Sony Reader PRS-505 Reviews: 6" Screen E-Ink ebook reader

  • Photo of Sony Reader PRS-505 Ebook Reader
  • Photo of Sony Reader PRS-505 Ebook Reader
  • Photo of Sony Reader PRS-505 Ebook Reader
Photo of Sony Reader PRS-505 Ebook Reader
Score: 9.1/10

39 Real Customer Reviews - In Summary

This ebook reader is a good all rounder. “Product is fantastic bought my husband for christmas and hes said its one of the…” maria, richmond View all 39 real customer reviews

Available via Reevoo.com from £179 – £234 at 14 retailers

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Product Details

6800 page turn battery life, EPub Compatible More »

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Real customer reviews

39 verified purchasers have reviewed this product.
98% of people recommend it.

Show scores of…
All purchasers (39)
Battery life9.2
Compatibility8.0
Design9.5
Ease of use9.0
Performance8.5
Portability9.7
Range of features8.6
Sound quality7.7
Value for money (at time of purchase)8.3
Overall rating9.1
Casual listener (2)
Gadget lover (1)
Other (36)
 

*not all purchasers provided a score or review

Score 10.0/10

maria, richmond

+ Product is fantastic bought my husband for christmas and hes said its one of the best gadgets he has had. He said its so easy to use,lovely slim design, he likes the fact he can read listen to music if he wants to & is able to store photos on it too. very happy with product.

- Reviewer left no comment

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12 of 13 people found this review helpful

purchased 01 Dec 2008

Score 8.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ Beautiful design, light weight, ideal for travelling or hospital use as can hold so many books

- For those of us who are not overly familiar with computers the instructions about downloading onto the ereader could be simpler.

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7 of 7 people found this review helpful

purchased 13 Oct 2008

Score 10.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ Beautiful and easy to use

- Availability of ebooks is poor

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2 of 2 people found this review helpful

purchased 13 Jun 2009

Score 8.0/10

Paul, Belfast

+ Very portable, and the cover that comes with it is good. The battery lasts for ages without needing to be re-charged. In fact I have never put it on to re-charge, it gets enough when I hook it up to my computer for adding books etc. The screen is very readable, and you don't get any glare when reading in bright sunlight.

- The background grey 'paper' is a bit dull, and would be nice if it was closer to white. I feel that for the price, it is fairly basic. Concidering the range of functions you would get for that money in say, a mobile phone for instance. But, they (ebook readers) are all like that (at time of review). I mostly use .pdf files, which it reads just fine, but sometimes the formatting is a bit strange when you increase the font size. The book management software that comes with it is... 'functional'. The free software "Calibre" is better, and thankfully works with the Sony ebook reader.

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2 of 2 people found this review helpful

purchased 17 Jun 2009

Score 8.0/10

Martin, Nottinghamshire

+ Very easy to use, small yet screen more than large enough.

- does not come with an a/c adaptor

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 31 Jan 2009

Score 9.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ Bold clear book-like reading

- Sometime complicated to navigate

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 03 Feb 2009

Score 7.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser , “Gadget_Freek ”

+ It is really a great product, I love the ease of use and the fact that it is so easy to arrange books. I like categorising works and the screen is clear even in direct sunlight.

- I know that a backlight is not included on purpose, but something could be done.
If you have to have the latest gadgets then this is one for you, if you have even a little patients then wait, this technology is going to explode, when it does you might find a much better deal, things to look out for a better screen refresh rate and better handling of PDF files.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 05 Feb 2009

Score 8.0/10

brian, blackpool

+ easy to carry about.easy to use. good design

- no colour just black and white

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 07 Feb 2009

Score 8.0/10

Ian, Bath , “male pensioner reader”

+ screen clarity, wide range of formats, battery life, compact size with good screen size, font size option, sd card socket

- supplied software, books too few and too expensive.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 12 Feb 2009

Score 9.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ Fantastic idea, portable, space saving. Ideal for holiday use, saves taking a number of books.

- Can't change the file names & software library not easy to use, poor instructions

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 13 Mar 2009

Score 8.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ Very attractive-looking hardware design, lightweight and portable. Supports many document formats, even photo/image formats. Plays mp3s via headphones. Reasonably sized screen. e-ink display conserves battery life and is easier on the eyes than a glary illuminated screen.

- Still quite an expensive gadget overall - but e-ink is still a new technology, and at least this is at the more affordable end of an expensive price range.
Annoying that proprietary Sony software is the primary way of organising / converting your own documents (although there are free open-source alternatives available on the web).
Doesn't come with mains charger; although battery life is so good that charging via USB isn't necessary too often.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 19 Apr 2009

Score 9.0/10

Hugh, London , “Reading PDFs for University. ”

+ Light weight, easy to use, beautifully designed. Perfect for what it's made for.

- Using this to study PDFs for Uni but all the formatting and diagrams disappear when on medium or large font. Expensive for what it is... A book.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 03 May 2009

Score 9.0/10

Ro, Solihull , “Mid life, professional.”

+ Brilliant, compact, easy to use and much clearer to read than I expected.
I even was surprised to see pictures displayed in a book I purchased.
Shown it to friends and they are off to buy one too as very taken with the ability
too, to store so many books.

- Costly and hesitated whether to spend the money.
Think the battery charger should be included in the box

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1 of 2 people found this review helpful

purchased 06 Feb 2009

Score 10.0/10

Chris, Aberdeen , “just get one now!”

+ This is brilliant.

- None.

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1 of 2 people found this review helpful

purchased 04 Mar 2009

Score 10.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ fantastic value , with 8 gb card can carry 3000 books +

- slow at times

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1 of 2 people found this review helpful

purchased 08 Mar 2009

Score 10.0/10

Stephanie, Leeds

+ Excellent piece of technology - screen is really easy to read and you and increase/decrease the size of the text. Half my suitcase used to be filled with books whenever I went on holiday - now all my books (i.e. my Reader) fit in my hand luggage. I haven't rated the sound quality as I haven't used that function.

- Screen re-fresh initially takes a bit of getting used to

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purchased 07 Jul 2009

Score 9.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser , “Casual listener” More like this »

+ Brilliant, easy to read and use. I love it

- Instruction manual not very helpful, don't seem to be able to change the volume of music tracks when they are on the reader.

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purchased 06 Aug 2009

Score 10.0/10

Linda, Hull

+ This is an excellant product just taken it on holiday for 3 weeks and read 7 books without charging it once.

- Reviewer left no comment

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purchased 25 Aug 2009

Score 10.0/10

Linda, Howden , “Casual listener” More like this »

+ Excellent, perfect for long holidays i read 7 books and didn't need to charge it once!!

- None

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purchased 25 Aug 2009

Score 8.0/10

Ken, Grantham , “I grudge paying full”

+ Does what it claimes to do, is much as I expected.

- Is not always as clear in certain light conditions.I read that Sony had teamed up with Google to offer many books free I have not discovered these yet.

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purchased 13 Jun 2009

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Expert reviews for Sony Reader PRS-505

PC Advisor expert review - by Rosemary Hattersley

Sony's latest Reader for electronic books adds audio playback and compatibility with more formats

This Sony Reader PRS-505 review continued on PC Advisor

reviewed 27 Oct 2008

PC Advisor expert review - by Yardena Arar, PC World"

Sony is launching its Reader Digital Book in the UK today. Here's our first look at the US version of the device, which will feature the same design and spec as the UK model.

This Sony Reader PRS-505 review continued on PC Advisor

reviewed 24 Jul 2008

Product Features

Screen Size in Inches 6
Built-in Storage Capacity 160 books
Battery Life in Page Turns 6800
Touchscreen No
Type of Screen E-Ink
WiFi No
Screen Resolution (pixels per inch) 170
Maximum Storage Capacity 13160 books
EPub Compatible Yes
PDF Compatible Yes
RTF Compatible Yes
TXT Compatible Yes
Weight 282
HTML Browser No
Width in mm 122
Height in mm 175
Depth in mm 8
Viewing Angle 180
Recharging Time in hours 2
Type of Batteries Lithium-ion
USB Yes
SD Card Slot Yes
Headphone Socket Yes
MP3 Playback Yes
Colour Silver
Release Date 22 Apr 2008

Also known as: Sony PRS-505, Sony PRS505S, Sony Reader Digital

 

Manufacturer's Description

The New Way to Enjoy Reading If you love books you’ll love the new Reader from Sony. Invented especially for book lovers Reader is the best way to enjoy the new generation of electronic books (or “eBooks”). Slim and compact it lets you store and take stacks of books with you wherever you go. It’s as simple and absorbing as reading a real paper book. Reader doesn’t have to replace your traditional books – it’s just a new way of enjoying reading. With Reader you can carry far more books with you wherever you go so whatever mood takes you you’ll have a book that fits it. And using Reader couldn’t be simpler: When you buy a Reader install the supplied software on your computer connect Reader to it with the cable provided and voila! Create and manage your eBook library on your PC and transfer your eBooks to Reader exactly like you do with your music on your mp3 player. Need a new book? Choose from around 25 000 titles available from waterstones.com the online store of Britain’s best-loved bookseller. Simply buy the ones you want and import them into your PC’s Reader library. Store up to 160 books at a time on your Reader. If you’re a real bookworm add to your collection and store thousands more using a Sony Memory Stick Duo™ or SD memory card. Bookmark pages or magnify text on a page; Reader will also remember where you last left off – even if you don’t. It’s slim and light so you can take it with you wherever you go and the long battery life means you can enjoy nearly 7000 page turns without recharging – that’s like reading War and Peace five times over. The Reader Digital Book – An Innovative Reading Experience The Reader Digital Book provides a new way to experience reading. It boasts an impressive 6-inch display utilizing breakthrough E Ink technology that’s almost paper-like making it easy to read even in bright sunshine. In addition the screen allows for high contrast and high resolution with a near 180° viewing angle.


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