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pr28 · 10-25-2008, 04:14 PM

I've been lurking for some while now, trying to get myself up to speed on all the issues, which I think I am fairly decently caught up on now. I would appreciate your thoughts (or as they would say down south, youalls thoughts) on my situation.
I am a literary agent, and I have been using a Sony Reader PRS 500 pretty much since it came out -- that is for a couple of years now. It is a terrific tool especially for reading unpublished manuscripts and proposals that come via my clients and those who would like me to represent them, and I have actually managed to convince quite a number of colleagues to get one. In fact, several major publishers have already, or soon will hand out Sony's to their editorial staff to make reading manuscripts easier -- and arguably cheaper rather than printing them out, even on used paper. OK, so far so good. I just bought my assistant the 505 and she loves it and I can definitely see the contrast difference and the improvement in the machine from mine.
What I'd really like is an 8 inch screen -- yes, I know that puts me in line to get a iRex Iliad of some sort even though it's almost double the price.

However, I've been looking at the PRS 700 as my next purchase, a) because of the improved contrast from the 500, b) because of the touch screen technology which is hugely helpful while standing up reading in a crowded subway car, and just in general c) because of the ability to highlight words and phrases, up to now a huge problem for us with manuscripts we need to make notes on. (Yes, you see where I'm going.) I love the ability of the Sony to take any ms which I can convert to an rtf file, make the font size 16 pt, and download with ease to the Sony. I have a macro set up in Word to do much of what I want in one click and it is easy for me to read everything except pdfs to be honest.
I have been very impressed with what I've read and seen about the iRex Iliad, though I haven't had the opportunty to actually see one in person (I live in New York City and it isn't easy to find one on sale here) and I'm drawn to it because it seems to have several missing elements for me, namely a slightly bigger screen and clearer screen which might make reading pdfs easier and more practicable, and the ability to make notes on the material. For those of you who have one here are my questions:
Can you get material onto the iRex as easily as you do the Sony? Can you do it using the bluetooth software, for example? Are the notes you make on a file saveable and printable (perhaps as pdf files) that I could send to an author or keep in a folder for future reference? What do you guys see (aside from the price of course) as the major strengths and weaknesses of the iRex compared to the new PRS 700.
Sorry to go on, but I've been looking around for a while and no one is actually dealing directly with these issues at the moment that I can see.
Thanks,
Peter Rubie
(CEO FinePrint Literary Management)

10-25-2008, 04:14 PM	#12
pr28 Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New York Device: Sony Reader	I've been lurking for some while now, trying to get myself up to speed on all the issues, which I think I am fairly decently caught up on now. I would appreciate your thoughts (or as they would say down south, youalls thoughts) on my situation. I am a literary agent, and I have been using a Sony Reader PRS 500 pretty much since it came out -- that is for a couple of years now. It is a terrific tool especially for reading unpublished manuscripts and proposals that come via my clients and those who would like me to represent them, and I have actually managed to convince quite a number of colleagues to get one. In fact, several major publishers have already, or soon will hand out Sony's to their editorial staff to make reading manuscripts easier -- and arguably cheaper rather than printing them out, even on used paper. OK, so far so good. I just bought my assistant the 505 and she loves it and I can definitely see the contrast difference and the improvement in the machine from mine. What I'd really like is an 8 inch screen -- yes, I know that puts me in line to get a iRex Iliad of some sort even though it's almost double the price. However, I've been looking at the PRS 700 as my next purchase, a) because of the improved contrast from the 500, b) because of the touch screen technology which is hugely helpful while standing up reading in a crowded subway car, and just in general c) because of the ability to highlight words and phrases, up to now a huge problem for us with manuscripts we need to make notes on. (Yes, you see where I'm going.) I love the ability of the Sony to take any ms which I can convert to an rtf file, make the font size 16 pt, and download with ease to the Sony. I have a macro set up in Word to do much of what I want in one click and it is easy for me to read everything except pdfs to be honest. I have been very impressed with what I've read and seen about the iRex Iliad, though I haven't had the opportunty to actually see one in person (I live in New York City and it isn't easy to find one on sale here) and I'm drawn to it because it seems to have several missing elements for me, namely a slightly bigger screen and clearer screen which might make reading pdfs easier and more practicable, and the ability to make notes on the material. For those of you who have one here are my questions: Can you get material onto the iRex as easily as you do the Sony? Can you do it using the bluetooth software, for example? Are the notes you make on a file saveable and printable (perhaps as pdf files) that I could send to an author or keep in a folder for future reference? What do you guys see (aside from the price of course) as the major strengths and weaknesses of the iRex compared to the new PRS 700. Sorry to go on, but I've been looking around for a while and no one is actually dealing directly with these issues at the moment that I can see. Thanks, Peter Rubie (CEO FinePrint Literary Management)