Sony Touch PRS-600 Review
Price: £198 from Amazon.co.uk
Verdict: 7/10!
The Sony Touch PRS-600 eBook Reader was originally launched in 2009 to contend with the first generation of the Amazon Kindle.
Nowadays, the Sony Touch PRS-600 has been replaced with the smaller, more compact PRS-350 edition, however the original PRS-600 is still recommended many customers. It’s main benefits are that it accepts a wider variety of eBook formats then the Kindle (meaning you have a great choice of books and prices to download), plus it has an expandable SD slot for extra storage.
Price
You can currently buy the Sony Touch PRS-600 from as little as £100 from WaterStones.com. Prices at other online stores can vary from £110 up to £150. The current prices of the Sony Touch Edition PRS-600 at Amazon.co.uk is £230 although they most likely set the price this high in order to compete with their new Kindle 6 inch device for £89.99.
Overall, for £100 the Sony Touch PRS-600 is still a very price choice especially if you don’t want to be limited by the new Kindle’s selection of books from the Amazon.co.uk store.
Size, Weight and Specifications
The Sony Touch smaller and lighter than a regular book or magazine. The size of the PRS 600 is 168mm long, 118.9mm wide and just 9.6 mm thick.
The device is incredibly well built, feels sturdy when you hold it and is available in a neat, black colour.
The total weight of the device is just 220 grams (still 50 grams heavier than the new £89.99 Kindle).
The main benefit of this device is that is has a bright, 6 inch screen and enough storage capacity for more than 350 books. Although the newer Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350) has a smaller 5 inch screen and only weights 155 grams, the bigger PRS-600 version is still recommended for those who want a larger screen.
Screen and E-Ink Technology
The Sony Reader’s 6-inch screen (800x600 pixels) uses E-Ink technology which allows you to read your books even in direct sunlight without any glare.
E-Ink technology is comprised of micro-particles, which are designed to mimic the look and feel of ink on paper. The effect this has on your reading is that it makes it much easier on your eyes (reduces eyestrain) and uses much less power consumption than an LDC screen such as the one on the iPad2.
You can literally read from this device for hours on end just like a normal book without your eyes drying up or feeling tired.
The touch-screen navigation is a particular benefit to this device. The touch screen model also makes it stand out from other eBook readers such as the Kindle (which use a touchpad keyboard). You can use your fingers to swipe across the page or access the menu at the bottom. You can go back or forward a page, change the font, access the 12 language dictionary and zoom in/out at the tap of your finger.
The Sony Reader PRS-600 also contains a free hand stylus which allows you to highlight, annotate words, write messages or take notes.
Hardware, Connectivity and Storage Capacity
The Sony Touch offers 512 MB of internal storage and the Sony Touch’s Lithium Ion battery is supposed to offer up to 7,500 page turns or the equivalent of reading 30 books before it runs out of power.
This is exceptional. I can also tell you that even when you listen to MP3 songs on this device the battery still lasts a decent amount of time. The Sony Touch also supports a memory expansion slot, which increases the number of books you can save on your device.
The biggest software advantage of the buying a Sony Touch PRS-600 over the Kindle is that the Sony Touch supports a range of file formats including ePub, BBeB, PDF, TXT and MS Word. Unlike the Kindle, you can also download and save books to your computer (or use a Memory or SD stick slot).
Many users think this is better than Amazon’s model, where you never technically “own” a book, you are just leasing it. The downside of the Kindle is that there are no exterior memory ports and if you accidentally delete your books than you have no other hard copy.
In conclusion, the Sony Touch PRS-600 may have been replaced the new Sony PRS-350 Pocket Edition but it’s still well equipped to handle your reading needs and at just £100 it’s still a decent choice for an eReader.
Video Review of the Sony PRS-600 eReader
