Sony PRS-505 Reader e-book

Just what I'd been waiting for...

I read a lot of ebooks of an evening, with non-drm content from 'a number of sources', and as my Nokia 770 is great for it's intended purpose but far from ideal for ebooks my wife bought me the Sony reader for my birthday.

The controls are intuitive and fall easily to hand.

The lack of a backlight is a positive advantage as it improves long-term comfort no end - that, coupled with the non-shiny screen makes for a very comfortable reading experience for hours at a stretch.

The graphics are perfectly adequate, and PDF layouts including graphics degrade gracefully if they won't fit the width of the screen.

I'm very impressed - it's not often you come across a product that's so near to perfect for it's intended purpose.

Paris - because you can read her like a book.

Lovely, but flawed

I saw one of these in Waterstones and was instantly charmed. What I don't think really comes over in the reviews above is just how thin it is. It's tiny! Much less thick than a normal book (but about the same screen size). The display was very crisp and clear and I found the controls intuitive and easy to use. The aluminium finish was reassuringly solid.

However, a bit more research showed it wasn't what I wanted. I wasn't keen on paying for any ebooks - I'd prefer to use it for work to prevent carting around masses of various papers. Could I view them as pdfs on an eBook viewer, I wondered... However, I've recently been told that under the Data Protection Act, I'll need to password protect them. And in answer to Paul's question a couple of days ago, NO, you can't view password-protected pdfs on this reader. See another review at: http://www.forwhatitworths.com/posts/2007/11/the-sony-prs505-love-at-first-sight/

How about the competition? This is what an evening's surfing revealed:

(Incidentally, when comparing weights, an average paperback is said to weigh about 320g)

The iLiad Reader is the fullest-spec'd with a tablet built in, handwriting software, WiFi etc. However, it's also the heaviest (389g - but still not at all bad) and the most expensive (£429). At that price you could buy a decent laptop instead. But if any eBook reader could open password-protected pdfs it would probably be this one - not that I've tried. Maybe someone could ask them.

http://www.iliadreader.co.uk/

The BeBook is actually lighter than the Sony (220g, vs 250g) and only a tiny bit more expensive (£229), although I'm a bit suspicious since this is apparently a dutch website. If anybody has got hold of one, please let me know.

I particularly admired the chutzpah of BeBook for mounting 20,000 free book pdfs directly on their website! - Although they say they will also have a wider choice in a DRM'd format called Mobipocket soon. They also promise offers similar to the iLiad including WiFi, stylus, etc at some point in the future. Until then, presumably you can't open password-protected PDFs... again, maybe somebody could ask them.

http://mybebook.com/index.html

Bear in mind though that all these eBook readers are more expensive than the tiniest 7" laptops like the Asus EEE, which costs only £149 at PC World! This gives you a WiFi and a full software suite including email, web, OpenOffice and a PDF reader - so you could just as well read eBook PDFs on that. However, even the tiniest Asus is much heavier than any of the eBook readers at about 920g - so almost three iLiads or four Sonys or BeBooks! Suddenly my bag wouldn't be so light any more after all. And battery life is a relatively puny 3 hours.

So where to go next?? It seems clear that if you need to annotate and enter data in, on cost grounds you can barely justify the iLiad - an Asus or similar sub-notebook might be better. I wish the iLiad was much cheaper; then it would be a non-brainer.

All of the eBook readers seem to have that magic quality of lightness though which makes even the Asus look distinctly weighty.

I can't really stomach spending over £400 on an eBook reader so that leaves the Sony and the BeBook. The BeBook really charmed me with its website aggressively pushing so many free books at me! They'll even give you a free unit if you get ten friends to buy one themselves. But why buy one now when in their own blurb they say there is an enhanced version coming out imminently?

The Sony is the only eBook reader that you could walk in off the high street and buy in the U.K with a proper warranty, I would wager. But it will tie you up in DRM knots if you let it, it seems. I guess Sony/Waterstones wants to make their money on the ebooks you buy whereas the other two are trying to earn a crust on actual device sales.

Sheesh.... I just don't know. I really want to open password-protected PDFs, like Paul. And I want a light, light bag. I wish somebody would just give me an iLiad, or maybe if they cost only £200... and so the angst continues....!

And just to add to the mix... you do know you can buy pdf books on iTunes for the iPhone? ;)

Sony OS support

I was naive enough to believe that when the specification said that the software supported Windows Vista that this meant 32 and 64 bit. WRONG! 64 bit OS's are not supported and the eBooks software doesn't install. I found this out the hard way. I had an argument with a Sony customer service "issue escalation" manager last Friday believing that their description was misleading. He insisted that not mentioning support for 64 bit did not imply it was there! I am amazed that a manufacturer such as Sony can launch a product in such a misleading manner and can't even be bothered to develop their software fully. Surely I am not the only person who runs Vista 64 bit and is likely to buy a Reader?

I want...

That really looks nice - now I want one :(

Unfortunately, they're far too pricey (and not actually available down here at the Southern tip of Africa, so I'd have to have one imported, adding to the cost). But the long battery life and clear screen is exactly what I'd love. I currently read eBooks on my HTC TyTN II when travelling, and while it's a lot better than it ever was on my old Palm Treo, it's nothing compared to this. I don't need to annotate, just read, so I don't mind the lack of a keyboard.

The fact that it comes a book shaped folder is the clincher. Most devices are just too small to hold like a book, but are too awkward to hold in just one hand. This one looks like you can hold it in two hands like a book, and use your right hand to turn pages.

Oh, and in reply to some of the comments above asking who carries a ton of books around with them: I do :) Especially when travelling - I'll read one or two on the plane, each way, at least. And probably one at each airport... and I'll want to carry another two or three so I have something to read at the hotel... and the weight of all of those books start to add up!

Nothing to compare it with??

How about the iLiad??

http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/bookedition

And btw, I tried this Sony reader out. The transition is absolutely horrible. Who on earth thought flickering the screen to mimic turning pages would be a good idea??

Definitely not worth my £200, even if I spend more than £400 per year on books.

Sony taking the *&$% again

£200, no backlight and you don't even get a power adaptor... I'll stick to a PDA and Mobireader thanks!

Nice

Bought the missus one, and she's over the moon with it. It's a usable way of reading the entire contents of the Gutenberg Project without fucking your eyes up; what more could you want?

ebook ripoff

why do sony / waterstones see fit to sell the drm encumbered ebooks at significantly higher prices than the paper versions in their own stores? - havent they earnes from the drm music sites yet?

I've had one since April

I've read dozens of books on it, taken it on several trips. My only complaint about the device is they make you turn it off during takeoff and landing!

I think the screen is easily as readable as your average paperback book, if not more so. The screen transitions were a bit odd to begin with, but I got used to them very quickly.

I discovered when you buy a book (at least some of them) from Baen books, through webscriptions, you have the option to get a CD ISO. On this ISO is a LOT more books. I bought the latest David Weber and got an ISO with just about everything he's ever written. Cost: $4.

The sony software wouldn't run on my XP-64, so I put it in a virtual machine. Not the first time I've had to do that! The cost of the ebooks was stupid. You can buy hardbacks cheaper - let alone what you can get at places like "half-price books" Sony software deleted. I did a quick web search and found some conversion software called LIBPRS500 which has been renamed to Calibre since I got my first copy (from http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/) With this neat piece of software, you can convert from just about any format into just about any other format. I've never needed the sony software.

Bottom line: With a little help from Kovid Goyal, this thing has been the best purchase I've made in a LONG time.

A non-Sony Sony product

I received mine last week and I have used it a least 3hrs a day.

I haven't even bothered to install the Sony software, so I've probably missed the worst part. If it is as bad as Sonic Stage then I can understand the dislike.

What has changed at Sony? You can copy a text file to the device through Windows explorer and it just works. I have played around with RTF, changed the font & size. Arial 14pt works well. I hope Sony does not decide to lock it down like the Kindle...only works with Amazon, or so I hear.

So what if a new model is released in the US next month, it will probably take a year for it to be released in the UK.

The black flash of the transition from one page to the next is to clear the page and prevent ghosting. I don't notice it anymore. This is a limitation of the technology, later versions will improve. Does anyone remember the first monochrome LCDs? Slow refresh, ghosting? I think these are at the same stage.

I used to use my HTC touch Dual for everything, Jack of all trade, master of none. I now have an iPod, a Tom Tom and now a Sony PRS-505.

The lanscape option is usefull if you load graphic novels (AKA Comics)

But if the display is so good...

why do all these readers seem to display black-on-grey, like the cheaper 'pulp' style paperbacks you get the bargain bin at Booksale, rather than crisp white, like a quality hardback?

feed me books

Thanks for mentioning feedbooks. I hadn't heard of them before.

I just wish I had something nicer to read my downloaded book on than my big clunky thinkpad.

what abt this?

http://www.iscriptum.eu/index.php?productID=1/ereader

Convert

Got my mum one of these, she doesn't see the point of technology normally, but she absolutely loves her Sony E-book reader! She can also zoom in and out so she can read this without glasses. Only thing is there's no backlight to speak of, but the battery life makes up for it.

If you think the e-books are a rip off, this thing can understand PDF, RTF, Word documents and .lit files so just get your e-book from one of the free sites like Project Guttenberg and you're away, or are the classics and Steven King not your thing?

By my maths, I will have "broken even" in a few months!