Last month, news of two new Sony readers leaked when someone found repair manuals for new devices called the PRS-300 and the PRS-600. Gadget sites were rife with speculation about these devices and when they’d be released. Sony quickly confirmed that these new devices would be released at the end of August, and they even listed the Sony Pocket Edition (also known as the PRS-300, to use the old convention of using the model number as the name) and the Sony Touch Edition (PRS-600) for pre-order. I’ve been a devoted Sony Reader user since the PRS-500, so I quickly placed a pre-order for the Touch in red. On August 25, Sony officially announced the Touch and Pocket Edition readers, and SonyStyle started shipping the devices. I received mine on August 27.
The Touch Edition is a melding of both the PRS-505 and the PRS-700 models. Gone are most of the input buttons of the 505 model. Like the 700 before it, the Touch (or 600, as some users are calling it) uses a touch-screen for input. It retains a few buttons, but they are placed discreetly at the bottom of the display screen, similar to the old 700 model in appearance. The 600 is the same length and width as the 505, but it is 0.1” thicker. The front-lighting from the 700 is gone. This allows the touch screen to lay flat against the E-ink display in the 600.
Hardware specifications
- Size in inches : 6.9 x 4.8 x .4
- Weight : 10.1 oz
- Screen Size: Vizplex 6 inch (diagonal) E-Ink display with 8-level gray scale and a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels
- Memory Size : 512 MB. User available capacity: Approximately 380 MB
- Dual memory card expansion slots for Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD card up to 16 GB
- Media formats supported : ePub (Adobe DRM protected), PDF (Adobe DRM protected), BBeB Book (PRS DRM protected), ePub, BBeB Book, PDF, TXT, RTF, Microsoft Word (conversion to the Reader requires Word installed on your PC), JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3 (non-encrypted), AAC (non-encrypted)
- Connectivity : USB for file transfer from PC
- Power : charge with USB cable (supplied) or optional A/C adapter
- Battery: rechargeable lithium-ion battery
What’s in the Box?
- Reader
- USB cable for charging and synching the device
- Protective neoprene sleeve
- Quick start guide
The first thing I noticed when I opened the box is what is NOT included. This reader doesn’t come with a case, just the sleeve. I’m sure this was a cost-saving decision, but I don’t think it was a good one. The neoprene case is very flimsy. The foam isn’t dense and resistant to compression like my neoprene laptop sleeve. It is very soft and spongy, and seems too insubstantial to provide much protection for the glass display screen. The sleeve is open at the top. There is no zipper or flap or even Velcro to close the case. The sleeve fits the naked reader snugly enough that I don’t think the reader would easily fall out, but I carry the reader in my purse, and this sleeve is not going to keep pens or keys from slipping in to scratch the reader.
The body of the 600 seems to be aluminum, like all the models before it. It does have a non-slip coating on the back. I suppose this is to make it easier to hold without a cover. Holding the naked reader isn’t comfortable for me. I much prefer the book-like feel of a cover, and I like that the cover provides a little protection if I should drop the reader. Unfortunately, none of the optional covers were available from Sony when I received my reader. Luckily Sony stuck with the cover attachment method from the previous generation of readers, so I tried it in the original vinyl cover from my 505. It fits in that cover, but the 600 is a tight fit. It was hard to slip it into the plastic nubs that hold the reader in the case, and I felt I was going to break the plastic spine before I managed to wedge the 600 in there.
No software CD is included in the package, but the reader itself contains installation files. Since I already had the latest version of the Sony library software on my computer running 64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium, I did not run these installation files. My software recognized the new reader immediately. I was surprised to see a firmware update was already available. It was to fix a problem with using memory cards, and the update installed without a problem. I authorized the reader and started charging the battery and loading up books.
Sony PRS-600 (left) and PRS-505 (right)
I never owned the Sony PRS-700, which was their first touch-screen model. I saw the device on display in a local Borders, and I felt that the screen was much less clear than the screen on the 505 model. Adding a touch screen layer to the device made text on the screen appear much lighter and less sharp. The fact that the touch layer was floating above the e-ink screen – to allow for the LEDs that provided the built-in lighting – only compounded the issue. I was pleased to see that the 600, while not as sharp and clear as the 505 display, was much improved over the 700. The screen has a very readable display, and I didn’t really notice the small loss of clarity until I compared the 505 and the 600 side-by-side. Since I haven’t any experience with the 700, all my comparisons from this point on will be between the PRS-505 and the PRS-600.
When I started playing around with the 600, I worried about the amount of pressure needed to operate the touch screen. It required much more pressure than I was comfortable using. There is an included stylus, but I don’t want to use the stylus to turn pages. I read so much, I fear that the stylus would eventually cut a groove through the touch screen! I found that using the tip of my finger or the flat side of my fingernail works much better than using the pad of my finger. Once I got the hang of it, operating the touch screen worked easily.
Reflection in PRS-600 screen. Picture is dark because I couldn't use a flash without showing only a big, white glare.
After I got used to the controls and started reading, I noticed how reflective the reader is. The PRS-505 I’ve used for almost two years isn’t reflective, and it was always easy to find a comfortable reading angle. I had also had the 505 in the Sony light wedge case since last December, so I was used to having a reading light that seemed to be part of the reader itself. I had a really difficult time with the PRS-600 being so reflective at first. This was almost a deal-breaker for me. The first night I used it, it was in a small case with a huge clip-on book light. The awkward feel of this arrangement and the reflections on the screen saw me starting the return-authorization process and packing up the reader for return when I got up the next morning. I finally decided to give the reader a second chance, and I’m glad that I did. I got a better-fitting case that’s sturdy enough to support the book light, so I was better able to concentrate on reading. The 600 retains all the functions that I’ve loved about the previous two Sony readers I’ve owned, and it has some new features, added storage, increased speed, and a beautifully sleek appearance. And it’s red – always a bonus for me! (Actually, the 600 is also available in silver and black, if red isn’t to your taste.)
What does the 600 retain from earlier generations? It’s still a compact size that fits easily in a purse, gear bag, or laptop bag. It’s light, so it’s easy to hold for hours while I read through those nights while I’m suffering from insomnia.
Press the hardware button marked with the magnifying glass to easily change font sizes (this model has five font sizes, two more than the 505) so you can find a comfortable size for reading. As before, the 600 supports a variety of digital book formats, both DRM and DRM-free. In addition to the proprietary Sony format, you can use Adobe pdf files. Since many libraries offer digital books in Adobe pdf format, you can check-out and read books from your local library on your Sony reader. You can also read ePub books, which means you aren’t tied in to getting your books only from the Sony bookstore. You can read text files, rich-text-format files, and even Microsoft Word files if you have Word installed on your computer to allow the file to be converted as it is installed on your reader.
Battery life is still great. I’ve been reading for a full week now on the same charge. I’ve found a charge on my 505 would usually last about 2 weeks with reading 3-4 hours a night. (I have a lot of trouble sleeping!) Sony is still persisting in describing battery life as about 7500 page changes, and people are always concerned that they’ve read considerably less than 7500 pages before they need to recharge. The fine print says you can get 7500 page changes if you fully charge the battery, open a book and continually change pages as fast as you can without stopping. What they don’t spell out is that your battery continues to drain even while you aren’t reading. The power switch doesn’t actually power your device off – it puts it into a stand-by mode. The screen is blanked and the touch screen and all of the buttons other than the power toggle button are disabled, but the reader is still “on” and slowly draining the battery. You can turn the reader off, but that requires going into the settings and choosing to power down the reader. This saves the battery, but it does take extra time to restart the reader when you next want to read.
Cover attachment, charging light, power slider, PRO Duo slot, SD card slot, stylus
The 600 retains the dual memory card expansion slots from the previous generations. You can increase the amount of storage for books by adding an SD card (up to 16 GB) and/or a Memory Stick PRO Duo card (up to 16 GB). It also retains the ability to display image files and to play audio files. These are two functions that I haven’t ever used. The 8-level gray scale screen isn’t the best method of showing off pictures of my family. I keep only one picture on my reader, and that’s a picture of me to which I added my phone numbers and name. If I lose my reader, an honest person can use that information to contact me and that picture to ensure that I’m the owner when I come to claim it.
I have never used the built-in audio player in any of the Sony readers I’ve owned. I have an iPod, and I use that if I want to hear music. Unless the audio player has changed in this version, it’s not useful for audio books because it doesn’t retain the position where you left off in the book. I’d be happy if Sony just completely eliminated the audio player from its readers. Apparently others feel the same, because Sony did eliminate the audio player in its PRS-300 model.
Page Back, Page Forward, Home, Font Sizing, and Options hardware buttons
There’s a new hardware button on the 600 that I never had on the PRS-500 or PRS-505. It’s the “options” button, and it offers different choices depending on what you are doing when you press the “options” button. These functions will be discussed in the appropriate sections below.
From the “home” menu, you can still choose to see a listing of all installed books sorted by various criteria. Use the “options” hardware button to access these sort methods. You can sort by title, by author, or by the date. A new option here is you can choose to view your books either by list or by a thumbnail view of the cover. Another new option here is that you can search the complete book list for a title keyword or author name for a listing of only the books that fit your search criteria. You can also change the screen orientation between portrait and landscape; this changes the orientation of the reader in all its functions.
A feature retained from previous versions of the readers is the ability to sort installed books by collections. These collections are like folders with no sub-folders allowed, similar to playlists on the iPod. They must be created on the reader by the Sony library software and the books must be sorted into the collections by the library software, as well. These are virtual collections – only one copy of the book needs to be on the reader, and the book can appear in as many of these collections as you like. Collections are displayed alphabetically on the reader. The only options for collections are search for a collection title keyword or change the screen orientation.
Cover attachment, wrist strap attachment, reset button, A/C power, USB, headphone, volume rocker
The 600, like all Sony models before it, does not offer wireless connectivity. You still need a computer to purchase and store your ebooks. You’ll need to connect the reader to the computer via usb to copy over books. The Sony library software allows you to organize and maintain your library on your computer and on the reader. The library software also allows access to the Sony bookstore and manages books checked out from your local library. This software has always been available for Windows computers, and it is now available for Mac users.
What new features have been added? The 600 has a faster processor, so page turns are much faster than with my 505 reader. I also noticed that transferring books from the Sony library software is much faster. The 600 has about 380 MB of internal storage, up from the 192 MB in the 505 reader. I was able to load all the books I had on my 505 and I still had about 200 MB free in the 600. Because I can have so many books on my reader at all times, I don’t feel the need to buy a book wirelessly in seconds. I can wait until I get to my computer to buy a book, and I don’t have to worry that I’ll find someone wirelessly deleted anything from my reader!
A dictionary has been added to the 600. Depending on your language and keyboard preference, you will have either the New Oxford American Dictionary (English language with US keyboard) or the Oxford Dictionary of English (English language with UK keyboard). These are the only dictionaries available at this time. During setup, if you choose a language other than English, you will not have a dictionary. To look up a word in the book you are reading, simply double tap on the word. The definition will be displayed in a box at the bottom of the screen. In this display, you have three further options. You can tap the highlighter option to highlight this word to make a “note” in your book.
You can tap the magnifying glass icon to start a search for other instances of this word in the book. Finally, tap the icon of the open book with an A superimposed on it to open the dictionary. With the dictionary open, you can read an expanded definition of the word, if available. There is also a keyboard icon at the bottom of the dictionary page. Bringing the keyboard up allows you to type in other words for lookup in the dictionary. You can also use the hardware page-turn buttons to move around inside the dictionary. Tapping the X icon at the top of the screen closes the dictionary and returns you to your book.
At any point while reading or while on any other function screen in the viewer, you can press the hardware button identified by the house icon to return to the main menu. This is a nice new feature not found on the 505 reader. In the 505, you had to continually press the menu button to make your way through a tree of menus to return to the main menu; you could also press and hold the menu button down for 3 or 4 seconds to return to the main menu. This single button press is an improvement because you don’t have to guess where you’ll end up in the menu tree when you press it.
This simplified home menu button is possible because of the addition of the “options” hardware button that I mentioned earlier. If you are at the home menu, “options” allows you to search for a particular author or a title keyword among all the books you have on your reader.
While reading a book, “options” allows you to enter a page number to go to, to browse the history of the pages you’ve been on in this book, return to the table of contents, create or edit notes within the book, see the publisher’s information about the book, delete the book from the reader, or change the display orientation between portrait and landscape. The notes option here allows you to highlight text, make handwritten notes directly on the text of the book, erase a note you’ve previously made, see a list of all the notes in your book, or simply “dog-ear” that page.
When you are at the home menu, you can select “All Notes” to see a listing of all the notes you have made in your installed books in internal memory and on any memory cards in the reader. You can set up the Sony library software to merge your book notes with the notes in the copy of that book on your computer when you use the synchronize method of maintaining your reader instead of the drag-and-drop method.
You can use the reader as a memo pad or sketchpad. Select “Handwriting” from the home menu to create a drawing or a handwritten note using your finger or the supplied stylus, see a list of all your handwritten notes, and edit and delete these notes.
Choose “Text Memo” from the home menu to use a virtual keyboard to type in a note, see a list of all your notes, and edit and delete these notes. These notes are separate from the notes made in your books.
I’m sure there are other things the reader can do that I haven’t discovered yet.
I’m very glad I decided to give the PRS-600 another chance; I won’t be returning it. The 600 retains the functions I loved from my 505 and has added a dictionary and note-taking features. Writing in the books themselves isn’t something I’ll use since I read for pleasure. I was never one to write in my books anyway, so I don’t think I’d do that even in a digital book. It will be nice to make a quick handwritten note to myself if I find myself without paper handy. When I factor in faster page turns, faster loading of books from the Sony library software, and a nice screen, I’m very happy I decided to upgrade to the Sony PRS-600.
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Product Information
| Price: | $299.99 |
| Manufacturer: | Sony |
| Pros: |
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| Cons: |
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{ 66 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice!
Thanks for mentioning the MP3 defect of not maintaining its place. I’ve got MP3 books that I listen to and this MP3 capability would therefore be useless.
Have you gotten a chance to check out how PDF files with graphics appear on the Sony? That’s one of the main reasons I was looking at the DX.
I don’t read PDF files, so I didn’t have one with graphics to try out. I’ll try to find something today and give it a try. I did forget to mention that there is a zoom capability. You can zoom in on a page and then pan around to see more details. I’ll see what I can find with the pdfs and post another comment.
By the way, did you hear that Sony announced another reader for release in December this year? It’s called the Daily Edition, with a 7″ wide screen and wireless connectivity using AT&T’s 3G network. Sony’s press release about all 3 new readers is here http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/computer_peripheral/e_book/release/41492.html
I’m shopping for my first e-reader and yours was the most complete review I’ve read of the 600. Thanks. Please let us know how you make out with PDFs; that’s mostly what I’ll be reading and I heard size might be a problem. Also, you mentioned you found a good-fitting cover. Which? Does Sony market one now for the 600?
For Cobin Rox – I found a pdf from the University of Nevada at Reno about Living with Earthquakes in Nevada and put it on my reader. The pdf was full of photographs, colored text boxes, tables, and drawings. The pages could be seen in their entirety using the smallest font. Enlarging the font worked to make the font bigger and more readable. Using the zoom and panning made it possible to more closely inspect the photographs and tables.
Some of the two-page spreads in this document seemed to be treated as a single graphic, so it was necessary to pan over the entire two pages to read the text and view the graphics. Panning and zooming was slower than a page turn, but it seemed to speed up a little after I’d had the document open for a while – perhaps it was doing some sort of document processing in the background at first. With this document, I could make everything big enough to read and see details in the graphics, but of course the graphics were limited by the -8-level gray scale rendition. One graph using yellow circles of various sizes to mark locations on a map was pretty useless.
Pdfs have a strange page numbering artifact because of the reflowing. For example, it continues to say page 3 of 21 until you have seen all the text on page 3. Takes some getting used to!
To Jim DeFilippi: As for the cover, I’m using one of the M-Edge covers made for the Sony PRS-505. They are on sale for $15 at Amazon.com. The 600 fits in there nicely, but I eventually noticed the bottom outer strap was pressing on the volume rocker and apparently making my battery drain faster. Being Ms. FixIt, I just took the tiny scissors on my Swiss Army knife and nipped out a chunk of the offending strap. Problem seems to be solved! Sony does have some “premium” covers available now. I haven’t seen one, but they look like the standard cover that came with my old 505. I don’t know if they are leather or vinyl. The Canadian Sony site described them as leather, but the US Sony site doesn’t mention the material at all. The “premium” certainly applies to the price – about $30! The lighted cover from Sony isn’t available yet. They seem to be backordered until the middle of September.
Hope the above information about pdfs helps.
SMH at the reflective screen.
if it wasn’t for that i would have considered picking this up
I was curious how it would work with a .pdf of a movie script. I have to read them all the time, and they’re upwards of 120 pages which I hate printing out for something I may just read once. If I sent you a script, would you load it on the reader and let me know how it works? I’m worried about the formatting going crazy which is MOST important with a script.
best,
Fred
Thanks, it sure does help. As soon as I find a store up here (Vermont) where I can hold the 600 in my hand, I’ll probably get one.
Sony sells the premium leather covers for like $25-30 apiece, IIRC. The weird thing about the PRS-300 is that it doesn’t have ANY expansion slots at all, unlike the PRS-505. They also, for some funny reason, decided not to follow the US/Canadian dollar exchange rates… so that the $199 PRS-300 costs $260 CAD (the exchange rate as of today pegs $199 USD at about $215 CAD) and the $299 PRS-600 costs $399 in Canada (flat exchange rate puts it at $322 CAD). Of course, there’s no Kindle to put it in competition against someone, but still…
Greetings,
Great Review! I want mine now.
I was wondering what case/light combination you are using?
Are you using the Leather case from Sony with the clip on light?
Thanks,
Vicks
Vicks: If you’d read Comment #4 (http://the-gadgeteer.com/2009/09/07/sony-prs-600-touch-edition-reader-review/#comment-42791), you’d know that the cover’s an M-Edge cover for the PRS-505.
Fred Raimondi: I’ll send an email to your address so you can send me the script. It’s a live dot com email address with my name.
To Vicks: I’m using an M-Edge Executive leather case (that I modified to stop it from depressing my volume rocker) with a Mighty Bright telescoping 3-LED clip-on book light. I’m thinking about getting the Mighty Bright Travelflex book light. It supposedly fits in the pen holder inside the M-Edge case, and the flexible neck allows the light to be folded along side the reader so it can be stored in the case.
I probably will eventually get one of the Sony lighted cases for the 600 when they become available. I had the Sony lightwedge case for my 505, and I dearly love that thing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit on the 600. I know – I tried it!
To the Guitar God: The reflection looks really bad in that picture because I wanted to show it at its worst. You do have to watch out for the reflections, but it is possible to find an angle to read. The reflections did almost make it send it back, but I’m glad I gave it a second chance. It’s a really nice reader.
Excellent review!
I have had the PRS-600 for 1 week. Yes, the screen is not quite as crisp as the PRS-505, but it is still very good. And much better than the PRS-700.
I love this thing.
Thanks for the review, its good to see they have found a happy medium between the 505 and 700 – even if it doesn’t come with the nightlight.
Thanks for the great review…I am going to get one now from Borders.
Can you transfer the notes to a desktop PC and edit them – like the Kindle ?
Richard, as I said in my review, I don’t take notes in my books. Since I have no experience with them, I checked the manual. It says:
*******
Hints
You can also create notes (excluding markups and handwritten
comments) in eBook Library.
In eBook Library, you can set to merge the notes of the Reader
and eBook Library while synchronizing. When merging the notes,
any inconsistent note for the same word will be replaced with the
latest note.
When you copy a book from eBook Library to the Reader, the
notes of the Reader will be replaced with the ones of the eBook
Library (or vice versa).
******
So it sounds like you can use your computer to edit your text notes but not the ones you handwrote or drew in the book. If you use the “sync” method of book transference, the notes on the pc will be merged with those on the reader. If you just use the drag-and-drop method, it will replace the existing notes with those in the version that got “dropped”.
Hope this helps.
I’ve gotten my PRS-600, on 09/18/2009. First of all this is an upgrade of my Gemstar 1100, ebook reader. As for the PRS-600, yep there’s glare, but I can live with it. It’s not overly horrible. I do use the SD card slot for MP3’s. I think music and reading can go hand in hand. But I suspect Sony used a Korean rocket scientist, since the earphone plug is on the bottom of the unit. (duh). Since I’ve not used the 505 model, to me the screen contrast seems just fine. I use out of habit the Buttons to page turn. It would be nicer if the buttons were a bit wider. they’re awful thin to hit with a big fat thumb. All in all, I like the reader, I only have a few issues, but nothing that makes me regret my purchase.
1. fix the page turning buttons, not all of us read with the reader laying flat on a desk.
2. move the mp3 earphone outlet to a more usuable location, like the top or sides. The card slots can be shoved to the bottom of the unit, since they’re least likely to get a lot of movement (add/removing cards).
3. Unless I’m blind I can’t see anyway in the librarian, for setting up folders. I’m used to sub-folders in my ebook librarian (rocket ebook librarian) where I can sub sort my books by author.
And as a side note, i have something like 900+ Rocket Ebooks ( .RB format). And i was actually able to convert them to ePUB AND .LRF format. It’s freeware software called Calibre (won’t run on 64 bit operating systems though).
All in all I’d still give the sony prs-600 4.5 stars outa 5.
My Sony ereader is being replaced with the new PRS600.
One feature the old had was the backlight. The new does not have, which makes me angry.
I refuse to pay up for a light as they could not fix my older version.
Anyone else find the no backlight an issue?
Gary, you use the Sony library software on your computer to make the folders (called “collections” in the Sony software). When you open the library software, you’ll notice there is a narrow frame on the left that lists your library, status, eBook store, and computer. All the way at the bottom of this frame, you’ll see a button with a big plus-sign on it. That allows you to make your collections.
To make collections in your Sony library on your pc, first go up and click either on “library” or “books” at the very top. If the “library” tree isn’t expanded for you, click on the small arrow to the left of the “library” name. You’ll see a new folder will get created under the “library” tree. Name your collection folder by double-clicking on the folder name. Populate these collections by dragging-and-dropping books from the main library collection.
To make collections on your reader, while the reader is connected to the computer, expand the Reader tree by clicking on the arrow to the left of the name. Then click on “books” under the Reader tree. Use the plus-sign button as described above to create collections on your reader. Populate book collections by dragging-and-dropping books from the readers “books” collections.
Sony made it really obscure, didn’t they? And by the way, you can only put books in these collections – no music and no pictures.
Wow, Gary! Did I give a bad explanation in comment 20 or what!
I’m sorry I wasn’t more clear. I was trying to say that you click either in the books section of your main library or the books section under your reader – depending on where you want to put this new collection. Then you click that plus-sign button at the bottom of the frame. It will add a folder called “Untitled” in the tree you’ve selected. Double-click on the title to change it to your desired name. Populate the collections by dragging and dropping from the “books” folder in that tree.
I’m sorry about the confusing explanation in comment 20. I couldn’t edit that comment, so I hope you see this one.
Got my PRS 600 yesterday, and was planning to use it for my research projects. I fell for the fact that you could highlight qoutes, make notes – and export them to a word document. This would make litterature review a lot easier. Only problem – Sony figures that a quote of 100 characters is enough, which it is not. It cannot be changed – which is sad since it is otherwise perfect for a job in academia. Has anyone got any suggestions?
jan
Great review Janet! I have been considering an eBook since the 505 arrived (I live in the UK where you can’t get the Kindle, which I don’t much fancy the looks of anyway – too many jarring angles) and your review of the 600 is certainly making my wallet-finger twitch!
@Jan: Perhaps try adding several in sequence one after the other? Like one per letter of the particular word maybe? Having not tried it, not sure if that would help or not…
Thanks, Alec! You should do it – you’ll love the Sony 600!
Challenge and Urgent Appeal — EReaders Required
I wish someone would turn or hack a cheap $20 or $30 5 inch or 4 inch lcd digital photo frame into a ebook reader for text and rtf files.
I don’t want wi-fi, bluetooth, internet access and fancy writing screens,pushing up the price.People who want that can pay extra.
A 4gb flash memory can store 10000 books easily.
Ideally it should have 4gb storage from a internal flash or memory sdd card with a long battery life or the option to turn the backlight off.
By the way why is the amount of memory on the present over priced devices so niggardly?
I mean you can easily get a flash memory of 4 gig for
$3. Most devices have 64 megs or 256 megs.What a joke.
A lcd displays don’t consume much power this could extend the battery life.
Eink is unfortunately over priced and SLOW.
Ebook readers like the amazon kindle and sony ereader cost as much as a laptop at present! Rip off pricing.
ebook readers cost from $300 to $800.
They are a rip off.
Manufacturers by keeping prices high are shooting themselves in the foot with poor sales.Very stupid people at the top.
What a rip off.
I mean $300 to $800 for a ebookreader.
You can buy a complex mini netbook for less then a ebook reader now.Only reason I don’t use a netbook is due to the poor battery life of only a few hours.
I don’t want to pay that much on principle.
Even a mini netbook is unsuitable for ebook reading due to the short battery life.
A low power low cost photoframe would be ideal.
I am surprised that no one has done this hack.
The focus in various forums unfortunately seems to be turning photo frame into video displays for moving pictures which they are not really designed due to their poor frame rates of 8/second! A pointless exercise.
They would are more suited to be ebook readers.
Anyone up for this challenge?
I also appeal to Chinese folk here if you could start producing a simple dedicated paperback sized 4 .5 or 5.00 inch sized screen size thin ebook reader with a lcd screen with optional back light.
Should be able to read text,rtf,pdf,html,word.
no blue tooth.no wi-fi,no hi-fi,no screen annotations,no screen writing,no hand writing,no editing,no coffee making.People who want these gizmos can pay extra for it in mark 2/3 versions.
should run of 2 aa batteries for a month.
should be under $50.
Just bought a PRS-300 yesterday. Nice, small, crisp and clean, just for reading books. Works like a charm, no muss, no fuss and no bother.
Most of those ‘cheap picture frames’ have AC plugins for good reason – the LCD needs to be constantly refreshed, and the backlight takes up even more power, so the claim that “A lcd displays don’t consume much power this could extend the battery life” is highly inaccurate. E-ink’s main draw is that it only draws power to keep RAM alive, when the CPU does something, when it reads from memory, and to change pages on the screen. That’s it – it doesn’t need to constantly redraw the screen the way an LCD does, which means much less power usage.
Plus, there are cheaper e-ink readers out there. Look at the $199 price of the PRS-300, the Astek 5″ Pocket Pro, and so forth.
Hi,
Does anybody know if the PRS-600 can correctly display characters specific to a language? In my mother tongue – Polish – we have chars that don’t appear in any other language. They are easily handled in doc or pdf files, but I was curious about how they will go with this reader? Can anyone try with a document in German/French/Polish to see about the special chars?
Thanks,
Chris
Chris: if the fonts are embedded in the PDF, or included in the ePub (which allows extensions as long as they’re in the file itself with a specific pointer, IIRC), it SHOULD do so, according to folks in the MobileRead forums.
Hi, Thanks so much for this. I am an American academic doing research in Africa, and I have been considering an e-book reader to make my luggage lighter–access to materials easier. I have been considering the new Kindle with international wireless access for $279, but the big downside of the Kindle for me is that you have to manually convert pdf files. The ability of the Sony PRS-600 to read many different formats makes it more attractive to me. Most of my documents are in pdf format, and I just wanted to make sure that you can annotate pdfs as well as other ebooks in the PRS-600… Could somebody check that for me? Thanks so much.
I tried making notes in the only pdf files I currently have on my reader. I used the manual for the PRS-600 and found that I could make handwritten notes and I could highlight on the page. The Sony manual was formatted to fit the display of the reader.
The other file was not formatted to fit the reader screen and required reflow. I could make handwritten notes, but I had trouble with highlighting. When I tried to highlight a line, it would draw the highlight lower in the document.
I couldn’t make notes of any sort when I was zoomed in on a pdf page.
Carmen: You can add notes to any page of a document, no matter the format, with handwritten notes, IIRC, per the manual (http://www.sonystyle.com/wcsstore/SonyStyleStorefrontAssetStore/pdf/warranty/SEL-asset-166216.pdf) as noted on page 102. just by hitting the ‘Options’ button, and then selecting “Create/Edit Note”. On page 106, it notes you can bookmark a page and then add notes to the bookmarked page (or highlighted word, if it’s a PDF which has text in it – just double-tap the word to highlight it) by tapping the bookmark or the highlight and selecting “By Drawing” or “By Keyboard” in the context menu which appears.
However, be warned that graphics aren’t resized when you reflow a text-based PDF… but again, it’s probably better than the Kindle 2 for PDF’s, if not on the same level as the iRex 1000S (http://www.irextechnologies.com/irexdr1000/specs) which has better PDF support (it automatically zooms in on the text even if the margins are large, which the Sony doesn’t according to MobileRead’s users), but is less expensive than iRex is.
Also, it should be noted the PRS-600 also supports any Table of Content data you may have embedded into the PDF file using Adobe Acrobat during creation… and still has a search feature, if you didn’t set up one in the metadata for the PDF file, for PDF’s using text.
Janet – from what I’m seeing in the manual, all you CAN do in zoomed-in mode is zoom in and out; if you want to do anything else, you exit Zoom mode, then hit the Option button or highlight. At that point, you’re probably better off rotating the PDF by selecting “Change Orientation”… or resizing the PDF to something more like Letter size (8×11) than whatever it was.
Hi guys!
I’m Nikki from the Philippines.
As I was reading the reviews of Kindle 2, I was attracted by a link directing me to it’s rival sony’s PRS-700 that led me in reading Janet’s PRS-600 review.
I really have this plan on buying an Amazon Kindle. But the problem would be the purchasing of ebooks from Amazon since they require US residents who have US-based credit cards.
After reading this review, there was a turn of tide in my dreams of having a Amazon Kindle.
Being in a Third World country like me, I dream of having books where ever I am.
PRS-600 (base on your reviews) answers my dilemma.
I’m not an american who’s future reader will download subscriptions every morning.
Though connectivity to the web is a plus, seeing my situation here, having some books to read will do fine.
Thanks for this review!
It helped me a lot!
Nikki, I’m glad the review helped you in your research for choosing an ereader. The Sony bookstore in the US also has some geographical restrictions on credit cards and books, but there are other bookstores around the world where you can purchase books for the Sony reader. The many book formats that you can use on the Sony reader helps makes it easier to find something you can read.
Haesslich, I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner. I think the problem with some PDFs is that they have DRM, so you can’t resize them. However, I don’t use PDFs, so I could be wrong!
Janet: Yes, some PDF’s have DRM, which means you can’t resize them in an editor… but outside of reading it in landscape, it’s about the only solution I can think of. Still, it handles them better than the Kindle DX, according to all reports… which isn’t saying much for the Kindle. The Sony needs a bit more RAM and CPU (or a better version of Adobe) to do PDF’s with zoom and annotate, or at least to make zooming smoother.
Thank you for this thorough review.
I’m thinking of an eBook reader and I wanted one that had the most flexibility in reading various document formats. When I had heard that Amazon snagged a book from the Kindle it completely turned me off to the Kindle.
Never!
Besides, I don’t want to be linked to only purchasing books from Amazon.
I have always like Sony products and am pretty brand loyal to them. What turned me on to the eReader was the ability to have hand written notes. Admittedly, the $300 price tag is really spendy for me right now, although I may just treat myself to this item for Christmas.
J. O., I think you’ll be happy if you get a Sony reader. I’ll admit that I was tempted by the Kindle 2 myself, but when Amazon removed the books without telling anyone first – well, that killed my desire for a Kindle!
I didn’t realize this was happening at the time, but sometimes my comments show up from JanetCinNC and sometimes as Janet Cloninger. I’m sorry for any confusion this may have caused.
Personally I use either my Ipod Touch, HTC Touch HD or 9 inch touch screen Netbook for reading (one with a swivel screen). I always have backlight, can decide the colour of background and text and have numerous extra functions on each. Even a cracked PSP would be better for reading than a greyscale screen with no backlight. I have a program for turning a document into the right layout, colours and font size for the PSP reading program and it was pretty good.
Every time I’ve looked at an e-reader they have always been too expensive for not very much, and so the trend continues.
Geoff: To each their own. I also use an iPod Touch… but being honest, there’s a huge difference between a 2.5″ screen and a 6″ one when it comes to readability, and the one major issue with everything you’ve named so far is battery life. If you’re only reading an hour a day and you have to recharge ANYWAYS, then those solutions work quite well. Otherwise, there’s something to be said for a display which uses no power to keep the text on screen, and which can also readjust font sizes on the fly… while not having to worry about the power being used for that coming out of talk time, web-browsing time, or time used to type up something in a document. With a netbook, there’s not nearly enough screenspace for me to have a document up along with another reference, and switching windows just to get a quick look at something’s a tad annoying… and none of the above-mentioned solutions (save the netbook) are good for reading PDF’s, which some eBook readers do decently well.
Hi All
I’ve been looking to get an e-book reader for a while, and I happened to stumble across this (fantastic and very comprehensive) review.
Does anyone know where I could purchase the Sony rader in Australia?
Thanks.
Sarah: Tried Borders to see if they’ve got any in their Australian stores?
http://www.borders.com/online/store/InternationalStoresView
I know they carry the PRS-600 in their American outlets.
Thx a lot Janet, loved your review and it possibly swayed me to test prs-600 and I am glad I did.In combination with Calibre it becomes mighty comic book/manga viewer and thats exactly what I wanted.Loaded my comic book library on SD card (took 6GB ^^)
and now I can enjoy all my comics on the go.
And I am an Aussie too.Bought my prs-600 from here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Sony+Reader+Touch+Edition&N=0
It was $360 AU all up with delivery to Melbourne.Took about 5 days from the moment I ordered.
Cheers!
Thanks, Sarah and Ian, for the kind words! And thank you, Haesslich and Ian, for giving Sarah ideas where she can buy one of her own!
Hi, can someone tell me if the search function searches across the whole library or just within individual documents?
Also, would adding 2000 short Word docs be impractical?
And what about .docx?
Thanks.
Chris, if you have a book open, search works within that document only. If you are outside a book, search works only to find a keyword in the title or author’s name. According to the manual, it does not search within all documents on the device.
The manual says that either .doc or .docx files will work. In both cases, you must have the appropriate version of Word on your computer that is running the Sony library software. The Sony software MUST be used to transfer the Word document onto your reader, and it will actually convert the document to a RTF file before transferring it to the reader.
There are about 380 GB of user-available storage, and you can add memory cards to expand the number of documents you can store. I read about people who put thousands of documents onto their reader, but I’ve also read about the problems they have doing so. An immense number of documents causes the reader to take a long time to index the documents after you get them transferred then “eject” your reader connection to the computer. Sometimes it takes hours to index.
Keeping memory cards always in your reader causes the battery to drain faster than normal. I played around with a memory card with an earlier reader and found that accessing something from the card was much slower as well, but that may not be true for the 600 reader.
Thanks for your detailed and useful reply, Janet.
My 600 is arriving next week, unless there’s a delay with the courier service, and it will be mainly for reading Word docs at the moment. As a writer I will be reading a lot of my own texts for the purpose of making notes on them, etc. I’ve already downloaded the Sony software, which looks bizarrely like iTunes (I hope it runs better on Windows, though!). I suppose I can get the library ready for next week by adding my documents now. Thanks for your nice review.
You’re welcome, Chris.
I like the Sony library software, and I run it on Windows. Although I’ve read a lot of complaints about the software, I don’t have problems with it. I always say it’s as much like iTunes as they can legally make it.
The one thing I don’t like about the software is that the collections (like playlists in iTunes – flat, virtual folders) aren’t alphabetized in the pc software. The reader collections are alphabetized, so I can’t complain too much. After all, I spend much more time with the reader itself than I do with the pc software.
I hope your reader gets to you on time, and I hope you like it as much as I like mine!
One last question while I’m organizing my files.
How fast does the Reader do its searches? Anyone know if it would it have trouble with an RTF 500+ pages long? Thanks.
Chris, you search while you have the book open. It’s rather like doing a find/find next in Word. You find the first instance, then you select the option to move to the next instance. You repeat until you have seen all occurances or until you found the one you are looking for. You don’t submit a search term and wait for a report listing all instances.
I just tried search an RTF file with 560 pages. I looked for “help”, so there were lots of instances. I had no problems while search, but of course, I was the limiting factor for speed, as I had to press the button to go to the next occurance.
Hi Janet, Thanks for testing its speed there. I realised it would search only after the document is opened, that’s fine, I was just unsure of the search speed therefafter.
I own a data-collection Yahoo group with an archive over 7000 posts which I use for reference, so I decided to turn them into 6 Word docs of 400-500 pages each. I expect the Reader will be able to deal with that, judging by your reply. Should be a fun week.
Hi there,
After weeks of browsing, this is the most helpful thread I’ve come across. Being an Aussie, I think we’re in for a bit of a wait for the PRS to hit our shores and I think I’ll hold out for the Daily Edition. As much as I’m busting to get my mitts on one now, with the non-existant support system in Aus, I think it’d just be asking for trouble. One thing I’m still a little confused on is the file formats – If I have a heap of medical textbooks etc in pdf format on PC, am I able to transfer them straight over to the reader?
Hi Michelle! I’m glad you’ve found helpful information!
I’ll try to answer your question about pdf files. Except for the PRS-600 user manual, I don’t use pdf files. I’m not sure if you are asking if you can just drag-and-drop files directly or if you want to know if there are any extra steps to using pdf files on the reader. I’ll try to answer both questions.
You can connect the reader via usb and treat it as an external storage device, so you can just drop files directly on it without going through the Sony library software. If the files have no DRM (copyright protection) on them, you’ll be able to read the files with no problem on the reader. I don’t think the reader will allow you to create folders to categorize your files, though.
However, if the files are DRM-protected, you will have to use both the Sony library software and Adobe DE software to get the files on your reader and get them authorized to use them on your reader. As I understand it, you install the Adobe DE software on your computer, use it to authorize your computer/reader, and then it works seamlessly with the Sony library software to get the books onto your reader in a readable form.
I hope I answered your question. If not, let me know and I’ll try to find more info for you.
Janet – thank you so much for that!
From all the software issues I’ve read I honestly didn’t think it would be quite as simple as drag-and-drop!
Let the waiting game begin
Again, thanks for your help Janet, I appreciate it
While I think of it, must the books be purchased from the Sony Library?
You’re welcome, Michelle. There is a great user forum, called MobileRead, that is a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to know more about using pdf files on their Sony or about their Sony reader in general. It’s http://www.mobileread.com/forums/
No, you don’t have to buy files from Sony only. Sony readers work with files of various types, and there are several online ebook stores that sell books or offer free books that will work with the Sony reader. MobileRead is also a good source for finding places around the world where you can obtain (legal) content for your reader. That said, I’ve bought all but one of my books from Sony. I think they have a great selection of the popular literature that I read, and they have good prices, as well. However, I do know that geographic restrictions on book sellers mean that many people with Sony readers aren’t allowed to buy books from the Sony US store.
Thanks Janet!
You’ve been a great help
Janet, thanks for a great review and the support of everyone on the thread!
I know from reading the review/thread that the search facility doesn’t work with everything on the reader, but doesn’t anyone know if it works with photos? It would be tremendously useful to me to be able to search photo titles for a keyword. I have about 6,000 photos of artwork that I need to carry around with me. (It doesn’t matter that they are in b/w only on the screen.)
Now, I bet that’s an application that Sony never contemplated!
Ptolemy, the search feature doesn’t work for the photos. You can get a sorted list by name or by date for photos, but that’s it. I only have one picture on my reader and couldn’t try it out for myself, but I searched through the manual and couldn’t find any mention of searching in photos.
I do believe you are correct in thinking Sony never comtemplated someone having 6000 picture files on their reader!
Janet,
Thanks for taking the time. Somehow, I knew my wish would be thwarted! My search continues…..
Unless, of course, you converted the photos into PDFs.
Do somebody know how to change the name of a book in the Sony PRS 600?
Rafael, you have to edit the file’s metadata to change the name of the book. This is something you’d have to do on your computer before transferring the file to the Sony 600; you can’t edit the files in any manner once they are on the reader. Also, as far as I know, you cannot edit the metadata on any file that is DRM-protected.
I bought some computer tech books including code and diagrams in pdf, I am just wondering that someone had any problems of reading pdf files so that I can decide whether to buy this Touch version of sony reader.
Thank you