Sony Reader Digital Book PRS-505 (silver)
Manufacturer: Sony Part number: PRS505SC
- CNET Editor rating: Not yet rated
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 46 reviews
- More product information:
- Editors' blog post
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Description:
- The Reader (model PRS-505) features a svelte body design. Re-styled controls more closely mimic paper page turns and allow for quick, intuitive navigation. A next-generation electronic paper display delivers faster response and a higher contrast ratio for easy reading even in bright sunshine. Eight levels of gray scale provide for crisp and clear text, images, and graphics. This device is ... Read more
Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/04/2009 |
CNET editors' blog post
By David Carnoy, 07/28/09
Will Sony soon have a PRS-505 replacement?
(Credit: Sony)In recent weeks there's been lots of news about new e-readers hitting the market. The Cool-er is out. Samsung's just released its first e-book reader in Korea. Plastic Logic is talking up its partnerships with Barnes & Noble and AT&T. And the Kindle 2 had a price drop to $299.
But what's up with Sony? True, its $400 PRS-700 hasn't been out that long, but surely the company has to put out a new e-reader sometime soon or risk losing that precious piece of market and mind share it currently enjoys in the e-reader space?
Well, we've barely heard a peep about a new Reader, but there's been a little activity over on the MobileRead forums. Back in June forum member forkyfork wrote he heard from a manager at Books-a-Million that Sony is coming out with a new e-reader in August. The manager "mentioned that it's going to have Wi-Fi, bigger screen, and more memory. When I asked him if it would have a touch screen, he said 'no.' When asked what the price point would be, he said 'most likely $300,' which might explain why they [Sony] are trying to clear out the PRS-505's now."
Now, it's hard to put much stock in a message board comment from a random reader, especially one who goes by forkyfork, but I've heard from a few sources outside Sony that they expect Sony to have something new fairly soon. So, why not August?
Hopefully, the new Reader, whenever it does arrive, will only be sightly larger and not blown up to the size of the Kindle DX.
When it released the PRS-700, Sony did talk about how it was looking at a wireless option, so it would seem likely that its next model would offer this feature. Also, while we like the touch-screen interface of the PRS-700, the screen did suffer from glare and contrast issues. We also assume a nontouch model would be cheaper to produce, which would help Sony keep the retail price of a new model under $300. At this point, it really needs to match the Kindle 2's price or better yet, go slightly cheaper.
Comments?
User reviews
-
-
A delight to read on... a major improvement by Sony.
by cookie814 on October 19, 2007
Pros: Outstanding battery life, easy on the eyes, crisp text
Cons: AC Adapter is optional,
Summary: I have been reading books on my pda for years. I was unhappy with the Sony PRS 500 and returned it for a multitude of reasons, so I was wary ...
Summary: I have been reading books on my pda for years. I was unhappy with the Sony PRS 500 and returned it for a multitude of reasons, so I was wary of purchasing the new model PRS 505.
I love this device. I have just read my 2nd book and I can't say enough good things about this reader. Sony has nicely resolved the many issues of their original reader. The page refresh is very fast, the overall screen text appears brighter and crisper on this device. The battery life is great, I am still on the initial charge after 2 books (1600 pages).
My only critique is that I wish the text size could be a little larger. I have noticed the actual text size depends on the book itself. The large text format on one book is not necessarily the same on the next. Landscape formatting is not centered on the reader.....page borders and margins in the landscape mode are unbalanced.7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great for reading
by watsdamattau on October 17, 2007
Pros: Relatively light weight with a fantastic screen
Cons: Would be a 10 if it had some light source, Adobe PDF's can't be enlarged
Summary: This unit is fantastic. The buttons are well placed with the page turning buttons on the right side as well as the bottom left. Great for either hand holding or ...
Summary: This unit is fantastic. The buttons are well placed with the page turning buttons on the right side as well as the bottom left. Great for either hand holding or having it sit flat on the table. The screen and text are very, very legible. The speed of page turning is fast enough that you won't lose any momentum when reading.
The only reason why I didn't give it a rating of 10 is because PDF files still suffer from not being able to zoom enough.
The unit would also benefit from some kind of backlighting, but it's not really necessary since a real book doesn't have one and the screen is very similiar. The anti-glare screen is good, though not perfect. It still reflects light from a certain angle.
Overall I'm really happy I purchased this item. It was a little expensive, but not having to carry two heavy 400 - 700+ page physical books makes it well worth the price. Also, no trees were harmed in order for us to be entertained.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
A Book that's Fun to Read
by ESUNintel on August 26, 2008
Pros: Thin, lightweight, nice "ink" display, open to different formats, nice button layout, big display, great battery life, ability to use SD card or Sony Memory Stick, more ebook choices than Kindle
Cons: A little slow sometimes, only Windows compatible, Sony Connect store is limited, ebooks cost more than Kindle
Summary: I purchased the "new" Sony Reader, which isn't so new anymore, a few days ago, and so far I am very happy with it. It was a hard choice ...
Summary: I purchased the "new" Sony Reader, which isn't so new anymore, a few days ago, and so far I am very happy with it. It was a hard choice deciding between this Reader or the Amazon Kindle, but after a few weeks of thought I went ahead and got the Sony instead. It would be nice to have EVDO wireless technology everywhere, access to Wikipedia, newspapers, etc; but I decided I already have an iPhone and I usually carry a computer around, so I might as well get access to Wikipedia and the Wall Street Journal in full color rather than through a reader. My other decision maker was that the Sony Reader looks nice, is thin and has a good button layout, rather than having the poor design (my opinion) that the Kindle has. I do admit that the Kindle does have a nicer selection of books through the first and largest book etailer, Amazon.com; however, with the Sony I can download books from not only the Sony store, but also other ebook online stores, for example, today I purchased 3 books from O'Reily media. With the Sony it's pretty much unlimited where I an download from thanks to its Adobe support. The Kindle does have attractive book prices, usually no more than $9.99, but thanks to DRM I am locked to only buying from Amazon. I can even transfer my PDF's, like IT White papers into the Sony with out having to e-mail anything, simply by transferring it over as if it were a flash drive. The e-reader takes about a second or two to turn pages, but no longer than it would take to turn an actual book page, so I don't know why some complain that it's slow. I am really happy with the Sony Reader so far, but I do recommend that if you don't need one right away, wait 2-4 months for the new Kindle to come out to see what it does. ...hopefully they'll make it easier on the eyes, and open to any store.
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Bad is not so bad, update makes it better
by dmclean62 on July 25, 2008
Pros: New firmware adds ePub and Adobe Digital Editions support
Cons: Having to buy charger, no (direct) Mac support
Summary: I've had it for 8 months now and I must admit that I really do enjoy it. It is NOT TRUE that Sony is the only source for books (...
Summary: I've had it for 8 months now and I must admit that I really do enjoy it. It is NOT TRUE that Sony is the only source for books (Baen's eBook site http://www.webscription.net/ sells Sony format ebooks). There are also tools (such as Calibre (http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/) that allow users to convert other formats to the Sony format (and Calibre runs on Macs and Linux).
With the new firmware update that allows the reader to use ePub and Adobe Digital Editions ebooks, there are even more options. A friend of mine reports that she was able to download a Digital Editions eBook from the web site of her local public library and read it on her Sony!
The whole charger issue is completely regrettable - especially since my charger failed and now I have to call Sony support for another one.
I like my reader so much that I have been working on converting my entire library to eBooks. I expect to recover at least one entire bookcase - space that my wife will be more than happy to reapportion to other uses.4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great Reader, LOTS OF BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR FREE!!
by andhowdc on December 3, 2008
Pros: easy to read, a couple of different font sizes to chose from, light, slim, very portable
Cons: page turning take a second
Summary: I am a very fast and active reader, I consume everything from the daily print newspaper to a selection of magazines, and of course, piles and piles of books. i ...
Summary: I am a very fast and active reader, I consume everything from the daily print newspaper to a selection of magazines, and of course, piles and piles of books. i absolutely love my 505. First and foremost, a lot of the negative reviews have to do with the expense of Sony's eBook store books. While I agree that compared with Amazon's lower Kindle edition pricing a lot of Sony's are out of whack, I think these reviewers are ignoring the fact that THOUSANDS of public domain books are available for free, legal download at sites like feedbooks.com.
I was skeptical about ereaders before I got my own and now I don't think I could live without it.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Screen damaged far to easily
by petroosp on October 27, 2008
Pros: Nice to read.
Cons: There is a flaw in the product. Turning pages with thumb pressure in the left hand corner can damage the screen, not accepted by Sony under warranty, and not acknowledged by Sony. Too many books are being returned damaged.
Summary: The book is not robust, and is easily damaged by excessive page turning.
Summary: The book is not robust, and is easily damaged by excessive page turning.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Spectacular
by Conneriscool on January 2, 2008
Pros: Light weight, easy to read, nice touch and feel
Cons: You have to charge with USB unless you buy accessory of a DC input
Summary: This is the best buy i have ever made. I have 10 books on it so far that i have bought from ebook.com and it was a very fast ...
Summary: This is the best buy i have ever made. I have 10 books on it so far that i have bought from ebook.com and it was a very fast trasnation and i put it on my reader and got going in less than 10 minutes.
This is very easy going on the eyes because it is made out of e ink and it looks like paper and ink. I have seen from earlier reviews about people being mad about no backlight on the reader. Folks, that is the FREAKIN POINT!!! It was to be easy going ont he eyes and if you have a back lit screen it is going to feel just like you looking at a computer screen, and as most of you know, if you look at the computer screen for a long period of time it will start to hurt your eyes and you have to get off of it. With no backlight this Reader gets as close to the "grove" as possible.
I love taking this to church because it has the NIV bible on it. Any other questions just email me at (tan_dude_92@yahoo.com)2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
A note on book sources ....
by AFC RW on November 15, 2007
Pros: Improved device ergonomics
Cons: Still hoping for a Lightwedge designed for these 6" e-ink devices.
Summary: Fictionwise.com is now selling their multiformat books in Sony Reader format.
Summary: Fictionwise.com is now selling their multiformat books in Sony Reader format.
3 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Book Prices Way Out of Line
by rbrt7 on November 15, 2007
Pros: handy to have a light-weight device to hold many books
Cons: not waterproof (bad for the beach) & and books too expensive
Summary: Most of the cost of a paper book goes to the expense of printing, binding, shipping, and warehousing the physical product itself. (For example, the bookstore where you buy it ...
Summary: Most of the cost of a paper book goes to the expense of printing, binding, shipping, and warehousing the physical product itself. (For example, the bookstore where you buy it usually gets 40% of the purchase price.)
With a downloaded E-book, there is virtually NO expense for any of these things! Apart from the cost to maintain a server and internet connection, it's all profit!
So why does Sony charge MORE for an e-book than I would pay for a paper version?
I checked one current best seller (Clive Cussler's The Chase). On Sony's CONNECT service, it is selling for $21.56. I can buy the same book in paper format on Amazon for $16.17!!!! And I don't have to pay $300 for a reader to read it on! And I can take it to the beach without worrying it will get ruined if some water splashes on it.
I love the idea of an e-book, but Sony is being rediculous in their pricing. If I am paying $300 for a reader, I should be able to get any book in their catalog for $5 or less!4 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Recommended for an avid book reader or wanting to avoid eye strain
by ajayvm on November 21, 2007
Pros: easy on eyes, less fatigue with reading, enough memory to hold plenty of books, portable, choice of small, medium and large fonts, portait or landscape reading, book marks, remembers where you left
Cons: slow in reading other formats such as pdf, rtf (good with .lrf), black and white, the software needs improvement
Summary: Since i have to read a lot of documents on laptop, PC that was causing eye strain, i wanted an e-reader that is easy on eyes and had read about ...
Summary: Since i have to read a lot of documents on laptop, PC that was causing eye strain, i wanted an e-reader that is easy on eyes and had read about e-ink technology. And I must say that the Sony PRS 505 reader is a good product in this regard. its as nice to eye as a printed book, but that also means you cant read it in the dark. the inbuilt memory of 190 MB + 2GB SD card + 8GB Sony memory stick assure enough books can be accomodated. user friendly as it remembers what page you were at when you stopped reading last time. other user friendly features i liked are facility of collections (where you can classify your content), landscape/portait reading, menu screen and navigation. Easy to carry, and battery lasts real long inspite of heavy reading. The screen is soothing white in color and size is good trade off between amount of information and portability / mobility. Images look a bit ok. I have been using it for two weeks now, and this thing is selling like hot cakes; i am surprised how come it does not have user reviews on cnet so far.
On the other hand, its very slow in performance when opening certain rtf, pdf. the software is bad at importing other formats such as pdf (especially A4 size) or rtf. if support for these formats is improved, the sales would boom. currently, managing with http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_conversion . Cmon Sony, take a cue from this site above, you can do better than just publishing a 3-4 pager "how to guide", that relies on people using Acrobat software (not reader) to resize and reformat docs to fit reader. Please read the website mobileread.com; its a good companion. Expect a slightly longish learning curve in getting your PC docs (pdf, chm, doc, html) on to the reader. Also dont expect it to replace your laptop or pc. Also remember, its just black and white.
As compared to competition such as kindle or iliad, i would prefer sony. the kindle might be tied to Amazon only stuff and seems a 100$ more expensive, and iliad is way to expensive at 700$, however you can make your notes.
Wishlist - faster firmware, better support for opening pdf, more investment in e-book library to make it a bit more professional, user friendly and attractive.
e-ink technology has a good future, please add color to our lives, its like going back to 1700s.
Between blue and silver, i found blue better due to its good contrast with the white screen, may be its just me. The metallic finish and the magnetic black cover that snaps to close on reader, are coool.
overall - excellent for taking and reading in garden, train, or in your bed in daytime, and by a night lamp at night. the Sony reader is like a fiction book, just much thinner and lighter and can hold 100s of them. Go, do your eyes a favor by trying it out at a store.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Sony
- Part number: PRS505SC
- Description: The Reader (model PRS-505) features a svelte body design. Re-styled controls more closely mimic paper page turns and allow for quick, intuitive navigation. A next-generation electronic paper display delivers faster response and a higher contrast ratio for easy reading even in bright sunshine. Eight levels of gray scale provide for crisp and clear text, images, and graphics. This device is designed for people on the go, this device is compelling because it allows them to carry a wide variety of reading materials whether they are on a cross-country flight, in a doctor's office waiting room, or at a beach resort. The Reader can handle a stack of books and other documents that people would rather not carry, yet offers a 'book-like' reading experience unavailable with other electronic devices. With the capacity to store up to 160 typical eBooks, the Reader can act as a mobile library. Expansion slots for Memory Stick Duo media or SD memory cards make the device's library potential practically limitless. More advanced users will appreciate the USB-based mass storage capability that allows them to use the device as a portable drive for the direct transfer of documents, images and other files to the Reader. A new auto sync feature also lets users set up folders with books and documents that can be automatically synchronized when the device is connected to a PC.
General
- Product Type eBook reader
- Width 4.8 in
- Depth 0.3 in
- Height 6.9 in
- Dimensions (W x D x H) 4.8 in x 0.3 in x 6.9 in
- Color Silver
- Weight 9 oz
- Color Silver
- Included Accessories Carrying case
- Slot provided type Memory Stick Duo, SD Memory Card
Memory
- Supported Flash Memory Cards SD Memory Card, Memory Stick Duo
Display
- Display Type 6 in E Ink
- Display type 6 in E Ink
- Image 3-bit (8 gray levels)
Operating System / Software
- OS Required Microsoft Windows Vista / XP
Audio
- Supported Digital Audio Formats AAC, MP3
Telecom
- Modem None
GPS System
- GPS Navigation None
Expansion / Connectivity
- Expansion Slots Total (Free) 1 Memory Stick Duo, 1 SD Memory Card
- Interfaces 1 x Hi-Speed USB
Power
- Battery installed (max) 1 Lithium ion
EBook Reader
- Supported Text Formats PDF, RTF, TXT, BBeB, EPUB, BBeB DRM
- Supported Still Image Formats BMP, GIF, PNG, JPEG
- Battery Life (pages) 7500 pages
Miscellaneous
- Cables Included 1 x USB cable
Battery
- Installed Qty (Max Supported) 1
- Technology / Form Factor Lithium ion
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Min Processor Type 800 MHz
- System Requirements Details Windows XP/Vista - Celeron - RAM 128 MB
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - Parts - 1 year, Limited warranty - Parts and labor - 90 days
Manufacturer info
- Sony
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Sony products on Shopper.com
-
- Website: http://www.sonystyle.com
- Address:
16765 W. Bernardo Dr., San Diego, CA 92127 - Phone: 1-877-865-SONY
- Email: contact@sel.sony.com
- Fax: 941-768-7790
%20-%20Compare%20prices,%20reviews,%20user%20opinions%20-%20Shopper.com&srcUrl=http://shopper.cnet.com/e-book-readers/sony-reader-digital-book/4014-3508_9-32672723.html?edId%3D-1%26merId%3D268465){kind=small}