Although the new e-book reader from Sony, the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition, has been available in Germany since last October, especially professional readers aren’t convinced yet. Most agents and editors still use the precursor – the Sony PRS-505. This is a little ironic, because with its new reader model Sony obviously wants to reach this specific target group.

The new product’s name gives away its greatest advantage and at the same time its biggest disadvantage – the touchscreen. With this special feature, Sony is the only provider with a touch-sensitive e-book reader in this price segment right now. The touchscreen enables the device to do without numerous buttons, which is definitely a plus. The slightly heavy gadget presents itself with a really elegant design. It is available in black and white – a limited amount also in red.

An easy handling and the possibility to put notes directly into the text are the most important advantages of the Sony Reader PRS-600. To change a page it is simply necessary to move a finger from left to right or right to left on the display. This way of operation is quite convenient in comparison to the older reader model. To use the PRS-505 a lot of buttons are inevitable, although some of them possess identical functions. From this perspective, a touchscreen seems like a perfect solution for the use of a Sony Reader.

But unfortunately there aren’t only advantages of the touch-sensitive display. To install the touchscreen, it was necessary to cover the display with an additional sensor layer. This layer reflects part of the incoming light. So, the display sometimes seems to be more of a mirror than a screen to read pages in a convenient way. It is actually quite strenuous to read on the PRS-600 for a longer time – it is almost as displeasing as reading on a computer’s screen. The advantages of the former reader model’s PRS-505 e-ink-display have nearly vanished. It is understandable, that especially the target group of the Sony Reader Touch, the professional readers, who have to read lots of pages every day, aren’t really thrilled about the new product. Reading should be the most important function of an e-book reader – maybe this is why professionals still stick to the older, but in this respect more reliable model, the Sony Reader PRS-505.

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Specifications of the Sony Reader PRS-600 Touch Edition:
Dimensions: 121 x 174 x 10 mm
Display: e-ink vizplex touchscreen, 6 inches, 800 x 600 pixels
Memory capacity: 512 MB
Battery longevity: 7,500 pages
File Formats: EPUB, PDF, Word, TXT, RTF, BBeB, MP3, AAC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP
Price: EUR 299.00

Specifications of the Sony Reader PRS-505:
Dimensions: 122 x 175 x 8 mm
Display: e-ink, 6 inches, 800 x 600 pixels
Memory capacity: 192 MB
Battery longevity: 6,800 pages
File Formats: EPUB, PDF, Word, TXT, RTF, BBeB, MP3, AAC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP
Price: EUR 199.00

Read more about the Sony-Reader PRS-600 Touch Edition at www.teltarif.de

Read more about the Sony Reader PRS-505 Edition at www.teltarif.de