One thing is quite noticeable when you first lay eyes on the Sony E Book Reader from its box - the Japanese electronics giant has certainly hit the right note when it comes to the visual design of the gadget The Sony E Book Reader has the kind of sleek, minimal design that might not look out of place in one of those “in the very near future” sci-fi movies. The Sony EBook Reader has a smooth finish in matte silver, while the other buttons and controls are a nice contrast in darker silver. At first look, it may seem that there are just too many buttons squeezed into the design, but as you begin to actually use the Sony EBook reader you’ll see that for the level of function, Sony got it just about right.
The Sony EBook Reader measures 175 x 122 x 7.6mm (HxWxD), making it very slim indeed. Even in its protective cover it is still only the size of a slim notepad. The protective case seems durable enough, although it is made of plastic not leather. Sony actually thought about the usability of the EBook reader while still in its sleeve, as it can be easily read without the need to remove the protective sheath.
One great highlight of the Sony Ebook Reader is the 6 inch screen, which of course you will be spending a lot of time looking at. The screen is not the LCD standard monitor you might be expecting, it actually looks like digital ink on digital paper, and the clarity is an unexpected bonus.
Unlike a standard LCD screen, the Sony EBook Reader is specifically designed to only show a static image, just like a standard piece of paper. This means the screen is not continually drawing power to keep an image displayed like an LCD screen would usually have to do. The screen itself is perfectly readable in at any angle and in any light. In fact, it is far easier to read in bright ambient light, so if you enjoy reading outside on a sunny day, the Sony EBook is a great choice of reading companion.
Running along the right hand side of the viewing screen you will find ten numbered buttons, 0-9. These are used for selecting options in the Reader Menus as well as a tool to navigate to specific page numbers in an ebook. To the right of all these buttons you will find the two most important controls, those that turn the individual pages back and forth.
There are also even more controls below the screen. To the left you have another set of page turning buttons, this time mounted on circular rocker. There is also a neat little Bookmark button, which will actually turn down the corner of any given page. The Zoom button of course enlarges and decreases the size of the text depending on viewer preference. The full menu button is located in the right corner, and finally there is a four way rocker that can be utilized instead of the 0-9 number buttons.
The top of the Sony EBook Reader is the location of a sliding power switch and Both SD Card and MemoryStick Slots. It is a nice feature that Sony has accepted that not all consumers use their MemoryStick technology, and offers the option to use other often less expensive formats as SD. You do not of course need either to actually use the Sony EBook reader, as it does have 192MB of memory inbuilt. That may not sound like a lot, but it converts to approximately 160 average size books. If you need to carry more than that around with you, pop in an SD card, and carry everything around with you all the time.
On the downside, actually loading books onto the Sony EBook Reader is not as simple as the promotional materials might lead you to believe. Sony claims that books can simply be dragged and dropped into the EBook Library application, but that is not actually the case. You actually have to drag them to the Library tab or directly onto the separate reader tab. This isn’t too bad once you get the hang of it, but it would have been nice if the items could have been dragged directly to the main window.
The eBook revolution is not of interest to everyone, but if you have been thinking about giving this whole eBook idea a shot, the Sony EBook Reader is not a bad investment at all. It runs far cheaper than the Amazon Kindle 2, has a beautiful look to it, and is easy to use and handle. It may not gain the popularity of the PSP, but it is certainly a contender in the growing e reader market.
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