Hello gang, I'm brand spanking new here (as my post count of 1 might hint at!) Let me give a little background here before asking my questions.

I'm a sporadic reader and tend to go through intense stretches of devouring books followed by lulls in the storm. I'm also a tech junkie, work in IT, pretty much live and breathe technology even if my budget can't always allow for my interests. :shrug: I have a nice perk through my employer that allows for a personal IT budget - I can buy up to a certain dollar amount anything that's IT related for my own personal use. The idea is it's a nice perk, but also it encourages exploration of new technologies which in the end can benefit the company. So with all that in mind I've really been interested in e-ink based readers for a while now and can use the personal IT budget towards such a device - great since I can't really justify the cost if it were out of pocket. ;)

I've read through many of the threads on this site trying to figure out which device would best suit my personal likes and needs, but I every time I think I'm decided I find something that makes me second guess myself.

What I feel I need:

6" e-ink display
SD card support
Decent library navigation
Preferably mobipocket support

What I'd like in addition:

Dictionary integration
Good customer support
Firmware updates for bug fixes and new features as time goes on
Decent PDF reading (I know none of these are really great with PDFs though)


So where does that leave me? I thought I was all decided on the Cybook Gen3 - it looked just about perfect, except after a little more digging I find 3 things that really worry me:

Really weak library navigation
Questionable customer service (under staffed?)
Mediocre hardware buttons - hard to press, poor layout


I know there are more firmware updates coming for the Gen3, but hard to get something hoping a future update *might* make it better.

Anyway what do you suggest? I'm open to anything - not set at all on any one device. Thanks for any advice you can offer!

--Shadowplay

What I feel I need:

6" e-ink display
SD card support
Decent library navigation
Preferably mobipocket support

What I'd like in addition:

Dictionary integration
Good customer support
Firmware updates for bug fixes and new features as time goes on
Decent PDF reading (I know none of these are really great with PDFs though)

For the display, the 505 & Gen3 are both good.
The 505 supports up to 2gig SD and 8gig Memory Stick. Gen3 is only 2gig SD.
The 505 currently has better library navigation then the gen3. The 505 also has collections as well.
The Gen3 supports Mobipocket
The gen3 has dictionary support. The 505 has a program that adds in a dictionary, but it's not as neat and clean as the Mobipocket integrated solution.
The 505 is supposed to be getting better PDF support and ePub support in future firmware updates.


So where does that leave me? I thought I was all decided on the Cybook Gen3 - it looked just about perfect, except after a little more digging I find 3 things that really worry me:

Really weak library navigation
Questionable customer service (under staffed?)
Mediocre hardware buttons - hard to press, poor layout


Yes, the Gen3 is weaker at library navigation (at the moment) then the 505.
Sony's customer service is actually pretty good.
The 505 has a nice layout and I don't find any missed button presses.

I noticed that you made no mention of the Kindle.

May I ask why it is not being considered?

My interest stems from the fact that I've never seen one, and am keen to learn other's opinions, especially that of a techie.

I love my PRS-500, especially considering that I got a great deal on it thanks to this forum, but really like some of the features of the Kindle (mainly, the freedom to not load books from a desktop but to the device directly, even if it in a proprietary format).

By the way,
Welcome to Mobile Read!

You can download public domain and Creative Commons works directly on your Kindle from Feeedbooks.com. They're DRM-free Mobipocket. You can also buy many books at Fictionwise.com and have them sent to your Kindle but Amazon will charge you 10 cents per transfer.

What I feel I need:


No devices meet all this... Here is the matrix:

6" e-ink display
SD card support
CyBook Gen 3, Sony, Kindle, Hanlin, EBBook

Decent library navigation
Jetbook, iLiad (both have full nested folder support)
Sony 505 (has collections and by Author grouping)

Preferably mobipocket support
CyBook, iLiad only

Dictionary integration
CyBook, Jetbook, Kindle (not sure if iliad should be listed here)

Good customer support
Sony, Kindle

Firmware updates for bug fixes and new features as time goes on
All devices will have this.

Decent PDF reading (I know none of these are really great with PDFs though)
iLiad


So where does that leave me? I thought I was all decided on the Cybook Gen3 - it looked just about perfect, except after a little more digging I find 3 things that really worry me:


Finding the best common denominator. Looking at what is "Most important to you" the only device that gets most of them in the CyBook.

There is also the Astak mentor but it is looking like it won't really be avialable until the fall. (They just updated to July/August).

BOb

The library management isn't THAT awful in the Gen3. With a few hundred books on the machine it works OK. You just wouldn't want to use it with 5,000 books. A couple of hundred books is a year's+ reading for most people - do people really need more?

What I feel I need:

6" e-ink display
SD card support
Decent library navigation
Preferably mobipocket support

What I'd like in addition:

Dictionary integration
Good customer support
Firmware updates for bug fixes and new features as time goes on
Decent PDF reading (I know none of these are really great with PDFs though)


Let's look at how the Hanlin V3 fares:

It has SD-Card support, a 6" e-ink screen, and full nested folder support. The library support could be a bit better, though, because by default the files are sorted by time, and you need to set a different sort order once for each folder and sub-folder. Mobipocket support isn't there yet, but there are indications that the next firmware update, which should be due in late May or June, will provide Mobipocket support.

None of the 6" devices are good for PDF reading, which is also true for the Hanlin V3. Customer support depends on who you buy it from, as Jinke, the manufacturer of the Hanlin V3, isn't really in the retail business and their customer support, apart from providing regular firmware updates - which they do - isn't that great. By contrast, the people from Apolo XXI, a Hanlin retailer in Spain, answer emails promptly and are always friendly and polite.

The V3 doesn't have dictionary support, and I don't know if that feature is planned for a future firmware version.

The V3 doesn't have dictionary support, and I don't know if that feature is planned for a future firmware version.

Dictionary support is a standard part of the Mobi reader. If it gets Mobi, it should get dictionaries.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I'll see if I can respond to everyone!

The Kindle... I think the 2 off putting points on this are the physical design and just how tied into Amazon it is. I know the format is really just tweaked mobipocket and I'm fairly confident I *could* make mobipocket files work on the kindle if I don't mind converting against the EULA/TOS/etc. As for the design, yes I've read countless user reviews that say it's really great when you actually have it in hand and are using it instead of just looking at pics online, but I'm just not sure about it.

I stopped by a Borders yesterday for my first hands-on time with any of these ebook systems - the Sony 505 - and loved it. I went from pretty interested to gotta freakin' have one soon. :D What the 505 quickly taught me is that I really, really like how incredibly thin these can be - again not sure if the Kindle would fit the bill for me. I figure the screen on the 505 should be pretty much the same as any of the other e-ink devices (iLiad is probably a different beast though.) So I got a good feel for what I can expect out of e-ink - both the pros and cons. The flash as you change pages doesn't bother me at all so luckily I no longer have any worries there.

Ok I'm starting to get off track here. I'm just not sure about the physical design of the Kindle *except* that it looks like it's probably the easiest of the bunch to navigate, both in menus and while actually reading books. I don't honestly need many of the features the Kindle touts as selling points, e.g. qwerty, EVDO, etc. Sure if I have 'em I'll use 'em because, well, why not? ;)

Of course thinking about it all again today kinda points out just how close in price the Cybook and Kindle are in which case... I dunno! The Cybook is so light weight and thin, but seems a bit buggy.

I'll keep mulling it over through the rest of the weekend and see if I come to any decision by Monday. Keep the advice coming! Great stuff. :)

EDIT: Oh yeah, one other thing I *really* love about the Cybook is that you can load any TTF font you want and inherently get I believe it's 12 different font sizes. Now that's just slick. ;)

Sorry to double post, but this deserves a separate post I feel. :p

This may come as a real surprise (not really hehe), but I've been doing a lot more reading up about my options. At the prodding of someone earlier in this thread I went back to re-researching the Kindle and now I think I'm even more undecided.

Random thoughts on various devices:

I have to admit I like the Amazon Whispernet idea... even though I have a PDA with an unlimited data connection.
I'm worried that I would always be a little annoyed at all the buttons on the Kindle because it's just not very often I really need a keyboard while reading since I generally read fiction.
The Cybook and Sony look so much better. :D
Kindle's battery life, even with wireless turned off, seems noticeably less than other readers (excluding iLiad of course.)
Overall I think I like the Sony PRS-505 hardware the best, but for my content needs I feel the Sony library isn't best suited.


Ok I have to go do something else before I have a mental meltdown. :confused:

The biggest disadvantage of the Whispernet is also one if it's biggest advantages - it's too damned easy to spend money. Today I downloaded about 6 free samples and from those bought 4 books, for a grand total of $17.99. I finally had to take the advice I read on one of Amazon's forums and buy myself a gift card, so I don't see all the charges for each book showing up on my debit card. I can still check the purchases, either by checking the gift card and charges against it or buy checking my download page, but I got my checking statement the other day and there is a page and a half of Amazon purchases - a lot of them for 0.99 or 1.99, but a couple for $9.99.

My battery lasts about 5 days, with use of the Whispernet maybe once or twice a day. Is that really shorter than the other devices?

The lack of user-defined folder is truly irritating, but the advantage of the qwerty "thumbboard" is that, in Menu mode, you type the first letter of the book or author you're looking for (depending on how you have your sort set) and it goes directly there. Also, while you are reading a book or whatever, the keyboard is mostly inactive, so any single key doesn't do anything, with the exception of the font size change key and the clickwheel.

Wasn't someone saying that loading fonts on the Cybook slowed it down considerably? Maybe that was just loading a certain type or loading a certain way.

Amazon's customer service has been okay so far, but then I haven't had any major issues with either device, just questions on how to set up both Kindles on one account. They have a "callback" where you go to the website, log in, give them your phone # and they call back, usually within seconds.

I agree that the Sony is sleeker and sexier, but I've grown to like my Kindle quite a bit.

LOL yes I can definitely see how quickly I could be spending money with a Kindle - kind of a good/bad situation I guess. :)

Ok here's another question to those in the know: how does the speed of the Kindle compare to the Cybook and the Sony 505?

I'm seeing that both the 505 and Gen3 are running at 200MHz, all be it different chipsets, while the Kindle is using an Intel 400Mhz critter. Should I care? Does it make any difference?

LOL yes I can definitely see how quickly I could be spending money with a Kindle - kind of a good/bad situation I guess. :)

Ok here's another question to those in the know: how does the speed of the Kindle compare to the Cybook and the Sony 505?

I'm seeing that both the 505 and Gen3 are running at 200MHz, all be it different chipsets, while the Kindle is using an Intel 400Mhz critter. Should I care? Does it make any difference?

I have all 4 of the US-sold eink devices plus the Jetbook. The Kindle is slower in opening menu items than Gen 3 or 505.

Gen 3 is great and is so amazingly thin it is almost not there....but, as you say, it is buggy. At the price Bookeen charges it should perform as flawlessly as the Iliad, Sony or Kindle....but it doesn't. If you can live with dropped bookmarks and the device not remembering your place in a book, then Gen 3 is for you.

I bought the Sony kind of on a whim. I have a lot of books in txt format and figured I could use the Sony for that, if nothing else, as I had no intention of using the Sony store (I have yet to go to the Sony store, a month after getting the 505).

But much to my delight, I found that using the Calibre program with a lit file (after removing the drm) makes a letter-perfect copy in lrf format, with all the photos, clickable TOC and everything else included, just like you bought the book from Sony itself. But your conversion is drm free, and can be used on another device in the future should your needs change.

The 505 has the best menu structure and layout of controls, matched only by the Jetbook.

Get the Sony if you don't mind doing conversions. I can buy a book from Fictionwise and have it ready to read on the Sony is less than 5 minutes.

On the subject of spending, don't forget to take some time to compare prices on the ebooks you are actually likely to buy.

When I priced up a list of things I was interested in I very quickly found that the Kindle would pay for itself in savings, and not just on current best-sellers.

On the subject of being tied, I have to say that I would sooner be tied to Amazon, whose service I have always found superb, than to company like Sony, who have a track record of abusing their customers over DRM-related issues. They may produce good hardware but they are anal over copyright, as I found to my cost when I spent $2000 dollars on a laptop which turned out to be hardwired not to play my [legally purchased] Region 1 DVDs here in the UK.

Wasn't someone saying that loading fonts on the Cybook slowed it down considerably? Maybe that was just loading a certain type or loading a certain way.


No, I think you may perhaps be thinking of embedding fonts in a book on the Sony Reader - that does significantly slow down page turning. Loading extra fonts onto the CyBook has no impact on speed at all.

Gen 3 is great and is so amazingly thin it is almost not there....but, as you say, it is buggy. At the price Bookeen charges it should perform as flawlessly as the Iliad, Sony or Kindle....but it doesn't. If you can live with dropped bookmarks and the device not remembering your place in a book, then Gen 3 is for you.


Are you really still experiencing these bugs after upgrading the firmware? The new firmware release was specifically to fix bugs.

Are you really still experiencing these bugs after upgrading the firmware? The new firmware release was specifically to fix bugs.


With comments like these in the upgrade thread:

I want my old (538) firmware back!

While the new firmware may have fixed some bugs, none of which I was experiencing, the event management of the page button is not a good step forward.

Somebody, please send me the 'old' firmware! (I'm going to try Bookeen, but an expecting to be pointed at the new firmware)

-tnx,

Jeff

I am understandably hesitant to jump right in and go from bad to worse.

I'm going to wait until a lot of users have upgraded to see if it is indeed an 'improvement'.

Again, IMHO, Bookeen falls down in the software department when compared to Sony and Kindle. I've had zero problems with the Sony & Kindle, which is what is to be expected when paying $300-400 for devices like these.

It is a nifty piece of hardware though, and I do use it a lot, especially when reading while laying down. The superlight weight can't be beat, even by Jetbook.

That is, I believe, the only person who's reported such a problem, compared to the many people (including myself) who've found significant improvements as a result of the upgrade - the dictionary look up is a lot faster now - the navigation button response has been much improved. Several known bugs have been fixed (eg issues with large cover images on books, and problems with some dictionaries not finding words have been sorted).

What have you got to lose by upgrading? You can always reflash with firmware 538 if you don't like it.

By the way, for the first few months of its life, the Sony was very buggy indeed - it was only really after the 2nd firmware upgrade that things stabilized.

I have all 4 of the US-sold eink devices plus the Jetbook. The Kindle is slower in opening menu items than Gen 3 or 505.
This is very interesting and exactly what I wanted to know.

But much to my delight, I found that using the Calibre program with a lit file (after removing the drm) makes a letter-perfect copy in lrf format, with all the photos, clickable TOC and everything else included, just like you bought the book from Sony itself. But your conversion is drm free, and can be used on another device in the future should your needs change.

The 505 has the best menu structure and layout of controls, matched only by the Jetbook.

Get the Sony if you don't mind doing conversions. I can buy a book from Fictionwise and have it ready to read on the Sony is less than 5 minutes.
Hmm so this is pretty interesting to me. I won't open too much discussion here on conversion of DRM material, but I did research the combination of ConvertLIT and Calibre and could certainly manage that easy enough. :whistle:

At this point here are my thoughts on the 3 main devices I'm considering.

Bookeen Cybook Gen3

Lightest Reader. :thumbsup:
Best font options. :thumbsup:
A little buggy for a $400 device I'm hearing. :tdown:
Just seems unpolished for a $400 device compared to other offerings.:tdown:
Will always be a very 3rd party kind of device - not necessarily good or bad.


Sony PRS-505

Least Expensive of the 3. :thumbsup:
Most readily available and from multiple vendors. :thumbsup:
IMO the best hardware design for how I intend to use an ebook reader. :thumbsup:
About tied for best UI along with the Kindle. :thumbsup:
Sony in general (good hardware, history of really annoying philosophy around DRM and proprietary formats.) :tdown:
To use mobipocket would need to convert - I don't mind converting as needed so not really an issue, but something to keep in mind.


Amazon Kindle

Whispernet service with access to Wikipedia, google, instant buying of books, etc. :thumbsup:
QWERTY Keyboard - this is good and bad for me and right now I'd say it's more on the bad side, but I've not spent time with it so it's hard to really say.
Probably the most supported, most likely to continue being supported device of the 3 because Amazon has devoted *so* much effort to this project. :thumbsup:
About tied for best UI along with the 505. :thumbsup:
Conversely I don't like feeling so tied into Amazon. :tdown:
It is and always will be ugly IMO. :p :tdown:
Most expensive, but only barely more than the Cybook. :tdown:
A bit less battery life than the other 2 devices, though still respectable.


So thinking it through as I write up the list and tossing my own personal bias on it all - after all, it really comes down to personal preference - I'm leaning towards the Sony PRS-505. Wow... never would have thought that actually as I tend to shy away from Sony these days hehe.

I'll let all that simmer in the back of my mind tonight and maybe tomorrow make a final decision. Thank you all very much for the input - it's definitely appreciated and whatever I end up deciding in the end I'll certainly be sticking around here and hopefully become a part of this community. :)

EDIT: I can get the 505 with shipping for under $280 USD. That's a pretty significant difference from the $400 tag on a Kindle and nearly as much for the Gen3. That may really be the final point that moves the 505 into the winner's circle.

~Shadowplay~

That is, I believe, the only person who's reported such a problem, compared to the many people (including myself) who've found significant improvements as a result of the upgrade - the dictionary look up is a lot faster now - the navigation button response has been much improved. Several known bugs have been fixed (eg issues with large cover images on books, and problems with some dictionaries not finding words have been sorted).

What have you got to lose by upgrading? You can always reflash with firmware 538 if you don't like it.

By the way, for the first few months of its life, the Sony was very buggy indeed - it was only really after the 2nd firmware upgrade that things stabilized.

If it's so easy to reflash why is JW LaRue begging someone to email him the 538 build?


Look, Harry, I respect your expertise. You have great technical prowess with book reformatting and other matters, one of the reasons you are a mod and I'm not.

I've had way too many bad experiences 'upgrading' Windows only to have programs cease to function or misbehave in a zillion different ways. The word is out now that the SP3 for XP is buggy and causes endless reboots.

Until I'm sure that the cybook upgrade is really going to improve things and not cause me more problems than I already have I'm going to be cautious and wait.

I re-read that thread and there are not a lot of truly favorable comments about the update. Some neutral, others negative.

It's been my observation when only one person is upset with new software there are scores of others who have not taken to time to express their disappointment.

If there is truly an easy way to reflash back to 538 I may try it , but until then I'll live with what I got. I like my Cybook a lot and presently split reading most of my books between the Iliad and the Cybook, with the Kindle used for newspapers and blogs and Sony used to quickly find a place in a book because of the great menu.

If it's so easy to reflash why is JW LaRue begging someone to email him the 538 build?


You need to request the 538 firmware update instructions from Bookeen - it wasn't a "public" update. Just e-mail "support@bookeen.com" and they'll send you the location of the firmware file. At least one person has reported that one can "downgrade" from the new firmware to 538 by that method.

The word is out now that the SP3 for XP is buggy and causes endless reboots.


The issue appears to be restricted to machines with certain types of AMD processor, from what I've read. If you have an Intel CPU you'll be fine.

There is pretty much no reason to install SP3. It is basically a roll up of all the already shipped updates. The only new feature is some DEP stuff and some support for a Server 2008 feature.

The real advantage to SP3 is if you are doing new installs you can slipstream your install CD so after the install you don't need to install hundreds of updates which requires about 4 or 5 reboots (BTDT).

Also, any problems you have heard about are a very small minority. You haven't heard from the millions that have installed it with zero issues.

BOb

I went through a similar process just recently and ended up with the Kindle. I had the same reservation about how the Kindle looks and was worried about accidentally hitting the next page buttons all the time. Let me tell you that in real use as an ereader it is not an issue at all. The ergonomics are very natural in person and the Kindle is very thin, not like the way it looks on all the videos and on Youtube for some reason. Honestly, when you are reading you don't really even notice how the device looks, it just works flawlessly.

More importantly there are some features that make it really enhance the reading experience. The dictionary lookup is one of the most used feature. It is so convenient that I can't help but look up words everytime I read. Add to that you can look up on google, wikipedia, etc. and it is almost unlimited as an instant reference. The qwerty keyboard makes it so convenient to enter something on the browser or to search. The device is snappy and responds pretty fast to input.

I am not sure what you mean by being tied to Amazon for content. The Kindle supports non-DRM mobi, prc without problem. There are so many easy conversion software on mobileread that it is no barrier to getting content on the Kindle. You should also know that it has a fullscreen 800x600 picture viewer function that I use routinely to read pdf documents that I have converted to jpg and a split in to thirds and viewed in landscape.

The battery life is easily 5-6 days with heavy reading and light whispernet. Unless you have no access to electricity it is more that adequate for most people. I don't even think about battery life as a concern any more. It does cost more but I think it delivers a more complete reading experience. I am no fan of big corporations like Amazon but in this case the Kindle pretty feature rich device. If you are in the US and in range of Whispernet it is hard not use all the features on it.

I definitely see the strengths of the Kindle and if I didn't already have my PDA phone with data connection I think the Kindle would be the clear winner for me, but since I do already have internet with me at all times...

I've just ordered the Sony PRS-505. Yes I finally stopped flip-flopping around and pulled the trigger. Yes I know I've just given a big chunk of change to the evil Sony empire, but the device really feels like the right fit for me.

Here's the irony: I bought the 505 through Amazon.com :D That was the best pricing I could find. $269 USD through an Amazon partner, plus paid a little extra for the expedited shipping. The final bill was $286.50 shipped. That's just good times right there. ;)

Thanks to everyone who offered advice and different perspectives here. For anyone interested in ebook hardware this is truly an indispensable resource. I will definitely be sticking around here... at least until people get sick of me. :p

~Shadowplay~

p.s. - I've been doing the TOR "Watch the Skies" bit since it's inception, even though I didn't have nor originally intend to get a dedicated reader. That means I've got 13 modern books of the type I tend to read (scifi/fantasy) all ready to load, not to mention all the free classic books available. I'll be plenty busy for a while before I even have to buy an ebook!

Thanks to everyone who offered advice and different perspectives here. For anyone interested in ebook hardware this is truly an indispensable resource. I will definitely be sticking around here... at least until people get sick of me. :p

~Shadowplay~



Glad to be of help. Your summary in post #19 is so comprehensive and thorough (and opinionated) it needs to be used in the future. I hope you will repost it (or some variation) when future "what should I buy?" threads go up.

I started with Kindle and used to be a proselytizer for Kindle much as Harry is for Gen 3.

I still think Kindle is best for a non-techy user like my sister who is scared to death of a USB cable.

But for someone comfortable with conversion like yourself, you definitely made the right choice. Even if Sony pulls out of the ebook reader business (and it will no doubt follow history and do so in 5-7 years) you will have a device that will give you many years of great service.

If you need help with using the conversion software, send me a PM.

From the research I've done I'd have to agree - the Kindle is where it's at for a normal consumer, but admittedly there's not much normal about me. ;)

For my PDA (Cingular / AT&T 8525) I've flashed so many ROMs it's almost boring at this point so I'm pretty comfortable exploring some of the hacks I've seen for the 505 posted elsewhere on this site.

I did some ebook conversion last night from PDFs and .prc source files to .lrf with no problems. I haven't worked on anything with DRM yet, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I may have some questions when I get there so I'll keep you in mind, Kingston. :2thumbsup

Now I just have to figure out how to be patient until it arrives. /sigh.

~Shadowplay~

Calibre is a snap. Kovid made it so idiot proof that I had no problem at all setting it up and using it.

Luckily I had someone to walk me through convertlit, since the instructions are minimal at best. It's very easy to use, but very frustrating if you don't know the exact sequence of steps to follow.

Welcome to the wonderful of ebook reading!

Since your Sony is on the way let me share with you a great case I found for it , the M edge Leisure case:

http://www.amazon.com/Leisure-Case-Sony-Reader-PRS-505/dp/B00122GJR8/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1210634518&sr=8-10

Unlike the photo (which shows the PRS 500) the Leisure case is perfectly proportioned for the device. One of the few annoying things about the 505 is the chrome edge on the top & bottom, which can create a glare in bright light, like a shiny car bumper in 5 o'clock traffic.

This case covers up the chrome but otherwise gives access to all controls (except the on/off button). It is a felt-like recession into which the 505 fits perfectly. The front cover is clear plastic and you press the control buttons through the plastic cover. It is dust free and makes your Sony water resistant. You can grab the device with your thumbs over the screen if you wish, since the screen is protected by the plastic.

(BTW, that's something that is often commented on about Kindle: you don't have a lot of 'free' areas to pick up the device. Same thing is true of the 505.)

It's much better than any case I've found for my menagerie of devices.

No other case is as practical and well suited to its device as the Leisure case.

You can buy it directly from M edge:

http://www.buymedge.com/p_Sony505Ls.html

but I found it cheaper to buy it from Amazon.

Hmm that case is very interesting. I checked that Amazon store's other items for the Sony Readers and see there's also an "Executive Jacket". Either one looks like a nice fit.

With the case you mentioned do you read it through the plastic or do you take it out for actual reading? I always have mixed feelings about cases of that nature. You get full protection from dust, spills, etc., but you sacrifice some visual quality at the same time or add in the inconvenience of adding/remove the case regularly. Let me know what life with that case is like. :)

Hmm that case is very interesting. I checked that Amazon store's other items for the Sony Readers and see there's also an "Executive Jacket". Either one looks like a nice fit.

With the case you mentioned do you read it through the plastic or do you take it out for actual reading? I always have mixed feelings about cases of that nature. You get full protection from dust, spills, etc., but you sacrifice some visual quality at the same time or add in the inconvenience of adding/remove the case regularly. Let me know what life with that case is like. :)

You read <through> the plastic, it is not necessary to take it out, except to turn it on (it turns itself off). That's the greatest plus to me, it's much more than a case--it's a protector.

Plus it gives you a lot more surface area to hold the 505 by. There is virtually no loss of visual quality...although this may change as the plastic overlay yellows with age and gets a few scratches or stains.

Beware though that it probably won't work well with the dark blue 505, only with the silver one.


I have the James Patterson special 505 as well as the silver 505 (truth be told BOTH are silver models, but you apply the James Patterson decals yourself) which resulted in a dark red color to the decaled device. The dark red shows glare much much more than the sliver one when viewed through the Leisure case. So I bet with the dark blue 505 you would have the same thing happen.

I'd suggest you wait until you get your 505, as it comes with its own case. See if you think you need the lesiure case after a few days of use with the included case.

Yep I intentionally didn't buy any accessories and generally don't for new gadget purchases. Gotta spend some quality time with the thing before I know what I really feel I need to add. :)

Yep I intentionally didn't buy any accessories and generally don't for new gadget purchases. Gotta spend some quality time with the thing before I know what I really feel I need to add. :)

Only accessory you really will need is a charger.

Buy a Playstation portable charger off of ebay ( I got one for about $12).

Works great and saves you around $20 vs the Sony Reader charger.

Only accessory you really will need is a charger.
Buy a Playstation portable charger off of ebay ( I got one for about $12).
Works great and saves you around $20 vs the Sony Reader charger.
Is there something bad I should know about the charger it comes with? :chinscratch:

Is there something bad I should know about the charger it comes with? :chinscratch:

Yeah, it doesn't come with one :)

The only way to charge it out of the box is by usb.

Yeah, it doesn't come with one :)

The only way to charge it out of the box is by usb.
Ah ok that I knew, but was I was starting to think I missed something rather crucial hehe. Yes I'll need to pick up a real AC charger, but for now USB is ok. I'm sure USB is a slower charge than AC, but again it'll work for now.