Developer: Sony Inc.

Release Date: October 2007

Introduction

The Sony Reader Digital Book (PRS-505), better known as the Sony Reader, is a dedicated eBook reader that is able to read ePub books, free and commercial eBooks, either with or without DRM. The Reader is currently available in a number of countries, including; U.S., Canada, UK, Germany and France.

The Sony Reader was the first eBook reader to use the new advanced E-Ink screen technology; a screen that gives an excellent reading experience very close to that of real paper, making it very easy going on the eyes.

Another major feature of the reader over most other electronic devices is their fantastic battery life, with over 7,000 pages turns – or up to two weeks of power – on just one battery charge.

It is also the first eBook reader to use Adobe’s Digital Editions. This allows users to read books in the ePub book format both with and without DRM; making available bestsellers from many different online eBook stores.

Reading eBooks on the Sony Reader PRS-505

There are two different ways to get ePub books onto your Reader, either via the dedicated Sony Library or using Adobe Digital Editions. If you’re using Adobe DE then you just need to add the book to the DE Library and then drag onto your PRS505 reader icon.

Navigating around your library on the Reader is very simple, although perhaps too simple for those with hundreds of books downloaded. However, the menu systems has been kept very straight forward and once you open a book the buttons for page turning are nicely placed.

Like all E-Ink devices, the screen is very crisp and pleasant to read on, even in the brightest sunlight and Sony has chosen a good default font style.

Many of the eBooks found here at epubBooks.com have footnotes which are accessible by clicking on them. If there is more than on footnote on a page you can use the small four-way button to move between them. When clicked, you are taken to the appropriate note on the footnotes page. Selecting and clicking again on the footnote number will take you back to the original page.

All epubBooks.com eBooks include a Table of Contents, although as the Sony Reader remembers the last page you were reading, you shouldn’t need this too often.

Conclusion

All in all the Sony Reader is a great reader which has been designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind and although it doesn’t have the WiFi abilities of other devices, it is still well worth considering.