[hippoherder]

I am new to ebooks but have been an avid reader all my life. I recently decided to buy an ereader. I went through a long process of researching the various options before I made my decision. I researched the Kindle, Irex, Cooler, Sony models, etc online. I saw only the Sony models in person as I could not find any of the others. I found the PRS 505(discontinued) at Target and the Pocket and Touch editions at Borders.

First, I decided that I wanted an ereader for recreational use. For me this is novels and other books that are mainly text with few or no pictures and graphics. With this in mind, I was able to decide what features in the various readers are important or not for my needs. I have an mp3 player for audio books, eliminating the need to for audio playback and speakers. I have never made notes or annotations in the books I read, so that feature was unnecessary. I have an excellent vocabulary, so a built in dictionary would be nice but not essential. Wireless downloading would be fine to have, but I learned that it only takes a couple of minutes to download a book and transfer to a reader. I own a laptop and have found that even many fast food restaurants offer free Wi-Fi, so I am not worried about being caught without the means to acquire new reading material. I also placed a touch screen in the nice to have but optional category. Finally, there was the issue of screen size. The smallest screen was 5 inches, found on the Sony Pocket Edition. I read a few pages on the device in person and found the screen acceptable but not ideal.

The attribute I decided was most important was letter clarity. I wanted the text to be as clear as possible with minimal glare. I was also concerned about device memory. 5000 book storage would be nice, but I doubt I will read that many books on a reader before I replace it. I thought 100 would be the bare minimum considering that I could swap books on and off my computer in a few minutes if needed. A nice user interface was a must have. I wanted to be able to easily find and read my books. I also wanted the device to look good. This is subjective, but important to me. To give an idea of my personal tastes, I found the first generation Kindle to be hideous. The final attribute I considered in my purchase was price. I could spend up to $489 for a Kindle DX down to $199 for a Sony Pocket Edition.

After weighing all of the factors I decided on the Sony Pocket Edition. I bought one about a month ago. It had clear text, a user friendly interface, and was cheaper than the competition. This really tipped the scales as I had never used an ereader before and I was not sure if I enjoy it as well as reading a physical book.

Here are the pros: The device has a solid feel and has a surprising amount of weight. It is small enough to fit in the front pocket of a pair of dress pants or the back pocket of jeans which makes up for the small screen. The buttons have a good feel to them and offer good travel and feedback. I do not find the page turns slow at all. It is easy to hold in either hand and still turn the pages. I have read on the device every day since I bought it for at least an hour, often longer and it took between two and three weeks before I had to recharge. The device keeps the last page read for all of your books. This makes it easy for two or more people to share the device or, if you are like me, to read several books at once. The text is crisp and clear. It is as easy to read as a real book. The reader just disappears when I get into a book, which I think is the most important attribute an ereader can have.

Now for the cons. I am a fast reader and find that I have to turn the pages very frequently due to the small screen size. The reader does not come with a wall charger, which makes it necessary to plug it into a computer to recharge. While I like the neoprene slip cover that ships with the device, I which it had a real cover. I think the Sony OEM covers are overpriced and it does not have as many aftermarket accessories as the Kindle. I like the idea of being able to check out library books, but I have found I have few books to choose from and will probably not use this feature often. When the device is first powered on it is sluggish for about a minute. It seems to warm and run more quickly after that first minute. This also happens when a book is opened for the first time. I would like to have either more or expandable memory. The Pocket Edition holds about 350 books. I do not know if I will fill this reader or not, but I have always felt that you cannot have enough memory. I have to concede, however, that the ability to carry around even 50 books at once in your pocket is more than sufficient for most occasions.

In conclusion, I could not be happier with my purchase. My ereader has become one of my favorite gadgets. It is wonderful having 4500 pages of Sherlock Holmes as well many other books at my disposal almost everywhere I go. It is actually easier to read Sherlock Holmes on my reader because the book is so large and heavy. If all you are looking for is a device for reading, not listening to audio or surfing the web or anything else, then you will not regret buying the Pocket Edition.