Talk:Sony Reader

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[edit] question

This "There doesn't appear to be any information on the digital rights management features, which, in my opinion, killed its predecessor, the LIBRIé in Japan." was a personal opinion found in the article. If the person who placed it there feels it's important, then he or she should get a broader support for it, and phrase it in a neutral way, as per Wikipedia custom. --AlainV 01:31, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry about not being logged in when I added the text that AlainV removed. You're right, I was being opinionated. But having said that, I feel strongly that Sony has completely missed the boat with the LIBRIé's DRM. Why on earth would I pay to rent a book for 60 days? Supposedly the Reader will allow you to upload PDF files, which wasn't directly possible with the LIBIRé. The LIBRIé has an incredible screen using the e-ink technology, but that's the end of the innovation. (I'll probably get flamed for this next remark...) Steve Jobs where are you when we need you? What the LIBRIé needs is Apple's touch. --billlund 16:40, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Or they could do the digital equivalent of what innovative public libraries started doing about 20 years ago, with the service spreading slowly to other public libraries. They have what's called a small "express" or "best-seller" collection with a borrowing fee and a very limited borrowing period (one to two weeks). You can of course pay again to borrow again a copy of the book you want. Or you can decide to place a reserve in the system and wait a bit for your turn to read the single non-paying book the library keeps in the general collection. Or you can wait a few months, when the copies of the book you want to read is taken off the best-seller collection and most of the copies are placed in the book sale shelves (ongoing or annual, containing weeded bookls and/or gift books) where you can buy one for 50 cents or a dollar. --AlainV 17:04, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What is it like?

If anybody gets one of these things, I'd like to hear what your experiences are. Specifically, are there any DRM hassels involved when it comes to playing unencrypted MP3s, or reading unencrypted PDFs or TXTs. LenW 02:18, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

I am also a little bit curious as to how it functions...but am also wondering from where previous contributors to the article have gotten their information. I haven't seen any recent news about the Reader except that Sony took off the 'Available in Spring 2006' on the Sony Style page for it. No set price still, no product availability. Despairing for wanting a chance to test it hands-on, I called a local Borders to see if they had it. For one reason or another, the employee was unable to find a match in the computer. Xtremegene 03:54, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

  • I work at Borders. An internal announcment was posted regarding the Reader some time ago, but we have no seen any other info on it, yet. It will be carried in select stores to start with, and Borders has an exclusive partnership with Sony to sell the reader for an undisclosed ammount of time. In short, haven't gotten them yet, but looking forward to it. I am eager to see how the display looks. We'll see a listing for the reader in our inventory system at least a month before they actually ship them to our stores.--Eion 03:06, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

I recently purchased one about 4 weeks ago. I have had little to no trouble with it, for the most part. The best format (apart from buying the books off of the software) is txt, as it allows you to store more books onto the unit, far above the 75-80 titles that is advertised. I do not recommend PDF, as the print has to be very large in order to be visible. As a result I had to switch many documents over to txt. Word docs, while they show on the unit, are difficult to move to the unit. There is a bit of "ghosting" present that many reviews mention. As I've read more the ghosting appears to become more visible, but that may be just my imagination. It doesn't even remotely affect reading. The size button can be toggled on any file except for pictures & books such as manga. Since there is so little space on the actual unit I do not recommend uploading music unless it is on a card. I save the music & audiobooks for my ipod. The bookmarking is nice, but if the book is on the actual unit (not a memory card) the spot is automatically marked. The time spent for the pages to "turn" is very small, and is not really a bother. I spead read, and it hasn't slowed me down that much. The battery power is amazing. In the 4 weeks I spent reading books (I used it every day, at least 50 pages, but usually around 500 pages) the bar hardly moved an inch. When I finally used up powerbars I was surprised. My big complaint is with the books available. The Connect software only has a limited selection, so I had to either shop around the internet or (more often than not) download it elsewhere. However, it appears that they are getting all of the newer popular books that are being released, so I don't forsee it being a problem in the future. (Assuming that all goes well & the units/ebooks sell.) I wish that it was backlit, but I am happy without it, as it uses less energy. Hope this helps people. Tokyogirl79 16:55, 14 March 2007 (UTC)Tokyogirl79

I've purchased mine after reading a lot of reviews (especially this site was very helpful http://hightech.afmag.net/categories/gadgets/sony-reader/ )It does not disappoint. I was going for the manga-reading capabilities too, and that site prepared me enough for it. PDFs can be converted for optimal readability (see the aforementioned site to see how). The batterylife is not as good as specced (of course). I think my record is about 4000 pages. But that's from reading from an sd-card.

[edit] Where can I buy it?

Where can I buy the Reader, exept for Sony Style (it is not shipping to Europe!!!)? Please post any links...

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7721 --stobs 10:41, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

I got mine at ebay.

B&H also sells them, and sells the newer 505 models as well: http://bhphotovideo.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.225.145.140 (talk) 15:42, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] No Backlight but ...

Anyone know if there is a built in light so you can read it at night?


No, there's no light because E-Ink is designed to be just like paper. The lack of a light was done on purpose to imitate paper more closely. You're supposed to get that "comfort food" feeling by reading in bed with a night table lamp turned on :-).

-- there is no backlight because the Eink display isnt transperant, the only option right now would be to add a side or front light

[edit] Original Research?

I own one of these, and I'm trying to refrain from editing this article ... anyone have any suggestions? Salad Days 04:58, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

It would be great if you could take a photo of your unit for use on the page. As of now, we don't have a free one- the one there now is fair use. Staecker 14:02, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Add here first if you want, I'm sure we can incorporate it. Agree need a picture also. -- Stbalbach 16:30, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Though I’m sure it baffled the wary employees at the local Borders, I’ve spent considerable face-time with their demo Reader. Read a self-generated PDF off a SecureSD card just fine. Screen quality is amazing. User interface is completely unintuitive, but nothing that couldn’t be remedied with a firmware upgrade, should Sony be so inclined. I will be purchasing one within the next two weeks, will try to get pics up. --Cygfrydd Llewellyn 20:25, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Linkfarm

ok, the link section is seriously overcrowded. I propose deleting all the links except

the product page from Sony
the Mobileread forum link
the Readerette site
the New York Times review

Any objections? --Sirana 14:56, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

I don't see any harm with the links. At least for now, I think we should keep them. -- Stbalbach 16:14, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
I just think that 18 links to reviews (most of which are seriously outdated) don't add any value to the article and they devalue the important links. Sirana 08:44, 11 February 2007 (UTC)
At least I would delete the links that point to "reviews" that have been written in the first half of 2006 or earlier. Sirana 08:49, 11 February 2007 (UTC)
How about we look at the quality of the reviews. Keep ones that are in-depth and useful, versus the standard short blurb, which would include any that are factually outdated. -- Stbalbach 14:01, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

OK, I'm fine with that. So here come the ones that I would delete:

  • a blog on reuters
  • Slashdot article
  • Curling up with a good e-book, Business Week
  • both Engadget-revs
  • TG-Daily
  • Cnet + Cnet picture
  • Sony press release
  • ABC-News
  • USA Today
  • BBC-News
  • Wired

Any ones on that list that you would keep? Sirana 08:40, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Ok.. thanks for going through them. I checked these, and I'd like to keep Slashdot and Wired, the rest are fine to delete. The /. and Wired are important sources in general with a lot of in-depth tech discussions in the user comments section that is helpful. It would be great to date all the remaining links and sort chronologically. -- Stbalbach 16:25, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Ok. I killed them. I'll try to get on with the sorting and dating tomorrow. Sirana 17:40, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

The link to prs-500 formatter keeps cropping up. According to this thread[1] this is highly questionable. Let's make sure it doesn't come up again...77.62.7.24 (talk) 16:56, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How much does it sell?

Does Sony Reader represent a breakthrough in the almost 10 year old history of the e-book?

Is it possible to obtain any information on the relative success of the Sony Reader? How many devices have been sold up till now? Is the sale increasing og decreasing? When will the Sony Reader be released in Europe? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Obini (talk • contribs) 00:26, 11 February 2007 (UTC).

Sony said a few times that the sales were better than expected (i.e. here: "Sony is encouraged by convincingly stronger than expected sales with the PRS-500, and is convinced that there is a lot of future potential that they intend to pursue."). No concrete numbers though.

Roxfan 09:47, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

No evidence for this, but I have heard it's doing terribly (just like all previous e-book devices!). W@ntonsoup 20:49, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Out of place criticism

"The black-and-white (with 4 gray levels) screen is not covered under manufacturer's warranty. If the fragile e-Ink screen is damaged, the repair estimate is almost equal to the purchase price."

This criticism seems out of place and is not sourced. I am going to remove it because it contains three unsourced claims: (1) that e-ink screens are fragile (2) that the screen is not warranty-covered and (3) that the cost to repair is almost equal to the cost of the original device.216.16.18.204 (talk) 15:20, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] hyphen in product names

The article uses a mix of hyphenated (eg PRS-505) and non hyphenated (eg PRS505) product names. The official names are all hyphenated. Aside from the issue of correctness, some one searching google for the product with non hyphenated names will get relative junk, as compared to the hyphenated search. Not sure if this is a technical limitation with wikipedia. If not, shouldn't the hyphenated names be used always? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.71.5.46 (talk) 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] please someone answer this question!

Everything i have read about the sony 505 reader sounds good but the big question i have is will i be able to put books i downloaded for free onto this? I know of a few sites still up and going for free and im not about to spend 300 on this if i still have to buy the ebooks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.3.95.41 (talk) 08:57, 29 April 2008 (UTC)