Adventures with Sony's Digital Reader

IMPROVED DIGITAL READERS ARE IMPRESSIVE

Okay, I admit I'm really impressed with Sony's PRS-505 so far.

Learning the button functions was a snap, and so was hooking to my laptop's USB port to charge the battery. But charging that way is slow, so I switched to the optional AC Charger and had everything up and running quick.

The software to put on my PC is surprisingly easy to use. It logs into the Sony eBook Store automatically, keeps track of my purchases, transfers texts easily (and fast) between the store and the PC, and then to the Reader. The software also allows me to read on the PC if that's what I feel like doing.

Best yet, I've already "imported" two large WORD files from my PC to the Reader. I was able to preview one of my files in the waiting room at the doc's office with the smaller hand held device instead of dragging out the laptop to juggle it in the cramped space. Hooray!

And speaking of cramped spaces, the last time I tried to use my laptop during the four hour flight between Las Vegas and Atlanta, I discovered there wasn't enough space between my lap and the passenger seat in front of me. When the gentleman in the row ahead pushed his seat back to relax for the flight, his seat literally pushed my laptop lid so far down it was impossible to see the screen. Even when I tilted the keyboard up to change the angle, it was like trying to read the inside of a taco shell -- it didn't work.

I'm looking forward to my next trip with the Digital Reader that fits in my handbag andopens like a paperback in my hands. The laptop can stay in the overhead carryon.

A full HELP manual for both the Reader and the software are readily available on both the PC and the Reader. Wherever I am at the moment I need it, HELP is easy to find and navigate.

But the real treat is the clarity of the reading function. It truly is just like reading a paperback book. The page size is the same; the "look" of paper is the same.

So is the need for adequate lighting --- this screen is not backlit like a PC screen. You must have proper room light to read. I see now I will be ordering the optional LED Reading Light to go with it.

One advantage is the ability to enlarge the print with a click of a button. I use the larger print most of the time. My grandson who uses the Reader as much as I do prefers the normal print size.

Stay tuned for more ---- everyone I've shown it to has loved it, and we all have only one complaint. The cost of eBooks is still too high.

Hopefully that will change now that we have the ability to import other text than what we can buy at the dedicated store.

We should soon see a new host of great material at reasonable prices.