Sony PRS-600SC Touch Edition E-Book Reader

by Sony

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B002MSJNHO
• Item model number: PRS600SREF
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,637 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 25, 2009

Product Description

The Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition E-Book Reader allows readers to access up to 350 of their favorite books from anywhere. The intuitive touch screen display makes navigation a breeze, and lets readers turn pages with the swipe of a finger. An included stylus offers freehand highlighting and annotation. The Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition E-Book Reader also supports multiple file formats including ePub and PDF, giving owners access to more books from more places, including The eBook Store from Sony including more than one million free public domain titles from Google Books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why Sony?, August 28, 2009

By 

Roberta Karchner (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony PRS-600SC Touch Edition E-Book Reader (Electronics)

Length:: 3:24 Mins

I have been following the e-book readers for some time, and I wanted several things for me to "jump on the bandwagon." ***Since I have received many questions, I am now including a video to demonstrate my favorite features***

1) I have a number of PDF reference books, so a Reader needs to handle these well. Since my books are text, these reflow well on the Sony.

2) Because I will use (and now am using) the Reader for reference books, it was important that I be able to access my notes directly from my computer to use in other documents. I actually began using the software on my desktop several months before I purchased the 600, and was pleased with its capabilities.

3) I enjoy the free epub books from my library. The Sony accesses these easily. There are also a number of locations besides Sony selling the epub or Adobe digital books (usable by the Sony Touch) giving me more choice in my decision.

4) The Touch handles my regular documents well - as a public speaker, I love having my speeches available to study on the reader, without having to print them out!

The points I already love (thus the 5 stars)
1) I love having the touch turn capability, just a brush of my thumb!
2) I enjoy the sideways and zoom features for PDFs that you want to keep "standard"
3) After only a couple of minutes, I forgot I was even using a reader and I got involved in the book.

*** I live in an isolated area - so neither Whispernet for the Kindle nor the upcoming 3G connection on the more expensive Daily model would be helpful - I'm just as happy to order my books "in advance" and carry them with me.

I enjoy the feel of the Reader by itself, but since I will be carrying this "library" with me, and I was worried about protection, I purchased the M-edge Executive Jacket for Sony Reader PRS-505 (Genuine Leather--Pebbled Grey w/ Black) - SALE! which fits it perfectly.

I also purchased the Sony AC Charger for PRS505SC and PRS505LC to ensure that I can charge up my reader when my computer isn't around.

Edited after 2 weeks and 10 books -

Some people have mentioned the glare - since my previous reading was on my laptop - this isn't an issue for me. I keep my lighting at my side, and it is not a problem at all. It is more noticeable in a dark room with a single light source.

Another issue I have encountered isn't with the reader - but with the interaction between Windows and the software. It is pretty touchy. I have learned to be careful of some PDF documents which have caused problems.

It is also important that when importing books that aren't loaded through the reader that you "maintain" the link by not moving them once they are imported. Like Powerpoint and other programs, the desktop ebook reader doesn't store the book in the program - it links to it on your computer. Breaking the link means it can't find the book - and it can't upload the book.

*** A special touch for a "Grandma" is the ability to be able to load photos of my granddaughter to carry with me. There is even a feature that permits showing the photos as a slide show. While the photos are in black and white, they are very sharp and it is a nice touch when I travel.

*** Edited after 2 months -
A recent update in the software has removed some of the software connection problems I originally experienced. So, that's a plus!

However, I have recently added some PDF files that did NOT flow the same way as my original "professional" files reflowed. After checking with those more knowledgeable, I have been told that the problem is not with the Sony, but with the way the PDF files have been set up. The PDF is supposed to include "tags" that will help the pages to reflow correctly. My recommendation is that anyone with PDFs they need to carry on the reader download the free computer software and attempt to read them using this software. If it works on your computer, it will reflow correctly on the Sony. If it does not - then it will not do so on the Reader either.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Have one, Love it!, November 14, 2009

By 

Auric (Alton, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony PRS-600SC Touch Edition E-Book Reader (Electronics)

I did a fair amount of research before I bought this item. I studied the Kindle, and the more I read about it, the less I liked it! (Sorry Amazon!) I don't like the idea that my books reside on Amazon for me to down load again if I lose them (I guess I'm old school and want to be able to access my stuff on MY computer).

I'm also a fan of open architecture and that's what led me to the Sony.

On one review a person complained about the software. I'm not sure what operating system they have, but I have XP, and have had absolutely NO problems what so ever with crashes.

Pros: Open architecture, ton's of stuff out there that you can down load for free, Sony offers new free or low priced books just about every month, can read both ePub and PDF files with no problem. If you lose a book (I accidentally deleted one on my computer!) you can download it again for free.

Cons: The contrast on the touch edition is not as high as I would like it. I would like the background to be a bit whiter (I understand it's quite white on the Kindle), the touch screen is sometimes a bit twitchy especially on hi-liting, but once you get the hang of it's idiosyncrasies, not so bad. The dictionary is a bit limited: I find (at least in the books I read) it does not recognize quite a few words. I would like to see an update to a significantly better & comprehensive dictionary, (even if I have to pay a bit for it) which would operate seamlessly with this reader.

Cons true of all readers not just Sony: I'm not sure if this is a result of the Publishers' policies, but the so called "List Price" of eBooks seem totally arbitrary! So the so-called "discount" from list doesn't work out to be much of a discount! Books that are already out as mass-market paperbacks for $9.99 or less are listed as anywhere from $11.99 to $15! And then discounted 5 or 10%!! When you consider that you can buy a mass-market paperback at Target for 25% off, and an eBook has no additional publishing costs (once the book is made into an eBook (i.e. no shipping, printing, distribution etc.) this discrepancy in pricing makes absolutely no sense other than publisher trying to make more money. I look for the day when Sam's, and Target start selling eBooks on their websites and in Kiosks at their stores. Hopefully this should bring eBooks more into line with paper books.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Software Ruins Great Hardware, October 12, 2009

By 

B. Fosse "Brian Fosse" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony PRS-600SC Touch Edition E-Book Reader (Electronics)

The bottom line is that this is a great piece of hardware that is crippled by poor software and a limited selection of retail books. The core purpose of the reader is hindered by not being able to effectively and reliably transfer purchased books.

I have been following e-reader devices for over two years. Always waiting for the "next" device to come out, my wife rallied my family to go in together and surprise me with this reader for my birthday. I was very excited and loved the device until I tried to purchase books for it. The #1 problem was that Sony's eBook Library software crashed whenever I tried to transfer a purchased book to it. Granted, I only purchased books from Sony's store so this may not be the case with other eBook vendors.

I'm highly proficient with computers and would describe myself as an early adopter for new technologies. This is the most disappointed I have been with a device manufacturer in years. The reason is that I love the eReader! It is well built and has a great feature set. Getting books from Google and local libraries is a great option and works great (I did it). But Sony completely dropped the ball on their software to purchase protected books. After 4 hours of trying to get it to work consistently across 2 desktops and a laptop I knew I couldn't keep the reader. The final factor was when I realized this has been and remains to be an unresolved issue for past models of Sony readers as well. Sony never appeared to resolve the issue for those having problems in the past and it persists to this day.

If the software works with your computer then I would recommend this reader. However, based on my disappointing experience I can't recommend giving it a try. I may find myself waiting until the best distribution and ecosystem, which I believe to be Amazon, finds its way onto the best devices.

Pros (+)
+ Ability to write notes and highlight with stylus
+ Very well built, looks and feels nice
+ Touch screen navigation
+ Removable memory slots
+ Fun extra features - store pictures, listen to MP3s
+ Free books - from Google and local libraries

Cons (-)
- "eBook Store from Sony" software crashes when transferring purchased books
- Retail book selection much smaller than that offered on Kindle
- No wireless purchase option on this model - a big deal to me only because the software required to transfer books does not work well

A side note:
There is a way to adjust your system settings on Windows Vista using Data Execution Prevention to mitigate some of the problems. However, even this did not cause the software to work consistently for me and I recognize that most people don't desire to go to such lengths to transfer eBooks. Another option is to buy books from other eBook sellers and use Adobe's digital editions software to transfer books. For me that wasn't a good enough option to keep the reader.