Sony Reader Digital Book PRS-505

We have yet to see fellow commuters trading in their paperbacks for eBooks, but if that were to happen, they might reach for the Sony Reader Digital Book PRS-505 first. This second-generation Sony Reader has some notable improvements over the first Sony Reader, including its consolidated physical design and increased storage, but considering Amazon's Kindle offers more titles and wireless downloads over EV-DO, Sony's sleeker styling and $100-cheaper price are probably not enough to make its sequel a bestseller.

 

The Sony Reader cut a few millimeters from the size of its last model. At less than half an inch thick, it's thinner than most paperbacks, and at just 9 ounces the Reader fits into your bag without weighing you down. We were impressed with its new brushed-silver design (also available in dark blue), and its camel-colored leather binding (available in pink or black for an extra $39.99) is soft to the touch and gives the high-tech book a quaint look.

 

The rectangular 6-inch LCD is still surrounded by an overabundance of keys: When you hold it in portrait mode, buttons numbered 0-9 run vertically along the right side and correspond to menu items on the screen; they can also be used to move to selected pages. Next to them are two more keys used to turn pages. On the bottom left of the device is another page-turning button, and on the bottom right is a menu button and four-way toggle with a center button, which made navigating the onscreen menus easy. A power switch is located on the top of the device, along with an SD/Memory Stick Pro slot, and the bottom holds the volume control and the mini-USB, DC charging, and headphone ports.

 

The eBook was comfortable to hold for long periods of time, even with one hand. The Reader, which can hold up to 10GB of eBooks, music, and pictures, was preloaded with Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. The eight-level grayscale E-Ink Electronic Paper (up from four levels) provided crisp and clear text. We also loaded on a few family pictures to test the screen quality; the picture appeared pixelated at first, but the device automatically adjusted the image to appear clearly, albeit without color. While we had no problem seeing the screen in a brightly lit airplane or by the pool on a sunny day, we struggled to read when the lights were dimmed. A backlight would be really helpful.

We installed the Sony Connect software from the included CD-ROM onto our Vista notebook with no problems. With a similar look and feel to iTunes, the Sony Connect transferred our books to the connected reader in two clicks (Mac users will have to drag and drop files manually). The selection of books available on Sony's online bookstore seems to be expanding and currently boasts more than 20,000 titles. Still, that's a lot less than the Amazon Kindle's selection of 90,000 books. The prices seemed to be on a par with those of traditional retailers. Nicholas Sparks' The Choice, for instance, was available for $10.19, and Malcolm Gladwell's Blink was $7.99. Each of these titles lists on Amazon and Amazon Kindle for about the same price.

 

The Sony Reader maintains the RSS-feed option, which lets you input RSS feeds from your computer, but it doesn't let you get these in real time. The Amazon Kindle lets you subscribe to blogs wirelessly (starting at 99 cents per month) and surf the Web on the go.

 

Flipping pages on the Reader didn't take more than half a second--not instantaneous but close enough. The Magnify tool was extremely helpful in altering the text size. It expanded the words on the page, so we didn't have to maneuver back and forth; the larger you magnify, the more page numbers the book will have. We liked that the text reformatted itself, so you don't have to scroll around the page.

 

The device retains its excellent viewing angles, a welcome for those who don't read books staring dead-on at the paper. You can view the display in either landscape or portrait mode. The E-Ink technology (microcapsules containing white and black particles that move in response to electricity) allows the Reader to expend little power while keeping the image on its screen, and Sony says it should last about 7,500 page views on one charge. We got through the first 50 pages of Wuthering Heights--as much as we could stand--without lowering the battery meter, but listening to MP3s (which came through clearly) while reading drained the battery faster. We wish the multitasking were better; you have to flip back to the music menu to pause a track or toggle to the next one. The Reader comes with only a USB charger, so you'll have to buy the AC power adapter for $29.99 if you plan to travel without a laptop.

 

Although we wouldn't trade the real books we cuddle up with every night for the Sony Reader, we would take the Reader on trips to avoid toting multiple paperbacks. However, the lack of a built-in light and the confusing button placement keep this high-tech book from living up to its potential. Amazon's Kindle is uglier and pricier, but it does a lot more while offering instant gratification.


Suggested Stories:

Amazon Kindle Review
It's expensive, but fast over-the-air downloads and a huge selection of titles make Amazon's e-book reader the best option yet.
 
Sony Reader PRS-500 Review
The Sony Reader is easy on the eyes but in some ways feels like a first effort.

Top 10 Gadget Gifts 2007
The must-have gear for the most worthy people on your list.