Aug 27

Sony Digital Book ReaderWaterstones, the High Street book store with a massive online presence,  have just announced they will be selling  2 new models of the ever popular Sony digital book reader. These are available topre order from Waterstones  online store on or after Thursday 27th August.

The good news is that the  dispatch date of Thursday 10th September  is a full  week before other retailers will be dispatching their orders.  With the recent ebook reader price reductions,  the New Sony Digital Book  Reader is now firmly in the affordable gadget zone.

Also as  a thank you to their cardholders for ordering early, Waterstones are giving away 500 bonus points to purchasers of the Sony Reader Pocket Edition, and for purchasers of the Sony Reader Touch Edition a 1000 point bonus, and you can just sign up for your card prior to your purchase.

DanBrownTheLostSymbol

All customers who pre order either Sony Digital Book Reader qualify for a free download of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, when it becomes available in ebook format

The 2 new models available from Waterstone’s  are:

The Sony Touch Edition PRS-600

This new Touch edition Sony digital book reader  is an updated and upgraded version of their earlier model.  It comes with touch screen technology and is supplied with a stylus that allows you to highlight text, make notes and export via the supplied  Mac or PC software. The 512 mb of internal memory means you can upload and store as many as 350 average size books, more than enough reading material to be getting on with.

This models 6 inch eInk screen has  a paper like apperance, full touch control and you are able to select one of the 5  pre loaded textsizes which makes reading this ebook reader easy on the eyes.  Search for words or passages in the books stored on the internal  memoryfor quick navigation or use the built in Oxford British and American English dictionary if you are not sure of any words  meaning.

The Sony Touch Edition eBook Reader comes in two colours, either black or silver, and will retail at £249.99.

The Sony Pocket Edition PRS-300

The entry level eBook reader Sony Pocket Edition is designed to be a more affordable  alternative ebook reader to its big brother the Sony Touch Edition. It is being hailed as the lightest ebook reader to date, coming in at a featherweight 220grams,  just a shade under half a pound (8oz) in old money,  it is also available in two colours, pink or silver, and will retail at a shockingly affordable £179.99.

The slim and compact design makes it easy to take your reader with you anywhere and the 125mm  eInk screen, with  paper like readability, makes reading on this device easy and enjoyable. You are also able to choose any one of the three text sizes to further enhance your reading enjoyment. Included in the price is a carrying pouch and USB Cable.

Both of the new Sony Digital Book Reader  models  provide support for the popular ePub and PDF file formats so you can open and read any one of Waterstones  selection of over twelve thousand ebooks.  Both models also sport  eInk  screen technology that  lets you use the device even in bright sunlight and gives speedier page turns than any previous Sony Digital Book Reader  model.  From a single charge you are able to use the reader for up to 2 weeks and you can easily chargeyour Sony digital book  reader by  simply plugging the device into your PC or Mac, with the USB cable supplied in the box.

This article was first published at Revolutionary Wireless Reading Device

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Jul 06

The Ectaco Jetbook e Book Reader Technical Specification – eBook Reader Reviews Prove Without Doubt All Digital Book Readers Are Not Born Equal

When our thoughts turn to digital book readers the Ectaco jetbook e book reader is probably not the first name to spring to mind. Am I correct? The main reason for this is the marketing power and budget the two main players in the digital book readers market have at their disposal. You would think that there was only Kindle and Sony digital book readers out there and this is all down to the power of marketing, in my opinion, as the facts are now emerging from the many ebook reader reviews that the two leading digital book readers may not as good as they would like to have you believe.

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The hype that surrounded the launch of the Kindle 2 digital book reader earlier this year was staggering but unfortunately the ebook reader reviews have some what slated this model. A lot of the online criticism centers around what formats the Kindle digital book readers can and can’t handle and also their own locked file format.

After visiting many of the online ebook reader reviews it seemed that the general consensus for the Kindles position as top selling digital book reader was above all else the availability of reading material. The word from the ebook reader reviews was – there are better digital book readers about, and with the file formats they are now able to support, the question of availability of books had been, to a certain point, at least, answered.

So off I trundled to find me a viable alternative to the over hyped Kindle digital book reader. With a few re-visits to those trusty ebook reader reviews I had decided on the Ectaco jetbook e book reader. Here was a digital book reader that not only matched the two best selling digital book readers but in a lot of areas the Ectaco jetbook e book reader beats them hands down.

Here’s a run down of the Ectaco jetbook e book reader features:

* Support for e-Book contents in Albanian, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Faroese, Finnish, French, Galilean, German, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian and other European languages.

* Bookmark and automatic page turn function.

* Choice of two font types and six font sizes.

* Screen turns through ninety degrees to view portrait & landscape modes.

* MP3 player that supports background playback great for Audio books.

* Supports .txt, .pdf, ePub capability and .jpg file formats

* SD card slot for up to 2gb expansion

* Built in li-ion polymer rechargeable battery – over 6000 page turns per charge
Includes Power adapter; USB 2.0 cable; Storage Pouch; User’s Manual;

No full blown ebook reader reviews here, there are plenty of those about but I know if you are looking at digital book readers then the Ectaco jetbook e book reader is worth your time checking it out.

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Jul 03

Can’t Find The Best eBook Reader Here’s My Sony Digital Book Reader PRS505 Review

Are you a heavy reader?, do you take your books with you every where you go?; yes, then you are going to really enjoy the Sony digital book reader. Those clever people at Sony have come up with something extra special and made with book lovers in mind. This PRS505 review will show you why the the Sony digital book reader is the number one way for you to experience the next generation of eBooks.

The slim, compact design, of the Sony digital book reader, gives you the space to store, and carry with you, your complete collection of books easily. Imagine the clutter you can do away with at home just by having your whole library of books all loaded onto your Sony digital book reader and the ease with which you can transport that collection whenever and where ever you go.

The cutting edge e-ink? technology delivers crystal clear graphics, text and a paper like appearance on the Sony digital book reader 150mm screen, this lets you to read in all levels of sunlight. The 170 pixels per inch, that the screen delivers, makes certain that the Sony digital book reader maintains the finest details of text and black and white pictures, while the 150mm screen gives close to a 180? viewing field. The lack of flicker and no back light results in an easy to read screen with not a hint of eye strain for the user, something that happens when reading from a laptop screen.

This PRS505 Review found that the Sony digital book reader comes in at a mere 260 grams and measures just 8mm thick- sorry I’m sure that should be thin, this means that the Sony digital book reader is smaller than most paper back books, much lighter than a hard back, and slimmer than the vast majority of books making it the perfect travel companion.

A fully charged battery lasts a total of approximately 7000 pages ? that?s more than 10 large novels worth of reading! When finally the battery does need a charge, you will be up and running again in just 4 hours thanks to the USB charger supplied when you purchase the Sony digital book reader.

Other useful features include a magnification option allowing you to magnify text size up to three times, if you have difficulty with your sight or just prefer large print, and the Sony digital book reader cleverly reorganises the books pages to compensate for the changes. The PRS505 even has an automated bookmark feature meaning there is no reason to ever lose your place again!

You can see, from this PRS505 review, the opportunities that the Sony digital book reader offers you to move your reading material around with you. Whether you’re relaxing on your holiday, passing the time away while commuting to and from your work or simply taking your chance of some solitude; away from the crowds; enjoying your own company; this Sony digital book reader (loaded with your favorite ebooks of cause) will be the perfect travel companion.

Here’s some of the Sony digital book reader specification discovered during our PRS505 Review.

* Stores Up To 160 E-Books
* Battery Life 7,000 Page Turns
* Easy to Read Even In Direct Sunlight
* Magnify Text Sizes By Up To 3X
* Optional Memory Stick To Expand Book Storage Capacity

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Jul 01

Ectaco JB 5 Jetbook e Book Reader Reviews Uncover Alternative Digital Book Readers

Since the launch of the Kindle and Sony digital book readers the Internet has been alive with ebook reader reviews for those particular rather expensive models but not a mention of any real alternative digital book readers, that was until I recently came across a clutch of Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader reviews on the Amazon site, and what good reading they made.

Getting to the bottom of the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook with this diagram.

Getting to the bottom of the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook with this diagram.

What a surprise, digital book readers in the past had been, or so it seemed, confined to the big two of the Amazon Kindle or Sony PRS, I do exclude the iRex iLiad range of digital book readers ’cause even though I’m a big reader, I have no desire to take out a second mortgage to turn digital. These Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader reviews had renewed my interest in digital book readers so I decided to finally take the plunge and purchased the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader, after all I did have 30 days to give it the once over and see if the 21st century was where I wanted to be!

Just five days later it appeared, I was as exited as a kid at Christmas and itching to get my hands on this piece of cutting edge technology, so I hurriedly ripped the packing off my newly acquired Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader. I had chosen the red model from the colour range on offer, which if I remember correctly where red, white, grey and black, and was please with the overall finish of the digital book readers case which had a pebbled finish, even though it plastic it is in no way cheap and flimsy but exactly the opposite – it has a rugged feel to it like it would take the bumps and bashes of everyday use. As I mentioned, the case is finished with a pebble effect which lends itself to better grip, the buttons are solid; not too small; not to big.

The Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader screen breaks with other digital book readers thinking, where as most employ E-ink technology Ectaco have stuck with what they know and have installed their tried and tested LCD screen from their translators. This results in a back-lit less that could be easily mistaken for E-ink as the image is still and easy to read but lacks the bad E-ink trait of flicker when you turn the page.

The Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader comes with two standard fonts, both san-serif: Arial and Verdana, no doubt taking their lead from the fact they think digital book readers will be used solely by computer users who are used to these font types, by default, I for one would have liked a choice of possibly two serifed font types, it may be possible to add fonts but I have neither seen this in the user manual or in any Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader reviews. The font size is also changeable – from 12 all the way up to 32 point in six increments, which by the way is one more than the Sony 700 series digital book readers and 3 more than the PRS505

A built in dictionary also comes as standard on the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader, something the Sony range of digital book readers still lack. The dictionary is extensive as you would expect from a company who built their reputation with electronic translators and dictionaries. Their English-Russian, English-Polish, and English explanatory dictionaries built into the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader let you instantly translate any selected words.

With the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader you are able to quickly and easily group ebooks together into folders, then you can access the directory display in the file system to find them just as easily, the Kindle and Sony should take note and add this feature to their models, something I’m sure users of their digital book readers would appreciate.

The menu and options on the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader are easy to access and navigate and transfer rate comes in as good, it was slower than the Sony but not really slow enough to bother me, after all reading is supposed to be stress free and relaxing, what’s the rush. The devices screen can rotate through ninety degrees an operation that works smoothly for me and allows easy viewing of pictures, the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader handles all popular image file formats and produces a crystal clear, crisp image.

For me the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader scores highly for everything except the pointless, under powered MP3 player and the page turn ( back/forward) slider situated on the left side of the screen. Firstly, the mp3 plays low quality audio so would handle audio books no probs but when asked to stream higher bit rate MP3’s forget it – stick to your iPod – it’s rubbish. Secondly, the slider that is used to turn the page on the Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader just can not be used one handed confidently, I feel though every time I try I’m going to drop my digital book reader and do it some serious damage.

So there is my contribution to Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader reviews, oh and my Ectaco jb 5 jetbook e book reader never did get returned, it’s now nearly 12 months old and I will never return to paper backs…digital book readers are here to stay…welcome to the
21st century.

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Jun 29

Digital Book Readers Are The Future! Check Out The Best Of All Electronic Book Readers The Sony Digital Book Reader

Word is that the range of Amazon Kindle digital book readers, available in the U.S., will not make it to these shores anytime in the near future but the U.K. market now has it’s very own digital book readers in the form of the impressive Sony digital book reader.

The Sony Reader PRS-505, which was released in this country in September 2008, is available to buy online from the following retailers:

* Waterstones UK
* WH Smiths Online
* Direct from Sony UK

It holds approximately 150 normal sized novels and uses the revolutionary E-ink technology, on the 150mm screen, that results in a clear, crisp, flicker free paper like contrast which closely matches a traditional book reading experience. The lack of back light reduces eyestrain and is only seen as a problem in poor reading light, much the same as reading normal books.

One charge will enable the user to read and turn about 7000 pages, it also has a text magnification option, ideal for those with sight problems, that allows you to increase the text size by up to 3 times, a bookmark facility so as you never loose your place again. It is able to handle many of the most popular file formats like Word documents, PDFs and also plays MP3 files, it comes loaded with 100 titles to get you on the road. Many other titles are available online from Waterstones or the Sony shop.

Operating the Sony digital book reader is so simple. Just switch it on via the “on/off” switch located on top of the reader, then use any of the buttons to help you navigate the Sony digital book reader features/options.

Here’s what the buttons do:

* Page back / forward – There’s a round control below the screen to turn the page forward and back. There’s also two handy buttons to the right of the screen, great when using one hand to operate
* Zoom – Three times magnification is supported
* Bookmark – A tiny button situated on the left side for bookmarking pages
* Menu Button – Self explanatory… used to return to the electronic book readers main menu.
* Side buttons – A total of ten all down the right side of the screen, used to select books, chapters, table of contents & etc
* Navigation – The round control wheel on the right side just under the screen used to navigate around pages – usually PDF documents,
* Volume Up/Down- Bottom of the reader for headphone volume.

The Sony electronic book readers are also able to handle audio file formats (MP3 and unprotected AAC files), as I mentioned before, which gives you MP3 playback which is handy as you can playback music at the same time as reading, or for that matter make use of the range of audio books from the likes of audible.co.uk (please note that Audible.co.uk employs formats that are DRM protected which means you are unable to play them back on the Sony electronic book readers).

Uploading books onto Sony electronic book readers is so easy too. The digital book readers are supplied with a CD of Sony eBooks. Using the CD, you can upload books, audio and photos into your virtual library, then copy them across to the Sony digital book reader by plugging into a USB slot on the computer or laptop. The USB lead comes in the box when you make your purchase, and is also used to charge the Sony digital book reader. For anyone not up to using the software, the digital book readers simply appear as a drive in the My Computer location, where you just use click-and-drag to transfer files.

All in all the Sony digital book reader is a rather handy gadget to have at your disposal and has an impressive screen that gives you real clarity when in use. I know a lot of you will feel this is a step too far and will not want to make the change from a paper back book to the electronic book readers equivalent, but there are a multitude of reasons why just as many of you will love this cutting edge technology and jump at the chance to join the 21st century reading revolution.

Sony Digital Book Reader Specification

* Model number: PRS-505
* Size: 175 x 122 x 8mm
* Weight: 250g
* DPI: 170 pixels per inch
* Book / document formats: EPUB eBook, BBeB Book, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, TXT and RTF
* Audio formats: mp3 and non-DRM AAC files
* Image formats: JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP
* Memory: 192 Meg (approx 150 – 160 books). Expansion with Memory Stick Duo or SD memory card.

Here’s some comments from some happy users of electronic book readers that already own the Sony digital book reader…

“The Sony digital book reader is perfect when spending time away from home”

“I managed to pick up the Sony digital book reader ( model PRS 505) from the Sony UK website in the summer and it has to be the very best of all electronic book readers.”

“I am abroad for up to 5 months of the year on lengthy work assignments and trying to find suitable reading material can be a problem. So I purchased the Sony Digital Book Reader with a view to take a couple of dozen novels away on my last job away. To be honest I didn’t get any peace when using my Sony Digital Book Reader PRS 505 as I was constantly being interrupted by people asking to have look at the ebook reader. Like me they were totally blown away by the crispness of the text being displayed on the PRS 505’s screen. It is really like reading a physical book and my eyes have never suffered from eyestrain even after prolonged use.”

“The Sony Digital Book Reader PRS 505 proved to be the perfect travel companion when away from home. I will never have to fill the suitcase with books again. I will now have more room for the Duty Free.”

“My Sony Digital Book Reader is absolute quality. Another surefire winner from the Sony stable.”

“Pick the Sony Digital Book Reader up, place it in your hands and be impressed by the build quality of these electronic book readers. No more books for me.”

“I managed to get my hands on one of these babies (the Sony Digital Book Reader) a few weeks back and have used it to view PDF files which great effect. Have also blasted thru a couple of the novels that came free with the prs 505 reader and it’s still only on the first charge. Don’t bother looking at the other electronic book readers on the market, the Sony Digital Book Reader is the best money can buy.”

“I can’t wait for Waterstone’s to get up to speed with a decent range of ebooks for my Sony digital book reader”.

So if you are serious switching from paper books to using electronic book readers, the Sony digital book reader not only has industry leading specification but it is available to purchase directly from Sony UK and is fully supported by the company in the United Kingdom.

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