ZDnet: "Sony Reader felled by the classics"

[recycledelectron]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Which conclusions do you not agree with?

I disagree when he says that the problems make the Sony PRS-505 unusable, or undesirable. There are bugs, but it's the best eBook for $330 (my price, after S/H & Tax).

Andy

[memobug]

It's very hard to believe that anyone with the time to invest days in reading War and Peace couldn't invest an additional 60 seconds in formatting the book for its first reading.

???

P.S. recycledelectron, They're $250 at Costco and come with the $50 voucher to boot.

[TheLongshot]

Originally Posted by memobug

P.S. recycledelectron, They're $250 at Costco and come with the $50 voucher to boot.

They sell the 500, not the 505.

Jason

[dhbailey]

The conclusion he did make, concerning the fact that the MP3 player was as good as any MP3 player made me think that he didn't really use it at all and makes me wonder if he really used the reader other than a 5-minute "I already know I don't like it but I'll use it so that I won't be completely lying in my review of this product I'm already prejudiced against."

the MP3 player part of the Sony Reader sucks horribly and is most definitely NOT as good as any MP3 player.

As to the other comments others have made here about the length of time opening books and using the sony Library software, I agree -- this reviewer started by not wanting to find positive things about the reader and so didn't bother learning how to use it properly before writing his review.

Which is fine except that many people who haven't tried the reader may read that and not even bother to look further at the Sony reader, but will quote that review to others as if it is the gospel truth about the Reader, so it will have further reach in its negativity than simply being an on-line incompetent review seen by only a few.

[Anthuzad]

I've read the article and I have to say that it seems rather poorly researched...

There are several factual mistakes like the one about the time it takes to format a book when you open it for the first time and the picture of the old reader. I own a 505 and I don't recognize the "thing" the author describes in his article - I'm pretty sure if it was as bad and as inconvenient as "his" 505 I would've sent it back a while ago.

[/note the heavy drops of sarcasm]
Somebody should inform him about the mistakes in his articles and ask him to rewrite it or at least point out his own mistakes in an addon (like that is ever going to happpen, but one may hope - right?).
[/end of sarcasm]

[kezza]

Originally Posted by memobug

It's very hard to believe that anyone with the time to invest days in reading War and Peace couldn't invest an additional 60 seconds in formatting the book for its first reading.

Yes, I find that a little silly, too. Maybe it's because I'm aware of the delay and, after transferring a number of books via USB I make a point of opening the big ones and getting the formatting out of the way before I actually want to sit down and read them. I tend to be impatient, and I'd rather not be on the train with nothing to do while a book formats. That said, it's a pretty minor irritation and not a reason to pan the device (or ebooks in general) completely.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

What you guys need to do is to log in to ZDNet's TalkBack and say these things in the comments section. Tell him he didn't research. Tell him what he did wrong. (And by the way, take the comments over from the "Kindle's better! Isn't! Is! Isn't!! IS!!!" bunch.)