One more for the PRS-505 club...

[Belfaborac]

Since the site keeps bugging me about not having posted yet, I guess I may as well take care of it sooner rather than later.

I've thought about buying an e-book reader for about a year or so, but I never got around to it until now. I considered most of the available readers, except the Kindles (which are too hideous for words, in my opinion), but in the end I found myself a PRS-505 on eBay. There were a few others I quite liked, but I really wanted a reader without all the pointless (for me) bells and whistles, so the 505 fit the bill best of the lot. Since there also appears to be something approaching a consensus that the 505's screen is one of the best, it was quite an easy decision in the end. And finally I kinda thought it was a good idea to get an inexpensive reader first time around, until I see how much use it gets. So far, however, it seems to be exactly what I wanted - stylish, minimalist and eminently portable.

Anyway, as I type this I've just finished loading 416 books onto the 505; a mixture of old favourites like the Three Musketeers, Richard Burton's translation of "The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night" and the complete works of Jules Verne, as well as most the stuff I've never quite gotten around to reading - Kafka's The Process, Joyce's Ulysses and Tolstoy's ubiquitous War and Peace to mention but a very few. The latter three may be a particularly long stretch, but maybe I'll get around to them now that I can carry them around with me everywhere I go.

Well, that's a quick intro to my selection process and extremely limited experience on the subject of e-book readers so far. A big thanks to the forum for providing me with a lot of valuable information prior to making a selection, as well as steering me in the direction of Calibre, without which managing a humongous number of e-books would have been too hard to contemplate.

Salaam,

- Bel

[neilmarr]

Good to have your company, Bel. I'm more than happy with my 505, too. Like you, I don't want the distraction of bells and whistles, though I can understand those -- especially those constantly on the move -- wanting a little more than a single-function device.

Couple of wee tips for you: get an AC mains changer and invest in a leather flip-top cover. If you encounter some of the early problems I had, a good mains charge will sort them out once and for all. And the flip-top cover, as opposed to the traditional open-book type, makes for a much more comfortable one-handed read, allows the device to stand upright, hands-free, if you read while you eat ... and it also acts as a handy shade for the screen if you're reading in bright sunlight (some 505s have the problem of text fading in bright sunshine).

My cover is called iEasy, but I think it's re-branded as Tough-Luv now. Gives your reader a real quality look, feel and even smell, also great protection and -- with a finger or two through the loop at the back -- the most comfortable read you can imagine.

Good luck. Neil

[Lady Blue]

Hello Bel, and to Mobileread.

[TGS]

Hello Bel and welcome. Excellent choice - I have a 505 as my second reader (my wife thinks it's hers), and I find it exactly as you say - perfect at doing what it does and doesn't try to do anything else. However, if you look on the Sony forum you will find a firmware hack that seems to do all sorts of whizzy things.

[Falbe Publishing]

The Three Musketeers is such a delight to read. I'm about 2/3 through 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas. Enjoy your Sony 505.

[happy_terd]

hello and welcome to MR!!!

[Belfaborac]

Thanks a lot for the welcome folks, and for the advice. I did indeed buy both a cover and an AC charger at the same time as the 505, as well as a replacement 1000mAh battery. Sadly, the first and last will probably not be used. I had a go at changing the battery, following the instructions I found elsewhere on the site, but it just seemed a bit too hairy when I got down to it so it'll will probably just gather dust. The cover is the original "deluxe" book-type cover from Sony and although nice enough, the fastening of the 505 just isn't secure enough. I mounted the 505 in the cover and later accidentally had it slide down off a chair onto a carpet covered floor - and the reader flew right out of the cover. Thank god it was the living room and not the tiled kitchen floor.... Hence I'm waiting for a different cover, this time the flip-top type. Guess I should have waited before buying the first one....

Otherwise all is exceedingly well and I love the 505 to bits already. I'll probably consider a reader with a larger screen in a while, when the selection is larger than today. A couple of the iRex readers are just right today already, but the prices are too hefty for my liking. Particularly considering I have no need or desire for the features they offer over and above the 505. The 900 seems very nice too, but according to the gurus here its larger size isn't really noticeable in comparison with the 505, so I guess I'll hang tight and see what appears later on. Waiting is no hardship anyway, as the 505 really is an excellent device.

Thanks again folks; I'm really glad I found this place!

- Bel

[neilmarr]

Glad to hear you're happy with the way things are going. If you take to the 505 as I did, you'll pretty soon find that treebook reading's an unwelcome chore. Cheers. Neil