eReader and eBooks : SONY [TOUCH] - PSR 650/350 - a class act.....

[carpetmojo]

Hello all, nice to see another ereader Forum .

 

Allthough they'll never take the place of "real" books, I've found mine a real boon to the serious (ie readin' a lot, not necessarily serious that is !) reader.

 

I'm a definite Sony fan - my Christmas present was a SONY PRS650 and I love it.

I did a lot of research before deciding which one to put on the list - very short list, I was told, if I wanted a reader - and have not regretted it one bit. The only real question was 650 or 350 - won by the 650 when I found it would fit most pockets I'd be putting it in !

I was helped greatly in my search by having relatives who are a "Kindle" , and tech-savvy, family - 2 adults, 1 teenager, one growed up, all of whom have the WiFi/ 3G Kindle. Having narrowed it down to Sony & Kindle, I found the only plus I could see over Sony was the WiFi/3G bit - which, when I thought about it sensibly, was of no interest to me.

( The whole point of a reader , to my thinking, is to have a good number of books at your beck and call, and the occassions I would be in a desperate state 'cos I'd run out of books was so unlikely as to be not worth considering ! )

Against this, having played intensively with the Kindle, was a long list of "plus-es" for the Sony :-

 

1) The superb engineering on the Sony, real class, aluminium not plastic, and you really feel you have a class act in you hands. And yet it's lighter than the K, apparently.

2) No fiddly keyboard, just 5 good size buttons, page turn back or forward, Home, Zoom for text size, and Options.

Everything else is done through the excellent touch screen, either stylus, finger, or whatever you've got in hand at the time (!) - and a swipe page action for the lazies. It just shouts class, frankly, compared to any other product I've seen.

3) Get free/buy/access books almost anywhere, as the Sony uses ePub, the biggest global format, and about 99% of others - in fact the only place you "can't" get books is Amazon !

[ I use quotes, 'cos there is a way to do so, but haven't felt the need to do so yet, and doubt I ever will ]. But W'stones, Smiths, and most any ebook seller is OK, U.S also, and you can get books & audiobooks from your library if they offer them (more are), and, join the brilliant Philladelphia & Singapore Free Digital Libraries. (Philly now makes small annual charge for us foreigners.)

4) Excellent device cover available, with light, which is very useful at nigh, for significant others sleep....

5) Compatable with Adobe Digital, Copia, Overdrive (Audio), Mobipocket, as well as the Sony Reader software, a huge plus, and also Calibre, the terrific media converter.

6} Got the VAT back - now finished, I think.

7) mp3 etc... included of course.

 

I think that's all, but probably not.

Against ?

1) Well it is dearer, but that shows in the quality end result, and not enough to put me off.

2) You can lose a stylus, but you can replace/buy another/use generic ones(£land!)/make your own/use an eraser tipped pencil - or stick to fingies.........

3) Being a general tech-dunce. and computer idiot, I needed help from No.1 son to get me going, but that's true for anything involving gadgetry for me, I'm afraid, so no surprise there ! I'm now pretty laid back about it - and if I can do it , anyone can..............

 

Oops, just seen length of this blurb - shall cease, look forward to visiting again.