Sony prs-700 ebook

Stylish and user-friendly, the PRS is as close as you can get to a hardcover book without actually chopping down trees.

The summary is that you might end up reading more on the PRS, and it could find a permanent place in your laptop bag. The six-inch display is exactly the same size as the PRS A thick black cover works as a protective lid, but also offers the added benefit of folling people into thinking you are not an extreme uber-geek. In fact, carrying the PRS in a crowded area looks perfectly normal well, as normal as you can get with an eBook since it could be a thin paperback.

The edge of the Digital Reader is slightly sloped, like the pages of a real book. Sony claims the Reader will last for pages on one battery charge. We set out to test this theory with the Warren Buffet biography, called The Snowball , which is almost pages long in digital form.

Suffice it to say, we used the PRS for several days without needing a charge. The PRS uses digital ink technology that projects text at a very crisp and high resolution about double the resolution of a computer monitor, at DPI as well — if you leave the book open on a table, text will stay on the screen without using any power because of how the electronic ink works.

If you do close the lid, and open the book later, your last page will be on the screen when it powers up which takes less than a second. You can navigate easily on the device too: One can open other digital books, mark pages with a bookmark, search for text, type in notes about the book a great aid for students and more using a virtual keyboard.

The Reader can hold about books on its internal memory. The 's much faster processor and touch screen mean faster page turns and a new zooming feature you can also zoom in on graphics in Sony format books. In terms of looks, the PRS is about the same size and weight as its predecessors 1 ounce heavier than the PRS The front face has a ribbed texture, and the design is a little more high-tech looking than the older models.

Its metal and plastic casing feels solid and sturdy, and it uses the same spine-mount cover system as the PRS The Reader comes with a leather cover that mounts on the spine and protects both the front and back of the digital book. The Reader syncs to Windows desktops using the included Sony software. This application handles syncing books to the Reader and any cards in the reader and it's the way you'll access Sony's online bookstore to purchase books and download up to free Classics titles.

That means you need not spend a cent if you're interested in reading literary classics i. In fact, you need not use Sony's desktop software unless you want to buy their books or convert MS Word documents.

Sites such as feedbooks. There are free classics on the new Adobe Digital Editions web site, and Adobe plans on offering DRM books for sale in that format along with library books for loan local libraries will provide the books and use Adobe's Digital Editions server to get them to you.

Bottom view with charger port, mini USB port and 3. This application won't let you purchase ebooks from Sony's online store, but it can handle everything else. Like older Sony Readers, the doubles as an MP3 player, and it has a 3. Internal storage capacity has increased, and the can hold up to books, while the older models hold approximately That means you can carry thousands of books and tunes aplenty.

Not bad for a digital book that's no larger than a trade paperback and weighs 11 ounces with cover. Sony has worked a near miracle with their touch screen and touch-centric user interface.

The Reader is simply a joy to use in terms of ergonomics, control and navigation. This is by far the most natural way to manage, navigate and read books we've seen so far. Alas, its lesser contrast doesn't warm our bookish hearts, and for those in love with e-ink's paper-like look, that's a tough one to swallow.

For those new to eBook readers or those who don't mind reading from matte notebook displays, the PRS has greater appeal. As always, the Reader is a great way to carry around a huge library of books and avoid the storage issues of traditional books.

Though it lacks the cool wireless shopping feature we won't complain since all book purchases are downloaded to our PC and we can read those books on the PC too. Pro: Responsive touch screen and excellent user interface. Navigating through books, notes and where you left off in a book is quick and easy. Nice design, more attractive than the original Kindle and more book-like than the Kindle 2. The touch screen means there's no need for a hardware keyboard assuming you like to take notes and want a keyboard.

A nice cover is included. Several book formats are supported natively, including ePUB, which will likely become the standard for digital books. You can also switch between landscape and portrait mode, though chances are you'll naturally hold the device vertically like a book and stick to portrait mode most of the time.

As noted, this model incorporates an LED "reading light. We had mixed emotions about the light. The lighting isn't terribly uniform over the display but it will allow you to read your Reader in the dark. So, it's one of those features you appreciate is there and you will use it , but at the same time, you'd like to see it implemented a little better. In terms of energy, LEDs are very efficient, but obviously, they still draw some power and having the light on will have an impact on your battery life.

Back to that touch screen. Like the iPhone and other next-gen touch-screen phones that have been appearing lately, the Reader incorporates some gesture-based commands. You can swipe your finger across the display to page forward or back you can choose between a left or right swipe to advance pages in the settings menu. Swiping and holding your finger down at the end of the swipe allows you to advance or rewind through pages at a fast clip.

The swiping is a nice touch, but a lot of folks will continue to use the well-placed hard buttons at the bottom of the screen to page forward and back. The PRS also has an annotation and notes feature.

With the included stylus--or your finger--you can highlight words and add annotations via a virtual keyboard that you tap on. The Kindle offers this feature via a Blackberry-style hard keyboard, but some argue that the Kindle's keyboard just isn't all that useful, takes up too much real estate, and elongates that device unnecessarily. The virtual touch keyboard seems like a good compromise, especially given that it'll be used a lot less than one on a dedicated e-mailing device.

It's worth noting that the PRS's touch screen isn't as touch-sensitive as the screen on the iPhone and several other new cell phones. How does this affect usage? Well, you've got to take extra care when highlighting a word or phrase with the stylus; it's easy to undershoot or overshoot the word. And until you get the hang of swiping, you may end up swiping more than once to turn a page. The key is to press more firmly on the screen than you're used to if you've ever had a device that has a touch screen.

It's also worth noting that we couldn't charge the Reader with a standard USB cable connected to a 5V power adapter, such as the standard iPod wall charger. Go figure. On the content side, Sony is making an effort to catch up with Amazon in terms of the number of books it has available. As of this writing, it was offering abut 60, titles in its e-book store and that number should approach , by early next year. Sony has revamped the e-book store for the better and the device ships with eBook Library 2.

Downloading a purchased book is a two-step process. You launch the software, connect the Reader via USB, and browse the e-book store, which in some ways is better organized and superior to the e-book store built into the Kindle. After you purchase a title, it goes into a special folder; you then drag the title onto the icon for the device and it transfers to it.