Sony PRS-500 Portable Reader System

by Sony

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• ASIN: B001EHI1KE
• Item model number: PRS-500
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,776 in Office Products (See Top 100 in Office Products)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 18, 2008

Product Description

The Sony Reader is an e-book reader. It uses an electronic paper display developed by E Ink Corporation that has 166 dpi resolution, eight levels of grayscale, is viewable in direct sunlight, requires no power to maintain a static image, and is usable in portrait or landscape orientation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Device. Clear Screen. Expensive., September 29, 2007

By 

K. HUANG (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I got this a few days ago after seeing the high cost to get a physical paper print of a PDF book from an online publisher.

I have many technical computer documents in PDF format that I like to read. Most of them range from 200-1500 pages; having a print copy has always been more convenient to read a few pages here and there (especially on long road trips and while on the bus / subway).

I decided to get this item as used from a seller. Overall I really like my Sony Reader. If it was not for the cost I would have given 5 stars. In addition, the following are my personal scale from 1-3 (3 being the highest):

Reading clarity 2.8: Very sharp, but the brighter the surrounding light the better the contrast. I am thinking of getting a clip-on booklight so I can read in the dark (late bus rides home). When changing pages, you can see a slight "ghost" print in 15-30% of the previous imprint. However, it is very faint, and may be the limitation of the eInk technology. Ghost images do not seem to go past 3-4 page turns, however, imprints can linger in 5-10% for up to 3-4 page turns. (It seem that the screen does a single refresh when you turn the page.)

Battery Life 3.0: I've had it for the last 4 days, reading about 3 hrs / day, and it is still has 50% battery bars from the original charge.

Portability 3.0: Lighter and thinner than most of my books.

Size 2.2: The regular screen may be too small for my PDF manuals. I use the landscape and larger font for viewing. This is perfect for a novel / story book with "medium" font setting; however, most computer books and manuals are intended to be printed much larger. The size is comparable to most story book, but since there is an option for a larger font and landscape mode, I do not mind turning more pages so that I do not have to strain my eyes.

Readability Convenience 2.5: There are only 2 font settings (small and medium). The medium size is easier for me to read, but I find myself pressing the next page button rather often. However, I can take this more conveniently than a full book (lighter, smaller), so I get more reading done. (after reading other's comment, I may need to take better care not to crack the screen, though.).

Performance 2.5: It does take time to go to the next page (about 1-3 seconds delay depending on the complexity of the next page). I find myself pressing the next button ahead of time to keep a fast reading pace.

PDF 1.9: PDF seems a little slow to go to the next page when there is a picture, image, or diagram. Also, setting it on Medium font size does seem to be consistent in PDF. The font size seems to stay at small, when you change back to small then medium again you see a larger version. Also, diagrams, drawings, pictures are very difficult and next-to-impossible to read. I look on the computer to review diagrams.

Expandability 3.0: I have a 2 gig SD memory card in mine, and I still have 95%+ free memory with over 30 books.

In addition, the following deficiencies may be important to some (mostly, not a big deal to me, but I would consider a competing product):
-No way to zoom, or apply custom zooming from 0-200% or 0-x%.
-No light source or backlit (It would be nice if they could embedd led's for night reading.)
-Has Mp3 player, but no built-in speakers. (they could have taken small speakers out their palm or phone products)
-No search feature. Sometimes when I want to recall a topic or sentence, It would be easier to run a search instead of scrolling through the pages. (makes sense, since it does not have a keyboard. when frustrated, I just use the computer).

77 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's as good as you could expect, November 26, 2007

By 

Kent Roorda (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

We've owned a Sony reader for over a year now. First, it sure beats having to travel with a bunch of heavy and space consuming books. One reviewer said that the font size couldn't be adjusted. This is completely false. The font size can be adjusted VERY easily. Another reviewer mentioned that the screen wasn't backlit. Probably knowing more about electronics than that reviewer, I can assure you that there is a very good reason for NOT backlighting such a large screen... That reason is power consumption. Backlighting requires a great deal of power; even more power than creating the actual letters and words on the screen. Face it, a regular book isn't back lit either! If you would like to read in a dark environment, you can use any number of small, LED, book reading lights that are available for under $10. Otherwise, in standard light, reading the Sony book is just like reading a piece of white paper... very pleasing to the eyes, and, again, you CAN adjust the size of the fonts to suit your eyesight. In addition to being capable of holding up to around 160 books, the Reader can also be used as an MP3 player. Very Cool and Nice! You can listen to music by itself, or, while you are reading. Downloading both reading material and music on to the player is simple via your USB connection. If you want to increase the memory of the Reader, you can do so by using a Sony Memorystick or a standard SD memory card. And, the memory cards just slip in the side of the unit. After you use this product, you'll wonder why you have so many paperbacks laying around. It is extremely convenient, easy-to-use, space and weight saving, and downloading a book costs about the same as the best price you would pay for a paperback book. (There are also many books and publications that can be downloaded for free). This would be a wonderful gift for someone who loves to read.

78 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTELY Love My Sony Reader AND eliminates Paper, August 31, 2007

By 

John Schinter (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

The Sony Reader is an absolute marvel. First of all the screen - is incredible - the brighter the light - the easier it is to read the screen. It was described to me as liquid paper, and is a different technology than LCD's. An LCD is backlit - and in bright sunlight difficult to read.

Not the Sony Reader - It has no backlight, and is intended to be just like a book (ie. Needs light to read).

It is elegant, light, CRISP screen, and capable of storing E-Books, MS Word Documents, and Adobe .pdf files.

MOST Amazing is the battery life - it is rated in page turns, not hours on. It takes virtually no electric power and can stay on indefinately, and only takes power when you turn a page. (Allows 7,500 page turns on a re-charge)

I have read more than 5,000 pages already, and find it so easy to carry around many books that I have always wanted to read, but couldn't find the space in my briefcase to carry the book(s). I have 80 books currently on mine....... So many books are available for free on the internet.

Even better - is the Sony READERS ability to play your favorite music while reading your books, because it plays MP3's.

And if all that isn't enough - You can store pictures in it as well.

Could not recommend this product higher - MUST HAVE!!!!!!