ZDnet has an interesting story called "Sony Reader felled by the classics."

http://www.news.com/Sony-Reader-felled-by-the-classics/2100-1041_3-6223378.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

They are correct in their facts, but I disagree with the conclusions.

Andy

ZDnet has an interesting story called "Sony Reader felled by the classics."

http://www.news.com/Sony-Reader-felled-by-the-classics/2100-1041_3-6223378.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

They are correct in their facts, but I disagree with the conclusions.

Andy

Which conclusions do you not agree with?

Umm there are no conclusions in that article. It's "just another piece of Web 2.0 whining".

• The load-up time
The load-up time, I've discovered, depends on the length of the book. At 3,423 pages with the smallest font (4,757 pages in the medium font, and 7,269 in large font), War and Peace takes more time than any other book I've tried. Our Mutual Friend, the Charles Dickens classic at 2,678 pages, comes in at 16 seconds. Pudd'nhead Wilson, at 428 pages, takes only about five seconds. Anything less than 400 pages takes about three seconds.

The Reader apparently insists on loading up the entire book before you can read it. Since most people don't read entire books in one sitting, this seems a bit weird.

What is he talking about?

I never encountered this type of problem.
No matter how long is a book, after initial open up it opens immediately.

It's possible the Sony Classics books are not generated properly (e.g. too few page elements).

If you copy a book to the Reader via USB, the first time you open it it paginates it, which takes a while for a long book (1 minute sounds about right for "War and Peace"). This only happens the first time you open it (or the first time you select a new font size); subsequent opening should be pretty much instantaneous.

If you copy a book to the Reader via USB, the first time you open it it paginates it, which takes a while for a long book (1 minute sounds about right for "War and Peace"). This only happens the first time you open it (or the first time you select a new font size); subsequent opening should be pretty much instantaneous.
But if you use Ebook Library to load the ebook onto the reader, it will already be sorted and open right away. It sounds like this person did not use Ebook Library to load these books.

Sounds like people at ZDnet are quite unprofessional.

What the author needs to have done is tested the 505 using both Ebook Library and just copying the books onto the 505 as a mass storage device and then citing the differences.

What is he talking about?

I never encountered this type of problem.
No matter how long is a book, after initial open up it opens immediately.

If they're using the old firmware, the it can be slow.

Can't be using old firmware on the 505. It's only had one firmware release and that's what comes with it currently.

Anybody notice that the article says it's about the Sony PRS-505, but the picture is of the PRS-500?

Jim

Anybody notice that the article says it's about the Sony PRS-505, but the picture is of the PRS-500?

Jim

I noticed that too. I was wondering which one they were talking about.

Did you read the comments that people made? One person was definitely a Kindle lover and he went out of his way to make sure he shot down the Sony whenever he could.

ever read the feedbacks on Amazon? there are the same 3 or 4 Kindle lovers that reply to every post with less than 5 stars...seems to me they aren't spending much time reading their Kindles



I noticed that too. I was wondering which one they were talking about.

Did you read the comments that people made? One person was definitely a Kindle lover and he went out of his way to make sure he shot down the Sony whenever he could.

The following are the contributors to the S L O W processing of the Sony PRS 505:

1. It takes too long to move the cursor or to open a new page if it is not the very next page.

2. There is no search function.

I downloaded an NIV Bible from the Sony eBook Store to the PRS 505 and brought it to Bible Study. I found the cursor moving VERY SLOW from line to line. I especially found it died in the Psalms Book since there were 150 chapters which the cursor had to move through at the beginning.

I can only conclude that the firmware needs an upgrade, the processor needs an upgrade and the database software needs an upgrade.

If I just use it to read a book from one page to the next, it serves the purpose. Personally, I read on my PC most books and will only use the Reader if I have to babysit for my daughter or wait in a doctor's office. If I have to go to Bible Study again, I'll just have to bring my NIV Thinline Large Print Bible. The Sony PRS 505 just doesn't cut it for that purpose.

Which conclusions do you not agree with?

I disagree when he says that the problems make the Sony PRS-505 unusable, or undesirable. There are bugs, but it's the best eBook for $330 (my price, after S/H & Tax).

Andy

It's very hard to believe that anyone with the time to invest days in reading War and Peace couldn't invest an additional 60 seconds in formatting the book for its first reading.

???

P.S. recycledelectron, They're $250 at Costco and come with the $50 voucher to boot.

P.S. recycledelectron, They're $250 at Costco and come with the $50 voucher to boot.

They sell the 500, not the 505.

Jason

The conclusion he did make, concerning the fact that the MP3 player was as good as any MP3 player made me think that he didn't really use it at all and makes me wonder if he really used the reader other than a 5-minute "I already know I don't like it but I'll use it so that I won't be completely lying in my review of this product I'm already prejudiced against."

the MP3 player part of the Sony Reader sucks horribly and is most definitely NOT as good as any MP3 player.

As to the other comments others have made here about the length of time opening books and using the sony Library software, I agree -- this reviewer started by not wanting to find positive things about the reader and so didn't bother learning how to use it properly before writing his review.

Which is fine except that many people who haven't tried the reader may read that and not even bother to look further at the Sony reader, but will quote that review to others as if it is the gospel truth about the Reader, so it will have further reach in its negativity than simply being an on-line incompetent review seen by only a few.

I've read the article and I have to say that it seems rather poorly researched...

There are several factual mistakes like the one about the time it takes to format a book when you open it for the first time and the picture of the old reader. I own a 505 and I don't recognize the "thing" the author describes in his article - I'm pretty sure if it was as bad and as inconvenient as "his" 505 I would've sent it back a while ago.

[/note the heavy drops of sarcasm]
Somebody should inform him about the mistakes in his articles and ask him to rewrite it or at least point out his own mistakes in an addon (like that is ever going to happpen, but one may hope - right?).
[/end of sarcasm]

It's very hard to believe that anyone with the time to invest days in reading War and Peace couldn't invest an additional 60 seconds in formatting the book for its first reading.

Yes, I find that a little silly, too. Maybe it's because I'm aware of the delay and, after transferring a number of books via USB I make a point of opening the big ones and getting the formatting out of the way before I actually want to sit down and read them. I tend to be impatient, and I'd rather not be on the train with nothing to do while a book formats. That said, it's a pretty minor irritation and not a reason to pan the device (or ebooks in general) completely.

What you guys need to do is to log in to ZDNet's TalkBack and say these things in the comments section. Tell him he didn't research. Tell him what he did wrong. (And by the way, take the comments over from the "Kindle's better! Isn't! Is! Isn't!! IS!!!" bunch.)