 "Excelent product" | 2008-10-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1IJEEMMPR7JLE |
I'm very happy with this product, i'm looking for this kind of device since a while, i tried, palmtops, psp (with hack ebookr), archos devices, netbooks, like asus eee, but none are really good.
Battery life is trully amazing, one week, reading a book, and battery status, remains full, image quality is very crisp, and yes, prs-505 don't have backlit, you need a source of light to read at night, exact like a REAL BOOK, its a joy can read my favorite books at the beach.
My only complain was about pdf files, but sony release a firware upgrade:
-Support for EPUB file format
-Support for Adobe® Digital Editions 1.5 or later and Adobe DRM-protected content
-Enables text within PDF eBooks to be "reflowed". This will enlarge the text and improve the readability of text-based PDF's
-Support for SDHC memory cards that have a capacity of more than 4 GB
-Delete eBooks directly on device
-General fixes to improve stability and performance
PDF Problem solved! |
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| "A Great Product" | 2008-09-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A8ZJANBZFQKV1 |
| I am very pleased with the Sony E-Reader. I haven't experienced any down side to it. I chose the Sony E-Reader over the Kindle due to the fact that our cell phone reception is spotty. I didn't want to trust that method to download books into a reader. Reviewer comments about the Sony Library being hard to use have some merit, but it's more about patience than it being a real problem. I haven't downloaded any PDF files, but had not anticipated doing so. I bought the reader strictly for books. I'm pleased to find so many books available, more every day, in the Sony format, and at places other than just Sony itself. One of the hardest things I've done is trying to pick my free 100 Classic books from Sony. Delivery of the reader was very quick, 5 days before anticipated. I have no regrets about this purchase. |
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 "Love it so far" | 2008-09-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1FSM77A6JUJV7 |
Ok, now a not technologically savy just to warn you. But my overall opinon:
I like it. I have had the reader for about two weeks now and downloaded around 20 books. 6 free ones and 2 bundle packages. I like that I can buy 6 books bundled by author, limited selection mind you, for the price of 3 or four books. Also I have found the device very easy to read on your eyes and not strenous at all. It does enlarge text on the screen, although i do not use that option usually, as I am 22 and although need glasses read normal print in paperbacks fine. I read about 1/2 a book a day now that I have a full time job and find this device great for that purpose.
I have not tried to download PDFs on it, but pictures and music are fine as long as you like black and white and if you want a lot of music i suggest a memory card. The 8G is only about 60 dollars on amazon..my next wish list item. It theoretically downloads e pub files, but i am still working the kinks out of that application. Mostly because I am horrible at technology, not through any fault of the device.
Overall if you just want to download books and carry around a small library to read on your lunch break or after work/school its great. I enjoy how you can close the device and it will pick up on the page you left, no more having you search through 20 pages to find out where you were. |
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 "Almost there but no yet say another 10 years" | 2008-09-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A131FKY4YD43CC |
The E-Book reader in my dreams kind of looks like am over sized IPhone
with multi touch screen no visible Interface except the virtual one
when you touch the screen (semi transparent).
Perfect size 8x11 ALL SCREEN with multi touch........
Sony is a bit far away from this concept, Ironically Apple is THERE
but they haven't got a brain to think, they only produce things
for non thinkers. It is a shame..
This Sony toy could be a dream to others so dont take my review seriously
I found the interface (KIND OF old looking feeling like 1970's) the size of the screen is not meant for serious book readers specially Technical books such as programmers, etc. Only 3 font sizes so it Small, Medium, Large not good....no scrolling so if you have a book with say 500 pages it might become 1500. It is horribly slow and the Desktop software looks
and works like 1988 technology........
I give 3 stars because it is the best of the worst so...
As it stands it should sell for say $99 not $300 |
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| "Sony E-Reader - I'd like to love it..." | 2008-09-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2XIJJKZG0JEBU |
For $300, I'd like to love this product but cannot. It has some serious deficiencies.
First, the unit will NOT CHARGE from the mini-USB connector unless it is connected directly to a computer. It apparently wants to be enumerated on the bus and allocated power. I tried to charge it by plugging it into the same charger that handles my phone and PDA and it not only didn't charge, it ran the battery down to ZERO. Not good, especially since it happened while I was traveling. Don't buy the Sony charger to solve this, buy a cheap USB to coax plug cable (in Germany, 3 euro).
Second, for PDFs, it displays the title and author tags from within the file. That would be ok except many sources of PDFS don't set these properly, especially if the PDF is output from Word. I have professionally generated PDF files that show up as "Microsoft Word" for the title, or sometimes nothing.
Third, and a problem because of the second problem, the software does not allow the user to enter either title or author data for a file. I can't change the PDF title from "Administration" to a more reasonable "CAP Reg 100-1", for example, and thus two out of the three CAP manuals I have are "Administration" (the other one is "Microsoft Word..."). I have some PDFs with valid titles, but so long that the relevant part is cut off. A whole collection of pdfs has the same title, as far as the reader is concerned. I can't change these easily. (pdftk and editing the uncompressed pdf is one way of fixing pdfs.)
While it does support pdfs, if your pdf is composed of images (as many scanned books seem to be) the reader is SLOW and the text is TINY.
Managing books is an issue. You can create "collections" to help you find things, but even when a book has been allocated to a collection it appears in the "books" category. That means a user with 1000 books (I'm up to 350 in just a short time) will have to wade through all 1000 titles if he wants a definitive answer to "have I loaded this book onto my reader yet?" And if you haven't allocated a book to a collection...
Overall, it's nice. I like it. I'd like to love it. Some pdfs look really nice, some look like crap. Some "magnified" pdfs work great. Some still look like crap. Many of the Sony Classic library, which I got 100 free books from, are available for free elsewhere, so don't jump to download all 100 from Sony. Text files are usually fine.
If you are looking for a reader just for electronic books bought from Sony and have lots of spare USB ports to plug it into, you'll love this. If you want it for pdfs from various sources, maybe not so much.
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| "Great for Old Eyes" | 2008-09-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3DRBEVBPHQT8T |
This is a wonderful little device expecially for boomers like me whose eyesight is not what it used to be. It really has brought back the joy of reading.
Unfortunately, not all of the books I want to read are in this format. More titles are being made available and now I find if there is a book I would like to read that is not in Reader format, I tend to skip it for something else that is.
I highly recommend this product. |
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| "Good product, but very propietary" | 2008-09-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1XUGQJVO90T0A |
| It's a great product if you use it with lrf files. If you want to read .doc or .pdf files the quality is not good enough. For the pdf ones the letter is most of the times very small and unreadable. |
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| "WOW!!!!!, i love this gadget" | 2008-09-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1NWW5G8LQL5FQ |
i was finally able to buy the sony reader, i had to go through a lot to get it in my hands, very few stores ship it to my counrty and i had to pay $40 extra for shipping and another $10 as import duty for it, but i think its worth it, its a great device, i dont have to wait when i order for my books to come home, i can download it in a few mins,and i can read it any time......its really sleek, it looks amazing,,,,
i am giving it 5 stars even though i find one draw back, that is i find the page turning button to be very difficult to use because i read a lot and after a point my thumb began to hurt, and i have read like 8 e books and 2 comics on it, i have had it only for 12 days now, otherwise its a great device, and the pages should be made to turn faster,
you can guess there's no point in someone from my country buying the kindle as fisrt amazon wont ship it here, second and i dont think i can really download anything cause amazon is not providing this service to india ,,,,
overall i think its a great device |
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| "From S. Krishna's Books" | 2008-09-06 |
| - Reviewed By skrishna1183 |
I've heard a lot of debate about ebooks and e-readers on the web, so I just wanted to put in my two cents. I actually own a Sony PRS-505 Reader (pictured on the left) so I thought my comments might be relevant!
Prior to purchasing my Sony Reader, I was extremely ambivalent about ebooks. The few I tried to read on my computer hurt my eyes after some time, and it was no match to holding the book in my hands. There was no satisfaction of turning pages - scrolling just didn't cut it. So I gave up on ebooks and returned to my tried and true method.
However, I got engaged in September and started planning a two week whirlwind tour of Italy for our honeymoon. On top of that, since I'm not getting married anywhere near where I live, I knew there were going to be a lot of traveling, a lot of plane trips. So I decided that despite my misgivings about ebooks, especially considering the restrictions on luggage weight now, I needed to invest in an ebook reader.
I purchased the Sony Reader over the Amazon Kindle for a few reasons: first, aesthetics. The Sony is sleek and shiny, whereas the Kindle looks like it's straight out of the 80's with its white boxiness. Second, the Sony can read pdf files whereas the Amazon Kindle can't. Third, the Sony was in stock at my local Borders, whereas Amazon had a wait time of who knows how long for the Kindle. It is definitely true that the books available for purchase are better on Amazon, but I've been happy with the selections available for the Sony Reader as well, especially considering all the free classics I've been able to get!
Now for the real meat of it: the reading experience. While turning the pages with a button does take some getting used to, it is easy enough. The screen itself is completely clear and easy to read; I've forgotten that I'm not reading an actual book multiple times! Though it was definitely expensive, I think it's one of the best investments I've made in a very long time. I've used it a ton of times (though only when traveling - when I'm at home, I still like real books. I don't think I'll ever use it except through necessity), and love it more and more each time! It's wonderful to be able to carry around hundreds of books in this small form; there aren't any weight concerns anymore, and I always have a vast selection of books to choose from. Plus the battery lasts a long time; I've taken the Reader on a three day long trip with 6 hours of travel time each way and returned with the battery half-full.
What do I not like about it? Well, the Reader software can be frustrating, especially because of its lack of drag-and-drop functionality. Plus, since it's an electronic device, it has to be turned off during plane takeoffs and landings, which leaves me twiddling my thumbs for 20 minutes. Also, the only charger the Reader comes with is a USB charger, which would normally be fine except that it won't charge from anything unless it has the software installed. So if you're trying to be clever and use your USB iPod wall charger with the Reader, it won't work. To charge it from the wall, you have to purchase a separate charger, which is annoying because the cost of the Reader is already so hefty! And let's face it - when it comes down to it, there is no replacement for a tried-and-true book.
The bottom line: I can't recommend the Sony Reader highly enough for those of you who travel and weigh down your luggage with books. I love it, and I'm sure you will too! |
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| "Great traveling companion" | 2008-08-28 |
| - Reviewed By elabbe4 |
I purchased this product about a month ago. It works very well and has been an excellent addition to my travel kit. My first book was Ken Follet's, World Without End. Normally, long books are bulky and not easy to read. Using the reader made it a breeze and the history feature kept track of where I left off, without having to drop a book mark. This enabled me to go back to multiple stop points in my reading - a definite advantage for me.
In bright, direct, sun, the screen had a tendency to wash out a bit but other than that, was very easy to read. In fact, I find that I can read longer (with almost no eye strain) than with a traditional printed page.
I considered Kindle but really just wanted a book replacement with some additional advantages, like storage and keeping track of my progress, as I usually read several books in parallel.
Although it holds pictures and acts as an MP3 player, they did not factor into my purchase decision.
I am very satisfied with the Sony e-Reader and look forward to many happy hours of reading pleasure. |
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