Sony (PRS-ACL1) for PRS-505 Review

I actually don't own one of these toys yet, but my daughter was here this summer permanently attached to hers.  Sony just dropped the price and has a new model out which I plan to purchase.

The Sony PRS-505 is so thin, it's about half the size of a DVD case.  Even with it's leather cover I still think it's thinner than a DVD case.

What I really love about the Sony is the expandable memory.  You could put tons of extra books on it, or, as my daughter has, 4 GB of music to listen to while reading.

This product's main competition is the Kindle.  While the new kindle models allow for easier scrolling thru the book, a dictionary feature, downloadable content from the device, and the potential for text to speach (please note that few if any publishers have yet to make content that uses this "feature" on the kindle), the added cost is prohibitive, and in my opinion, not worth it.

I was concerned that the Sony eReader would be hard on my eyes, but the "liquid ink" technology is fabulous.  The adjustable font size is great for aging eyes.  The universal USB Mini charger cord means I can pack just one cord for my camera, cell phone, Zen player, etc.

The only con is that the device locked up once or twice over the course of a month.  One time it was as easy as turning the device off, and turning it back on, the second time we had to try a myriad of things to get the device to respond.  Also, the sony software won't allow you to interface with the device if the battery isn't at least half charged, insisting on charging for an hour first.  This seems to be circumventable with use of a third party software such as calibre.