Sony eReader PRS 505
Review written by: Ray
One of my big goals on this trip was to read some classics.
I have always wanted to read Atlas Shrugged, or Crime and Punish- ment, but I just couldn’t bring myself to carry a couple of 1000-page books along with me when I have limited space in my backpack.
Enter the digital reader.
There are a few of these fun toys on the market, all with similar specs: Sony’s eReader, Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes and Noble’s Nook, or the incredibly expensive Illiad, to name a few. They are all great little gadgets that can store thousands of books on either an SD card or MemoryStick.
The eReader we brought on the trip was a Sony PRS-505 that was a birthday present from my parents. The Sony eReader had a great feel, and a sturdy metal construction.
It was low profile, and, if kept in the leather binding, could easily be mistaken for a regular book when reading.
Before our departure, I had managed to put a couple of PDF versions of Lonely Planet on the eReader, as well as a number of classics that I had wanted to read. While the screen refresh rate was less than desirable, the crispness and paper-like display made reading on the Sony eReader a charm, and it sure beat carrying around the equivalent of 50 paperback books.
However, if you are looking to replace paperback versions of Lonely Planet with digital copies for the eReader, I would suggest looking elsewhere. PDF support on eReaders is sub-par at best, and while the PRS 505 display is nice, it cannot handle the layout of current Lonely Planet PDFs purchased through their online store. I have spent countless hours trying to reduce the margins on my purchased PDFs to make them look better on the reader, but each time have failed. The technology just isn’t there yet.
All in all, I found it to be a very nice gadget to read books, news, and RSS feeds without having to pull out my computer. G and I both comfortably read a couple of books on the little Sony PRS-505 before, tragically, it developed a display problem in the upper right hand corner of the screen and we had to send it home to see if we could get it replaced. I’m sure this problem could have been resolved if we had a place to service it, but being thousands of miles from the Fry’s Electronics where it was purchased has kind of left us in the dust.
If you are a huge reader, have a selection of ebooks already, or prefer reading to listening to music on long journeys, this would be the gadget to bring. Otherwise, if you aren’t too picky about your book selection, you might as well opt for a simple paperback of your favorite book and use the book exchange system found at almost all the guesthouses in Asia.
Bring or don’t bring?: Maybe bring
(No Ratings Yet)
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I’d be interested to see if the new global kindle with wireless (read: anytime wallet) access would do better overseas? What’s the plan on replacing this? Think Fry’s will send you a new one to freakin’ Asia? If you need stuff exchanged/returned, you can send that stuff to me, if you want. I’m in the Phoenix now, so if you’ve got proof of purchase, I can haggle you a return…
It’s too bad about lonely planet, ’cause that is EXACTLY what I’d use this for when traveling. Apple’s getting ready to (allegedly) release a reader that will make us all forget about books and shit our pants, so…I’ll keep you posted.
Hey Scott! Thanks for the comment. Well, I can’t say that I have heard much about the global Kindle, but after checking out Amazon, that price is pretty nice for global access! It even looks as though my favorite book (Dune) has also gone DOWN in price for the ebook version compared to the paperback. This wasn’t the case before we left… the ebook was actually 5 dollars more expensive… This might be the year of ebooks… maybe.
As far as getting it replaced… My Mom currently has it, though I haven’t heard back if she’s had a chance to try and exchange it at Frys. I might need to take you up on your haggle offer ;-)
One thing to note about the LPs though, I’ve read on a couple of forums that the bigger screens display PDFS much better. So maybe the larger Kindle or Sony Reader would be better suited for them? PDFs are tough because resizing on these devices is pretty slow and not always what you expect. Though, I guess I can’t expect much being an early adopter!
About the Apple rumors, yeah, I’ve seen headlines here and there. I can’t wait to see what Mr. Stevie will pull out of his magician’s hat this year. The rumors have been crazy. If you hear anything, please let me know!!