Sony Digital Reader Pocket Edition – Silver

5 comments

1. 

   Justin M. Feldman on December 8, 2009 at 1:17 am

   I’ve had my Sony Ebook Reader Pocket Edition for about three days now. I bought it for school because all of my readings are PDFs; I don’t like printing hundreds of pages but I get eye strain if I read for too long on my LCD screen. Buying e-books doesn’t really appeal to me (just get a used book or take it out at your library!) and the Sony bookstore can be significantly more expensive than the alternatives. Keep in mind however that you would have fewer problems with this device if you only used it for reading e-books and not document files.

   The Good:

   The Reader has a nice, solid construction, the screen is crisp and reading is as good as any other e-ink screen around for a lower price.

   The Bad:

   The only real issue with the hardware is that the E-Ink screen can take a few seconds to refresh which slows down reading when it comes to turn the page or move down the screen. This also makes navigating a document a bit cumbersome: you can either move slowly page-by-page, hold down the arrows to skip by 10 pages at a time, or enter the specific page number you are looking for. In the case of PDFs, the page numbers written on the document do not necessarily correspond with the ‘real’ page number, so navigating can be a bit of a mathematical exercise. All-in-all, the hardware is far less than idea but still usable.

   What I see as the major shortcoming of the Reader are basic software issues. Do you want to change/add the title or author to a document within their eBook Library software? You can’t. Do you want to create sub-folders within a ‘Collection’? You also can’t. It also mysteriously didn’t let me add certain documents, which were on the Reader, to any Collection (even after the software indicated it had indeed been added). Through trial and error, I figured out that the file names were apparently too long. Finally, although you can drag-n-drop files from your computer into the Library, you can’t drag them into a specific Collection unless they’re already in the Library.

   The Bottom Line:

   I’d hold off on buying this until Sony fixes these software issues (unless they seem irrelevant to your specific needs). If the software worked, the shortcomings in the hardware could be justified by the lower price.

2. 

   Andrew Valenti on December 8, 2009 at 2:00 am

   I did my research, as anyone else should do, and this thing is perfect for me. easy to hold, easy to read, easy to navigate. I didnt even try the software, just went straight for calibre, which is great bc it took a bunch of books of different formats that I had grabbed for free from all over and automatically formatted them all and loaded them up. This thing doesnt do much besides display words nicely, but that is all I wanted. Dont need to take notes or type stuff or read journal articles. Nice size, when in the landscape orientation i hold it with one hand and its easier than a book. I didnt rate the durability bc I havent had it for long enough to tell, but it feels sturdy. Didnt rate software bc I didnt even try it. THe only features it really has are that you can bookmark all sorts of pages you want to and it remembers where you left off in a book without bookmarking. and you can go to any page instantly. I really cant think of a way it could be better for someone who reads for entertainment

3. 

   N on December 8, 2009 at 4:42 am

   I have recently bought this eBook reader. I have been playing around with Sony PRS-500 Portable Reader System for a while now, which I quite like; it has a nice screen I do not get tired from looking at, and while it is a little heavy, it’s not entirely unwieldy, and it plays relatively nicely with word and pdf files, which are both good. I bought both the reader and Bookeen Cybook Opus – eBook reader 400 MHz – RAM: 32 MB 1 GB – monochrome 5″ E Ink ( 800 x 600 ) but returned the Opus on the grounds that Opus does not allow PDF reflows (essentially, turning it into more book-like, single-column format when larger character modes are requested), firmware was more prone to crashing, and had a flimsy feel that are so popular with cut-rate Chinese goods that are akin to cars they try sometimes to sell to the States but make Yugos a run for its money.

   But I will make reviews of those products at a later time, perhaps.

   I cannot shake the feeling that this eBook reader is a cheaper substitute for what came before it–PRS-505. The underlying technology is the same, as does the feel of the menu. After getting used to the older Sony’s navigation menu for a while, it felt very natural, for better or worse. Also, while the screen has shrunk from 6 inches to 5, you do not miss the extra space… much. You will flip the pages more often. But the flow is still very natural, and while it now misses the page flip buttons on the right edge and bottom left corner of the screen, the repurposed directional pad that moved to the center works very well. In fact, I prefer the feel of the reader; it is very balanced, and you do not get tired as much from holding it for a long time. And the four buttons under the screen are quite intuitive. And PDF reflows do work very well for small 5″ screen.

   Now, there are downsides. It does not have slots for additional memory, so you are stuck with the 512MB onboard memory, which also happens to be shared with the firmware, leaving just over 400MB of memory for user. This is plenty for novels, but I can see it being a problem for PDF files with many pictures as well as graphic novels (which I have not yet tested the Reader with at the time). PDF reflow is not perfect, as it reflows the page rather than entire file, and it adapts poorly to the PDF format. But this is a problem inherent to PDF format rather than the Reader, it seems. Also, despite its “support” for Word files, it will not support the later .docx files used for Microsoft Word 2007 and later versions, and even the older files will be converted to .rtf files if imported via the software that ships with the Reader. Lastly, I find that the Pocket Edition feels less durable than the outgoing model–the 505 had a construction that is akin to iPod Nanos and Minis, with solid aluminum body casing. This one, it has aluminum front and rubberized metallic-colored plastic back. Gone are chrome colored trims, replaced with cheaper white plastic trims on the top, bottom, and side edges. This, however, also attributed to making the product a lighter and better-balanced (weight-wise) one. Lastly, it lacks the leather cover that came with older models; it now comes with a pathetically-padded pocket slip. If you buy a leather cover that is similar to what comes with the older Readers (which I advise you do), the price is right up with how much the older reader used to cost. And get this–it has less functionalities than outgoing model.

   While what I am writing about look like lot of criticisms, overall I like this. Firmware is solid, and the accompanying software is relatively easy to deal with. Memory is adequate. While the older 6″ model is better value with better construction and more functionality, this is a worthy product… if it is not compared to the outgoing model.

4. 

   JAL on December 8, 2009 at 7:07 am

   I bought this product based on its small form factor and quality construction. This product is just perfect for traveling. It fits in my coat pocket, easing the boredom of cancelled flights and constant downtime. The screen mimics paper and enjoys good lighting or even sunshine. It is much more convenient than carrying a hard cover new release. I purchased the simple leather case which recreates the feeling of reading a paperback. Oddly, I enjoy using this e reader, but I do NOT enjoy reading on my computer. Go figure.

   Amazingly, you can download many of the classics from Google in ebook format for free and load them into your e reader. I was able to find about 56 of the “100 World Classics” as chosen by Dr. John Campbell as a free download. PDFs such as the instruction manual are just readable in horizontal mode (hold the + key down for 6 seconds to flip the orientation). I was also able to transfer a Word document aptly titled “Property Of” stored in rtf format using the shareware program Calibre. Calibre also supports editing of metadata, such as author’s name, on the PRS300. Purchased books can be read and transferred to more than one registered computer. If the eBook software is running when you connect the e reader, the program will attempt an auto synch which could be problematic. Clicking on the status icon will allow you to cancel the operation. As other reviewers have noted, consider using the eBook Library software for transferring purchased and classic books; consider using the shareware program Calibre for transferring pdfs and rtf files.

   Don’t purchase this e reader if you need instant wireless gratification, highlighting or margin notes. Now the downside. On my mac book running OSX 10.6, the ebook software had one bad hair day and refused to recognize the e reader. The e reader does NOT like changing fonts on a really large book and becomes unresponsive (we are talking a book with 9000 pages plus). So be prepared to do an occasional hard reset with a paper clip. Overall, I am very pleased with this e reader as a traveling companion. It will not replace books in my library, but it I will no longer be lugging hard cover new releases while traveling!

5. 

   ihatesonyreader on December 8, 2009 at 7:53 am

   This is the first product that has ever motivated me to write a review. I am doing this in hopes I can spare even 1 person the agony I have endured. DO NOT be fooled and buy this useless horrible product as I was. It simply does not work as advertised. It doesn’t support PDF files if they have any pictures (which almost all do), it does not accept word and text files, it does not accept free ebooks from the internet like Google books, and the Sony Ebook store is a total ripoff. I tried calling Sony customer service and, the person who answered didn’t speak fluent english. Big surprise. This has been a terrible experience. Am in the process of trying to obtain a refund. Again, avoid this at all costs!