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carchase · 10-15-2007, 11:02 AM

Hi mcramer.

I thought I'd give you a quick update.

First of all, I couldn't be happier with the hardware. With the Sony Reader, I very quickly forgot that I was reading on an electronic device; whereas with the Axim I'm constantly aware of the battery life, remaining memory, etc. Not to mention the frequent soft-resets that come with windows mobile. Also, the glare on the reader is almost non-existant. I say almost because it is still a flat shiny surface and tends to reflect light more than a piece of paper. But it really isn't a problem.

I have a ton of pb books and I look forward to having everything in one spot. I'm really hoping that response time doesn't suffer as you add more books to this thing, because I plan to fill up as much of the 10 gigs as possible.

My only complaint so far is with the software. The Connect software is laughably lacking in features. The only preference you can select/deselect is whether to check for updates automatically, and I have my doubts whether even that works. I installed a version off the website before getting the Reader and it never notified me of the 2.0 "ebook Library" version that came with the Reader.

To make things worse, I've gotten incredibly slow response times browsing the ebook store using the software. You can access the store online at ebooks.connect.com, but (like with Itunes) it seems that you have to use the software to actually buy something. The difference in response time was so noticeable that I found myself browsing the store in IE and then switching to the software once I had decided what to purchase.

Another major gripe I have is with the inability to do simple things like edit meta data through the connect software. I understand that there are freeware programs out there to do stuff like this. I've downloaded most of them and greatly appreciate all of the work people have done. But as a programmer, it's baffling to me to think that Sony wouldn't allocate an extra 200k in salary for a couple of programmers who know what they're doing. It would make SUCH a difference in usability.

Anyway, I guess my overall rating as of now would A+ for the hardware and F- for the software. I had a similar experience with the Sony walkman mp3 player. They're both great devices if you immediately throw away the Sony cd that comes with them.

10-15-2007, 11:02 AM	#3
carchase Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 266 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505	Hi mcramer. I thought I'd give you a quick update. First of all, I couldn't be happier with the hardware. With the Sony Reader, I very quickly forgot that I was reading on an electronic device; whereas with the Axim I'm constantly aware of the battery life, remaining memory, etc. Not to mention the frequent soft-resets that come with windows mobile. Also, the glare on the reader is almost non-existant. I say almost because it is still a flat shiny surface and tends to reflect light more than a piece of paper. But it really isn't a problem. I have a ton of pb books and I look forward to having everything in one spot. I'm really hoping that response time doesn't suffer as you add more books to this thing, because I plan to fill up as much of the 10 gigs as possible. My only complaint so far is with the software. The Connect software is laughably lacking in features. The only preference you can select/deselect is whether to check for updates automatically, and I have my doubts whether even that works. I installed a version off the website before getting the Reader and it never notified me of the 2.0 "ebook Library" version that came with the Reader. To make things worse, I've gotten incredibly slow response times browsing the ebook store using the software. You can access the store online at ebooks.connect.com, but (like with Itunes) it seems that you have to use the software to actually buy something. The difference in response time was so noticeable that I found myself browsing the store in IE and then switching to the software once I had decided what to purchase. Another major gripe I have is with the inability to do simple things like edit meta data through the connect software. I understand that there are freeware programs out there to do stuff like this. I've downloaded most of them and greatly appreciate all of the work people have done. But as a programmer, it's baffling to me to think that Sony wouldn't allocate an extra 200k in salary for a couple of programmers who know what they're doing. It would make SUCH a difference in usability. Anyway, I guess my overall rating as of now would A+ for the hardware and F- for the software. I had a similar experience with the Sony walkman mp3 player. They're both great devices if you immediately throw away the Sony cd that comes with them.