Posts Tagged sony reader touch

When the Kindle e-Reader became Amazon’s hottest item, other companies began to take notice. Among those companies—now competitors—is Sony, with the competitively-priced Reader Touch Edition that’s sized just right for travelers.

The Reader Touch Edition PRS-600 is one of Sony’s three entries in the fast-growing field of electronic books. With a 6″ grayscale screen made by E Ink, the standard for readers, the Sony slips into a jacket pocket and is only 0.4″ thick. It weighs in at just over 10 ounces.

One feature that gives Sony bragging rights over the similarly-sized Kindle is a touch screen. I found the screen responsive in changing or bookmarking pages with just a finger swipe. Pages can also be “turned” with hardware keys.

Adjusting the font size is easy and you can take notes with a virtual keyboard or stylus.

The controls are simple and intuitive. The built-in memory will hold up to 350 of your favorite books and even more can be stored on two expansion cards.

Books are available from Sony’s Reader Store. Also, more than one-million free titles are available from Google Books. A built-in dictionary is included.

But you’ll need to connect the Reader Touch Edition to a computer to add books, since it does not have wireless shopping capabilities like the Kindle Wireless Reading Device. On that feature, it’s advantage, Kindle.

The Reader Touch can also play MP3 and unprotected AAC audio files. And it can display pictures, though I’m not sure why you would want to look at your favorite photos on a grayscale screen.

One annoying thing about the Sony Reader Touch Edition is it cannot be used while it’s charging, which is done through a mini-USB port. Sure, a battery charge lasts a long time—about 7,500 continuous page turns, or up to two weeks of normal use. But when I’m around batteries, they always seem to run down at the worst possible times.

Overall, this Sony e-Reader performs well and boasts a solid set of features at an attractive price, $299.99 retail. Some discounts can be found at online merchants, including Amazon and Buy.com. Three color choices are available—black, red, or silver.

Of course, there are other ways to read e-books—on cell phones and other portable devices, including Apple’s upcoming iPad. Based on what I saw at the 2010 International CES, a lot more readers with new features are on the way in the coming months.

Who’s going to be the big winner? It’s too soon to say. So stay tuned.