Sony PRS700BC Digital Book Reader [Electronics]

by Sony

• The Reader Digital Book allows you to search, browse and buy new releases, from The eBook Store from Sony and other participating Websites.
• With the included eBook Library 2.0 PC Software, you can easily transfer Adobe PDF documents, Microsoft Word documents, BBeB format.
• You can even play back of unsecured MP3 and AAC audio files. (Headphones not included.)
• Search, browse, and buy new releases, classics, and popular digital book titles from The eBook Store from Sony and other participating Websites.
• 20MB Minimum available Hard Drive space

Product Details

• Item Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• ASIN: B001HHZ1S6
• Item model number: PRS-700BC
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,726 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 18, 2005

Product Description

Make the most of your reading experience with this next-generation Reader Digital Book. It features an interactive touch screen display and built-in light. Don't carry and tarry heavy books. Download and read them on this delightful electronic device. Imagine holding a library of books conveniently in one hand. Begin a new chapter with the PRS-700BC Reader Digital Book. Boasting an impressive 6.0-inch, touch screen display, this Reader uses paper-like E Ink technology which makes it easier to read, even in bright-light situations. In addition to a built-in light, there's an interactive touch screen that lets you turn pages with the slide of a finger or activate the bookmark. You can also create annotations with a virtual keyboard, highlight text with a stylus pen, search for text in your digital book, and easily adjust the font size. A faster processor gives you quicker response times when opening content or turning pages. Ideal for travelers or people who like to read while on the go, the PRS-700BC holds approximately 320 digital books. A sizeable 6-inch display with touchscreen technology lets you interact with the Reader just like a real book. A simple movement with the slide of a finger lets you easily turn pages or activate the bookmark. It also features a virtual keyboard that can be used for quick annotation or search. While most portable electronics lose power after only a few hours, the Reader Digital Book lets you turn up to 7,500 continuous pages (or up to two weeks of reading) on a single charge of internal rechargeable battery. USB connector for data transfer (broadband Internet service suggested) Battery Type - Rechargeable Lithium-Ion / Recharging Time - Approx. 4 Hours with USB charging from powered Computer or Approx. 2 Hours when using optional AC wall charger Sony USA Limited Warranty - 90-Day Parts and Labor

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

171 of 173 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Touch screen: cool page turner, slightly foggy effect November 13, 2008

By Bibliophile

I had a Sony reader PRS-505 for a year then bought the new PRS-700 model.
The new model comes with a touch screen put over the letter screen, allowing to turn pages back and forth with swiping motion like iphone. As a result there are fewer buttons for control; a stylus is provided to highlight or search words and make notes.
A little drawback: The added layer of the touch screen causes the underlying letters to appear slightly foggy. However, unless you have a previous model next to the new one to compare, you wouldn't notice it. The appearance of the letters is still excellent. The new PRS 700 offers LED lights around the screen to allow reading in a dark environment. It is slightly thicker and comes in one color. (black). It can now take up to 8G SD card instead of 2G. The grey scale is 8; the resolution is 170 psi---no change from previous model. I upgraded to the new model after thinking about the slightly diminished appearance of the ink letters; I am very happy with the purchase.

93 of 95 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sony Prs-700 (Portable Reading System) March 21, 2009

By silver bird

I have never left a review on Amazon.com before, although I have bought many products here over the years.
I decided to leave a review for the Sony Portable Reader 700, since there seems to be some misconception regarding this product, and there aren't ENOUGH (real) reviews here, as opposed to the Kindle (Amazon's own proprietary reader, which is heavily advertised here). I think the reason for this is because amazon reading device, is sold EXCLUSIVELY on Amazon.com to Americans. So it's only natural that it has many hundreds of reviews on this site.
The Sony Readers are sold in thousands of locations, airports, stores, online, bookstores etc. and in several countries around the world. Since very few Sony Reader owners bought their device on Amazon, it's only natural that the reviews here are much fewer. (Then unfortunately there are the Trolls, who leave fake bad 'reviews' for the Sony Reader, trying to damage the ratings for some reason known only to themselves).

This is Sony's 4th e-ink Reader. First the Librie in 2004 which was the very first e-ink reader in the world, then theSony PRS-500 Portable Reader System, in 2006. The PRS-505 which came in three colors in 2007 ; Sony PRS-505/LC Blue Digital Book Reader,Sony PRS-505/RC Digital eBook Reader - Red, Sony PRS-505 Portable Digital e-Reader System (Silver) and now the latest com/Sony-PRS700BC-Digital-Reader-Electronics/dp/B001HHZ1S6">Sony PRS-700 Reader Digital Book Portable eBook reader with 6" touchscreen display. The reason I mention the 700's predecessors is to point out that Sony isn't new at the e-ink (e-paper) business. In fact, they were the first!

I had a hard time deciding between the PRS-505 Red and the PRS-700. The PRS-505 has a slightly crisper screen and I LOVED the stylish red color of the device, especially paired with a red leather cover. But for me, the PRS-700 has better features, and more fancy bells and whistles (and comes with a free cover).
I decided on the 700, as it had what I wanted most, and it was the latest :).

The device is very grown-up and stylish looking, great to hold, (not too heavy) and looks EXPENSIVE and nice! Non gimmicky and no cheap plastic here, but then again, that is what we have come to expect from a Sony product.
The touch screen is interactive and can be used as a virtual keyboard to make notes. Words can be highlighted and saved, pages can be bookmarked, small natural gestures to turn pages, (there are also small well placed buttons for page turns and zoom etc.) using either the stylus or your fingers. The last page on the books you are reading is remembered, so it takes seconds to continue reading a book where you left off last time.

Page turns are super fast and there is an ability to zoom into PDF documents and move them around on the page. Hundreds of books, documents, photos, images and mp3's can be stored on the internal device and there are two options for expanding. A SD Memory Card slot and Memory Stick Duo slot, thereby increasing the amount space of books to virtually UNLIMITED!

The Sony PRS-700 supports many document types, PDF, ePub, TXT, RFT, to name just a few. So books can be bought from many sources NOT only the Sony Connect store. Your own documents and ebooks that you already own, can be easily and quickly transferred to your device. A free open source library software called Calibre, (that works very much like iTunes) works fantastically with your Sony and even converts file types and adds metadata and book covers for you.

Sony has recently partnered with Google books bringing their book count up to 600'000 books! The 500'00 Google books are free and mostly in the ePub format. Fantastic news!

Some people have complained about foggy screen, but I don't feel that to be the case. Yes, yes.... I hear that the 505's screen is crisper, but since I don't have one to compare with I don't feel the loss and I'm quite happy - MORE than happy with my personal choice. I have sometimes forgotten that I am using a Reader and slathered my hands with lotion before going to bed (to read), but found NO smudges on the screen the next day. The Sony PRS-700 definitely has a fantastic NON SMUDGE screen.

Also complaints about glare.... WHAT glare? Honestly! The only (small) glare that I encountered was a small spot off the metal edge of the device, and then again only if an artificial light was shining directly on the device.. A tiny adjustment to to the angle - GONE! Oh, and fantastic to read outside!!

All in all, I highly recommend this product for quality, ease of use, support of many formats, thousands of books, stylish design, reasonable price, ability to read in the dark (built in LEDs), and 'coolness' factor!

On a final note I would like to add that there are many ebook and e-ink Readers and devices out on the market now. For eg. The Illiad, Kindle, Bebook, Bookeen Cybook, Hanlin etc etc. There is no wrong or right choice. Do your homework and find the ebook device that best suits YOUR needs. And all those fanatics that support ONLY your own device and try to damage the rating of others.... WHY! That is just plain silly. Who hates their neighbor because they drive a different model car, or hates their friends of family because their mobile phone is a different make or model? I think we should be open minded in order to increase the availability of e-BOOKS, not necessarily of a specific device. IMHO Read more ›

191 of 205 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor screen hurts product November 16, 2008

By Jonathan Crowder

The most striking change in the new 700 when compared to the 505 is the new touch screen. Unfortunately, this is the exact thing that has actually caused the 700 to be a less desirable product than the 505. The main problem is readibility. With the 505, the E-ink screen is really like paper. You can read it in low light, angles, etc., and it is very clear. That is not the case with the 700. Due to the touch screen addition, the screen now looks much more like the grayscale screen on something like a graphing calculator. There is a significant decrease in contrast (the "white" now looks "gray"). I found it hard to read in some normal lighting conditions and it also had more glare than the 505. For example, when sitting in a normally lit room in the evening, with a light causing a mild shadow on the reader, I could not see then text (but could easily read a book in the same light. And the tragedy about this is the touch screen to me is a big "who cares". The 505 was easy enough to navigate. The only real new features are the notes and search, and I can't say that I have ever wanted to write notes in my books or search for words. Maybe you will, but I don't.

The other downgrade is navigation. By losing some buttons in favor of the touchscreen, more items now must by chosen on screen. An exaple - changing fonts with the 505 is one button press and it cycles to the next font size. With the 700, you have to press the font size key, then touch the screen to the desired font, then touch the screen to close the menu. Finally, in terms of user interface, the previous page turn buttons just seemed to sit at a natural location and were natural to use. Swiping your finger if you are holding the reader now requires a second hand (again, minor but a strange downgrade).... (Oh - there are still page turn buttons, but they are now in the middle of the bottom, and awkward to get at with one hand.

The upgrades - a faster processor means quicker navigation, page turns, etc. This is very nice. Also, you can scroll pages and it quickly flashes up each page as you scroll. Very Nice. The built in LED is OK, but the above problem with the decreased contrast means it is already harder to see, and using the marginal lighting of the LED required me to always use a larger font or I could not see the text without straining. Finally, the internal memory is increased, but again, who cares, as an SD card can be added for a few dollars. Read more ›

97 of 102 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than the Kindle and iRex Iliad; NOT as good as the PRS-505!! November 25, 2008

By mahlers2nd TOP 500 REVIEWER

This past fall, I bought the Sony PRS-505/LC Blue Digital Book Reader a few weeks PRIOR to finding out that Sony was going to be releasing a new model. At first, my inner gadget-aholic was crushed -- I wouldn't have the latest and greatest.

However, after now being able to compare and contrast -- I'm convinced that the PRS-505 is still a better reader.

-- The PRS-505 screen is a non-glare screen so that it doesn't show fingerprints and smudges.
-- I believe the buttons make for a much more user-friendly interface than the touch screen. I just don't really see the value of the touch screen.
-- The screen (and more importantly, the print) is significantly clearer on the PRS-505. This is due to the fact that in an effort to appease the "why isn't there backlighting" crowd, Sony has added LEDs around the frame to try to facilitate reading in the dark. This has had the effect of significantly reducing the contrast and clarity of the type.
-- From a tactile perspective -- I really don't like the ridges on the left hand side of the device. I'm left-handed so I tend to hold the reader with my left hand and it is not a nice feeling.
-- The PRS-505 is nearly 150.00 bucks cheaper than the 700. This will buy a lot of ebooks! And the trade off -- having to push buttons rather than having a touch screen is not worth the money.

It is clear that Sony has put the PRS-700 out to compete with the iRex iLiad Book Edition which has a touch screen and is twice the price. But it just doesn't cut it because the wireless capability is still not there....

If you would like to download newspapers etc, I would suggest checking out Calibre -- though, come to think of it, not sure if it works with the 700.

Calibre is a free/shareware book management utility and it also has a feature that allows you to "Fetch News". The list includes the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Wired, CNN, BBC, LA Times, and many foreign news sources as well. You can set up a schedule to have them downloaded auto-magically to your computer and to your Sony Reader.

Here is the link for Calibre:

http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/

Also, the MobileRead Forum is a very useful place to get information on where to get additional content any reader that exists today:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/

[[ standard disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with either of these sites or organizations -- I just found them to be EXTREMELY useful if you are new to the world of eReaders, DRM issues, device management etc.]]

When you compare the Sony PRS-700BC against the PRS-505 -- you are MUCH better sticking with the 505.

That said, if you are trying to decide between the Kindle or the Iliad, Sony, in my humble opinion still has the advantage.

-- Cost: The new Sony is still competitively priced with the Kindle and has a much better build and aesthetic quality (no cheap plastic here).
-- Supports a wider variety of formats than the Kindle: Amazon's Wireless Reading Device (though the Iliad is best from that respect -- but not 300.00 bucks better).
-- better response time and page turns

No, the Sony still doesn't have wireless -- but again, that is not a limitation for me. If you really want to read newspapers on the eReader, you can get Caliber (a shareware format conversion and library management program) and download periodicals onto your PC and then use the USB connection to get them onto the reader.

For me, the thing that I really like about the Sony readers is that they are solidly built -- they use a metal case as opposed to cheap plastic. This makes the device heavier but to me, that is a bit like reading a hardcover vs a paperback. I personally prefer the more substantial feel.

The upshot -- if you are trying to decide whether to get the "latest Sony Technology" -- don't. Save your money and stick with the PRS 505. However, if you are trying to decide between Sony and one of the the main competitors (Iliad, Kindle, Ectaco jetBook e-Book Reader - Red), then go with the Sony.

NCJAR Read more ›