 Not that new... |
| Review Date: July 29, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Yuriy, |
The SONY PRS 505 itself is a great device. No complains.
I bought it as a new item for $310 in June 2010 (which was low), however it came with strange alien DOC and PDF files in it... It also did not boot. I had to connect it to my laptop and format it's memory. It is sad...
It also had a minor little scratch that I would have never found if I hadn't suspected it was second hand.
What is good is that it came with wall charger and BookArmor travel case.
Developing the story: previous buyer uploaded unsupported files, the book hanged up, he returned it back.
Suggest another OS for Sony: [...] |
An absolute pleasure!
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| Review Date: June 2, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Luke M. Frank, Iraq |
I have had my Sony PRS-505 reader for about a year now. I have read at least a hundred books on it and have not experienced a single problem. The battery life is still very long, the e-ink is still crips and clear, the buttons all work and having this product has made my life better.
I have read many poor reviews of the product and they all seem to relate to the software or the limited library. I have not used the software personally, I load my books onto an SD card, insert the card in the reader and enjoy. I use many different formats and am very pleased with the presentation of each type, though PDF files can be tricky. I find it best to copy the text from a PDF into a .txt and load it that way.
I have thousands upon thousands of books in PDF format that I have collected over the years, and am completely happy buying books in whatever format I can find them in and changing them over to a format I can use on the Sony. For instance, Microsoft's .lit format is commonly available for purchase for many titles and since I have paid for it, I don't feel bad AT ALL going around their DRM nonsense and converting the file to a .txt that works splendidly on my Sony.
I have found that keeping my own library via SD card in the Sony makes for a long wait when I insert the card, and an upleasant search for a particular title when sifting through the table of contents, so I keep all of my books on my computer and transfer a few dozen to the SD card at a time to simplify this.
I have dropped the device, thrown the device, put things on top of it and generally treated it as if it were a paperback and it still works every time I ask it to. I would recommend it to any lover of reading with a modern teenager's computer comprehension level. For those less savvy, another device may serve you better, but for myself, this has been an excellent investment and has provided hundreds of hours of enjoyment to me. |
love this version better than the newer ones
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| Review Date: May 1, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Delores J. Ward, BARBOURSVILLE, WV, US |
| love this version of the Sony reader better than the new ones and the Kindles.....bought a second for my husband and am looking for two more for my daughters. There is not as much glare on the screen as the newer models. It does all I want and more. |
Paranoid About Copyright Protections
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| Review Date: April 21, 2010 |
| Reviewer: cam, Texas |
One of these items(PRS-505) was given to me as a gift. The device works as advertised and exhibits the typical benefits of using an e-book reader. For example, you will have faster access to a title without the need to find time to visit the store, and you can carry several books without carrying the weight. The entire e-book community is slowly moving toward common formats.
On the down side, the customer support is horrible. Sony is paranoid (or is under pressure) about stolen-content and/or copyright protections. You will need an account with the Sony bookstore but also an account with Adobe(dot)com. When I changed e-mail addresses, customer-support was completely confused and unable to merge accounts. I had to call back several times over several days. **Several titles are no longer viewable and display "Computer not Authorized". The third person I talked to over 5 days asked for direct-access to my machine! Sony has not finished sorting-out how to interact with Adobe(dot)com when customer service is needed.
bummer, because I was really enjoying the device and the convenient access to a title without having to find time to search local stores. However, the titles available from the sony-store is rather limited. They have mostly Romance and other mass-market fiction.
A Non-Fiction Reader |
before you buy Kindle, Nook, or iPad...
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| Review Date: March 8, 2010 |
| Reviewer: P. Firth, Tampa, FL |
I have had the PRS-505 for over a year.
Sadly, I dropped it on a tile floor and the display failed.
There probably is no product that would survive this kind of fall.
Unfortunately, it's out of warranty, so I have watched the market very carefully.
SCREEN - Please note that, unless you have held and read eInk technology, you should not be purchasing ANY device for reading. Sony and Nook and Kindle all use the same vendor for eInk, and if you are seriously trying to replace books, no LCD screen comes close. Unless the color screen on the new iPad has capabilities that, for some reason, Apple failed to mention (!) it will not be usable for reading. The difference really is night and day. The eInk look is as good as paper. Any LCD screen is too fuzzy and flickery to be comfortable for any serious use.
BATTERY - Again, eInk technology is a requirement. It uses almost zero power when the page is the same, versus LCD screens which waste a tremendous amount of power on backlighting. The Kindle, Nook and Sony readers will go 10-14 days without a charge - iPad or any other LCD will go a few hours. Not much use on a plane or car trip.
FREE MEDIA - This is important! The Kindle and Nook do NOT allow you to read free material in ePub format. This is the only practical free format for ebooks. It is the FREE format used by Google books and Gutenberg.org. If you want to read classics, or move your book freely from desktop to reader to friend's readers, you cannot use the Nook or Kindle. Sony is the only major vendor to support ePub with no DRM. Be careful out there - Nook appears to support free formats, but if you try their desktop program, and the specs carefully, you'll see it is useless for free formats. Also, note that PDF results may vary. Because of the flow characteristics of text within PDF documents, many are not suitable for reading on ANY reader.
Personally, I would not purchase ANY device which does not work with rights-free ePub format. That leaves you with some of the smaller vendors and Sony - none others at present.
There are many other features you CAN consider, but these three completely outweigh all others. |
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