Portable eBook Readers

Posts Tagged ‘Sony Reader’

eBook Reader Review

Reading has totally transformed from what it was like back in the old days. This time, the norm is no longer to have those traditional books that are out of papers, but it has moved a little higher with what Amazon has offered, the Electronic Book Reader. Now, with Amazon’s first and second Kindle 2, every reader is already able to have a taste of that kind of reading that is more desirable and full of excitement.

The market now houses a lot of various brands for these eBook readers. However, out of those brands, Kindle is the most popular one basically because of its state-of-the-art features and functionalities. Its popularity is then followed by another reputable brand, the Sony PRS. For those who wanted to be sure that they will have that book that is worth the money that they’ve paid for it, this device is favorable because it allows anyone to get samples of their desired books for free before making the decision to either buy it or not.

What’s immensely lovable about this unit is the fact that it’s convenient, portable, and easy to deal with. No wonder many individuals can’t truly get over it. Because of that, it’s also inevitable that the marketplace will be loaded with stocks for these various types of eBook readers. Since choosing the best device of its kind now solely lies in your hands, it is necessary that prior to making up your mind, you look for the right eBook Reader Review that you can rely on. It should be one that will give you all the relevant information about the device such as its features, functionalities, price, and others.

There are a lot of things that you must take into account in choosing the best eBook reader to buy. One of those things is the type of formats that it supports. When you go through a certain review, take a closer look at this area because different brands of eBook readers do not have the same supported file format. That is why you have to check if the type of format that you wanted to read is supported by a particular brand before you pay for it so that you’re money won’t go wasted. Likewise, it is important to make some comparisons of those devices too.

Reading books without the books is now made possible with the availability of the Amazon Kindle Portable Reader. The experience has even become more advanced with the improvised version of this Kindle by Amazon, the Kindle 2, which is fully loaded with additional features and functionalities. Its wireless technology through Whispernet, the text-to-speech feature, free samples of e-Books, and supreme stylish design are some of the many adorable things that are included in its package.

Electronic book readers are not only pro-human; it’s also pro-environment. The best evidence to prove that is that it helps minimize cutting down of trees. That is because the production of this electronic-base book does not necessitate the use of trees for making papers anymore. Hence, you’re able to spare the lives of those numerous trees when you opt to go for those eBook readers instead of making more paper-filled books. In the end, its ultimate effect still goes back to you and the rest all living creatures.

Related Ebook Reader Reviews Articles

Related eBook Reader article

• Could a new eReader take on Kindle 3, Nook 2? (ireaderreview.com)

Will Portable Ebook Readers Explode In Popularity Like The Ipod?

It seems that MP3 players like the iPod have always been popular. Walk around any town and you’re likely to see people, young and old, with the familiar white earbuds in their ears. Since our society is moving to such a digital and downloadable format, can we expect the same thing to happen with books?

If you have a look at Amazon’s Kindle web page or Sony’s Sony Reader web page, the answer is quite clear. There are some companies that are pulling hard for wider usage of digital books. If you look at the sales numbers, however, the answers aren’t so clear. Physical book sales make up the vast majority of book sales in total.

It seems that the majority of those who read books aren’t quite ready to totally make the switch. This might be because they prefer the feel of having a book in their hands, they aren’t ready to fork over the money for some of the higher priced machines, or they are just wary of investing in technology when what they are using now is ‘working fine.’

Still, it did take a while for MP3’s to take off as well. Once they did, they REALLY did. If those past trends are any indication, it’s what we can expect this time around as well. Part of the reason for that is because there are so many great features that come along with reading via ebook.

For one thing, you can store an awful lot of books on those devices. The space-saving feature alone is worth it for many people. You can also factor in the cost savings. Once you’ve purchased the device you can save a lot of money by buying digital versions of books rather than physical versions. It’s also great because instead of waiting until you can find the time to go to the store, you can have what you want in just a few clicks.

Using an ebook reader stocked with ebooks is also easier to travel with. They are far more useful for business meetings, quick reference in class, and for pulling out when you find that spare minute to read. Every book you need is literally right there at your fingertips instead of back on a bookshelf somewhere where you can’t access them all the time.

Is this enough for most people to make the switch? It probably will be in the future. As more books become available and more advanced (and less expensive) devices make their way onto store shelves you can expect it to become more mainstream. Thought, it’s not exactly like the industry is hurting now! The costs of selling ebooks is insanely low, which benefits companies and consumers.

Some people will want to buck the trend for sure. There is something nostalgic about the smell of old library books. Still, convenience, cost, and the ‘cool’ factor usually trump things like nostalgia. As our world becomes more and more digital, book lovers will likely make the leap as well.

Are you ready to take the leap into the digital book world? Get reviews of the hottest portable ebook readers here to see which device is best for you. Be sure to take a look at the kindle vs sony ebook reader comparison as these are the two most popular devices currently available.

Related Portable Ebook Reader articles

• Survey: Consumer attitudes to ebook reading (teleread.com)
• Amazon and Apple investigated over e-book price fixing (telegraph.co.uk)

www.Amazon.com Got a book lover on your holiday gift list? We have the latest info on the Kindle, the Nook and other eReaders. Click the link above to learn more. kindle wireless, kindle 2, nook, sony reader, e-book, best e-book, amazon kindle

Although the Sony PRS 500 and PRS 505 readers have actually been discontinued by Sony, there are a couple of options for either upgrading them or a trade-in to the newer Sony readers.

The Sony PRS 500 was the first in the Sony Reader family of eBook readers. It came out in 2006 and was soon replaced by the Sony PRS 505 in 2007. Both of these were also superseded by the improved Sony 700 Reader in 2008, but with the rapid pace of development within the eBook reader market, even the PRS 700 has been discontinued.

Sony PRS 500 Specifications

The Sony PRS 500 utilized a 6 inch display with e-ink technology from E Ink Corporation. At 13mm thick, it was a lot thicker than today’s eBook readers and only had a 4-level grey scale resolution. The internal memory was 64 MB with SD card expansion up to 2 GB or 4 GB with a memory stick. The lithium-ion battery allows for up to 7500 page turns on a single charge.

Although you can still buy both the PRS 500 and PRS 505, I don’t know why anyone would bother. There are many newer eBook readers available that are light years beyond these two. For owners of the PRS 500 that are not ready to buy a new Sony Reader or any other brand, there are a couple of options to either upgrade or trade-in.

If you visit www.sonystyle.com and then click on the advert for upgrading your Sony PRS 500, you will see the two options available to you. Basically, you can upgrade the firmware so that your reader will be compatible with the Sony eBook store format of ePub. You will have to mail the reader back to Sony for them to perform the firmware update; Sony will provide you with a pre-paid UPS label for shipping and they say you will have your PRS 500 back in 14 days.

The other option is if you would rather trade-in your PRS 500 for one of their current models. At the moment you can receive a $50 credit when you buy the Sony PRS 300 Pocket Edition or $75 credit when you buy the PRS 600 Reader Touch Edition. Again, you have to go through the official Sony site to get your claim form so that you get your credit once they receive your PRS 500 in their warehouse.

Sony PRS 505 Specifications

The Sony PRS 505 kept the 6 inch e-ink display but improved it with Vizplex imaging film that had a faster refresh time, a 8 grey scale resolution, and a brighter white slate. Other improvements included more internal memory (256 MB) and a thinner case (8mm.)

There was also a feature to organize and group titles by adding your books to “Collections.” Charging of the PRS 505 battery was also improved by full USB charging capability; with the PRS 500, you could charge the battery with a USB only if the battery was drained and if the host computer had the Sony Connect Reader software installed on it.

Upgrade options were also easier with the PRS 505. Now, you can get a free firmware download instead of having to ship your reader back to Sony. The upgrade enables you to take advantage of the ePub format as well as enhancements to the use of PDF files. Finally, there is support for use of higher capacity SDHC memory cards (up to 32 GB.)

Limitations and Problems

Like all early e-ink displays, they suffer from a slow page update rate (1 – 1.5 seconds) that prevents the use of technology like interactive menus and page scrolling on zoomed pages. Many users have reported that the case is too flimsy and the screen is fragile. Other users complain of the choice and the high price of the eBooks at the Sony store, although you can also download free public domain books. With the use of Calibre software you can download RSS feeds into your reader and format PDF’s to fit the screen size.

The Sony PRS 700 is no longer available from the Sony Style shop but you can still buy it at Amazon, eBay and a few other online stores.

The Sony PRS 700 ebook reader was released in October 2008 and because of the way technology seams to advance at an alarming rate, it was replaced a year later by the PRS 600 (Reader Touch Edition). It maintained roughly the same size as the PRS 505 with a 6 inch diagonal 8 level grey scale e-ink screen but incorporated a touchscreen.

Improvements of the PRS-700 Versus the PRS-505

I mentioned the touchscreen but there is differing opinions whether this is an improvement or not. Obviously touchscreens have to have a special coating on the screen and this seams to cause a bit of glare or fogging of the letters. Some user reviews state that they can’t live with the glare and others that it isn’t an issue for them. I have found that the people that owned a PRS 505 previously are the ones that find the glare too distracting while those that bought a touchscreen as their first ebook reader didn’t notice the glare as much.

Other improvements include the ability to add notes with the virtual keyboard, page turning can be accomplished by touch screen gestures as well as the page turn buttons (although the buttons are now in the middle and harder to reach,) built-in LED lighting to enable reading in poor lighting conditions, improved screen controller which allows faster page turns, menus, and zoom, the ability to highlight text with the stylus pen, search for text in your ebooks, and internal memory increased from 256 to 512 MB.

Thousands of eBooks

Unlike the Kindle, the Sony Reader PRS 700BC makes it easier to add ebooks from multiple sources. You can search, browse, and then buy new releases, bestsellers, classics, and other popular ebook titles from the Reader Store. You can also go to other websites that have file formats supported by the PRS 700, and you can access over half a million free public domain titles from Google Books.

With the Sony PRS 700 Reader Library 2.5 PC Software you can transfer your own files like Adobe PDF documents, MS Word files, and files in the BBeB format or any other text file.

Sony PRS 700 Specifications

Size and Weight

• Dimensions: 5 1/9 x 6 7/9 x 13/32 inches (127.6 x 174.3 x 9.7 mm)
• Weight: 10 oz. without soft cover

Display

• Gray Scale: 8-Level Gray Scale
• Resolution: 170 Pixels Per Inch
• Screen Size: 6″ Diagonal Screen
• Technology : E Ink® “Electronic Paper”

Media Formats

• Text: BBeB Book (Marlin), ePub, TXT, RTF, Adobe PDF, MS Word
• Image: JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP
• Audio: MP3 and AAC

Memory

• Internal Memory: 512MB, 420 MB available
• Expanded Memory: Support Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo 8 GB, SDHC card expansion up to 32 GB

Sony PRS 700 Versus the Sony 600

The first major difference is that the Sony PRS 700 was only available in black and the Sony PRS600 comes in black, red, and silver. The Sony PRS 600 is just a tiny bit thicker and heavier but hardly notable.

Amazingly, you can get the Sony Digital Reader Touch Edition for under $300 and yet the older Sony PRS 700 goes for as much as $499 from Amazon or $300 used. The Reader Touch Edition gets a 59% of users saying that they would recommend it to a friend while the PRS 700 got 75%.