I was so excited to get my hands on the Sony Digital Reader, give it a spin and tell you all what I thought of it. When I supervised the media department at a public library after college, we were always talking about the latest technology in video, music and book readers. This was about 5 years ago and digital books were out there in the market but none of them truly felt like you were reading a book. I thought they’d never catch on.
For a few years now I’ve had the scriptures and a few other books uploaded to my PDA and it’s great for quick reference but not particularly enjoyable to use and I don’t want to feel like I’m reading from a computer. I wanted to review the Sony Reader Digital Book so I could tell you how the technology was coming along and all the reasons it wasn’t good enough.
Well, that was a couple of months ago. The reader showed up at my house and I pulled it out of the box and started using it immediately. And it feels like a book. It’s small and lightweight and the screen is such that it looks like paper, truly. The font and spacing feel like a paperback except that you can CHANGE the font size. I like to keep it somewhere between itty bitty Lord of the Rings font and granny-needs-glasses large print.
There’s no backlight, which may seem like a downside, but what book glows? Not this one. It’s really like you’re reading from paper, only it always saves your place, you can fit hundreds of books in one small device, and most importantly you don’t have that lopsided page flipping problem. You know when you’re lying on your side reading and one side is always more comfortable to lay on, depending on how far along you are in the book and whether you’re reading the left or right page? But then you switch to the other page and you have to flip over on your other side or hold the book in some really weird way?
You don’t have to do that with this book. It is never lopsided and there are buttons on both sides to turn the pages.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one digital blog reader and wireless device, this is not the toy for you. But that’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for this. It does also have a black and white picture viewer, an MP3 player, and two storage card slots so you can use it to store and use a TON of media. You can even play music while you read.
It has a long battery life and the screen is viewable even in direct sunlight… like… I don’t know… a book!
There are a few negatives. The books do load slower than I’d like because you know, I like it fast. The software interface for downloading and uploading books is not super user-friendly. I fancy myself somewhat of a techie and I had some trouble figuring out how to get the books on the device the first time. There is no way to use the book while it is plugged in your computer to charge and you have to buy the DC power adapter separately, which I would highly recommend. Sony also doesn’t have the greatest selection of books in the world. They have a good amount of classic titles and a lot of new releases but the selection is not as broad as that for the Amazon Kindle.
However, I prefer the Sony reader to what I’ve seen of the Kindle because I want a book, a real book, but better. I hope they continue to grow their inventory of content.
I waited weeks to do this review because I’m so enjoying using it and because of my advertising contract now I must pass it on to one of you. So weighing in at a retail value of $299.00, I give you the Sony Reader Digital Book. It also comes with 100 free classic titles from Shakespeare to George Eliot.
Now does anyone want to give me one? It’s on my wish list. Oh the joys of carrying my entire library around all the time!
If you’re willing to enter this giveaway, even though the reader is lightly used and has my cooties on it, leave a comment listing 2 non-religious books you’d like to carry around with you everywhere. I know you all love the Bible and the Koran. What else do you love? (I’m willing to ship within the US. Anywhere else, I’ll be happy to send it if you pay the postage.)
I’ll randomly choose a winner Sunday night at 10pm PST. Oh, and Sony wants me to let you know that they’re not responsible if you fall and hurt yourself while reading it or if it self-destructs when you disassemble it to see the little men turning the gears on the inside.
Iused to read. A lot. Then I had kids. Maybe a reader will motivate me to read more. I must win it.
East of Eden
The Notebook
Oh, it’s hard to pick just 2 books! I think I’d have to pick a little bit of everything
1) the Harry Potter series (for the Hermione in me)
2) anything by Maeve Binchy (for the Irish side of me)
3) I know this much is true, by Wally Lamb (for the serious side of me)
4) The Shopaholic series (for the chick-lit side)
and, finally,
5) The Secret Garden (for the little girl I’ll always be!)
Thanks!
🙂 Becky
http://www.stinkylemsky.typepad.com/
It would be great to have right with me “Mother Nature: on mothers, infants, and natural selection” and “a heartbreaking work of staggering genius”, because I love them and refer others to them so often.
I would take “Charms for the Easy Life” by Kaye Gibbons and “Cold Comfort Farm” by Stella Gibbons.
Ooh! This is great! I would love this. My two books would be Freakonomics and My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult.
I hate nothing more than being trapped without reading material. I freak out. Seriously. This would be a lifesaver. Let’s see… two books… 1) The Complete Poems and Stories of Winnie the Pooh (for Ethan, really!) and 2) whatever the newest british chick lit book is. I dont really like re-reading things I’ve already read.
Wow – my husband and I were just talking about this last night! He’s reading a 1000-page book with tiny tiny font, and wishing he had something like the ebook, so he could enlarge the font without having to make the book any heftier than it already is. Please add us to the list of potential recipients!
I would put “Under the Tuscan Sun” on it, because that’s what I’m reading now, plus “Atlas Shrugged” (the 1000-page book my husband is reading), and Barbara Kingsolver’s “Small Wonder”, because it’s full of thought-provoking essays that would be nice to have on hand while waiting in line, etc. And I’d probably be a dork and put a reference book or two on there, because that’d be handy. The Grapes of Wrath and the Secret Garden, because I love them. And maybe a Spanish book, so I can practice, and a humorous book, for rough days, and… good heavens, what Wouldn’t I put on there?! It’d be great!
I would LOVE to carry Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice. Also most things by Orson Scott Card. Also Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. Also Ballet Shoes.
I’d have to pick Secret Garden and anything Jane Austen. I’ve taken quite a liking to CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia of late also.
Tough choice. If I won I would need to get a few storage cards so I can select more than two options. 🙂
Hmmm. Two books.
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
and
The Book of Stones by Robert Simmons and Naisha Ahsian
Isn’t funny that when you try to think of something like this your mind goes blank!? Or maybe that’s just me. The titles that jump into my head right now are The Accidental Tourist (or any other Ann Tyler book), and The Bone Setters Daughter (or anything by Amy Tan).
Do they have to be fiction? Because although one of my books would be LotR (sorry, but I truly love love love those books), the other would be my fabulous Readers’ Digest Book of Facts that was published back in…um…1988. Yes, it’s old. But it truly is one of my favorite books in the world, because it is full of interesting, two paragraph (at most) tidbits of random facts that I find FASCINATING. I would pour over it as a child, spouting off odd things to my mother (marvelous for her, I’m sure), and even now as a mama myself, I still love to get it out and browse through it.
I would definetly have to go with A Steadfast Surrender by Nancy Moser and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I could re-read both of these books all the time. I’m also writing down all the other suggestions to put on my book list! Great giveaway
I want to win! 🙂
I’m going to cheat a bit and say The Norton Anthology of British Literature (because that thing has so much great stuff in it–books and books).
For the second . . . maybe the complete Jane Austen or the complete set of Anne of Green Gables.
The techie family paves the way for us again! Thank you for always being the first one in the family to test everything out so we know what to buy. All Hail Rock Band and Guitar Hero! Hip Hip Horray!
“Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer
“Success Principles” by Jack Canfield
…a true teenage, love sick, self-help junkie.
Definitely Pride and Prejudice, since I read it about once a year. Also, the Count of Monte Cristo, the unabridged version, of course. I LOVE that book.
I would carry around Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and my Betty Crocker cookbook. It would be amazing.
I do not like to think too hard when I read, so I am really in to chick lit.
I absolutely adore all of the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich and could read them over and over, so that would definitely be on my reader. Fearless Fourteen is the new one that I want really bad.
Second choice? Any one of Jennifer Weiner’s books, but I would really like to read the newest one, since it has been over a year since I have read one of her books, and I am only pretty sure that there is a newer book. I do not even know the title. Oh jeez, let me go google it…be right back.
OK, I’m back, it is called Certain Girls.
So there you have it, my two non-religious choices. Now pick me to win…PLEASE!!!! And thank you! What a cool giveaway!
I would have Les Miserables and Count of Monte Cristo in there right away. My two most favorite books of all time.
Followed shortly by East of Eden 🙂
I am delurking to enter this contest too! Your blog always makes me smile!
Okay, my books are . . .
Any of Jane Austen’s work! Especially Persuasion or Emma (which, I was happy to see, is the book in the picture!).
Also, I’m on a C.S. Lewis kick. I re-read Prince Caspian recently to prepare for the movie, and then went back and re-read the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia. Good times!
Thanks!
Hmm…only two books? How to decide? Probably Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. If I do get picked, please know that I am on vacation and won’t be back for a week from when you choose your winner! So please don’t give it to someone else!
Wow, I didn’t even know those existed. My husband and I are book junkies for sure, so it’s good to know if we don’t win we’ll have to buy one when they get cheaper 🙂
My books are this AWESOME book called, A Return To Modesty by Wendy Shalit. She’s incredibly intelligent while funny and thought provoking – I learned so much, it really changed the way I viewed modesty. Would be great for your new calling if you need a good new read! Plus she was stinking 24 when she wrote the book, which blows my mind.
The second I’d have to say “And There Was Light” by Jaques Lusseyran, arguably one of the best books of the 20th century. He was a blind French man who led an underground resistance against the Nazis. Inspiring, is an understatement.
Pick me! Pick me!
The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
and
Step-Ball-Change, by Jeanne Ray
What a fun giveaway! 🙂
As a voracious reader since age 5, I’d LOVE this… and I’d love to *finally* read “Life of Pi” and “Quicksilver” on this cool li’l unit.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Time and Again, Jack Finney
Stori Telling, Tori Spelling
😀
I’ve seen it and it’s beautiful!
It’s been so long since I’ve been able to take time to read fiction, so mine would probably be related to autism, homeschooling or parenting. Right now I’m reading “Captivating” by John and Stasi Elderidge, so perhaps a SONY reader would speed up my targeted finish date of 2014!
If I win, I promise to drive to your house to pick it up!
My two books:
1- “The Drifters” by James A, Michener (read it. You’ll love it and you’ll be all “how did a mormon girl from Utah fall in love with this book?)
2- “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurthy (read it. You’ll also love it and you’ll wonder “why does a girl as hip as Isabel love a book about cowboys so much?”)
(and did the commenter above me really choose a book by Tori Spelling?!)
Well, these are not classics, as some are suggesting, but more of good, entertaining reference tools, especially for men. The first is “How to Iron Your Own Damn Shirt: The Perfect Husband Handbook Featuring Over 50 Foolproof Ways to Win, Woo & Wow Your Wife.” This is really a great book for any man, single and married alike. The second book would be “The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” because 1) it’s hilarious and 2) you never know if/when the Earth might be obliterated to make way for an intergalactic space highway and whose gonna be the guy with the towel? This guy.
Oooo ! Pick me! Pick Me!
I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with just two books. Two?? It’s like trying to decide which of my children is the favorite!
I’ll have to go with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Kingsolver, and anything written by Anne Fadiman.
Oooohhh, you got me. I have to try for this one; to think I could lay however I want to and read, what a novel idea. Only another book junkie could describe the woes of reading while lying down. My two favorites are both series, dare I say it: Harry Potter and it’s religious but truly one of my favorites: The Work and The Glory. I’ve read both series many, many times. I’m a huge book geek *sigh*. Which is also why I’m glad to learn about this software anyway, it’s going on the wishlist, just in case my book karma is not strong enough to win this. But please oh please karma let me win! hehe
What a fun toy, I have been tempted by the Kindle for a while, but this sounds even better. I think my books would be Poisnwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, I have purchased it three times and still never read it, and the Thorn Birds, which I have read every summer since I was in high school.
Just two?
Ok, “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” by Tom Robbins
and “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac
or maybe “High Fidelity” by Nick Hornby and “Generation X” by Douglas Coupland
wait, no…
Don’t you just love and hate the dilemma of choosing favorite books?! It can make me just sit and ponder all day, all the wonderful books I have read. I get to cruise along my bookshelves admiring and reminiscing.
Choose two…the betrayal of all the others…choose two…taking sides…it’s like someone pointing to my two daughers and commanding “pick a favorite”…Pride and Prejudice and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall…there I chose…I’m a dreadful book lover. I took sides. Now I need a digital book to store all my other books and keep them with me forever to make up for abandoning them in that one single moment of decision…
My choice would be:
1. Any book of Alice Munro’s short stories
2. Anne of Green Gables.
What a fantastic contest and I am crossing my fingers!
Oh I would LOVE one of those for my frequent trips back and forth from Salt Lake to Denver! (The Host is far too big and heavy to lug back and forth.)
If I could carry two books with me at all times they’d be Twilight ( I know so typical but so easy to pick up and read anywhere) and anything by Jodi Picoult.
So without sounding desperate…PICK ME! PICK ME!
The Princess Bride by: William Goldman
Sink Reflections by: Marla Cilley
Hmm… Little Women. And some cookbook by Rachel Ray. Because I’m always at the store wanting something new for dinner, but I never know what to get. That would be nice.
Just two books?
The last book in the Wheel of Time series.
I’ve been carrying The Emperor’s Children around with me in the vain hope that I have time to read it.
This would be so fun!
Oh my husband would love this–he could easily take it on deployments without having to lug around a bunch of heavy books sent to him!
Two books I have loved: The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini and The secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.
Ooh! I’m a Librarian, and would totally love to try that thing out!
PICK ME!
It’s hard to choose just two books… but I would like
1) The Host by Stephanie Meyer
2) The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
Thanks!
Oh, I want one of these so bad!
I’d carry around these books…
Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott
Waiting for Birdy by Catherine Newman
Thanks for entering me in the contest. I’m so excited!
This is SO cool!!
The Stand by Stephen King
The Other Bolyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
fun fun stuff!
Wow, looks pretty cool. I would carry any books by Beverly Lewis. Can’t get enough of her books and can hardly wait for the next one to come out. Also, any mystery by Kristen Heitzman.
Christi
I am a devoted reader of your blog, but an undevoted leaver of comments. You got me with this one.
I second all of the thoughts about trying to choose 2 favorites. At the moment I’d probably say Tess of the Durbervilles (Thomas Hardy) and Peace Like a River (Leif Enger).
OMG! This is like my own personal wet dream!! I have SO many books piled up around my house that I can’t find my own kids half the time. The idea of being able to carry hundreds of books around with me without loosing any children is awesome!
Hum… only 2? Take them with me anywhere? That’s tough. I’d have to go with:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
I can only pick two books…such a decision…I think I would pick Fahrenheit 451…and War and Peace…I have always meant to read W&P but it was way too big to carry about…this could give me the lift that I need to read it finally.
What an awesome giveaway!. . .Maybe
A Room With a View EM Forster,
and
Cry the Beloved Country Alan Patton
Well, considering that I have the Jane Austen works practically memorized (and it looks like everyone on here has already chosen them anyway so I could just borrow a copy from one of them), I’m gonna have to go with my [other] nerdy side and say Enchantment by Orson Scott Card and Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley.
And Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. (Just like a Pixar movie, you’ve got to allow a short before the main feature!)
Backup nerdular nerdance-type reads would include The Host by Stephenie Meyer, The Lord of the Rings, the rest of Robin McKinley’s books, and Book of a Thousand Days and Austenland by Shannon Hale. Okay, and Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park (since all of my neighbors are carrying copies of Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion).