Does the Sony PRS600 Touch Edition EReader Have What it Takes to Challenge the Kindle 2?

Sony's new Touch Edition ereader is arguably the biggest current challenger to Amazon's Kindle 2. The following is based on my impressions after using the Sony PRS600 ereader for a few weeks. I also have a few opinions on how it compares to the Kindle 2.

First of all, let's list a few of the specs of Sony's new touch screen ereader:

6" touch screen; 600 x 800 pixels; 8 gray scales

Freehand note taking and annotating, highlighting; use included stylus or virtual keyboard

512 MB memory onboard will hold up to 350 ebooks

Accepts Memory Stick Pro Duo or SD card

Single font adjustable to five sizes

Battery lasts for up to two weeks or 7,500 page turns

Built-in dictionary

Available in silver, black or red

Formats supported: PDF, Adobe Digital Editions, epub, mp3, Microsoft Word files, BBeB

The PRS 600 comes with a neoprene carry bag. You would probably want to get a good cover though, as the included carrying bag does not provide much protection. You also get a USB cable to connect to your computer and a quick start guide. If you want an AC adaptor you will need to purchase that separately. You can probably do without though as eInk based ereaders like this one have very good battery life. A full charge does take about four hours, during which time the ereader must be connected to your powered on computer's USB port.

Sony also announced a few new features to go with their new ereaders. For one thing, Sony eBook Store software is now Mac compatible. In addition Sony ebook readers will be supporting Adobe Digital Editions, which means you can purchase ebooks from sources other than the Sony eBook Store. Ebooks in the Sony eBook Store will also be offered in Adobe Digital Editions so that owners of other ebook readers can purchase ebooks from Sony if they are also compatible with ADE. Finally, you will be able to borrow ebooks from public libraries that use Overdrive as their supplier for digital media.

Being able to check out ebooks from your local library and read them on your ereader sounds like a really good feature, but at the current time it is somewhat limited. Most libraries only have a few titles to choose from. The Los Angeles Public Library system for example only has a little more than 200 titles at this time; and that is a large library system. Libraries also have a finite number of "copies" of each title so most ebooks will have a waiting list to get on before you can check one out.

The Sony PRS 700, which the Sony Touch Edition replaces, was notorious for its bad glare which made reading outdoors or in bright light difficult. This is a common problem with touch screens, as is reduced contrast. The PRS 600 is not quite as bad as the PRS 700, but there is some glare. Contrast is also not as good as on most ereaders without touch screens. When reading outdoors I found the Touch Edition to be quite readable in either full sun or full shade. Where I had problems was in partial shade; it was hard to find an angle that did not show glare patterns on the screen. Indoors I found the worst glare when reading beside a table lamp, or when reading in bed with a side table lamp.

Glare issues aside, the touch screen does make navigation easier. Page turns are accomplished by either using a finger swipe on the touch screen or by using the buttons at the bottom of the ereader. The finger swipe takes some getting use to. The Sony Touch is rather difficult to use with one hand while reading in bed. Sony could have made this easier by placing page turn buttons on the sides of the ereader rather than on the bottom.

The touch screen also comes in handy for taking notes and highlighting. You can use the stylus to scribble in the margins if you like. You can also make annotations on PDF's, but not while they are zoomed. The default PDF view is usually too small to read as a whole page is fitted onto the screen, which on the PRS 600 is a little small for this purpose. You can use the zoom-in function on PDF's and then pan the image around using your finger on the touch screen.

You also have the ability to group your ebooks together in "collections" of titles based on author, category, etc. You can only do this from the computer however, not from the ereader itself.

On the whole I have enjoyed using the Sony Touch Edition. There are, however, a couple of areas where I think it falls somewhat short when compared to the Kindle 2.

First of all is the not so small matter of content. If you remove the Google public domain ebooks from the Sony eBook Store you will be left with about 1/3 of the number of titles that the Kindle store has. Yes, you can purchase ebooks from other online ebook stores, but mostly they seem to have pretty much the same titles at similar prices. When I have compared ebook prices the Kindle store almost always is less expensive for a given title.

Then of course there is Kindle's wireless connection. Of course purchasing ebooks wirelessly is very convenient, but the wireless connection also makes the Kindle 2 much more versatile. If you want to research something you are reading you can access Wikipedia or search on the internet. The Kindle browser is a bit clunky, but if you need to access the net or check your email, it's there for you. For me this is a much more valuable feature than the touch screen. Sony has also announced the Daily Edition ereader, which should be out by the end of 2009 and should come with a wireless connection. However, Sony's wireless will only let you connect to the Sony eBook Store; no internet and no wireless connections to other ebook stores. At least that is the information that has been released about the Daily Edition so far.

In conclusion, I do like the Sony. I found the glare to sometimes be distracting, but not so bad as to be a deal breaker. You may feel differently though, so it might be a good idea to have a hands-on look if you have a Sony Style store near you. I think Kindle's wireless connectivity is a much more compelling feature to have than Sony's touch screen though. And unless you mainly want to read current bestsellers (which are mostly $9.99 everywhere) or Google's public domain offerings, you may find that you will have less reading material to choose from with Sony's ereaders than with a Kindle 2, and it will probably cost you more.