PRS-505 spotted in the UK wild

[Flub]

I've currently got an Iliad but I'd be very interested in picking up one of these if it fixed certain problems my Iliad has. Would someone who owns one care to answer a few questions for me?

1. What's the average battery life?
2. What's the startup time? Does it have a good suspend mode?
3. On my Iliad I generally have to convert PDF files to a different format due to the fact that most PDF files on the Iliad display with the text far too small to read and you're unable to scale the fonts properly. Will I need to do that on the Sony and is there a guide available for the best procedure (I currently use Mobipocket creator which works very well).

TIA.

*Edit* Ah. On point 3 it would appear Libprs500 is the way to go

[HarryT]

Flub,

Given that you have an iLiad, I'd strongly recommend that you consider the CyBook rather than the Sony, because you'll be able to read the same MobiPocket books on it that you can on the iLiad. It's about £40 more expensive than the Sony but, having owned both, I would personally consider it worth the extra.

The iLiad is infinitely BETTER than any 6" screen device for displaying PDFs. PDFs should, of course, be avoided like the plague, but if you HAVE to read them, then you already have the best available device for them.

Battery life on both the Sony and CyBook are excellent - it's effectively a non-issue on either. The CyBook has a user-replaceable battery, which may be of interest if you're planning to keep the device long-term. Both will go a couple of weeks without a recharge ,given a reasonable level of usage.

[Flub]

Thankfully I very rarely have to read PDF files. I don't have any drmd files either so I'm definately not tied down to mobipocket.

I'll certainly look into the CyBook though. My main requirement is a much better battery life than the Iliad (I hate having to switch it on and off all the time) and both the Sony and the CyBook seem to provide that.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Flub

I'll certainly look into the CyBook though. My main requirement is a much better battery life than the Iliad (I hate having to switch it on and off all the time) and both the Sony and the CyBook seem to provide that.

They do. They use their batteries in very different ways, however.

The Sony "runs" all the time (unless you explicitly switch it off via a menu item, but then there's a VERY long boot time), so has a pretty fixed battery life of about two and a half weeks, no matter how little or much you use it. Because of this it has "instant" switch on (because it's not actually swtching on at all).

The CyBook can be used either like the Sony (ie running all the time) or like the iLiad (switch on/off), or a combination of the two. If you leave it running constantly, it'll run for about 5 days before needing a recharge. If you switch it off, it takes about 20s to boot (compared with the iLiad's 45s), but obviously then doesn't drain the battery when it's off. It has an "auto-shutdown feature which will do a full shutdown after a certain length of time unused has elapsed. I have that set to an hour, which means I just switch it on at the start of a reading session, and leave it. After I've finished reading it turns itself off after an hour of inactivity.

I'm sure you'd be happy with either the Sony or the CyBook. The CyBook is more expensive, but does more (dictionary support, multiple font support, etc). Having owned both (and an iLiad!) as I say, the CyBook is the one for me, but the Sony is a very nice machine too.

[Flub]

Hmm. From what I've read the CyBook doesn't have any form of folder support. That's fairly primitive and would probably cause me problems.

To be honest I'd rather have a Kindle but so far there's no sign of Amazon planning to sell them here in the UK

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Flub

Hmm. From what I've read the CyBook doesn't have any form of folder support. That's fairly primitive and would probably cause me problems.

Nor does the Sony. It supports "Collections", which are sort-of "pseudo-folders", but it doesn't have genuine folder support. There's a firmware upgrade coming for the Gen3 this month, and folders are one of the things that have been strongly hinted-at for it.

People make a fuss about folders, but to be honest, having used these things for more years than I care to remember, I don't think it's worth losing sleep over. Organise your books on your PC; carry what you plan to read in the next few weeks or months on the reading device.

To be honest I'd rather have a Kindle but so far there's no sign of Amazon planning to sell them here in the UK

Why on Earth would you want a Kindle? The one thing it offers is wireless downloads, which since you don't buy commercial eBooks, would be irrelevent to you. As a reader, both the Sony and the CyBook are better. The Kindle, for example, only supports a single font, which is very restrictive.

[Flub]

That's just the thing. The Kindle would probably make me more likely to buy commercial ebooks. Especially as more and more become available.

I wasn't aware that the Sony and CyBook readers were considered better though. I think I need to do some more reading before I decide. I'm fairly torn at the moment. The Sony and the CyBook both look very nice.

People make a fuss about folders, but to be honest, having used these things for more years than I care to remember, I don't think it's worth losing sleep over. Organise your books on your PC; carry what you plan to read in the next few weeks or months on the reading device.

Very good point. I have quite a lot of books on my Iliad currently but how many do I really need? It's not like I'm away from my PC for any significant length of time.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Halk

Yep, an extra 50 quid buys a whole lot more consumer rights than the American purchase does, so I don't think there can be too many complaints about price. Although, and correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think Sony were giving out a decent warranty/guarantee with US purchases as well?

Originally Posted by Halk

... and correct me if I'm mistaken ...

for 50 quid, that is cca $99.99 ;-), you can purchase
4 Year Service Plan with Accidental Damage from Handling[$99.99] for your brand new Sony Reader at www.sonystyle.com

Good luck in finding somebody here in Europe that would sell you 4 year No-Questions-Asked insurance for your device here in Europe for that kind of money.
Sigh ...

On a more positive note I was afraid the reader would be much more expensive here in Europe.

[astra]

Hey guys why did you jump on Halk like that?
I think he meants something else entirely.

If we order Sony Reader from the USA now, then we pay 200 quid - including shipping and tax, however, excluding any warranty at all.

If they sell it here for 200 quid, we get for the same money a usual warranty we would get in the UK for any other eletronical device.

I don't think he meant that the value of the warranty we get is equal 50 quid. He meant that for the the extra 50 quid that we pay over the reader's price in the USA, we are going to have the proper consumer rights we are missing right now if we are buying the reader from the USA.

So, if they sell the reader over here then for the same price we used to pay for the reader we will get not just the reader but also the warranty which is quite nice. And as someone said I am glad it is 200 quid not 250/300 as I expected it would be.

[Lexicon]

The price could still be £250 (or more) in the high street. Play.com are an online retailer, all their stuff is cheaper than list price.

In fact you need to compare Play's £200 price with the $270ish price that US based online retailers sell the Reader for to get a real comparison. That makes the difference about £65 - not as bad as I was expecting but still a significant chunk of money.

Still, it's good news that they have decided to widen the release of the Reader. It decreases the chances of them abandoning the product in the near future, something I was concerned about given Sony's track record.

[Halk]

You really do need to compare like for like.

Play is - No tax to pay, delivered. Full warranty, with no problems.
Buying from the US is - Tax to pay, delivery to pay. Possible warranty issues.

The difference is not 65 quid.

Delivery is going to be what, 40 dollars or so? Certainly if it's 270 then 300 would be a very good price including UK delivery. VAT on top of that at 17.5% (I believe there is no duty to pay) takes that up to 350 dollars. Currently the exchange rate is about 2 dollars to the pound, but credit card surcharges (or indeed pretty much any way of switching money over) brings that down to an effective rate of about 195.

Realistically, even if you find a fantastic deal in the US and a great delivery charge you're saving twenty quid.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Halk

You really do need to compare like for like.

Play is - No tax to pay, delivered. Full warranty, with no problems.
Buying from the US is - Tax to pay, delivery to pay. Possible warranty issues.

The difference is not 65 quid.

Delivery is going to be what, 40 dollars or so? Certainly if it's 270 then 300 would be a very good price including UK delivery. VAT on top of that at 17.5% (I believe there is no duty to pay) takes that up to 350 dollars. Currently the exchange rate is about 2 dollars to the pound, but credit card surcharges (or indeed pretty much any way of switching money over) brings that down to an effective rate of about 195.

Realistically, even if you find a fantastic deal in the US and a great delivery charge you're saving twenty quid.

You are right.
200 quid for Reader sounds almost too good to be true.

Bitter experience tells us that too often we see prices of gadets computed for Europe using a very simple math $1=1quid.
And then manufacturers start blaming better warranty conditions and I start to see red ;-)

Thank you again for spotting this and reporting it here. You have made my day.

[JSWolf]

What I am really curious about is if US 505's would be covered under warranty in the UK. And UK 505's covered under US warranty.

[Lexicon]

Originally Posted by Halk

You really do need to compare like for like.

Play is - No tax to pay, delivered. Full warranty, with no problems.
Buying from the US is - Tax to pay, delivery to pay. Possible warranty issues.

The difference is not 65 quid.

Delivery is going to be what, 40 dollars or so? Certainly if it's 270 then 300 would be a very good price including UK delivery. VAT on top of that at 17.5% (I believe there is no duty to pay) takes that up to 350 dollars. Currently the exchange rate is about 2 dollars to the pound, but credit card surcharges (or indeed pretty much any way of switching money over) brings that down to an effective rate of about 195.

Realistically, even if you find a fantastic deal in the US and a great delivery charge you're saving twenty quid.

Oh I agree it gives UK users a better (and quite possibly) cheaper way to get a 505 but a true like for like comparison is how much an American can buy one for in his country versus how much a Brit can buy the exact same device for in his country. In that comparison the difference really is about £65.

VAT accounts for about half of that difference, Sony will claim that the warranty and increased costs of trading in UK account for the rest - it's BS but enough buyers accept it for the excuse to work. The gouging isn't as bad as I feared (I fully expected a £250 minimum price) but let's not pretend it isn't going on.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Lexicon

The price could still be £250 (or more) in the high street. Play.com are an online retailer, all their stuff is cheaper than list price.

In fact you need to compare Play's £200 price with the $270ish price that US based online retailers sell the Reader for to get a real comparison. That makes the difference about £65 - not as bad as I was expecting but still a significant chunk of money.

We don't know what is going to be the cheapest price over here. So far only one website advertises it. When we buy the reader in the USA we pay $300 for it. Not $270, although I think $270 does not include tax that americans would have to pay?

Regarding High street prices. Unfortunatelly, we are notorious for a huge differences in prices between High street shops vs. online retailers. To tell the truth, I don't remember when was it the last time I bought anything in the High street shop. Maybe a few cheap things such as kettle in Argos. I always buy online. So, it would not even cross my mind to compare online price and High street price in the UK.

Although, I am a bit sceptical about play.com. Why only them? Is there any info from Sony about it? It looks more like they are going to sell American readers here.