Green Review: Sony PRS-505 Portable Reader System

eBooks, hmmm?

When I first heard of this idea in college, I harrumphed. Sure, eBooks save trees. But I shunned the idea of our computers taking the place of my beloved tea-spattered, dog-eared, read and reread traditional books. Why would I want to linger over a screen any more than I had to? I honestly could not grasp the idea of hyperlinks creating a hybrid-type of novel that had no linear plot but rather, was more like a grown-up choose your own adventure. (This was actually a popular writing course at my school one year).

While the hyperlink hybrid concept has thankfully faded, eBooks themselves have not. In fact, more and more authors are offering electronic versions of their works, so much so that publishers and traditional book sellers aren’t quite sure what to think about it.

Nearly all publishers say their sales of electronic books are growing exponentially. Carolyn K. Reidy, the chief executive of Simon & Schuster, said its sales of electronic books will more than double this year compared to last year, after growing 40 percent in 2007 from 2006. David Shanks, the chief executive of Penguin Group USA, said his company sold more electronic books in the first four months of 2008 than in all of last year.

So the eBook isn’t going away. And my initial resistance might be fading, thanks to portable readers like the Sony PRS-505.

My aversion to eBooks had been my assumption that reading an eBook had to take place at my computer. No more curling up with a book in bed, no more throwing one in my bag to catch a few chapters on the train or better yet, with my feet up catching some sun on my balcony. It seems I was wrong.

Daily Tomorrow had the opportunity to test drive Sony’s latest version of its portable reader. Here’s what I found:

The Sony Reader scores high points for its look and feel. The version I received came with a faux leather, light tan “cover” and is the size of a slim novel - you know, the kind you might slip in your bag to read on the train. I admit, it was much cooler looking than had imagined. The size and the style definitely eased my transition from Book to eBook.

My first test was to pull it out of the box to see if I could figure it out without too many peeks at the owners manual (included as a .pdf doc) on the Reader itself. for the most part, I could. The Reader is loaded with a few excerpts of new books and a full version of Wuthering Heights so the new reader can get an idea of how to browse the library, turn pages, you know, get the hang of things. This I appreciated.

And for a while, the excerpts and Wuthering Heights was all I really had to go on - you see, when your primary computer is your work computer which is protected by layers and layers of security protocol, downloading the free eBook Library software that comes with the Reader isn’t all that easy (no fault of Sony’s). In fact, I still haven’t received the “ok” from IT security man at work so I had to do some creative file shifting to further test the Reader. Not impossible, but a bit of a pain.

Out of the box, the Sony Reader is fairly easy to set up and start using. I admit, it took me a few minutes to figure out how to set the date (answer: the numbers on the side serve as numbers. Duh.) I noticed ports for not one, but two different sized memory cards, leading me to believe that more than just books could be loaded and viewed to the Reader. And a quick peek at the owner’s manual confirmed my suspicion. Photos, personal documents and even mp3 files can be added to the Reader, allowing you to choose background music to drown out the chatty Cathy next to you on the train who doesn’t seem to realize that you are trying to read. Bonus.

Another setting that I liked was Sleep Mode, which allows you to set the Reader to turn off automatically after a specified time of non-use. Does that mean I’m not the only one who falls asleep with a book over my face?

Readers using the Reader can choose one of three text sizes, simply by toggling a button next to the Menu button. Usually a fan of small print, I found myself using this. The one thing that I was not crazy about on the Sony Reader was the light contrast between background and print and the absence of a backlight.

Understood, Sony is probably trying to replicate the experience of reading a “real” book, but come on, I can’t choose text size or add music to a real book, so why not make this exception as well? Please? Just like my first generation Nintendo Game Boy, I can foresee a lot of late nights with my new toy. And without a sharp contrast or back light, I also foresee some significant eye strain.

More pros: battery life is good for around 7500 pages. Storage capacity isn’t bad - Sony says the internal memory holds around 160 eBooks, with the ability to at least double that if you are using external memory cards. The book excerpts are better than I expected - sure I only got a glimpse of The Other Boleyn Girl, but heck, that’s a pretty current title, as is The Tipping Point, which is also among the excerpts library. The Reader automatically remembers where you stopped reading in a text and will take you there the next time you turn it on, and you can “bookmark” other pages as well.

So, while I won’t be ditching my library of paperbacks and used books any time soon, I am glad to have this new eco-friendly opportunity to add to my collection. And I am thankful to have many of my assumptions around eBooks proven wrong. Now that I am seeing the Sony Reader as kind of an mp3 player for my books (and more), I feel as if there are a lot more options for this neat-looking eco-gadget.

Final words: Now that I know that I am not tied to my laptop and that I can customize my reading experience and indulge in my love of falling asleep while reading in bed, eBooks seem much more palatable. While not perfect, the Sony PRS-505 is a huge step in the direction of making this reading traditionalist a fan.