Another E-book Reader to Consider

In early December, I wrote two posts about the new E-reader, the Kindle. One was called “My Take on Kindle and Future of E-Books.” The other, a few days earlier, was titled “E-Book Readers, An Author Speaks.”

So, I figure it’s only fair to tell you about a new, or actually an updated, entry into the world of E-readers.

Sony has updated their PRS-505 Reader. It sells for $300. Supposedly, it has a new body and some new tricks. Now, instead of just the choice of a black reader, you can get it in silver or dark blue. Now, isn’t that exciting? Sarcasm aside, they also say they’ve rearranged the buttons so they’re more accessible and upgraded the internal memory to hold 160 ebooks instead of 80.

The Sony eReader launched about a year ago, but with this new redesign, they say their Sony Connect store offers 20,000 titles. One problem, though, is that there’s no built-in Internet connectivity, like with the Kindle. You have to connect up to your computer to download. That’s a major drawback for people who now consider quick Internet access through laptops and Blackberrys a given, not an option.

Another drawback of the Sony PRS Reader, according to Michael Kanellos with C/NET News is that it’s a bit slow. He wrote:

That's the amount of time it takes for the Sony PRS-505 Portable Reader System to let you into War and Peace. You click the book title from the Reader's library, wait one minute five seconds while the book loads, and you're back to the Napoleonic era. Actually, you're not completely back. You have one more click to go. With a paper book, this process takes about a second.

If you didn’t get an e-Reader for Christmas and are thinking about buying your own, you might want to do some checking online before you purchase. Also, make sure you try each one out. See how easy it is to use, download books, turn pages, load books, work the buttons, etc.