Shiny Review: Sony Reader

The Sony Reader has divided the office, the country and the world into those still desperate to hang on to their paperbacks and those willing to embrace the potential future of reading. One person who was so willing to embrace she pre-ordered was our own ex-Deputy Editor, Alex Roumbas. And she's back! For one night only, she'll share her thoughts on the reader and whether it lived up to her expectations (and I dare say, if you've got questions and leave them in the comments, she'll do her darndest to answer them).

Alex Roumbas writes...

Yes, I know. There's nothing like a 'real' book. I agree! I would continue to say so. In fact, I scribbled all over Shiny Shiny on this very topic not all that long ago. That doesn't mean that there isn't space in your life for an eBook reader; in fact, if you're a dedicated reader you need it all the more.

And if you are going to have one, and you are a serious reader, this is the one you should have. Says me.

The Sony Reader stands out from the competition, rather cleverly, by offering less. There is no Kindle-style wireless access, and you can't scribble on it as with the Iliad Reader. After all, it's an average £200 cheaper for a reason - all you can do on it is read books (and PDFs and documents) and listen to the odd MP3.

Hurrah! Sod convergence, all I wanted to do was stop using 96% of my luggage allowance taking books with me on holiday and lugging around a handbag that weighs 45lbs because I have in it the book I've almost finished plus two books I want to start because I can't decide which one should be next.

The Sony Reader is definitely the way to do that. With a capacity that takes in around 160 books and a lengthy, lengthy battery life that alleges to last for five readings of War and Peace, it's an attractive, reliable, handy bit of gadget kit that does exactly what it says on the tin: no more, no less.

I haven't tested the battery life because, frankly, even I can't read War and Peace that many times in three days. But I have read a 287 page PDF novel manuscript and half of Sleepy Hollow on it without so much as a flicker down the battery scale. I found the magnifying feature for the text very handy when reading the PDF as of course the text was teeny. There are three text sizes (squinty, perfect and reading glasses) and the controls are placed so that whether you're someone who prefers to hold a book at the bottom, in prim librarian stereotype, or along the sides, there's always a page turning button in easy reach.

Navigation is a doddle for even the most technically dim-witted, with the option to turn straight to a numbered page by pressing the numbers down the right hand side or add a bookmark with the dedicated button at the bottom. Books are categorised by author, title or date added, and you can store and view images and play unencrypted AAC and MP3 files. Take note, however, that the screen is black and white. Well, actually black and grey, mostly.

Speaking of the screen, it's simply fabulous. eInk is indeed very easy to read, can be read at any angle and doesn't have any backlighting, so your eyes simply don't get tired as they would staring at an ordinary screen. This is particularly useful if you are going to use it to review lots of potentially dull work documents.

As an upside to the UK having to wait two years for this glorious specimen, we get the second version, which has a faster screen refresh, which is just as well (see the downsides below).

The Sony Reader also supports DRM and DRM-free ePub eBooks, so your marriage to Waterstones is slightly more open than it first appears. Pan Macmillan are offering DRM-free eBooks, for example.

In fairness, I wasn't bothered, as I mostly get books from there anyway, and I got an incentive of 500 points for ordering the Reader early so many of my first eBooks will be free. This is as well as the 100 Classic (read: out of copyright) titles bundled with early purchases of the Reader. This included a dose of Shakespeare, Austen, Bronte, Defoe, Thackeray, Dostoyevsky, Dickens and lots of other worthy authors of worthy tomes, many of which are actually worth a look.

And now... the downsides. There had to be some.

The first is that, revolutionary though the eInk screen is and improved though it might be for this model, it is slower to refresh than broadband-bewitched eyes are used to. It really is only a blink of under 2 seconds, but it takes a little getting used to. It also takes some time to become accustomed to reading on only one page; it will be interesting to see if future eBook readers fold open with two thin screens.

There is also a certain amount of sharing restriction. In order to add a book, you install an iTunes-style piece of library software and an Adobe-authored app which allows to you to download Waterstones eBooks. The latter has to be 'registered', otherwise your content is limited to one device. Once you register, you can install the software (and therefore the content) on up to six PCs/devices, ostensibly allowing you limited sharing within, say, the family and some flexibility about where you update your Reader.

It remains to be seen whether this compromise is accepted by the tech community at large; I gave up lending and borrowing books when I realised no-one (myself included) ever returns them, but I also recognise that it's largely by lending recommendations that any books make it to the big time.

It's worth noting, however, that both apps are easy to install and use. Irritatingly, they only work on Windows XP and Windows Vista-running machines, so my poor Mac looks at me askance* when I forsake it for my other half's clunking, aged laptop.

If you can live without the capacity to do much work on the device (and are, like me, trying to avoid blogging distractions when reading rather than encouraging them), it's the best, most pocket-friendly choice of all the successful readers out there.

*Might be imagined.

Alexandra Roumbas Goldstein is the ex-deputy editor of Shiny Shiny. She clearly hasn't quite let go...