Overview:

Pros:

• Excellent display with superb text reproduction
• Holds about 160 eBooks
• Support for a vast range of file formats including PDF
• Excellent built quality and portability
• Ease of use
• Useful software
• Low power consumption
• The soft tan case

Cons:

• Flashing on the screen while changing the display
• Delay between page turns
• Half baked music and photo options
• External power adaptor not included

Review:

The promise of the eBooks is that, they give you a library in the palm of your hands, and an enticing one at that. But despite this great promise, the concept has got a very slow take off in the United Kingdom. One way to get over the hurdle is with a well designed, easy to use and a cool looking kit, and Sony’s PRS-505 stands as an example for this. With this digital reader, it is clear that the company intends tackling the eBook market with far more elan.
You will be able to say that the PRS 505 eBook Reader is from Sony even without looking at the logo for various reasons: a gorgeous piece of kit in a small package, the memory stick pro duo expansion slot and last but not the least, the proprietary DRM. Though the latter part of the identities is the unfortunate characteristics of Sony in the last decade, fortunately, the things are changing slowly.  The new reader not only has got an SD card slot along with the Pro Duo Slot, but it also plays ACC and MP3 files, we almost forgot! The reader is Penguin powered.

Attractive and stylish design:

One thing that is apparent as soon as you unpack the PRS 505 is that the Japanese giant has hit the bull’s eye when it comes to design. The eBook looks absolutely fantastic in its minimalistic design and designer touch. The device has a matte silver finishing with a well contrasting dark silver buttons and controls. The device is also available in dark blue shade, by chucking in some extra bugs; you can also get its camel coloured leather binding, which is also available in pink or black shades which is soft to touch and also gives the device a high tech look. The rectangular 6" display is surrounded by an over abundance of controls. At the very first look at the device, you might go on to think that there are far too many controls that have been squeezed into it, but once you start using it, you will realise that, they are just perfect and essential.

Sleek:

Sony Reader PRS-505 EBook has cut a few millimetres from the size of its last model. The device is very slim with its dimensions being (H x W x D) 175 x 122 x 7.6 mm and even when it is kept inside the protective case, it only has the size of a slim notepad. Thinner than most paperbacks and just 9 ounces, the eBook fits into your bag without weighing you down. Even though the case that resembles a book sleeve is not made out of genuine leather, it has a quality that feels like one. Sony has also made sure that the reader is well usable while it is under its sleeve, making it easy to be read even when placed on a desk without having to remove it from its sheath. The eBook reader is comfortable to be held in hands for a long period of time, even with one hand.

Excellence in display:

Coming to the highlight feature of the Sony PRS 5050 Digital Book reader, its six inch display, a part on which you will be spending a great deal of time staring at it. Though it is not touch sensitive, you will have no trouble in accessing it with a great deal of ease. At this point we would like to point out to the people who prefer real books, that is, ink on paper to reading text on screen should not just neglect this Sony reader, as you are in for something of a revelation. The screen on the display is not a standard LCD as you would find on most of the mobile devices, it is digital ink on digital paper. We know exactly what you are thinking in your minds, you have to see to believe it.

What is the difference?
So, here is the difference between a LCD and what is found in the reader: unlike an LCD, the display on the eBook is designed to display only static image similar to a piece of paper. Yet another advantage of this type of a screen is that, unlike the LCDs it does not constantly draw power to keep an image in its place, the power is only used to draw the page and then, it remains on the display passively.

Excellence in quality:

You must also note that, it is not just the power efficiency that makes the screen great; it is the quality of it too. The eight level gray scale E-Ink Electronic Paper, which is up from four levels offered previously, provides you with clear and crisp text. Hence, the device is same as a real book, perfectly readable irrespective of the viewing angle. Brighter the ambient light, easier the book is to read and the PRS 505 eReader is a good companion in bright sunlight, but we found that the device is a little difficult to be read in dimly lit areas; a backlight would have been great. We also loaded the reader with some images to test the display quality, at the beginning the display looked pixelated, but the reader intelligently automatically adjusted itself so that the image appears clearly, albeit without colour.

Buttons here, there, everywhere:

From the above paragraph, you might be clear of the fact that Sony has the most important feature of the PRS 505 digital reader, the display, right. So let us see how rest of the package measures up. In the right hand side of the screen are ten buttons that run down the device, numbered zero to nine. These buttons can either be used to select options on the corresponding lines in the reader menus or even to jump to specific pages in the volume while reading. The reader has a bevelled edge that resembles a book and also has two buttons that aids you in turning the pages of the book forwards and backwards.

Controls beneath the screen:

And below the display, you will find more controls. In the left again, you will find a set of page turning buttons that are mounted over a circular rocker, a bookmark button that turns down the edge of the page and a zoom button that increases the font size and as a consequence, even the number of pages in your book. Though you can bookmark, it is not possible to annotate documents. Towards the right is a tiny menu button that brings up the main menu and when pressed multiple times, allows you to jump back menu levels. You will also find a four way rocker along with a central selection button which is also used to navigate through the menus, if you do not find the number buttons down the right of the display comfortable to use.

On the top:

The top edge of the Sony PRS 505 Electronic Book reader is densely populated by the sliding power switch and the memory card and SD card slots. With the option of an SD Card slot, we are delighted that Sony no more forces its consumers to adopt MemoryStick. However, it is really not mandatory for you to have any extra memory as the reader already has a memory of 192MB. We know that you might be laughing as we say it, as it might just seem to be an awful amount of memory in this generation of TeraBytes; but with the capacity of 192MB, the reader can hold up to 160 books! So you can even go on to insert a 16GB memory card and carry a library with you.

Bottom edge controls in PRS-505:

In the bottom edge of the Sony PRS505, there is a mini USB port for connecting it to your system and also the charging device. You will also find a 5.2V DC input if you wish to charge directly from the mains, although a mains charger is not available with the package. And finally, here is what you have all been waiting for, a headphone socket and a volume control. This means the Sony PRS 505 can also be used as a music player; though it is quite big to replace a portable MP3 player, it will prove to be a nice feature if you like listening to music while reading.

Sony Connect:

The package of the Sony eBook PRS-505 includes the Sony eBook Library software, the Sony Connect which operates similar to Apple’s music management software, iTunes. The original version of the Sony eBook Reader did not support auto-syncing of library content to the device, but with the new device, you can auto-sync music, photos and documents whenever the reader is plugged in; again a very welcome change. Unfortunately the Mac and Linux users will not be doing any auto-syncing. Despite the fact that the reader is powered by the Montavista Linux and uses code from projects like OpenSSL and FreeType, the desktop application needs to access to Connect store and sync the device for Windows only.

eBook store:

In the left column of the software you will find links to your digital reader, library and eBook store. Talking about the eBook store, we have to mention here that Sony has partnered with Waterstones which is one of the most recognised high street book shops in UK. The selection of books that are available on the online book stores of Sony boasts more than 20,000 titles and still expanding. The prices of the books are neither expensive nor cheap, they are in par with the other traditional retailers. The reader has an RSS feed option that allows you input RSS feeds from your system, but does not allow you get this in real time.

Classic collection for the starters:

The package also includes a CD with 100 books, which include some old classics that are out of copyright. But it is a perfect opportunity for you to read the classics, if you had missed them out by any chance, as it will not cost you even a penny. The CD has some truly cracking stuff from the likes of Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen, Jules Vern and Charles Dickens to name, but very few. You will also need to use Adobe Digital Editions to manage your electronic book library. An Adobe ID has to be created and login to manage your purchases. It utilises an iTunes-esque authorisation / deauthorisation system, which limits your use of DRM eBooks to six systems.

Simple task made complicated:

Getting the books on to the reader is not as easy as you think it might be. Despite the instructions in the supplied CD states that the books can be simply dragged and dropped directly into the eBook library application, it is not quite easy as said. We do not know why, but you cannot drag and drop the files directly to the library window. Instead, the books have to be dragged to the library tag in the left column of the software or the Reader tab. This will not be a big hassle once you are actually aware of it, but the task would have been much easier if Sony had designed it in such a way that the books could be dragged directly to the main window.

File formats supported by Sony Reader PRS 505:

The reader also has the support for PDF files which will be highly useful for most of the consumers. Some of the other file formats supported by the device includes EPUB eBook, BBeB Book, RTF, Microsoft Word and .TXT. The reader can also display graphics in JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP formats and it will play music in MP3 and AAC formats.

Job half-done:

We have to say that the music feature and the photo playback features are half done. For instance, the music feature does not support albums and it also does not support play lists. Evry song that you bring over to the reader appears as a single long list. When you start playing music, it plays through the list completely, and then starts it over and over again. Like the terminator, it stops for nothing, even continuing to play when the device is powered off and back on. Though there is a slide-show option, the pictures are limited too. Photos shot in plenty of light look sharp, but those without enough light call for squints just to make out the subject matter amid all that wash of gray.

Useful features in PRS 505:

Flipping through the pages does not take more than half a second, which is not certainly instantaneous, but is close enough. However, this might get a little irritating if you are after some particular page. As we had mentioned previously, the zoom or magnify option is very useful. We really admire the fact that the text formatted itself, so that you do not have to scroll around the page. The excellent viewing angles of the reader will be a great welcome for the readers who hate staring dead at papers. The display can either be viewed in portrait or landscape mode.

The price factor:

The PRS505 eBook Read has a price tag that is pretty reasonable as some of the other eBooks that are as good as this one costs around £100 more. Though the reader is more of a complete package than most of the other readers in the market, it is still a shame that Sony has not included a mains adaptor in the package, while the docking cradle connector that was found in the original PRS 500 is also conspicuous by its absence.

Massive battery life:

This Sony e-reader PRS 505 has a staggering battery that gives you about 6800 page turns between charges, so you will never have to worry about running out of juice between war and peace. But if you decide to listen to MP3s while reading, it drains off the battery quite quickly. Although there is not any need to shut off the device, Sony provides two ways to do so. Using the power switch puts the reader into sleep mode, from which the device takes about four seconds to wake. It is also possible to shutdown the device, an option that is buried deep in the settings menu, where the casual users probably will never see it. When waking up the device from a shutdown, the start-up screen appears in about six seconds and the reader will be fully usable only after about fifty seconds.

Warranty:

Sony offers its PRS 505 Digital eBook reader one year warranty for parts and 90 days for labour.

Verdict:

The appeal of an eBook reader is personal. But at no point will we be saying that this device would make the real books obsolete. It just gives you the ease and ability to carry a vast collection of books with you, giving you a great number of choices at all times. Tough the eBook revolution might not be appealing for all, if you are one of those people who are willing to give them a try, then the Sony reader PRS 505 will not be a disappointing choice for sure. With a staggering screen, battery and ease of use, you will have to wait long for any other better choice than this one.

Sony Reader PRS 505 EBook - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Sony
Model Name	Sony Reader PRS 505 EBook
Model number	PRS 505
Colour	Silver
Dimensions (H x W x D)	175.3 x 122 x 7.6 mm
Weight	260 grams
Display technology	E Ink® "Electronic Paper"
Screen size	6 inch
Display resolution	170 pixels per inch
Grey scale	Eight level grey scale
Built in memory	192MB (Approx. 160 eBooks)
Processor	800 MHz Intel® Celeron® class processor or better
RAM	128 MB Minimum, or 512 MB minimum for Windows Vista®.
Hard Drive	20 MB Minimum
Memory slots	MemoryStick™ MS DUO slot SD Card Slot
Compatible free eBook and text formats	EPUB eBook, BBeB Book, Adobe® PDF, Microsoft® Word, TXT, RTF
Compatible DRM eBook and text file formats	EPUB eBooks (Adept) BBeB eBooks (Marlin)
Compatible unsecured audio files	mp3, AAC (not most DRM audio)
Compatible image files	JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP
Compatible Operating systems	Windows® XP (Home Edition / Professional, Media Center Edition, Media Center Edition 2004, Media Center Edition 2005) & Windows Vista® (Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate)
Ports	1 x USB 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack
Battery type	Rechargeable lithium-ion
Battery life	Approx 6800 page turns
Recharging time	Four hours with USB, Two hours with optional AC charger
Package contents	Sony eBook PRS 505 USB cable Quick start guide Software User guides 100 free classic eBooks disc
Warranty	Limited warranty - Parts - 1 year , labour - 90