Sony Reader PRS-600 Touch Edition
Real page turner?
Review When we reviewed Sony's original PRS-505 Reader a little over 12 months ago, our only real criticism was that the plethora of buttons and switches that festooned the device would be better replaced by a touchscreen.
Revised edition: Sony's PRS-600 Reader Touch
Now Sony has released its next-generation Reader, the PRS-600, which does indeed have a touch screen, hence its 'Touch Edition' moniker. Having asked, we have received. But should we grateful?
Look at the Touch from any direction other than face on and the differences between it and the old Reader are a hard to discern. At 121 x 174 x 10mm, it's a shade shorter and narrower but just over 2mm thicker than the original. At 286g it's also 26g heaver than the old model.
Like the 505, the 600 has an aluminium case which makes for a solid and flex-free bit of kit that should last the course. In order to keep the front as clear as possible, all the necessary ports, sockets and switches are crammed into the top and bottom edges of the device.
Up top there are slots for both SD and Memory Stick Duo storage expansion, along with the on/off switch and a stylus – more on this below – while down below sit a 3.5mm headphones jack, mini USB port and power socket. Since Sony doesn't bundle a power adaptor, you'll have recharge the 600 using the supplied USB cable and a handy powered-up personal computer. This takes four hours opposed to just two with a 5.2V mains charger.
Other jacket colours available - but not yellow, thriller fans
Details aide, the new Reader is an altogether more refined bit of design than the original and Sony has tried hard to make it look bookish, with a fake spine along the left-hand edge and a gentle taper in profile on the right.
COMMENTS
I've found a much better alternative
Its an open-source repository of every book published. Its works on simple magstripe technology. It goes several hundred years between charge-ups and best of all is absolutely free.
According to the graphic on the front its made by Spelthorne Borough Council and is badged up as a "Library Card".
Am I the only one who suspects these things are only used by the same people who sit and write their novels on Macs in Starbucks ? To quote Family Guy, "Writing isn't writing unless somone is watching you doing it"
Disappointed... exchanged it
I took my recently-purchased 600 back to Waterstones. I was slightly nervous about this, since waterstones.com has a "We do not offer refunds or exchanges for ereader devices" disclaimer, but I thought I had a reasonable case of "Not fit for purpose." What use is a ereader if reading off it is uncomfortable?
Anyway, the manager of the store was polite and would have given me a refund, but instead I asked for an exchange, and took away for the smaller "Pocket" edition. This doesn't have the touch screen, and the screen quality is day to the 600's night. Brighter "white" level, and only point sources generate disruptive reflections in the pocket's screen, instead of any illuminated object.
Much happier now.
I don't get eBooks, either
I was a long time Palm user and read many books on it. I loved the way the text would scroll and I could read without having to do page turns. Now I have an iPhone and last night I was reading Edith Wharton as I came home on the London Underground. The book was free and the gadget I carry around anyway.
I never had any problem reading books on the Palm or on the iPhone. I don't understand why one would want to spend so much money and carry an extra gadget just to read books, unless one needs to take notes, which is not my case. My Palm had good dictionaries and so does my iPhone, and if I did occasionally need to take notes I might be able to do that anyway using a notes app. The smallness of the Palm|iPhone makes it ideal to get out in a crowded train. When I stay with my daughter I sleep in a bed without a bedside light. That is no problem with the Palm|iPhone, either, as the screen is backlit. I don't know whether readers like the Sony can be used in the dark.
Disappointed by the screen quality
The touch-screen layer of the 600 model seems to make the screen both more dim, and more reflective. The combination of the two makes it awkward to read, for me at least. I have to angle it to try to find a dark patch so I can "see through" it to the screen.
If e-ink displays are supposed to be easy on the eye and more like the experience of reading a printed page, then for me this model's screen is sub-standard.
In short: find somewhere you can give the 600 a good test read in representative lighting conditions before committing to it. Check that it works for you.
