For example, George Orwell's comes out to pages on the Reader on the medium font size , far longer than the printed version. You can also switch between landscape and portrait mode, though chances are you'll naturally hold the device vertically like a book and stick to portrait mode most of the time. Overall, we liked the way text is displayed on the screen, and we didn't suffer eye fatigue over long reading periods at least not any worse than what you'd expect from reading a standard book in a decently lit environment.
With the earlier PRS, it was a little bothersome that when you turned a page, the screen took a second to refresh it goes to black and essentially blinks. This is referred to as a "ghosting" effect and it appears to be an inherent downside to E Ink technology. It's still apparent in this newer model, but Sony has managed to slightly shorten the refresh time. The PRS feels slightly zippier than its predecessor, but there's still some noticeable lag--and that may irk some users.
Sony doesn't appear to have done too much with the user interface--it remains OK but not stellar. There's a top-level menu that allows you to select books, audio, pictures, and adjust settings. You can select books by author, date, and also organize your books into collections and jump to a bookmarked page. The menu system is tabbed on the right column with numbers that correspond to a row of numbered buttons on the right side of the display on the previous model, they were on the bottom of the display.
Clicking on the number 8, for example, takes you to the eighth tab on the screen, which happens to be audio. If you're in the middle of reading a book, the numbered buttons allow you to jump forward and back over big chunks of pages the Reader divides the number of total pages in the book by nine to evenly distribute the chunks. If you happen to own a Sony PSP, the charger from that device works with this one. It's also worth noting that we couldn't charge the Reader with a standard USB cable connected to a 5V power adapter, such as the standard iPod wall charger.
Go figure. To be clear, the unit has no backlight that would induce eye strain , so you need to use the Reader in a lit environment, just like you would a normal book. Aside from the missing AC adapter and a few small navigational annoyances, we didn't have too much to complain about concerning the hardware. The real issue, of course--and sorry for waiting so long to get to this point--is what you can actually read on the Sony Reader.
For starters, you can import a variety of content, much of it free, from your Windows computer to the device via USB , though you have to use Sony's desktop software to move content to the device's MB of internal memory its MB is up from the PRS's 64MB and allows you to store around eBooks, so long as they aren't all War and Peace. Another way to access content is to transfer it to an SD or Memory Stick card and slip it in the Reader's expansion slot.
However, you can only download encrypted Sony eBooks from the Connect store using the desktop software; likewise, only the software can be used to organize the titles into customized collections. This allows for the internal memory of the device to be accessed just like any mass storage device.
It's a big hit with many users. For non-DRM'd books, it allows Mac users to have access that was only possible with external storage cards before. The numbers cycle around the three digits shown on the screen, so if you hit the wrong button just keep pushing your three digit page number.
I haven't tried a book with more than pages, so I'm not sure whether you get four digits with bigger books. Tip: If you initiate the direct page access accidentally, just push the menu button and it will back you out. This is a great feature if you don't plan to use the Reader for a period of time, and don't want to have to recharge it.
Even in sleep mode, the battery life is only about three weeks because of that background drain. But if you turn it off, you can hold the charge much longer. If you look at the and side by side I'm reviewing the silver model, by the way , you will immediately notice that the looks so much more modern and up to date.
It's much more of an attractive consumer item, even if the screen wasn't so much better. Take it out of the case, and it's almost hard to believe what Sony has been able to fit into such a tiny form factor. This is something that's nice, but doesn't really do anything for me. The weight distribution is different so I don't really notice that it's lighter. Actually, the form factor makes the screen look smaller.
It's so much of an optical illusion that I had to hold them together to convince myself that there was not a difference in screen size. Don't get me wrong, I like this. But in order to keep it easy for me to find a book I want to read on the device, I like to keep my Reader book selection small anyway. Keeping around 50 books on it is plenty for me. Those with larger files or manga fans might be much more excited. Charge time is not long, so it's really not a big deal.
You just can't do that when you are traveling unless you have a computer with you or some tech gizmo to charge via USB. More important is that you can now recharge the device with USB even if the battery goes completely dead. This is not a big deal for most people and the dock was pretty expensive anyway. Because of the cost, if I was going to buy a , I probably wouldn't buy the dock.
Still, the dock was very pleasant and convenient for me to use on my desk. I like these buttons and their location a lot. But I don't have big fingers. Some people have complained that it's not easy to press them. I can't really comment on that very much because I haven't had any problem. In fact, I really like the design. This makes sense because Sony wants to sell books at the Connect store. Excerpts are a good way to get people interested. Of course, we all know that the e-book collection at MobileRead is a great source of free Sony Reader books , as well as ManyBooks and others.
Not every book is available in e-book form, but finding free or purchased books for the Reader is definitely not a problem. While this is a positive, it's hard to list this as a positive when it's only a statement of desire by Sony.
Too many things are yet to be determined, such as how long it takes for all the software to be ready and whether the will be the optimal platform to release it on. We'll leave it as a mixed results item until the future becomes clearer. This is the only real and legitimate complaint I have about the PRS New users, especially less technical users, probably won't notice.
But you have to push pretty hard on the button to change the page, and it doesn't give that gratifying click that device buttons are supposed to give as feedback. It's probably more of a personal preference, but if you are picky about these things, you might want to try it out at a retail store before you purchase. Not a big deal for the average buyer, but I really like my dock, and I really like my fancy cover.
I even have a custom made wooden case from Yvan that I treasure. Not being able to use them with the is a big deal for me.
Fortunately, most people will either not have a , or they will not have such an attachment to their accessories. If you have enjoyed the ability to customize your Reader by adding a clock display, changing the button functions e.
Not until and unless someone can figure out how to make them work on the In a remarkable show of community support, MobileRead members have contributed to quickly donate a Reader for Igorski to see if he can provide hack functionality, but nothing has yet been determined.
The device uses power to play music and display photos too, and music playback uses more power than reading, though it can go for many hours when playing music. With average use as a book reader, the PRS easily lasts a month, which compares well to the Kindle that lasts two days with the wireless on and up to 2 weeks with wireless off. The Reader charges when connected to a PC for syncing books. Though the list of improvements seem small, they're rather significant.
The display is now capable of 8 grayscale levels and that translates to a significantly brighter and sharper display. It's hard to go back to the old model once you've used the , particularly in lower light settings. The flicker at page turns is still there but the delay between page turns is halved 1 second vs 2 seconds. The flicker is actually the display going black as it wipes the screen with e-Ink before drawing the next page.
The Reader goes to sleep after an hour of inactivity and that's a good thing given that the would sometimes temporarily burn in a page that had been left open for hours or days.
That burn-in effect was temporary-- once the display went through several page turns it wiped itself clean with electronic charges, but it was annoying.
The PRS adds support for mass storage mode, so not only the Memory Stick Duo and SD cards mount on the desktop, but so do the contents of the Reader's internal memory. The new model auto-syncs content so there's no need to manually copy books to the device. You can disable auto-sync if you like, and set auto-sync to sync selected content types books, images to internal memory, the Memory Stick Duo or an SD card slot. The controls are greatly improved.
The Reader has a list of functions on the main menu, presented like book chapters, with corresponding buttons and numbers 1 through On the the buttons were at the bottom, though the menu items ran left to right.
Now the buttons are on the right side, adjacent to the items they represent and select. Sony added page forward and back buttons on the right spine, which are easier to get to than the left wheel controls which are still there but redesigned and the tiny ones on the left side now gone. There's a bookmark button, and the text size changer button is still there and still offers 3 text sizes both in eBooks and PDFs.
The menu button is now a separate button rather than a part of the right control wheel. All ports and controls have been moved from the left spine where they were hard to access with the included book cover attached. The volume buttons are on the bottom edge and the card slots are up top. The cover attachment system is much improved and they now mount with top and bottom mounts by the left spine. Sony includes a leather cover and sells a variety of colored leather covers along with one that has a battery and LED light for reading in the dark.
PDF zooming is handled better on the , though it's still not ideal for viewing PDFs formatted for 8. Zoom handles text but doesn't change graphics size, making things like sheet music hard to read if not first reformatted for the Reader's smaller page size.
PDF files that are sized for the Sony Reader are much more readable free book download sites often offer these and page changes are faster. Not directly related to this model are Sony's plans to expand and improve the Connect Reader ebook software and store. It also supports gestures for page turns and will have fewer hardware controls. The will likely be a formidable challenger to the Kindle. There are folks on both sides of the camp. In part, it's technophile vs.
The Kindle is arguably one of the ugliest pieces of consumer electronics to hit the street and it doesn't look a thing like a book. It's larger, though not much heavier.
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