Sony Reader Daily Edition PRS-900BC - eBook reader - 7.1" monochrome E Ink ( 1024 x 600 ) - GPRS, UMTS, EDGE, HSPA List Price: $399.97 Sale Price: $397.38 Average Rating:

Description

Wirelessly download books and periodicals while you're on the go with the Reader Daily Edition. An elegant 7" display with touch screen navigation, makes it a breeze to turn pages, take notes, highlight text and adjust fonts - all with the swipe of your finger. Ideal for on-the-go reading, the Reader Daily Edition is thin and lightweight, while E Ink Vizplex screen technology delivers a paper-like display, even in direct sunlight. Plus, the Reader Daily Edition has an aluminum body with an integrated cover for durability.

Features

• AC Power - DC 5.2 V(R)
• Battery Life (Approx) - 12,000 (ePub) Continuous page turns
• Battery Type - Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery - DC 3.7 V(R)
• DRM Text - ePub (Adobe DRM protected), PDF (Adobe DRM protected)
• Image - JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP

Reviews

Every e-book reader out there seems to be a compromise in one way or another. For me, the Sony PRS-900 is the best out there at the moment (Feb 2010). * Why I like it: It's very portable yet has a good sized screen. Memory card support and a user-replaceable battery. The built-in cover works well and will protect the screen. It even comes with an extra, very tough, hard case. The unit is elegant and fits in a large jacket pocket, just like a paperback would. The touch-screen was important to me since e-ink displays are slow: with the touch screen you can very quickly select a word to see the definition or make a note. The battery life is awesome: I charged it at the wall three weeks ago and I'm still at half charge. In the intervening time all it's had are a few very short top-ups when I've connected via USB to transfer books. I've been reading on it daily. The unit could well last the claimed two weeks under heavy reading. Critical for me was the PDF support. I own a lot of books as PDF and this reader copes with most of them very well. In particular, the margin-cropping feature is key to improving readability. I find I don't use landscape mode very often but is nice to have it there. * Screen: If you read elsewhere about this device you will see a lot of comments about the screen glare. Glare originating from the touch screen reduces contrast slightly and creates reflections which can make it impossible to read in certain situations. What you need to know is that the glare will bother some people but not others. Personally, I find I can always angle the device to read comfortably and doing so doesn't bother me. You have to give the unit a fair chance under the conditions in which you normally read. My reader was on a 30 day trial (I bought from Sony) and after the first day I hated the screen and was considering returning it. Two days later I hardly noticed the screen glare. I've now had the unit for 3 weeks and I certainly wouldn't return it: it's advantages outweigh the screen glare issue. I have been able to read quite happily in all the conditions I'd normally read a paper book. This said, I would certainly prefer a screen without the glare and it is because of the glare that I subtract one star. * User Interface: Sony's PC software for interfacing with the reader is rubbish. I use the free "Calibre" instead. The software interface on the unit itself is easy to use but does have a few annoying quirks: - When new books are added it strangely re-sets the ordering of previously read books (this may Calibre-related, however). The margin-clipping feature sometimes re-sets itself following certain user actions. - When you press "back" from a book category page to return to the list of categories you are returned to the start of the category list, not the page containing the category you last viewed. - Can't change fonts in epubs. - Books are marked as "read" if you just open them once: why no option to mark as read yourself? - There is no easy way to enter the dictionary from within a book view to look up a word not on the current page. You have to go back to the home page, click applications, click dictionary. You can also just look up a word on the page and then press "change" to look up a different word. Both ways are indirect. * Book store via 3G: This works fairly well but even with a high 3G signal strength it's terribly slow. Why not just add wifi? I find that about 30% of the time when I press a button on the book store page it appears to register it (button "depresses") but then nothing happens unless I press it a second or even third time. I have bought one or two books on it and the process is fairly painless although the first book did take several attempts to download. One gripe: When you power off the 3G you are disconnected from the store and signed out from your account. Ok... So you connect to the store, you find a book that you like and click "add to wish list." But you find that you are no longer logged in... So you're sent to the login page and, having logged in, are not then passed to the wish list with you book added. Instead you return to the home page and have to enter the search again. This is annoying at the best of times and doubly so on a slow e-ink display. * Conclusion The screen glare is one issue. The other is the sloppy user interface. One doesn't interact with the UI much when reading a book and so I have decided to only subtract one star for the screen. Nonetheless, Sony needs pull up its socks regarding the UI. Sony, please release a firmware update to remedy the UI! I know I've listed a lot of problems with the PRS-900 but these don't really detract from the overall experience: I enjoy reading on it. For the record, I tried out the Nook at B&N and didn't like it because it was very slow. I didn't buy a Kindle because the screen size is small compared to the size of the unit and the PDF abilities lag behind the Sony. The Kindle is more "closed" than the Sony, meaning it is awkward to get books from sources other than Amazon.

I had a Sony PRS-600 touch edition which I received as a surprise gift. I liked it fine, but was holding out for the larger-screen, G4-enabled PRS-Daily Reader edition. I am glad that I was easily able to sell the 600 on eBay and make the switch. This is an extremely well-constructed unit, very professional in every aspect; a nicely crafted aluminum frame around it. The size is much better than the 600 for PDF's, reading newspapers, etc. The download function from the Sony Book store is fast and trivial to use. Since this unit accepts many formats (but especially the now standard EPUB) you can easily shop around to one of numerous sites and download the book to your computer, and easily get it on the reader via. the Reader Library program and USB cable connection. I must admit my biggest problem with the 600 was the well-known glare issue of the touch screen, which is frankly easy to deal with in ambient lighting conditions. About the same level of light is needed for reading a paper book. NBD. However, night reading is an issue which I did not find especially satisfactory. The SONY lighted cover for the 600 was only barely acceptable, so I'm not going to chance it with the 900 version. I've ordered the "Kandle" light w/ hopes that will be satisfactory and will report later. I believe the screen on the 900 is perceptibly better than the 600; the availability of 16 vs. 8 grayscale tones really improves the image. The touch screen allows for a larger viewing area than the Kindle. Operation is intuitive in every aspect. I found the Nook awkward in every aspect. This unit has risen to the top of my pile. If I had the option to rate it 4.5 stars out of 5.0 that would be pretty much right on the money. (Sony: How about a visible clock on the screen for the next firmware update?)

For the kind of money you've got to shell out, you've got to love the screen -- I mean, really love it. I didn't! Having sacrificed a color screen for e-ink, I expected a paper-like experience. It's not. The screen is too dark and glare is too noticeable. Under certain conditions, it's fine, but under other conditions, just unreadable. The advantage to an e-reader should be its effects on the eye. I found this device created too much eye strain. Regarding functionality, it's otherwise a great device. Unfortunately, absent a good screen, it's rather pointless to talk about functionality. Now, I've owned a lot of Sony products -- PDAs, laptops, desktops, cameras, etc. -- and I've generally been pleased. The poor quality of the screen on this e-reader, however, is disappointing. I wish they made a non-touch edition.

I owned a Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)for about a year and a half. When I bought a Sony Digital Reader Touch Edition - Black (PRS600BC), I kept my kindle but found myself reading the sony most of the time. Now that this daily edition is out, I bought that and sold both other devices. The sony is quite superior for several reasons (and this is a turnaround from when I gave the sony touch a 3 star review a few months ago). First, many folks have noticed the increased resolution of the new sony screen. The daily edition recognizes 16 shades of grey and the print is simply much more defined than either the sony touch or the kindle. Yes, the touch screen necessitates a bit of shininess on the screen, causing occasional glare, but I have never really had a problem with this. Nothing a small turn of the wrist can't easily solve. What really sold me on the daily edition, though, was the bigger screen. I could have spent more for the kindle DX, but the device is really large and not very portable. This 7.1 inch screen is a good sized screen, big enough to be more like the size of a "trade paperback book" (the size larger than the supermarket paperback), but small enough to be portable and feel good held with one hand. The screen recognizes about 32 lines of text - again, about as much as a "trade paperback." And those who read PDF files will really like this machine. While the screen is still a bit small to read a pdf regujlarly in portrait mode, it is a perfect size for reading PDFs in landscape mode. The only drawback is that it takes three "pages" to equal one PDF page (each real page is broken ino three thirds). But this is not a problem for me, and I read PDFs a lot. And unlike the kindle and even Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device (9.7" Display, U.S. Wireless, Latest Generation), one can annotate, zoom in on, and look up words in, PDFs with the sony. One can even change the font size albeit with mixed results. As with past devices, one key benefit of the sony is its open format. Neither the Barnes and Noble NOOK ebook reader nor the kindle support the industry standard EPUB format, but the sony does. This allows you to buy from many online ebook stores and even borrow ebooks from libraries (all of this is readily available in EPUB). It also gives you ready access to the entire googlebooks public-domain library. The wireless access is decent, but is not a huge selling point for me. The wireless cannot be used as a web-browser and only accesses the sony ebookstore, which is just as easily accessed by computer with a USB cable (the way the previous sony devices operate). While it is nice to be able to order books without the hassle of being at your computer, I hoped that Sony would follow amazon's lead in allowing you to store not only your books but your annotations on the software via wireless syncing. In order to sync (thereby saving your annotations), you must still do it the old-fashioned way: with a USB cable. One last "pro" needs to be noted about this stellar device: it comes with EVERYTHING! The PRS900 comes not with one, but two cases: a travel case and a leather case reminiscent of the kindle 1 case. [Contrary to a review below, the leather case removes from the sony daily edition; it "unhooks" from the notches on the back of the device.] It also comes with a charger that plugs into a wall outlet. And unlike the kindle 2 and the previous sony's, the battery for the PRS900 IS user-replaceable. The only real "cons" that I can think of is that the books still tend to be more expensive for the sony (which lacks the pull with publishers of amazon or barnes and noble). Even with the ability to shop at multiple sources, sony readers will still often pay a few dollars more for their books. Another slight con is that while sony's customer service is decent, it is nowhere near amazon's first rate service. Lastly, I will caution that page turning is slightly awkward if you hold it in your right hand: the 'page turn' buttons are on the left of the device, and the touchscreen "forward page" swiping motion is a swipe to the left that is a bit awkward when one is holding and turning the page with the right hand. Small matter, though. Conclusion: while I really wish sony would ease up on the price, this is simply the best ereader on the market. It does most of the things any other reader can do, but is still the only one to have a touch screen and the really awesome PDF capabilities. It is also the only reader to have the open file format, allowing the owner to get many files from many different sources. If you have the means, why not get the best reader out there?

I waited a long time for the new Sony Daily Edition. I have carpal tunnel problems that are aggravated by the downward necessary click on the the page advance button on my wife's Kindle. This wouldn't bother 99% of users, but it means I need a touch-screen reader. Here is my take on the new Sony, after reading my first full book on it. Pros: 1. Screen display is close to the size of a real book page. Variable size fonts will affect how much is displayed on a page, of course, but the Reader size feels just right to me. I don't want to be changing pages constantly. Note, however, it's enough like a book that you can't expect to just stick it in your pocket. 2. Cons: 1. The Reader has darker screen than the Kindle, making it the Reader harder to read unless it's held at just the right angle, If I move my hand or shift my body away from that angle, it gets dark and too difficult to read easily. Printed books, of course, generally use black type against a buff white or slightly yellow paper. This make for high contrast, easy reading. The Kindle has a light gray background, with black ink. I thought it would be hard to read because of the lower contrast, but it's fine one you get used to it. The Sony has a medium/dark gray background with black type. I was kind of shocked when I first powered it up and saw how little contrast there was - I even went looking for a brightness control but there isn't one (the electronic ink used in both the Sony and the Kindle get their light from the ambient light, unlike a computer display that's backlit. The bottom line: it takes more powerful light on the book and more concentration to read the Sony. This sometimes prevents me from getting lost in the book; I keep thinking about the gadget instead. 2, The wireless connection to the Sony store is ridiculously slow. Last night it took 8 minutes from the time I clicked the store icon until I was connected. After that, there are long delays during the browsing and purchase part of the transaction. It would have been faster and less frustrating to fire up my laptop, buy the book there and then load it to the Reader by USB. My dial up modem from 15 years ago was faster than this. How could the engineers (or marketers for that matter) find this acceptable? 3. The Reader comes with a leather cover, but you cannot take it off. That means you're stuck with their choice (not bad), but more importantly, you can't choose to read a book without the cover. The Kindle is a brilliant piece of engineering that looks and feels good on its own. With the Reader, you've got to deal with the front flap while you're reading - either you hold it open like a book that's only got type on one side of each two page spread (awkward for page turning), or you fold the front flap behind the screen and hold it there with your hand (which must exert slight constant pressure to keep the cover in place the whole time you're reading. They should have included some sort of velcro to hold the cover open like this but no one seems to have thought about it. BTW, if you do remove the back part of the cover, you'll be leftwit nothing to hold the battery in place - the back cover doubles as a battery compartment cover. 4. The battery's charge doesn't last nearly as long as the Kindle. By the time I finished my first 450 page book, (over two days of reading), the Reader displayed a low battery warning. Ten minutes later it shut down. The Kindle battery keeps going like the Eveready bunny. I'm not sure what I'll do. I might keep it anyway because of the touch screen (which is unreliable, by the the way, frequently requiring a second swipe to change pages), change it in for the other Sony with touch controls (model 500, I believe) or wait for the Nook and Kindle 4 (which should be announced by February). Frustrating.