If you are like me then you probably did not buy this reader to then purchase or re-purchase every single book you intend to read on it. You are therefore, likely to spend a considerable amount of time locating, downloading and converting e-book formats to transfer them unto the PRS-505. In fact, I can easily say that I have spent much more time doing just that than actually reading on the device.
  
  I found a free third party app titled Calibre was extremely useful for this purpose. It too seemed sluggish at times on my PC, but it appears that the developer is constantly improving its functionality and overall user experience (based on the number of releases just in the past month).
  
  The bottom line. These e-ink based eBook readers. taken with a broad brush, take a small subset of what a laptop or desktop pc can readily do (in this case display text and play mp3s) and try to approximate the experience to that of reading a traditional book.
  
  I suspect the makers of these products are looking for customers who read voraciously, travel a lot and are looking for the latest titles and can devote a lot of money to that pursuit. Amazon realized this and made it very convenient for that type of individual to keep their Kindle reader current and loaded with material by providing free wireless access to their book store. Sony's USB tether removes much of that spontaneous buying instinct.
  
  These e-ink readers serve a small niche market for now (in a sense, I see them as gadgets for the elite). Admittedly, given their pricing models (these things retail for $300 and up) there is significantly much more bang for the buck to be had with a nice lightweight laptop or even a PMP (personal media player) - the apple iTouch and the new Archos players come to mind.
  
  Before purchasing this product I did research just about every other commercially available ebook reader product. Having said that, once you know what you are in for, I am partial to the Sony reader vs the offerings of the other makers at this time.
  
  For one, the aesthetics of the SONY beat the Kindle with little argument from any sides (pun intended). The products from Irex (the Iliad) in its various incarnations are not as reliable, require shipment overseas for any potential repairs, are much pricier and are simply not as portable or efficient as the SONY and Amazon products. Unless you need pen input capability in a reader I see no reason to go with one of these devices. Bookeen and other similar devices from Asia are essentially "also rans" and in some cases further reduce the already small viewable screen area.
  
  Other devices are simply "vaporware" at this point and we will have to see what comes from them in 2009 (products from ASTAK and Plastic Logic come to mind).
  
  What I (and just about everyone else I know) am clamoring for is something similar to the SONY reader in terms of weight, power consumption and unobtrusive operation (quiet, cool), but with a somewhat larger color display that can be easily viewed under various lighting conditions and can communicate wirelessly via WiFi. Pen and touch input capability would be a plus as well as voice recognition. In short, a lightweight tablet PC that is dedicated to playing/displaying media and browsing/interacting via the web. Steve Jobs will probably rescue me some day.
  
  I welcome your thoughts about the Sony and other e-readers and particularly how your experience compares to mine.
  
  UPDATE: recently I played around with a silver ereader. Personally i think the silver reader offers much better contrast for the labeling on the various pushbuttons. If I had to do it over again I would pick the silver reader. Also the tan cover seems nicer as well. just personal preference on the cover. But two others in my family also think the silver is easier on the eyes.
  
  PS - I should mention that SONY offers a $100 to $150 cash back credit from time to time for opening up a SONY Visa credit card and charging your first purchase of $299 or greater making their reader a relative bargain at a net cost of $200 or $250 depending on the deal you grab.
  
  
• Good for what it is designed for
  By A2L91JZNHIAUSQ on 2007-12-11
  Before purchasing the Sony Reader, I read several reviews, and knew that standard 8.5 X 11 PDFs were not ideal for reading on this devices. I purchased it primarily as a convinience tool -- making it easier to carry around books, and other documents I would like to read, without having to lug around a stack of articles and a book or two. For that, it has worked very well. I've had luck using my Mac's "Save to PDF" option to print out internet articles, so long as they have a print format option, like most newspapers do. Word documents seem to work just fine. I've also had some luck scanning some study materials into RTF format using a standard scanner, and that reads great on the Reader. On my week old Reader, I currently have a 300 page study manual for a licensing exam, 10 fictional novels, about 25 articles, and other random word documents on a device smaller than a paperback, and I have barely used much of the memory.
  
  Now about the PDFs. Since I have a Mac at home, and a Windows PC wth Adobe Acrobat Professional at work, I am able to print all types of documents into PDFs that are smaller, and display perfectly on the Reader. Using the free Mac "Print to PDF" functionality, I created a template titled "Sony Reader", and can now easily print articles to read later, such as blogs or from newpapers. The only problem is that some images will be split between two pages -- not a big deal to me, but it may irk some. Using the $500 Adobe program hasn't proven to be as easy, but it may be that I am inexperienced. I usually just use that program at work to convert Word documents to PDF for distribution. There may be a simple way, like on my Mac, that I am just not aware of.
  
  The E-Ink is fantastic. No eyestrain, even in low-light with only a cheap booklight. Battery life is good.
  
  I've only bought a couple of books from Sony's econnect store, a James Patterson novel and a Scott Turow novel, both were under $5, but others are more expensive. I've also downloaded a few of the free classics that come with the reader, as well as some free books from the Gutenberg Project, and all display very well on the reader.
  
  I think this is a very versatile device. I didn't buy it because I thought I'd save money on books in the long-run, it takes awhile to make-up $300 plus tax, I bought it because I wanted the portabilty of thousands of pages worth of books on one small portable device with a great screen. For that purpose, 5 stars. Don't buy this as a portable PDF viewing device.
  
  
• LOVE this reader!!
  By A3MDVKH3D7PWKN on 2007-12-12
  I did a lot of investigation choosing between this and the Kindle. For me, the .pdf issue was a deciding one. Apart from Amazon's selection of ebooks, most ebooks, particularly the free ones, are published in .pdf format, which the Kindle doesn't support. Additionally, I work with a lot of .doc files and didn't want to have to run them through Amazon for conversion every time I modified them. The Sony is easy to use, versatile, the display is wonderful, and I just couldn't be happier with it. There was no learning curve; I could just jump right in. The device is actually much easier to use than the instructions would imply -- they could be better written. It's actually easier to just figure it out on your own. The $100 lower price didn't hurt, either.
  
  

• 3-Year Extended Service Plan - Covers Electronic Items $201-$500 - Repair
• Sony Reader Electronic Book Leather Case - Pink (PRS-PLC02/P)
• Transcend SD Memory Card 1GB
• Sony MSMT1G 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo (Mark2) Media
• Sony MSMT4G 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo (Mark2) Media

• Ac Charger for PRS505SC and PRS505LC
• Sony Electronic Book Leather Cover (Black)
• Sony Optional Charging/Synching Cradle
• Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Clip-On Light (Black, Kindle Compatible)
• Sony PRS-505/LC Blue Digital Book Reader