Sony PRS 505 LC Blue Digital Book Reader
The Reader Digital Book holds about 160 eBooks or hundreds more with optional removable memory cards. Its portable size makes it the perfect travel companion, allowing you to read a variety of books whenever and wherever you want. With thousands of eBook titles available from the CONNECT eBooks Store, you can choose to download new releases, classics and popular book titles as well as view other document formats such as Adobe PDF10, RTF, TXT, BBeB and Microsoft Word. Its long battery life lasts up to 7,500 continuous page turns, and the amazing paper-like screen technology is easy on the eyes.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars excellent book reader
I absolutely love it. The expansion slot means you can add many more books, music, or photographs that the internal memory can hold. The lack of wireless connection (vs the Kindle) does not bother me, and, seems like an advantage after the recent incident with Amazon deleting purchases off the Kindle. Image clarity is great, and pages change fast. It’s worth having a cover, if only because the unit is so think and light, you might actually drop it if your hands are a little sweaty. Readability is good, even in full sun. For pictures, I recommend making sure the resolution matches the unit, otherwise pictures take a while to display. Since it’s a black and white (or rather gray and light gray), not everything works well, but I have at least a few of my kid in there that I like to look at. I have not tried to play music on it, so I can’t comment on that aspect. Battery life if great. It charges fast, even if connected to a computer as opposed to directly to a plug. As a matter of fact, it changes so fast to a computer that there seems little reason to purchase the additional charger. I know that sounds strange (and I did buy it for myself) but I am yet to use it.
Book purchases via Sony e-book store are easy. Of course, I would like the Amazon’s 9.99 policy for most books. Oh well. You certainly have options there – via Sony, via other stores (Fictionwise, etc), but most places are a little more expensive. That being said, the ability to read PDFs means you can get a lot more material on it you could on a Kindle. I have dozens of articles from peer-reviewed journals uploaded to my Reader and love to go through them on a plane or the Metro. You can’t easily do that on a Kindle.
You can’t take notes on this – as you would on a Kindle. That does not seem like a big deal to me, but then again I don’t write on books. If you do, you will have to go “analog” (i.e. pen and paper). Or, get a Kindle (which I’m sure Amazon would appreciate).
5 Stars Very Pleased with Product
I have been looking at various EReaders for quite a while now, and just recently purchased a Sony Reader at WalMart. I have to say, the Reader has exceeded my expectations. It’s light, easy to use, holds a lot of books, and everything the sellers say. The page turning animation was a little annoying at first, but I quickly grew used to it after a few turns. Now, granted that I am very computer oriented, and find it easy to use electronics, but the Reader was very easy to set up and use. I would definately recommend this to others.
5 Stars It’s not just for e-books!
It’s not just for e-books. With Sony’s “eBook Library” or, my favorite software, Kovid Goyal’s free (open source) “Calibre” on my computer, I’ve downloaded & converted thousands of free books (public domain), news feeds (rss), blogs, and html articles from hundreds of respected on-line sources.
I use to download material to my laptop. But I grew tired of the bulky, heat and nose producing, contraption on my desk/lap/bed/couch/in my bathroom. The e-reader is so natural to use, I’ve at times found myself turning it over looking for the next page.
The PRS-505 doesn’t have wireless connection (like Kindle) but it doesn’t need it! It also doesn’t have the Kindle’s unnecessary bulk and the 50+ keys/buttons to fumble with. Through your computer, it does everything the Kindle can do, but the 505 is a lot smaller (footprint, not screen) and easier to use.
I’ve used my PRS-505 (daily) for two years. It’s function flawlessly and I’ve read more books & news articles then every before in my life. I’ve downloaded books, maps, dictionaries, and even graphic novels, and not once wished I had any of the added functionality advertised by the Kindle – or even the newest reader models (Touch, Pocket, or Daily). The PRS-505 is, in a word, perfect.
5 Stars Absolutely Fantastic
Just bought this a week ago – got a good deal on one on Craigslist. My favorite thing about this is I can download ebooks from my library for free and they work great on the reader. Nice to not have to spend a fortune on books. The Sony eBook website is good too. Nice selection, and the best sellers are offered at 9.99, which seems okay. I downloaded 3 library books, bought two from the Soney eBook site and had them on my reader in minutes. I’m on my computer every day, so it’s really not a big deal for me to not have wireless downloads since I am using it for just reading books.
It’s very sturdy, well made, and the controls seem very well thought out. The screen is wonderful – it’s like reading a real book. I am very pleased with my purchase.
5 Stars Love this book very much
I’m a Vietnamese. I decided to buy this ebook right after saw it at the first time.
Because this device can’t show Vietnamese correctly so I have to hack it’s firmware. Everything is ok now.
My wife loves reading and I gave it to her as a present. And now she like it very much.
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