| Brand: | Sony | ||
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The Sony Reader is an e-book reader. It uses an electronic paper display developed by E Ink Corporation that has 166 dpi resolution, eight levels of grayscale, is viewable in direct sunlight, requires no power to maintain a static image, and is usable in portrait or landscape orientation more info
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Sony = JUNK
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
NOOOOOO Don’t get the Sony model!! It is JUNK!! I had one for 3 months and it broke twice!! First time Bestbuy replaced it but second time it was after the 30 day return policy (yes it broke in 3 weeks) and the second time it broke SONY DID NOT WANNA FIX IT SAYING I BROKE THE SCREEN!!!! I DID not break the screen the SCREEN is fragile and the frame for the Sony reader is WEAK and FLIMSY! DEFINITELY a manufacturers screw up. So i filled a complaint with the BBB becuase sony wanted to charge me 250 dollars to fix a 300 dollar device. I told sony to go take a long walk off a short pier and that i’d never buy another sony product EVER again.
I have a Kindle now and a year later NO PROBLEMS!! Same manufacterer for the screen FYI just a better frame that can handle the abuse. And I droped my kindle once!
SONY READER=JUNK!!
Does exactly what it’s supposed to for less money
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I got this reader used as a cheaper alternative to the Kindle or the PRS-505. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. The screen is quite clear, the battery lasts quite a long time, and the expandable SD slot allows it to hold as many books as one could read in a decade.
Do note that it will not raed DRM-encryped PDFs, while the PRS-505 will.
Still working
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I’ve had my PRS-500 since it came out, and love the convience of getting my books online. I’ve downloaded over 400 books (yes, I’m an avid reader) without any problems for the download. I started running into problems with the memory card. I originally had a 2 gig card and it did a reasonable job of storing the books. When the software upgraded and I’m told you can use up to a 4 gig card, I though Wonderful! But that’s only if you want the reader to stall out and refuse to format the books. After hours with Sony Tech support…need I say more, I was told I was past warranty and suggested I send the reader in for repair. The diagnostic had a price tag: $250.00. Excuse me, thats the cost of the reader! So I gave the card to my husband for his camera and I took back my 2 gig card. I still have some issues with using a card, like I can’t read from it, I have to load the book onto the reader itself (memory which is about 90 books so its not so bad).
The next issue is the website and support. (see above for the technical aspect “Buy a new one.”) Isn’t it sweet that they have a help button on the site that asks for feedback. (I think that’s a black hole.) Not one of my suggestions has been acknowledged, even when I did my best to trash the site and their choice of books that are offered. I think they have good months and bad months (right now they are in a dry spell). I ask for a book to be offered, its one that’s available on other ebook sites, but Sony does not offer it, nor does it tell me why. I think, its the publisher… oh wait, that publisher has a number of their books on the site. New Author..nay, nay.. The author has 20 plus books in the site. Its a hit and miss for your favorite authors.
Now lets talk green. Every one wants to do their share, right. What better way then to prevent more trees being cut down. Solution: EBOOKS. No printing costs. Sooo… Why is the cost of the ebook so expensive? even other sites charge close to the retail price. I might as well chop down a forest and buy books from Wal-mart, they are cheaper. 5-10% off the suggested retail price on the ebooks sites is not really a bargain.
Bottom line. I like the idea of this product and others like it. I can keep my library of books in my purse or on the night stand and not scattered all over the bedroom. I wonder if Wal-mart is open so I can get that book that came out 3 months ago…
Pretty good. Not for everyone
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
**update** The 12-second page-turn problem appears to be isolated to a particular (badly-formatted?) ebook. With other ebooks , page-turns are around a second. definitely no problem for me. (whew!)
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I bought this as a discontinued product because I wanted an ebook reader but didn’t want to pay that much. I don’t want to pay for books either so I get public domain books from various sources and convert them with Calibre software (a must have!)
If you want to buy online books the Kindle might be a better thing (Kindle book prices seem to be the best) the newer prs-505 supports epub books which some libraries support (the 500 does not).
The unit looks nice and feels good in the hand. Mine came with a leather cover which is much nicer than the rather cheap-feeling original cover, though it’s difficult to justify the $30 price.
The display is pretty nice in fairly good lighting. it’s a bit low-contrast and becomes increasingly difficult to use in poor light. Even my book light, which I use on low-power mode with ‘real’ books, isn’t really bright enough for the prs-500.
I was surprised at how long it takes to go from one page to the next — about 12 seconds! i guess you can press the ‘next page’ button 3-4 lines from the bottom of the page — it remains to be seen if I’ll ever really get used to that. maybe its slowness explains its great battery life?
Overall, being able to carry my library around in this classy-looking device makes it worth it for me. I can overlook its shortcomings. Maybe I’ll upgrade it some day but, for now, it’ll do just fine.
Anything else than a Sony ebook will read badly
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
It works fine if you are ready to purchase ebooks formatted for the Reader. Anything else you download in pdf format and transfer to the ebook will read in extremely small fonts. Once again with Sony, nice product but hostage to proprietary formats.
sony prs 500 book reader
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I was interested to have book reader to carry convenintly some pdf manuals that may be read without a computer when I am travelling. Sony prs 500 has not been very satisfactory. Magnification is not sufficient for my reading nor is the page navigation. Often it hangs up or slow to turn a page. To go to the middle of book is also troublesome. Frankly I am not happy that I purchased it.
Sony Portable Book Reader
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Did not like the product. First it only works with Microsoft software, not Apple. The downloading of books from a website was confusing and we were never successful in downloading books.
We returned product and bought a Kindle 2. Much better and easier to use.
I looove it!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been waiting to purchase the ebook since it came out. I finally freed up some cash and bought it used. It is great! Easy to use and convenient. I do miss the smell of a paperback and the feel of a book a little, but this will definitely do!!!For an avid reader…this is a must have!
I love my Reader!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love my Reader! I carry it in my purse. It’s light and thin and can hold many books.
Really enjoy the product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I haven’t taken the “real” time to compare to the Kindle but I must say I like using this product a LOT more than I had expected.
Moving forward I could easily see myself not buying physical books again.