Sony Reader PRS-505 - What Sony Doesn't Want You to Know Before You Buy

This is a demonstration of the Sony Reader. It is not a full demonstration, rather, it shows how it would work in real-life, when one is simply reading a book.


It is a great little device, but this is clearly still very much an early adopter choice.

In the example, I show a Japanese-English dictionary. The benefits are clear, even in this limited example: carry a 750g dictionary, or carry a 340g Sony Reader. And of course, since there are more than 200 other books stored on the 2GB SD card, the choice becomes an even easier one.

However, if you do not have oceans of time, that choice may not be so clear-cut. Watch and decide for yourself.

You can also read my review on Thamno here: http://thamno.com/blog/?p=285

And on a positive note, Sony is offering half a million of the books scanned by Google for free, in ePub format, i.e. very readable on the Sony Reader! Info here: http://thamno.com/blog/?p=645

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Sony Reader
• ebook reader
• e-book reader
• PRS-505

[wuzzum]

I love the music!!!!! Can't believe that someone would criticize such great stuff. No taste. As for the reader, you are showing a worst case scenario. I would not want to read pdf format on a reader not designed for such. Epub is where it's at, and the sony prs-505 does a very fine job with these, and many other formats. But thanks again for the music!

[BartBVanBockstaele]

@wuzzum As for the music, indeed. G.F. Handel is arguably one of the greatest composers of all time, and the Water Music is one of his masterpieces. De gustibus et coloribus non disputandum, but only a complete Philistine would send the Water Music to the trash heap.

[BartBVanBockstaele]

@wuzzum By the way, am I also the only one to notice that except for some minor details, readers have essentially not changed since then? I am still waiting for a genuinely usable format for professional use, such as letter and/or DIN A4.

[BartBVanBockstaele]

@wuzzum I agree, sort of. The point is that Sony was heavily advertising the PDF capabilities, while knowing perfectly well that these were less than adequate. That is misleading, and it is dishonest. Dismissing Sony's dishonesty as "well, it wasn't made to do this anyway" is unfair to the buyer, and is trying to cover up something that would be considered a crime in some countries, and should be considered as such in all countries: it is a misrepresentation, and Sony knew it.

[BartBVanBockstaele]

@BartBVanBockstaele However, it must be admitted that the epub format does indeed work quite a bit better.

[dtz1000]

I own both the prs 505 and Kindle. This video is not an exaggeration. I recently tried the same pdf file on both machines. The sony took about 5 seconds to change the page but the kindle was almost instantaneous and took only half a second. That makes a huge difference to your enjoyment of the material.

Trust me, you all need to get the kindle 3 because it utterly destroys the prs 505, not just in page turn speed but in almost every single way you can think of.

[BartBVanBockstaele]

@dtz1000 Thanks. I have both the 505 and the 700. The 700, while somewhat faster, is -in many ways-an even bigger disaster than the 505.

I have been hesitating to buy the Kindle DX since it is the only larger format reader still around, but I am afraid that the disadvantages are not minoré

[uchman247]

This guy used the least compatible types of docs to make this video which is very misleading. Most people buy eBook readers to read text-based books/novels not scanned and OCR'd pdfs and images. Yes, every product has things they are not good and you are still within your rights to return it as not fit for purpose. So, I really don't see the issue. Ive had my PRS-505 for 6 months & absolutely love it. Use Calibre to convert your pdfs and you're good to go. If you want an eBook reader, buy this

[rancwr]

I think this is a little misleading.

It is one example of "real life reading a book" but not the one for which most people will use the Reader. The majority of people will be using the book with ePub books which display and navigate much faster than scanned images of books as shown here.

I have several friends who have the 505, and I've used it and never experienced anything close to what you're displaying here.

[kairia]

where did you get the dictionary

[dtz1000]

I think the music matches the prs-505 perfectly. Slow and plodding most of the time.

[BartBVanBockstaele]

@doreengreen99 I love it. You are essentially expressing what I was trying to show. I would have had no axe to grind if Sony had made it clear to the potential buyer (and not just to the buyer) that its unqualified claim that the device can read PDF files is an exaggeration.

The device is no longer on the market, so the point is moot by now. Otherwise, I would make it a point to show how fast this device is breaking down.