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WilliamG · 10-17-2006, 09:05 PM

So, I received my Sony Reader today, courtesy of Borders in Newark.

I've tinkered with it for a little while, and though I'd share my thoughts on the little device.

First, I was a little surprised upon opening the box. I expected the Reader to be a "greyish-blue," as in the picture on Sony's website. I was taken aback to find my Reader to be more of a black-ish blue (difficult to explain!). I much prefer the colour in my hand versus the colour Sony shows you on the website.

So far so good. William is happy with the colour! We're onto a winner, surely!?

I turned the device on, and waited for about two minutes while it loaded itself up. I was impressed from the very start by the text on the loading screen. I don't think I've ever been impressed by a loading screen, but even I was startled by how great this particular loading screen looked.

After the system finished loading, I picked a random book and was again, quite impressed.

But, I suppose it had to happen. Disappointment set in.

Here's why:

1.) The text. It looks amazing. It really does. However, there's just not enough of it. What I mean by this is there isn't enough black to the black. It's almost like taking a newspaper where the words weren't printed heavily enough, like the printer was running out of ink. I want MORE to the black. The letters aren't "filled in" enough.

2.) Second, I have this drive-me-to-distraction stuck pixel on the screen. It's a reverse-polarity pixel, from what I can tell. It's black when the screen is white, and white when the screen goes black (when you change page, for example). It's dead in the centre of my screen and it drives me bananas. Perhaps I'm anal, but none of my "real" book pages have this annoying "speck" in the same place on every page, if you get me...

Overall, I'm impressed yet disappointed. I'm going to exchange this one or return it (since my local Borders hasn't gottem the Readers in yet). I just can't help but wonder what the next iteration/generation of E-Ink readers will bring. This really is the next step forward for books. Is it worth $350? No chance. Is it the beginning of the future of books? I think so.

10-17-2006, 09:05 PM	#1
WilliamG Addict Posts: 307 Karma: 60998 Join Date: Sep 2006	My little Sony Reader review. So, I received my Sony Reader today, courtesy of Borders in Newark. I've tinkered with it for a little while, and though I'd share my thoughts on the little device. First, I was a little surprised upon opening the box. I expected the Reader to be a "greyish-blue," as in the picture on Sony's website. I was taken aback to find my Reader to be more of a black-ish blue (difficult to explain!). I much prefer the colour in my hand versus the colour Sony shows you on the website. So far so good. William is happy with the colour! We're onto a winner, surely!? I turned the device on, and waited for about two minutes while it loaded itself up. I was impressed from the very start by the text on the loading screen. I don't think I've ever been impressed by a loading screen, but even I was startled by how great this particular loading screen looked. After the system finished loading, I picked a random book and was again, quite impressed. But, I suppose it had to happen. Disappointment set in. Here's why: 1.) The text. It looks amazing. It really does. However, there's just not enough of it. What I mean by this is there isn't enough black to the black. It's almost like taking a newspaper where the words weren't printed heavily enough, like the printer was running out of ink. I want MORE to the black. The letters aren't "filled in" enough. 2.) Second, I have this drive-me-to-distraction stuck pixel on the screen. It's a reverse-polarity pixel, from what I can tell. It's black when the screen is white, and white when the screen goes black (when you change page, for example). It's dead in the centre of my screen and it drives me bananas. Perhaps I'm anal, but none of my "real" book pages have this annoying "speck" in the same place on every page, if you get me... Overall, I'm impressed yet disappointed. I'm going to exchange this one or return it (since my local Borders hasn't gottem the Readers in yet). I just can't help but wonder what the next iteration/generation of E-Ink readers will bring. This really is the next step forward for books. Is it worth $350? No chance. Is it the beginning of the future of books? I think so.