Sony PRS-505 Portable Digital e-Reader System (Silver) by Sony
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Digital camera reviews of Sony PRS-505 Portable Digital e-Reader System (Silver)
Digital camera Review: Works great...when it works.
Summary: 2 Stars
Wanting to get back into reading but not wanting a large pile used books to accumulate, I decided to look into digital readers. After comparing the PRS-505 to the Kindle 2, I decided on the Sony. The main selling point was the Sony digital reader's larger storage capacity with the addition of a SD card and/or memory duo pro and the ability for this reader to access and display .pdf. The later being extremely helpful for some of my college texts are provided as .pdf.
I am not certain if I would use the .pdf features for more complicated .pdf files but for textbooks/documents converted to .pdf it worked great.
As far as features, the PRS-505 has done everything I expected it would and more. The screen is very clear and easy to read; the system is a bit quirky but you can learn to navigate through its controls very quickly. Battery life is good; the buttons are easy to push. I don't have any issues with the sluggishness of the page turn as it doesn't bother me.
The problem I have experienced is within the hardware itself. The unit that I had purchased came with a faulty power button. Even though I slide it, the unit will not turn on. The only way I can get it to boot is to plug it into a computer using the usb cable. Once on, the unit work normally.
If I took the unit with me and I allowed it to enter sleep mode, unless I brought an usb cable and had a computer to access, the unit will not power on. I learned to deal with it by disabling the sleep feature.
The second problem I have come across was after shutting the unit down manually. The first time I had done it; the unit would not power on nor would the red charge light remain lit. I thought I had bricked the system but it ended up powering on after remaining plugged into the computer for about an hour.
The second time I powered the system down was to recreate the issue above. I wanted to know if it was a fluke. It was not. The system once again remained unresponsive for a LONG time after being manually shut down--serious brick mode.
I've learned that as long as I never shut down my PRS-505, allow it to go into sleep mode and make sure the battery remains charged, the unit works as it should. However, this laundry list of things to do to ensure it doesn't go into brick mode negates its portability which makes the situation ironic.
It now commonly resides on next to its authorized computer. Why do I even need the reader if I could just turn on my comp and read my files from there?
I am sure I will need to send it to Sony for repair/replacement and will do so eventually when something else fails.
Perhaps in a few months I will try the Kindle DX or wait to see if there's a Kindle 3 on the way with similar .pdf file capability. Until such time, I can make do with this reader so long as it is never turned off.
Digital camera Review: Great Reader EXCEPT book availability and delivery
Summary: 4 Stars
I had a Kindle 1st gen and decided I wanted to try the Sony Reader. It was a different experience from the kindle, mostly good, but some bad. Reading on the Sony was easier and more relaxed than kindle, but has limitations on Font size and consistency of text compared to kindle. Easier to hold and positive page turns as well as a better menu/navigation system made it my preferred reader. BUT the availability and loading of books was dismal in comparison to the kindle. The Sony E-Book site and the loading of books onto the Sony is not an easily understood process, nor is it as easy to use as kindle's interface. I tried also to convert some of my kindle books to Sony format and that was a difficult and frustrating process. I decided I did not want to bother with the process. Sony's price on books is almost always higher than Amazon's price, average of $3 to $4 per book. I'm giving the Sony to my Daughter and getting a Kindle 2. If you can stand the few downsides the Sony is a very pleasant reading experience ... if you can master the book load interface.Digital camera Review: Great device with crappy software
Summary: 4 Stars
Pros:
-fantastic design and look&feel;
-good ergonomics;
-clear picture;
-size is exactly what is needed to have a portable device and a nice reading experience;
Cons:
-lack of international alphabets support (this really sucks!). There is an unofficial third party ROM image that fixes this for Cyrillic but WHY, Sony, WHY not have it in the first place? We are living in the 21st century, not in early 80th!
-only a single level of organizing books (collections). This sucks as well. I want to have multilevel folders (like /author/book or /language/author/book) + tags for genres (technical/fantasy etc);
-lack of any text search function;
-unable to reflow certain PDF documentation (mostly pre-formatted technical books). I don't know if this can be done at all;
-eLibrary tool is an absolute disaster developed by a intern during his summer practice. I can't believe this piece of crap could come from such a serious brand. Just throw it out and start over.
Summary: Great device for reading fans. However, the software is really a fly in the ointment, preventing this product from being excellent.
Digital camera Review: Best MULTI-FORMAT Ereader as of June 2009
Summary: 5 Stars
I initially considered the Kindle due to the more extensive Kindle bookstore. However, after checking the Kindle library, I found that many books, particularly non-fiction, that I was interested in were not there (yet).
The Kindle 2 does not have built-in support for pdf and other formats, so reading material available online is very cumbersome or impossible.
The Sony PRS-505 that I finally bought turned out to be very well-constructed, of the right size for reading AND holding, and support pdf document format. With free conversion software such as Calibre, the PRS-505 could read most popular document formats.
This is a huge advantage over the Kindle which only supports its own proprietary format (you'd have to email Kindle the document you want to convert).
Another advantage is the memory stick and SD card slots. The manual says max. size is 2Gb, but I have a 8Gb SDHC SD card and have had no problem.
With an 8Gb SD card, I can practically store millions of pages or over ten thousand books. There is little need for instantaneous wireless book purchase capability.
I had no problem zooming in a pdf page (Small, Medium, Large), unless it was an image.
Reading was easy on the eyes, though you need to have sufficient light.
Page turning was not instantaneous, but acceptable at around 1 second (longer for pdf).
I would have bought the new PRS-700 with its convenient touch screen, high-lighting and notes capabilities, but was unsure about the reduced screen clarity.
The PRS-505 fills the basic need of an ereader at half the cost of competitive devices.
Digital camera Review: Unreliable
Summary: 1 Stars
This is a device that I truly want to love, but I've had so many problems with it that I'm going to give up and get a Kindle.
I purchased the PRS-505 right after Christmas and within a week started having problems with the device hanging. It was nearly impossible to get it to reset (there's a super-secret bunch sequence of button presses and incantations you have to chant to hard reset the device). After talking with tech support I ended up returning and exchanging the device. Unfortunately the new unit appears to be no better. It works for a while, then hangs, then works again (maybe). It might talk to my PC, it might not. It can connect to the PC for an hour and then refuse to connect again for a day, or a week. Tech support is no help, they just read scripts to me to tell me to reset the device.
Add to that the general unresponsiveness of the device even when it's working, and the annoyance of needing to connect it to my PC to download books, and the fact that I've seen books in my local grocery store that cost $12.00 LESS than the cost of downloading them from Sony, well you get the picture.
It's a good looking device, and it's handy for traveling when it works, but it's simply not worth the headache.