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  • RATING
• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: mikeharknett

  Updated:08-18-08

  Duration of ownership:10 Months

  Strengths: Allows reading of documents/books in multiple formats, pdf, txt, html, rtf plus the proprietary lrf format. Brilliantly clear e-ink screen.

  Weaknesses: no back light so needs external light

  Overall Evaluation: Never regretted getting mine, have total of 150 books/articles on it at the moment. Had to buy a few books but a lot of the authors I like publish on the web , also there are sources for all the classics ie http://manybooks.net/ the gutenberg project, just need to dig a little to find them. Would recommend one of these to anyone who reads a lot and likes to have a book at their side all the time

• Overall Rating
  2 Star Review

  Reviewed by: zornrah

  Updated:09-11-08

  Duration of ownership:7 Months

  Strengths: Very nice design, OLED "paper" is very readable. Feels solid in your hands. Pages turn quickly and the UI is easy enough.

  Weaknesses: No Mac support. VERY poor battery life (long during use, poor when unused). Very buggy firmware and software.

  Overall Evaluation: Stick with paper books for now, the data files for this reader cost as much if not more than paper. The software and firmware are some of the worst i have ever seen out of Sony. No Mac support is not surprising, but annoying. Converting files for use is tedious (if not downright impossible at times) and repaying for data is just plain stupid. The battery lasts a long time when you are reading, but if you leave this on your desk for a week or two it will be dead when you turn it back on. So my final verdict is that, ONCE AGAIN, Sony's greed and insistence on introducing a proprietary file format has absolutely drained all worth from what was a very promising and cool little device.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: bigdogpilot12

  Updated:04-07-08

  Duration of ownership:4 Days

  Strengths: An attractive, compact unit. High resolution screen. Easy to download ebooks and pictures. Lightweight.

  Weaknesses: Limited selection of ebooks offered on Sony website.

  Overall Evaluation: The most impressive feature of the PRS-505 is the high resolution screen. The lettering is crisp and beautiful! Additionally, the fact that the PRS-505 is lightweight makes it easy to take along on trips. Furthermore, I found the Sony PRS-505 to be easier and more straightforward to use than the Amazon Kindle and I have no regrets on my decision.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: gwinn

  Updated:03-23-08

  Duration of ownership:34 Days

  Strengths: Good size. Holds a large quantity of books. Good tools for use, such as bookmarks, etc. Easy to transfer books from computer to unit.

  Weaknesses: The format used in the ebook limits where you can get ebooks, There are several formats that you can not use.

  Overall Evaluation: The PRS 505 is easy to use and holds a lot of ebooks. You can use memory cards and really hold an unlimited number of ebooks in several cards. It has good control features that make using the unit easy. The main drawback in the limiter numer of formats that can be used. You can use a coumple of formats, but there are several others that you can not. This limits where you can get ebooks. This is an inconvience, but not enough to overcome the very good features of this product.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: Darkon

  Updated:01-16-08

  Duration of ownership:5 Days

  Strengths: Small and very thin. Screen in PRS-505 provides more contrast and is easier to read in low-light conditions than previous model (PRS-500).Button layout makes much more sense than previous model.

  Weaknesses: Still on the expensive side. Choices and prices of eBooks through Sony are not that great.

  Overall Evaluation: I was given the older Sony Reader (PRS-500) as a gift for Christmas and found that I liked it MUCH more than I thought I would. However, I soon found out that the newer PRS-505 had recently been released with a few improvements. Since I could still return my PRS-500 I decided to do so and upgraded to the newer PRS-505 and I'm very glad I did. The PRS-505 has a higher contrast screen that is quite a bit easier to read, especially in low-light conditions. It is still a bit gray when compared to an actual piece of paper, but is a big improvement over the previous model. Sony also moved the "number buttons" used for navigation from below the screen to the side which is an improvement (though I have to wonder who thought they should be on the bottom in the first place). The "page-turn" buttons on the side have been moved from the left side to the right side. I thought this would be better, but now I wish they had them on both left and right sides because I move the Reader between both hands so both would be useful. There are also page-turn bottons on the bottom left side, but those aren't as useful for me because of how I hold the Reader in my hand. The Sony Connect eBook store selection is so-so and the prices range from good to not-so-good, but I've heard that Sony and Borders bookstores will be partnering in the near future and am hoping that the selection will increase and the prices will decrease to be more competitive with the Kindle from Amazon. I actually considered the Kindle because I really like the idea of being able to get books whereever I am (especially if I finish a book from a set and want the next one while on a trip), but the Kindle is just too ugly and too expensive. Maybe when the second or third version comes out and the prices drop I'll get a Kindle, but until then (and even after) I think I'll still be loving my Sony Reader. If you love reading books and always like to have something good to read wherever you go, I would highly recommend the Sony Reader PRS-505. It's small enough you can always take it with you, the battery lasts for thousands of page turns, and you'll save lots of space in your house (and trees) by buying eBooks instead of printed books.

• Overall Rating
  3 Star Review

  Reviewed by: barmaley

  Updated:01-02-08

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Solid built, can be modified to use with not-english fonts

  Weaknesses: A little bit heavy, small screen

  Overall Evaluation: In general it is not bad at all. Nice contrast screen but 1-1.5" inches more would be great. Quite impressive battery life. It has an external power input but power adapter doesn't come with the device. Screen is readable in average light conditions and has good contrast. Unfortunately there is no much choices for such device.

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: Green_Z

  Updated:12-21-07

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Carry multiple books and other documents in a package that weighs less than a paperback book. Long battery life. Easy to read screen.

  Weaknesses: Neither the unit nor the e-books are inexpensive and you can't swap or loan e-books like you might with a friend with a paper book. No Mac support either.

  Overall Evaluation: I first saw this at a local bookstore and fell in love. It felt great in the hands and was sure it would beat lugging around the latest 3lb Michael Crichton novel so I bit. The 505 model is available in dark blue and silver. I chose blue because I felt it would help the screen have more "pop" and feel like I was reading a book and not from a "reader." The silver color is gorgeous but it makes the Reader look too gadgety, which is what I didn't want.The e-ink on this reader looks just like a book so it's very easy on the eyes under any normal lighting condition. And because it's not backlit you can go through several books without have to charge it, so no need to bring a charger with you when you travel. The size is incredible if you travel to. Having to tend with bulky, heavy books can be a chore.The one thing I hate, but I guess is just part of modern life, is that the eBooks have Digital Rights Management embedded in them. That means you won't be able to buy an eBook and then when you are done give the copy to a friend or vice versa. The other thing that is a slight negative is that the eBooks cost as much as printed book on online bookstores or even brick and mortars with a coupon. There should be a much greater discount given there are fewer costs to distribution. So the eReader is truly a luxury. My guess though is that one day this will be the norm rather than the exception. I just wish they had this when I was in school. I know my back does.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: cberrien

  Updated:12-05-07

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Beautiful design. Screen is very easy to read. Especially like the zoom feature for those with bad eyes. Downloading is easy. Nice to have free 100 classics with me at all times

  Weaknesses: None that I can see. 'Afraid this puppy will kill Amazon's "Kindle." Would like to see MAC compatibility.

  Overall Evaluation: See above. This product brings e-reading to a truly practical level. Light, beautiful, VERY user friendly. The book mark feature makes it so easy to pull this item out at any time during the day and read a few pages.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: skenyon45

  Updated:11-05-07

  Duration of ownership:5 Days

  Strengths: The display is very easy to see & read. The pages "turn" quickly. The battery life is quite long. The amount of books that can be stored is massive. The instructions are clear and easy-to-understand.

  Weaknesses: None.

  Overall Evaluation: Quite some years ago, I loaded and read books on my Palm Pilot. It was a neat experience, but I found the display lacking and the battery life to be short. This third generation of the Sony Reader is nothing like a Palm Pilot! It is easy to use and easy to read. I fact, it is amazing how quickly one can read a book on the Sony Reader. I was amazed when I blasted through H.G. Wells' book The Time Machine in an amazingly short time. Not having to fuss with turning pages, not having to fuss with the proper light, not having to worry about glare, being able to adjust the type size (small, medium, large), and not having to struggle with tiny type size certainly makes using this product a pleasure.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: nghbk

  Updated:10-31-07

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: -USB direct driver support-USB charge-Better screen-Faster page flipping

  Weaknesses: A little pricing

  Overall Evaluation: Proud to be the owner of the older version PRS-500, this's my next move to be a bookworm reader. The screen is so much better than the order version. You don't have to stick with ebook library no more since there's a direct usb driver support.

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