So I've had my PRS-505 for about two weeks now and...

[Ler0y Jenkins]

I absolutely love it.

I was planning on a 700, mostly for the built-in lights. I went to the Sony Store in Arlington, VA and was sorely disappointed by the screen quality of the 700. Prior to seeing an e-book in person I always thought that the idea was stupid. I mean, why pay $300 for something that only displays text when you can get a good PDA for much less that will do a lot more.

Well, my impression changed when I saw the 505 in person for the first time at Border's in Philadelphia. As soon as I saw the e-ink screen I realized why people pay the money for these things.

I did some research and saw the 700 was coming out, which had a built-in light. When I read p-books, I always use my lightwedge so an e-book without a built-in light didn't really appeal to me. While waiting on the 700 to come out, I came across the lightwedge cover for the 505. I was interested but didn't do too much looking because I was going with the 700.

After my trip to the Sony Store, I decided to go with the 505 with a lightwedge cover instead of the 700. The screen quality that initially attracted me to the e-book world was just not there on the 700 - it looked like an old monochromatic lcd display, IMO.

Anyway, the 505 came a couple of days before Thanksgiving and I've been using it pretty much daily every since. Here are my impressions:

1. The reader is just good looking and the metal casing really makes it feel good too.

2. The e-ink screen is unbelievable. I really end up forgetting that I'm ready an e-book and not a p-book.

3. The speed is perfectly acceptable. I was kind of concerned because I heard a lot of complaints that the 505 was almost painfully slow. I have not noticed this. There is a slight delay when loading or opening a new book but that's about it. Page turns take a second or two but nothing that distracts from the reading. I guess if I were constantly switching between books or periodicals I might get annoyed with the load times, but I read one book at a time so it's not a problem. Also, the numbered buttons on the side really help because you almost never have to scroll through anything (which can be painful).

4. The lightwedge cover is great. Like I said above, I used a lightwedge when I read p-books but I really didn't like leaving it in the book when it was closed because it didn't fit right (I know, I'm anal). Also, it got scratched easily when flipping pages. The nice thing about the lightwedge cover is that it all fits in a nice neat package when I'm not reading so it doesn't get scratched. Also, it's nice to be able to change pages without having to flip the lightwedge too. I use the light about 80% of the time but when I'm not using it I either flip it out of the way (in less than perfect lighting situations) or leave it over the screen and read through it (in good lighting situations). At $70, it's kind of pricey but I think it's worth it.

5. The battery life is unbelievable. I've used it so much since I've had it and have never had to recharged it. It came with a decent charge from the factory and I have plugged it in to upload a couple of books but probably less than 2 hours total and it's still showing a full battery. I think this is key for any e-reader because it makes it more book-like (i.e., you don't have to constantly recharge your p-books). Overall, I am amazed at the battery life.

Overall, I'm a fan of e-books. I thought I would miss p-books when I made the switch but the more I use the e-book system, the more I like it. The only thing I miss about p-books is going to B&N or Borders, browsing around, and buying a new book. I still go and browse but I download instead. Still, there's something about walking out with a new book that you loose in the e-book world. Other than that though, I like everything else. I like not having to hold the book open; I like reading with one hand or no hands rather than two; I like not having a bunch of already-read books sitting around in boxes cluttering up my house; I like finding books online for free; etc.

Well, that's my .02.

[wmrawls]

You echo what many of us already have come to believe. Glad your happy with it.

[BlackVoid]

"The e-ink screen is unbelievable. I really end up forgetting that I'm ready an e-book and not a p-book. "

Yeah, whenever I see a tiny speck on the screen, my first thought is that it will be gone on the next page.

[Seabound]

You should change your eBook reader device on your profile.

[tekchic]

I'm 100% ebook these days, but I still admit that I haven't found any shopping experience that can match physically picking up and reading book jackets at a BN or Borders.

These days I still go to BN and Borders, it's just to browse and then write the book titles into my Blackberry. Then when I get home I either buy them from Sony Connect or check them out from the library in

Glad you love the 505! I'm glued to mine

[Shiren]

Originally Posted by tekchic

I'm 100% ebook these days, but I still admit that I haven't found any shopping experience that can match physically picking up and reading book jackets at a BN or Borders. )

The Kindle let's you read the first chapter of all their books. They might get me to buy one if it becomes really popular and they release it in Canada.

[BookishDreamer]

pssst...hey Ler0y...don't forget to update your profile to show you picked the 505 instead of the 700.

Dreamer

[RickyMaveety]

Ler0y,

In my experience, the only time the Sony starts to become painfully slow is when you have a large number of books on it, or when the book itself is really large. I've seen them take ages to do whatever indexing it is that they have to do ... or font changes ... or whatever. I'm not sure what the owner was trying to do ... I just know it took one heck of a long time.

Originally Posted by tekchic

I'm 100% ebook these days, but I still admit that I haven't found any shopping experience that can match physically picking up and reading book jackets at a BN or Borders.

These days I still go to BN and Borders, it's just to browse and then write the book titles into my Blackberry. Then when I get home I either buy them from Sony Connect or check them out from the library in

Glad you love the 505! I'm glued to mine

For me, it's the same shopping experience, but with a twist. I order my ebooks using the Whispernet while I'm standing in Borders.

But .... either way, ebooks are the best.

[ChipnDale]

Glad you like your 505 it is a spiffy device eh?

[Ler0y Jenkins]

Thanks for all the replies. I changed my profile to reflect the 505.

Regarding the delay, mine might be better than most because I only have about ten books loaded so far. But I do note that one of those books is Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens, which I believe is one of the longer books ever written. I haven't really started reading it yet but when I read the first few pages I didn't notice any difference in the page-change times compared to other books I've read on the device.

I wonder if some people just need to reset their device periodically, like a computer...

[aliencane]

Originally Posted by Ler0y Jenkins

Thanks for all the replies. I changed my profile to reflect the 505.

Regarding the delay, mine might be better than most because I only have about ten books loaded so far. But I do note that one of those books is Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens, which I believe is one of the longer books ever written. I haven't really started reading it yet but when I read the first few pages I didn't notice any difference in the page-change times compared to other books I've read on the device.

I wonder if some people just need to reset their device periodically, like a computer...

One of my favorites. But then, everything I've read by Dickens is one of my favorites.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Ler0y Jenkins

Thanks for all the replies. I changed my profile to reflect the 505.

Regarding the delay, mine might be better than most because I only have about ten books loaded so far. But I do note that one of those books is Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens, which I believe is one of the longer books ever written. I haven't really started reading it yet but when I read the first few pages I didn't notice any difference in the page-change times compared to other books I've read on the device.

I wonder if some people just need to reset their device periodically, like a computer...

I don't think it's so much the page change times .... it's more how long it can take to load the books in the first place, and definitely the time it can take to change the font type and size. Those are the things that I saw bring the Sony down to its knees when there were a lot of books and where the book I was looking at was really long.

However, as I recall, the owner said there were close to a thousand books on the device. So .... 10?? Not even going to make a dent.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Ler0y Jenkins

Thanks for all the replies. I changed my profile to reflect the 505.

Regarding the delay, mine might be better than most because I only have about ten books loaded so far. But I do note that one of those books is Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens, which I believe is one of the longer books ever written. I haven't really started reading it yet but when I read the first few pages I didn't notice any difference in the page-change times compared to other books I've read on the device.

I wonder if some people just need to reset their device periodically, like a computer...

Try War And Peace, by Tolstoy if you want to see length.
(Or, if you're a Seinfeld fan, the book would be titled War, What's it For, Ugh!)

Or try, Proust's long novel, Remembrance of Things Past, pubished in many volumes.


Don

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Try War And Peace, by Tolstoy if you want to see length.
(Or, if you're a Seinfeld fan, the book would be titled War, What's it For, Ugh!)

Or try, Proust's long novel, Remembrance of Things Past, pubished in many volumes.


Don

No ... no .... no ...... it's "War, What's it GOOD For (Absolutely Nothing), Ugh!"



I watch waaaaay too much TV.

[Dr. Drib]

You're right! I don't how I got that one wrong!

Don