Why should you buy an ebook reader? There are several answers. First is the ability to carry a lot of books all at once. E-book readers can store hundreds or thousands of books depending on the memory of your device, the capacity of your memory card, and your capacity to purchase books. Of course there are free electronic books available as well. Second is the fact that you might even find it more comfortable to read using the ebook reader than with a normal book, because it is very light and easy to handle.
One such ebook reader is Sony’s PRS-505. It belongs to the top ten most sought after ebook readers to date. Let’s look at some of its features to see why it is so popular.
At first glance, the PRS-505 looks like a small tablet the size of a normal paperback book. Like a book, it has a leather binder that covers the actual device. This binder protects the device and its delicate components, such as the screen. On the other hand, this device has a very solid build unlike most e-book readers. It really feels so sturdy and comfortable to use and hold.
When you turn on the device and look at the screen, you can easily see the resemblance it has with actual paper. The text is very crisp and you can read it outside under artificial light without glare. The PRS-505 uses e-Ink technology, like most ebook readers, to make the screen look like real paper, keeping your eyes from straining after hours of reading. Another great thing about the e-Ink technology is that it doesn’t use a lot of power, and so the battery lasts for 1-2 weeks without charging, depending on how much you read.
Buttons
Looking closely at the device, there are ten buttons that form a single column at the right side of the screen. These buttons represent lines along the screen, and when you turn on the menu and make a selection, just press the button lined up to that selection. The menu is fairly intuitive. You can access it by pressing a menu button at the bottom of the screen. Menu selections include continue reading, sort books by title, by author or by date, collections, and all bookmarks. The reader allows you to make separate bookmarks for separate books, and you can access them later for book tracking. Each e-book has a separate menu on its own, and selections include continue reading, begin, end, bookmarks, and table of contents. Overall, the buttons are very easy to use because they are very intuitively placed on the Sony Reader PRS-505.
Page Navigation
Page navigation is flip-a-book-page easy. Just press the buttons on the right side or the ones located on the lower left to go forward or backward a page. Pretty soon, you’ll get used to using these buttons even as you are accustomed to flipping pages. The PRS-505 also allows you to change the font size by pressing a button at the lower left. This is pretty useful for those who want to increase font size to read the text clearer, or to decrease font size for those who want to fit as much text as possible into the small screen.
The screen display itself is pretty decent with its 8 levels of gray scale. It allows viewing of pictures, and the pictures look very sharp with this device despite the limitations of its gray scale. It’s very easy to read with this device for hours without straining your eyes. Of all the ebook readers in the market, this one probably belongs to the top 3 highest text to background contrast, which is good for comfortable reading. While reading, you can even listen to mp3 music by inserting a head phone in a slot located at the bottom left part of the device. The same port allows you to listen to an audio book. You can also use the speaker which produces good quality sound.
DRAWBACKS
What Sony needs to do in order to improve off the Sony Reader PRS-505 is add features that one would normally expect to be there and yet the PRS-505 doesn’t have them. That includes the capability to search for words or phrases in a book and a built-in dictionary. The PRS-505 doesn’t have both of these. Other features that should be added includes the option to delete books, text highlighting, and the ability to add drawings or notes on a page.
One would also normally expect that this device goes with a separate charger, but it doesn’t. It only has a USB cable for charging which is also used for downloading books from the Sony library. You really can’t expect to carry a PC and a USB cable around with you all the time, can you? Speaking of the Sony library, some users comment that the interface of this library is not so good, and the books sold there are more expensive than the ones sold in Kindle.
CONCLUSION
Opinions about this e-book reader is varied, but many are saying that this e-book reader is well worth the price. A few others are stating that they would rather read paper back books. One thing’s for sure, though. Sony reader PRS-505 has captured the bookworm in each and everyone of it’s users. Many are falling in love with reading through it’s ease of use and impressive features and functionalities. The Sony Reader PRS-505 is a must have for all book lovers.
