Sony PRS 505 E-Reader Reviewed

The Sony PRS 505 E-ReadersIt’s been six months or so since I received the Sony PRS 505 E-Reader from my last employer as a generous going away present, and I forgot that I hadn’t posted my thoughts on the device yet. After six months, I can safely say I’ve been relatively pleased with the device.

For those that haven’t seen or played with the device, the Sony PRS 505 is an electronic book, one of the first commercial application of “electronic ink”, a passive display technology from E Ink Corporation. Unlike a traditional LCD screen, such as those in laptops and computer monitors, electronic ink is a passive diaply technology. It uses no power to display the image, and does not feature a backlight to illuminate the screen. Instead, the display uses reflected light just like a regular book. The result is a remarkably crisp display that is easy on the eyes, and uses miniscule amounts of power to “turn the page”.

At first, I was a bit sceptical about the Sony device. When it first appeared, the device was well over $300 and was a bit bulky. The PRS 505 is the second generation of the device, and features a slimmer design and similarly slimmer cost (on the order of $280). Yet despite the lower price, I’m not sure I would have bought this device on my own; it was something I wanted, but not so badly that I was about to lay out cash for it.

In retrospect, that was a mistake that I’m grateful was corrected when I received the device as a gift.

The device itself is on par with the weight of a medium-sized hardback book. The battery is only required when turning the page, a feature which easily allows the user to read a handful of books between recharges. The ergonomic design of the device is quite clever – the circular button at the bottom left moves the book between pages, and sits naturally under the thumb when resting the book in your hand with the cover (not shown) held open by your thumb. Similarly, the two navigation buttons on the right side mimic the place where you might normally place your thumb when flipping through a normal paperback book.

Reading is fairly natural, although the time the screen takes to change between “pages” is noticeable and can sometimes interrupt the action on the page. You can scale up the text, a feature that’s sure to be appreciated by older readers with failing eyesite – in fact, this device may eventually find a good following with older readers for this feature alone (doubly true if you believe Steve Jobs’ assertion that nobody reads anymore really just applies to the Millennials).

The one major failing of the device, sadly, is Sony’s eBook Store and the associates client software used to purchase books from the store and place them on the device. Sony’s software is notoriously poor (I speak from experience), and the PRS 505 client software is no expection. It’s slow to load the application, slow to access the store, offers incomprehensible representations of what books are on the device currently versus what books are on your computer locally, and takes an inexplicable amount of time to move a book onto the device. In the end, I’ve found it easier and faster to simply download the electronic books from the store to my hard drive, mount the device as a USB drive, and copy the files over myself manually.

That said, the selection of the store is pretty decent. Besides the latest best-sellers, there’s a fairly extension library of the classics. When I received the device, I also received a voucher for $50 worth of electronic books, plus 100 credits to use on purchasing any of the Sony Classics (likely pulled down from Project Gutenberg). I have yet to purchase any more books beyond these amounts (still working my way through the pile).

The device also handles text, RTF, and PDF files, allowing you to use the device to read any existing documents you may in those formats. In reality, the rendering of these formats on the device leaves something to be desired: page breaks are often inconsistent, rendering the reading experience somewhat degraded. There are, however, many freely available resources for downloading appropriately formatted versions of Project Gutenberg books, such as manybooks.net.

Many will wonder how this device compares to the Amazon Kindle device, which I was lucky enough to try out while in California (one of my friends at work bought one). The devices uses the same screen technology as the Sony PRS 505, and shares many similarities. The two major feature differences are the industrial design of the Kindle, which I found to be far less elegant than the Sony device, and the wireless capabilities of the Kindle. The Kindle features a built-in wireless modem that allows the user to download books from Amazon.com directly. There is no cost for this feature, as this device effectively enables Amazon.com to sell books anywhere. The Kindle is a fair bit more expensive, however, costing about $350.

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the Sony device and continue to use it. It’s especially useful when I’m travelling to tote a couple books in my backpack without crippling myself. However, at $280 the device is still too expensive for most users, in my opinion. This device is something to stick on the Christmas or birthday list and hope someone’s feeling generous.

Why Buy a Scooter?

Yamaha Vino 125Since returning to Vancouver in January, I’ve noticed a change in the types of vehicles on the road. The automobile landscape in Vancouver has expanded to include two new vehicles: Smart cars, and scooters.

Before I left Silicon Valley, I was commuting to work on a Yamaha Vino 125 motor scooter. With oil exceeding $90 a barrel already in those days, it was a good decision. And apparently more people are agreeing with me – even before I left California I started noticing more and more scooters on the road in the final months. I even had people pull up beside me at stop lights and ask me about buying one. Although I sold my scooter upon my departure from California, I thought I’d do a quick run-down on the pros and cons for people considering making the jump to a scooter.

The Good

  1. It’s easy: Although California requires you to get a motorcycle license to drive a scooter, obtaining a license is simple, especially if you already have a driver’s license. You take a simple written test to get your learner’s license, and then take a weekend safety course that exempts you from the DMV road test. Note that if you already have a driver’s license, you will also need to renew your existing license when you take the motorcycle license written test. In BC, you can ride scooters under 50cc using only your regular driver’s license (although these are pretty wimpy)
  2. It’s cheap: While a Vespa will run you between $5K and $6K USD, Honda and Yamaha make some sporty alternatives that cost a little over $3K with tax and dealer fees. Insurance will run you about $250 for the year.
  3. It’s fuel-efficient: I racked up 2,588 miles in a year and a half, sipping a meager 35 gallons or so of gas along the way. That’s about 70 to 80 miles per gallon (34 km/litre)!
  4. It’s environmentally friendly: Not only are scooters more fuel efficient, but four-stroke engines in larger scooters have lower overall carbon dioxide emissions versus cars. Not only will you be saving money, but you’ll be dumping about 75% less CO2 into the air.

The Bad

  1. No freeway for you: Unless you go with one of high-end scooters with a larger engine, your state’s laws probably doesn’t won’t allow you to drive your scooter on the freeway. Which is OK, because…
  2. Car drivers are insane: Nothing proves this quite like a 5-ton minivan moving into your lane without a shoulder check. Hello?? Hellooo? I’m right here!
  3. It’s distance limited: A scooter’s ideal for commuting about 10 miles or so. Any further, and the inability to get on freeway becomes an impediment to timely travel. For me, that was perfect – I drove 10 miles a day. Who wants to spend life commuting?
  4. Your friends are jerks: In our macho North American culture, nothing emasculates quite as quickly as driving a 236-pound scooter to work instead of a 5-ton SUV.
  5. Rain sucks: Climate is a major consideration. While California only gets a couple showers during the year, those times can be deadly on a scooter. Low visibility, reduced traction, and even crazier drivers.

The Awesome

  1. Traffic? What traffic? Nothing wipes the superior smile off a car driver’s face like watching a cute little girly scooter pull into the space between traffic and disappear into the distance. It’s a good feeling. Unfortunately, lane-splitting is illegal in BC, so this doesn’t apply to Vancouverites. However, there are always situations where a little extra maneuverability comes in handy.
  2. Did I mention it’s cheap? When you’re getting 80 miles per gallon, your gas costs go through the floor. On average, I spent about $3 a week on gas. Total cost for the scooter for the first year, gas and insurance included, was less than $4K. Cost to run after you’ve paid off the scooter? Less than $35 a month.

Happy scooting!