A Great B'day Present w/Caveats

Author's Rating:

Pros: Portability, sleek design, quick downloads, easy on the eyes, simple navigation, & ample add'l storage

Cons: Wee bit pricey {hardware/titles}, sluggish e-book store & desktop software, & [currently] limited inventory

The Bottom Line: 
The Sony Reader is best for ANYONE who reads a lot; portable, easy to learn, and holds 100s of books to read pretty much anywhere---highly recommended.

Author's Review
This was a lovely birthday present this week! Despite many "mediocre" reviews on various websites, I have been quite pleased with my new Blue Sony Reader. I felt compelled to submit my $0.02 because I wanted to clear up one main thing that many people, apparently, are not getting straight -- unless they have since realized the inaccuracy -- please see comment on pdf files [FYI: my true rating is 4.5 stars].

OK, here is my two cents worth:

PROS:

=> it fits easily in my purse; not much taller than a paperback and obviously much thinner;

=> w/blue being my childhood favorite color, it is a very sleek looking piece of hardware and coordinates beautifully with the included navy blue cover;

=> I s'pose I could be shot for this, but I absolutely cannot imagine reading on my cellphone, PDA, laptop {w/the flickering, ugh}, etc.; hence, my new reader is PERFECT for...well, reading :o);

=> for those of us with ~20/20-but-not-quite vision, there is the small/med./large zoom feature for all e-book text AND, if you simply go to Sony's website, you can download the SUPER EASY instructions for creating your own pdf files AND you can ZOOM them...I tested these instructions with an online article after initially pasting into MS Word. Using the simple instructions, I QUICKLY CREATED A 2-PAGE PDF FILE AND WAS ABLE TO ZOOM IT ON MY READER;

=> I have had no problems w/downloads; they are quick and painless {e.g., War and Peace (~6mb) took about 35 seconds on my computer. I read a review where the person complained about it taking "65" seconds on his/her PC...};

=> while I have not had it long enough to test the 7,500 page turns before recharging {what, about 2-3 weeks or more???}, I will assume this to be the case. I have been reading quite a bit this week, and thus far, the indicator is still "full;"

=> quite pleased w/the add'l memory slots. I already had SD cards for my PDA, so this was a nice feature on the reader {I do not use Sony's memory stick, but that is the other option in case you are not aware};

=> the navigation is fairly simple & quick. Bookmarks can be set up for where you left off {in SEVERAL books, in case you tend to read more than one @ a time}. Page turning accommodates both righties and lefties. Being right-handed, I like the fact I can turn the page forward/backward with my thumb--barely moving my hand while reading. I also like the 0-9 tabs along the right side of the reader to quickly get to a title, author, etc., and I like the page search feature of simply entering a page number (e.g., 108) and you quickly get to that page. Hyperlinks in any e-book allow for quick navigation, as well. [BTW, if you hold the menu button down for ~3-4 secs., the reader returns to the HOME screen no matter where you currently are {I read a review on some website where the user did not like to continually press Menu to get back home, so he/she was not doing this correctly}];

=> SINCE THIS IS SUPPOSED TO MIMIC/REPLACE A BOOK, I do not have a problem with the screen not having a back light. Oddly enough, while I enjoy reading the text on the screen in the three zoom modes as if this were a paperback, admittedly, I slightly miss the cover of the book not being in color on the reader [oh well]; and

=> last, but not least, as a subway commuter I was compelled this week to "pretend" I was actually listening to music while reading. Sometimes, folks in the subways [strangers] want to strike up a conversation {on airplanes, too--right, folks?!}, or a guy tries to flirt :o), {or a panhandler begs for money :o( }, and so forth. So I am always doing something on the subways during my commute {reading, logic problems, listening to music, whatever}, so now I can simply put the ear buds in my ears WITHOUT actually listening to music, but I can then read in peace. I have on occasion listened to classical music while reading on the subways, but I decided not to load/listen to music on my reader to maintain the battery life...but who knows in the future. Of course, playing mp3s is still a nice feature and it comes with a couple of songs.

CONS:

=> perhaps I would have seen things differently had I not used Microsoft's free reader on my desktop first, but...alas: unlike MS's reader, the Sony portable reader does NOT allow text highlighting, selecting a word to look up the definition {i.e., if you have an e-dictionary(s) already downloaded}, searching for specific words/phrases in your e-book, or adding your very own notes or drawings on a page. Since I used these features on occasion w/desktops, they were somewhat missed on Sony's reader {esp. word search & definitions}. I suppose this would be a bigger problem for students {although, it would certainly be better for their backs and the environment by not killing so many trees for those enormous textbooks}. As far as I can tell, you cannot listen to "regular" e-books {non-audiobooks} w/Sony's reader. While I do not have any audiobooks in MS's reader, there is an audio feature and it works nicely with regular e-books I downloaded {e.g., if/when you are tired, you can press play and a voice starts speaking from wherever your cursor is in these non-audiobooks};

=> similarly to the above, I cannot help but compare Sony's desktop software to iTunes. The navigation is just a wee bit sluggish. Screen changing in the desktop software with those status arrows is slow, even on a fast computer AND even on Sony's own website on the internet [noticeable on several computers around town, etc.]. While I am OK with the way the portable reader turns pages [time in seconds], the desktop software is much slower to navigate. also, it is slightly annoying the way it returns to an author's HOME page instead of just his/her PREVIOUS page when you want to read add'l info about a specific title {using the back arrow}. This is not a big deal if the author has just two pages, but for those with several pages, it is ridiculous to have to page through to, say, the sixth page AGAIN to continue where you left off;

=> not sure if this is a software bug, but so far this happens ALL the time on my desktop when I open Sony's software -- I click on "eBook Store," my e-mail address is already there, and I enter my password. But then I get a gray screen that says "Page not available...contact our customer support..." Yet, if I just go to the bottom of this window and click the eBook Store TAB, it goes directly to the home page of the store. Again, so far this happens 100% of the time and there is certainly nothing wrong w/our broadband connection, etc.;

=> inventory - this is a strange one. While Sony and Borders Books are in partnership, currently, there still are not as many titles as for, say, Amazon's new reader...go figure;

=> while it is only the 2nd gen, @ 300 bucks [much less than Amazon's, obviously] it is still pricey. Also, websites like fictionwise.com and others tend to have much cheaper content, so not sure what is up with that. I do hope inventory pricing will come down in the future. We opted to purchase the reader on sonystyle.com because it appeared the other online vendors were NOT doing the free 100 classic titles w/the purchase of the unit &/or any engraving; and

=> just a minor pet peeve I alluded to in the other section - I am spoiled by the vibrancy of MS's reader {even its highlights/drawings can be done in SEVERAL colors} so it is a bit to get used to, only viewing things in several shades of gray w/Sony's portable reader. I keep telling myself: "THIS REPLACES BOOKS; YOU ARE READING - READING; YOU COULD NOT PRESS A BUTTON TO LISTEN TO MUSIC WHEN YOU READ PAPERBACKS; YOU DID NOT HAVE A BACK LIGHT; YOU COULD NOT DO A WORD SEARCH WITH A HARD COPY; ETC.; ETC.; ETC."

Folks, I guess if you keep everything in perspective, you will find very strong merits for having this tool--if you read a lot--and for taking back shelf space in your homes/doing right by the environment.

Thx for your time-

MLA