SONY make.believe

A thing of Beauty

Pros: Ease of use, ability to enlarge font, touch screen and button placement

Cons: Absolutely none...

This is my first eReader, so I have nothing else to compare it to. I can say as a first time user I am incredibly impressed overall. I love having the option to use the touchscreen/stylus if so desired. I have found myself using the page turn buttons at the bottom more often, though. I am a reader who always held my books from the bottom so this is very natural for me. I appreciate the fact that I no longer need to use both hands, but can do everything with the one holding the eReader. More often than not when I sit down to read one of my feline friends ends up in my lap, so now I have at least one hand free. Double tap in the top right corner to bookmark your page...double tap on a word while reading and the dictionary definition pops up at the bottom of your screen. All very handy, and very easy to figure out. I am a reader with progressive lenses. For years it has become increasingly difficult for me to read for long periods of time without significant eyestrain. Those days are over. I read for at least 8 hours straight, and at varying distances with zero eyestrain. This is the first time that has happened in more years than I care to remember. I highly recommend purchasing an eReader cover with your device. It made it feel more natural (book like) and not so 'exposed'. It feels as though it is more protected inside that cover as far as the touch screen is concerned. I say all the way around this is definitely one of the best investments I have ever made as a book lover, and would highly recommend without reservation to anyone else.

Reviewer Images: (click to see full-size image)

Awesome Purchase

I love my Reader,it was worth every penny I spent on it. When I was looking around for this device I debated between the reader and the kindle. Not knowing much about Amazon and if they would be reliable or not I bought the reader. I chose the reader because it had more features than the kindle and I knew I could trust the company. I made an excellent choice. Even in class one day me and this girl were comparing my reader to her kindle towards the end she said " I like yours a lot better than mine." So in the end I made a wise choice. I have had no problems and I absolutley love it.

Recommend

Pros: Easier to read in bed than a paperback, don't need my glasses to read due to font size choices.

Cons: Needs a cover to make it feel like a book, no wall charger included.

Like most new electronics, my hopes were that I would actually like using this device rather than leaving it tucked away in a drawer.---- Feels like a book ---- I have found that when you slip this reader into a binder cover, it then has the feel of a book, rather than a narrow tablet to hold (it feels more natural).---- Getting a cover? ---- When deciding which cover to get, I decided to go with the one without the light. Expense was just a part of the reason, but I really wanted to have the option of using a itty bitty book light that runs on it's own set of batteries rather than drain the power from the reader. Plus, I don't need the light all that often.---- Glare on the screen and backlights? ----: Some of the reviews stated that there was a glare, not if you move the angle slightly! Easy fix. As far as needing a backlight, if I had wanted a backlight, I would have just stuck with my little notebook, I do not want a backlight on my reader. I want the experience of reading a regular paper type book electronically and that is what this Sony Touch provides.---- Color and engraving? ---- I went with the red. I was a bit worried that it would be a red that I would tire of, but it's a very elegant shade of deep red. Even my husband liked it. We had this one engraved. I was worried that the quality of the engraving would not be clean, but no worries, it's beautiful. We opted to add our cell number in the off chance of losing this device and getting it returned. Great idea.---- Controls?---- I liked the option of either using the touch to turn the pages or to turn off that option and using the buttons. I have found that I like the buttons, my husband likes the touch screen to turn the pages.---- Downloading books ---- Very easy. I'm not a techy type and even I figured it out. I like the option of being able to use more than one store to shop for books. I did not want to be locked in.---- Insurance, you bet! I've had other Sony products that I loved but they were not dependable. The fact that this insurance covers accidental damage is incredible. I figure we would go with the 3 year coverage. After 3 years, if something happens, there will most likely be the next generation available and we would want to upgrade anyway. In the mean time, we will do lots of reading to make this device worth the cost.---- ----This reader is all I need when traveling. Not having a wireless is not a problem for me, since I always travel with my notebook that is wired. But for the most part, I would always have a few books loaded and not have an issue with finding books when on the go. ----I would buy this product again.

Suggestion for Sony

Pros: long battery hours, choice of dictionary, collection, touch screen,

Cons: dictionary feature, pdf reading & zooming, fonts, linespacing and paragraph

Here is my experience with Sony PRS-600. When PDF files are viewed with PRS-600, the view in ?S?, zoom level, is very small and it?s not readable. When I change the zoom level from ?S? to ?L?, the fonts becomes larger and readable. However, the problem with zooming from original, ?S?, to ?L? is ?all the tables and paragraphs written in columns becomes a mess. All the original forms of the tables/columns/texts written in text box disappear and all are put into a mess which is totally unreadable. This is what I do to walk around the above mentioned problem: Whenever there are tables/text boxes/columns in a PDF file, I don?t use ?S, M, L, XL, XXL? zoom function. Instead, I used ?Zoom In? function and read the books. Although this ?walk around? just works, the fonts are still small. ***This is my advice for Sony: ? The above mentioned problem will be solved if Sony could modify the e-reader software inside the e-reader to reduce margin settings in PDF documents to 0.1? automatically and to enlarge the font size to a readable level on an e-reader & by retaining the original tables/columns/text boxes/pictures. ? Offering a file conversion email service like Amazon kindle will do the work. ? Another option is offering a file conversion software update to Reader Library or offering Firmware ware update. My advice is based on the following explanation: After reading many PDF files, I realized that the problem is because of the large upper, lower, left, right margin and the small font size. Although setting 0.5? margins for upper, lower, left and right sides of a page is good for ?Printing? and ?Viewing on a computer?, it?s not good for an E-reader which has a small screen. I thought that if I could remove those margins and enlarge the fonts, I will be able to read my PDF files in their original format. To test my theory, I used a Microsoft word document. I stripped of the margins down to its smallest size and enlarged the font size. It works! I don?t need to use ?M, L, XL, XXL? zoom functions or ?Zoom in? function anymore. I wish Sony could improve their PDF viewer very soon and I hope that all other Sony E-reader owners will benefit from my ?walk around? and ?advice?. ***By the way, ?Sometimes, I wish that I could change the fonts on my E-reader no matter what the original font is.? ***It would also be great if ?Dictionary? can be directly accessed like other features, music player, collection, books and pictures. The only current option to use the dictionary is by ? Opening a book ? Double tapping on a word ? And then by looking up in the dictionary view. Sometimes, this does not work esp when it is impossible to select only a single word. I found this problem especially with some pdf files. No matter how many times I try to calibrate the touch screen, or try to double tap on a single word, the selection will cover the whole paragraph, the whole line or the whole left or right side of the screen. When this problem happens, it is not possible to look up the dictionary because of the dimmed ?dictionary look up button?. Sometimes, I find it very frustrating as I have to double tap on many words, just to be able to access the ?dictionary look up function? and find the meaning of a word by typing in the search box. I think it would be really great if ?dictionary look up? function can as easily be used as we browse the web. No matter what, I still love my Sony E-reader, PRS-600. Thanks a lot, Sony, for inventing Sony E-reader. Now, I am printing less and I believe that I am helping our mother earth to be greener. Off course, I am also carrying all my favorite books wherever I go.

Request, more than a review

Pros: Everything but the light

Cons: the contrast

I'm a philosopher, and I really need to read all the time (day-night-or any other time that maybe exists) and that means three things: 1) I need space 2) I need the option to make bookmarts and highlights to remember what I'm reading, of course... Both things this reader have. But 3) I need to read at night!!! Please, make a new one with good contrast. Reallly.

Try in a store before you buy

Pros: Thin, Light, Holds a lot of books/music

Cons: Poor Contrast, Very Reflective

For 300 bucks I would expect the background to be white and the writing to be black, but in reality the background is light gray and the letters are darker gray, not at all as it appears in the picture online. Don't expect to be able to lie on your back with a light behind you and be able to read this book because you cannot turn the book enough to eliminate the glare and still see the words. Admittedly, I am used to a backlit E-Reader, but this is more than just a difference I need to get used to. There should be a way to adjust the contrast.

very happy

Pros: i love my reader,download books in seconds,visit your library and download for free

Cons: none

I love my reader and i am so glad i have it. so easy to download books i have had no problems with it and i have had it since christmas

Best Purchase Ever

Pros: Its Perfect

Cons: it doesnt have WIFI and its not color

My boyfriend bought me this for christmas! It is by far the best gift ever, and it makes reading fun and books are easy to get! Love that I dont have to go to the book store anymore!