| Brand: | Sony | ||
| Average Rating |
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The Reader Pocket Edition features a 5 display and an elegant, lightweight design that’s easy to slip into a purse or jacket pocket for convenient, on-the-go reading. Not sure which books to bring on your trip? With the Reader Pocket Edition, you will never have to make that choice again. 512MB of onboard memory lets you carry up to 350 of your favorite books3 at a time. Enjoy access to a wider number of books from a wider number of places. By supporting both industry standard formats, ePub and PDF, you can access books at Sony’s eBookstore, check out books from public libraries, access over 500,000 free public domain titles from Google, as well as sharing sites, online aggregators and personal publishers. The Reader Pocket Edition utilizes EInk screen technology to deliver an amazing, paper-like display that’s more like ink on paper and fully readable in direct sunlight. Intuitive eBook Library software makes it easy to download eBooks, manage your collection, and transfer titles to your Reader Pocket Edition. eBook Library software works with both PC and Mac. Enjoy up to two full weeks of reading (7,500 continuous page turns) on a single battery charge. The Reader Pocket Edition offers you the ability to resize text. Choose from three adjustable font sizes to improve readability. Two full weeks of reading on a single battery charge 3 adjustable font sizes to customize your reading experience USB 2.0 data and power connection Read in multiple formats, including ePub and PDF Quick page turns and high contrast ratio Display – Screen Size – Vizplex 5 inches Resolution – 800 x 600 pixels Gray Scale – 8-levels gray scale Power – Battery Type – Rechargeable Lithium-Ion (battery – DC 3.7 V) AC Power – DC 5.2 V Battery Life (Approx) – 7,500 (BBeB Book) Media Formats Supported – Unsecured Text – EPUB file (Non DRM/ Adobe DRM protecte more info
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If you are looking for an Ebook reader solely for reading Ebooks with no fluff or extras, you can’t get much better.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My tag kind of explains it all really, but here is a more in-depth breakdown for you.
The Sony Pocket eReader is one of the cheaper eReaders you can buy. To make it cheap there is a lack of many of the basic features you will find in other eReaders. You can’t search for text, add notes, there is no G3 or wi-fi support, the screen is 5″ instead of the typical 6″, AND there is no touch screen.
So why would I give this device a 5 out of 5? Simple, if you want a solid as heck eReader that is affordable, has wonderful text clarity and contrast, and supports a very wide variety of documents for use instead of proprietary software, then this little device is perfect for you. The Pocket Reader doesn’t have as many shades of grey as the Kindle 2 does, so the Kindle 2 is better with pictures, however because the screen resolution is the same and the Pocket’s screen is smaller the text tends to look a little sharper. Both are just as easy to read as the other.
The Nook is another solid device in terms of eReaders, but it drains batteries comparitively fast when compared to the others out there and good luck trying to get one. It also doesn’t support the wide variety of file types the Sony series does.
If you are someone who likes to read books and only wants a device that is very good at delivering that experience with a solid feel, ease of use, and extremely nice display for font that is extremely easy on the eyes, then this little beauty will treat you right. The down side, other than the extra bells and whistles, is that Sony doesn’t pack in an AC adapter with the device and you have to charge it with a supplied USB cable (or get an adapter for an extra $30), and even though the solid little machine feels tough as all get out, I would definitely not trust it to survive a 3 foot fall onto a hard surface without getting damaged.
once again impressed with Sony
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just purchased the Sony Pocket Reader (PRS-300) today from a local retailer, and so my review is perhaps a bit early, however I wanted to speak to the software concerns voiced by other reviewers. I was nervous about buying the unit because I wanted to be sure I could read the ebooks I have already purchased over the last couple of years. (I’ve used my computer for several years to read ebooks). My ebooks are all in Adobe protected pdf format, not epub.
I installed the Sony software, but as it turns out I didn’t need to. When I connected the reader to my computer and opened Adobe Digital Editions, the reader was detected. I was asked if I wanted to authorize it with my Adobe account, which I did, successfully and quickly. The Sony Reader then appeared in the left column of Adobe Digital Editions and I was able to simply drag and drop my purchased ebooks onto the reader. And, they opened on the reader!! Painless. A miracle, really. I expected a hassle, but was pleasantly surprised.
I will purchase future books in .epub format, because I suspect they will ‘fit’ the reader better, but I am thrilled to have my current books on the reader.
This ability to use books purchased from multiple sources is why I chose Sony over the Kindle. And my wife convinced me that the form-factor of the Pocket Reader would be better than a larger unit, and having used it a while today, I must agree with her. It is very easy to hold and operate, certainly easier than holding a book.
Perhaps the reader will disappoint me somewhere down the road, but initially, I am very impressed!
Great for traveling
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
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!
AVOID THIS READER
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
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!
Fantastic “Reader”
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was given the Sony Digital Reader Pocket Edition-Silver (PRS300SC) recently as a birthday gift from my husband. I was a little disappointed at first as I was “eyeing” the Kindle for quite some time and waiting for the price to go down a little further. Boy, am I glad my husband picked this Sony eReader. I love it. The quality is great, and so easy to use with great features. It’s small enough to put in any pocket/pocketbook. It’s the same size as a paperback. Keep in mind that it does not have as many features as the Kindle but is THE GREATEST AS A READER and some of the books are cheaper e.g. Stehpen King’s “Under The Dome”. You can also get Google books. One of the reviewers who gave it a low score said it was a “rip off” and the customer service was awful and the representative couldn’t speak fluent English. I contacted Sony customer service for help from the very beginning as anything technical intimadates me. The service representative was FANTASTIC. He helped me from beginning to end and stayed on the phone with me until everything was in order including moving my books from the Library to my eReader and HE SPOKE FLUENT ENGLISH. If you want this product to do “hand stands” as some of the readers who gave a low score this is not the product for you. DO YOUR RESEARCH PRIOR TO PURCHASING. To reiterate – love, love, love this Reader.
Durable PRS 300 (Pink)
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have had my Sony Digital Reader for about two weeks now. I researched this and the Kindle. The biggest turn off with the Kindle was the price and strict limitations on where the books could come from.
I finally decided to try the Sony Digital Reader. The construction of it is awesome. I have dropped it twice. The first time while stanind on a linolium floor. No problems and it wasn’t in a case. The second time I dropped it (in the case it came with), it fell on concrete. It reset to the prior setting. Meaning, the prior download of books I had. It wiped about 50 books off. There was an extremely small dent in the right front corner. No other problems what so ever. I simply re-downloaded the books wiped off.
A negative for me is the Sony e-library. It freezes and is a pain to get the titles or authors just right. Suggestion: If the downloads are from another source, simply rename the title or author as you wish so that they will display alphabetically.
The reader displays even better than the page of a book in just about any lighting situation. Laying down reading with one hand or eating and reading with one hand is much easier than holding an actual paperback.
I use Calibre to organize my reader. This takes longer as the reader does not automatically sync with Calibre, but, it does with the Sony E-library.
I am concerned that the battery is only supposed to last for two years with a replacement cost of $125. Sony needs to get on the ball as I use my reader every day at least two hours a day.
I have christmas requests for readers from two family members and scores of people I meet in stores or restuarants.
I absolutely love my reader. The cost is high to me, however, it is worth it. If I go back to school I will get the Touch. I do not like restrictions, so Kindle won’t do it for me.
Also, the formating. I have mostly read PDF’s, which do tend to put a word or two together on each page. Yes, there are only 3 font sizes, however, they are sufficient for those with average sight.
I give this reader 4 stars due to the battery issue and the software issues. Other wise, it would be perfect.
Get ready to pay a Ton more.
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
It took me quite a while to get accurate information from Sony but they finally admitted that the useful life of the battery is just over 2 years. This is what the battery industry considers normal for Lithium Ion batteries and is measured from the date of manufacturer.
Now comes the “ka-ching”. The Sony battery is not user changeable and the price Sony gave me to replace the battery is close to $125. So get ready to pay for this thing all over again in two years. Oh, here is the bonus. The charger will not power the unit when the battery dies. Can you say… “recycle heap”?
Great For Recreational Readers, Students / Researchers Should Get the 600
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I never thought I would ever embrace digital books, but I think this reader has forever changed that. Every concern I had about an eReader was addressed.
Readability: It’s ‘just’ like reading on paper. In fact it took me all of about 20 minutes to realize that I actually prefer it to paper. With paper books you get shadows, you have to angle the book depending on which side of the pages you’re reading on, etc. Here, the ambient light is distributed evenly by the material on the screen so the text is easy to read. And there is little, if any, noticeable glare or reflection. Some people dislike the lack of a backlight, but I actually prefer it because its much less stressful on the eyes. The background is a soft white color thats very easy on the eyes. You can resize font to your preference. The 3 sizes available here are plenty. Its especially great for incredibly nearsighted people like me who like to take their glasses off when they read and not have to squint. between all of this, it makes for a very comfortable reading experience. I can read much faster on this device than on paper. I guess if I had to nitpick, the only thing thats distracting is the silver finish of the device itself, which actually reflects more light than the screen. If you think this could be an issue for you, I’d recommend a darker color.
Usability: Its a breeze. Its incredibly easy to use, and everything is very plainly labeled. Turning pages, bookmarks, and zooming are all performed with single button presses. Your library is organized alphabetically of course, so just navigate ansd click. It also remembers your place for you, and in addition you can create your own bookmarks. While in a book you can use the numbers on the side of the screen to key in a specific page number. Its just the right weight, and it feels just right when you’re using it. The software is very iTunes like in both appearance and function. It generally works as it should, though I find it a bit slower than I’d prefer when performing functions of browsing the Sony eBook store. One function I was surprised was missing was the lack of ability to edit file info in the software; if you get an eBook thats incorrectly labeled there’s really no way to fix it in the software.
What I’ve found is that its best to bypass the software entirely…Windows (and probably Mac as well) recognizes this as a mass storage device so you can put all your content on the reader using Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. MUCH faster. You can transfer books via drag n drop in seconds as opposed to minutes using the software. You can download Google books directly from Google (easier to browse) and drag them to the ‘books’ folder.
Content: a TON of it. I find the Sony store to be a bit too pricey though. The bestsellers are pretty reasonably priced but everything else costs just as much as its paper counterpart, so if you’re looking to save money on paperbacks and such buying this…hold off for now until the prices drop, if indeed they ever do. The best thing is the integration with Google Books. Granted, its all ‘older’ stuff but there’s a lot of great classics on there that should be in everyone’s library. It also dispays .txt .doc and .pdf files, so you can make your own content. For example, if you use the Firefox browser and have the PrintPDF add-on installed, you can literally print any page to a pdf and transfer it to the Sony for much for comfortable reading. For example…your local news website or magazines?
It also supports the epub format and allows digital library checkouts. Unfortunately no library in my area supports this as of yet, but I’m hoping they do soon. This could revolutionize the concept of the library…for better or for worse. As far as storage, again some have griped about there being ‘only’ 512 mb of storage (only 440 mb is usable). When you consider most ebooks are 1 or 2 mb in size, this allows you carry 300 – 400 books around. I dont know about you, but ive never needed access to that many books at once in my life. But if thats an issue, look elsewhere.
So that’s my breakdown of the device itself.
Backing up a bit…the big decision I had to make was whether which model to get; Kindle, the Sony 300 or the 600. The big drawback with Kindle is DRM. It seems like a very controlled and locked down system. Sony supports many more open formats. Plus I don’t care about wireless…it drains the battery quicker and I want to spend as little time charging a reading device as possible. Plus, as I said, 300 – 400 books are plenty for me to carry around. As far as readability, the Kindle screen looks bigger, but the amount of reading space is almost identical between this and the Kindle 2. Kindle uses more screen space for displaying battery life, etc…where as the Sony uses literally the entire screen. I also found the Kindle’s font looked more thin and ‘computer’ like, whereas on the Sony, the font is nice and thick…looks almost identical to the fonts you’d see on paper.
So then the decision was between the touch screen 600 and this model. Without getting too much into it, I’ll simply put it like this: If you are a student or researcher, get the 600. It has a built-in dictionary (the 300 does not), a word search function, the ability to make notes, scribble on pages, and it has greater (upgradeable) storage. The 600 also has mp3 support. While these features are neat, for someone like me who reads for entertainment, I found them kind of pointless or unnecessary. Also, the touch screen model has more glare than the 300, and the screen seems dimmer, probably due to the touch layer. For what I want to use it for, the 300 gives me a better experience and the contrast is much better for easier reading.
I don’t think I will ever give up paper books, but from now on most of my recreational reading will be done on this device. Sony did a fantastic job of blending old with new, and once you start using one yourself you too will be hooked. A fantastic, and revolutionary electronic device!
Solid eBook Reader
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
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.
Its basically a book. But easier
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
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