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Specs:

Our Analysis:

How I conducted my analysis of the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition:

The Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition is cheap. Not in design or in feature, but in price. It’s only $199 and that is no doubt how I imagine eReaders should cost. But I guess that this price tag …. well, comes with a price. So, after digging in a bit deeper, I found out exactly how Sony managed to keep this model to the minimum. After I got my own opinion about this new piece of electronics, I also compared my notes with experts’ opinion in Cnet, PCWorld, PC Magazine, and more. I then turned to read reviews of other customers who bought the product to find out what they thought. Enjoy.

What I thought of the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition:

First thing you’ll notice about the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition is its sleek design, just like any other Sony device we’ve encountered up to date. It’s small and will probably fit in your pocket, which makes it an excellent choice for those of you who want to be extremely portable and still be able to read on the go.

Other features that we’ve come to expect from different Sony eReaders are here as well, such as a long battery life, adjustable font size, and a large variety of books from the Sony book store. And that’s all great, but what has Sony excluded in order to make the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition the cheapest eReader on the market?

Well, for starters, you won’t have any touch screen navigation – only small navigation buttons that help you intuitively get around. The battery isn’t user-replaceable, which is kind of a shame, but somewhat of a standard in the Sony eReader area. There is no dictionary available in this device, nor is there the ability to write notes or annotations. No wireless, no text to speech function, and no optional external memory expansion (which is a bit of a shame since the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition comes only with 512MB of internal memory). Oh, and I almost forgot, it doesn’t support audio files either.

So, now, after hammering the life out of the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition, I would like to state why I still think it’s a good device. You see, if I take a look at what are the main functions I need out of an eReader, I still get all of them inside the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition. I have a nice, clear screen to read from and I must say that the clarity of the text is as clear as the Kindle 2 or Nook without a doubt – probably because there’s no touch screen on this one (touch screen devices have an extra layer that sometimes makes the screen glare). Furthermore, I get a portable device which I can carry around and I get a whole variety of files that are supported by this miniature eReader.

Several things you should keep in mind are that this device is only for reading eBooks and not technical documents. Although it is PDF compatible, and Word files can be converted so that it could read them as well, it doesn’t do a great job at that, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. Also, although there are adjustable font sizes which will help you read more easily from the device’s tiny screen, keep in mind that larger font size will make you turn the page more rapidly (could come down to around 15 seconds between page turns, which is a bit annoying). And last but not least, you will have to carry your USB cable around with you if you want to upload books to this device since there is no other way to do it (no memory stick slot or wireless available).

So, if you’re an avid reader, perhaps this is not the device to go with, but if you’re just getting into the eBook reader market and you want to see if eReaders are the way to go, this device will no doubt give you a good feel about what it’s like to use an eReader in a fairly reasonable price.

Online Experts’ Opinions of the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition:

There are many pros and cons to the eReader according to expert websites, which in this case included Cnet, PC Pro, Mobile Tech Reviews, PC Magazine, and PC World. Cnet, for example, complained about the lack of expandable memory and the irreplaceable battery unit. Mobile Tech Reviews, on the other hand, gave it a thumbs-up for its portability and excellent display.

In conclusion, all websites are unanimous about one thing – the Sony PRS-300 Pocket edition is an excellent entry level eReader at a fair price. It’s perfect for those who still aren’t sure that they want an eReader and would like to experiment with the possibilities. However, if you know you’re into eReading, I would spend another $60 and get a world class eReader like the Kindle 2 or the Nook.

What customers who bought the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition thought about it:

Customers who were against the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition complained about the fact that you need a PC to charge the device (Bold_Sue – “Cnet” customer reviewer), the need to pay extra when replacing your battery (close to $125 according to Sam – “Amazon” reviewer), and the fact that there are only three fonts sizes (Jilly G. – “Amazon” reviewer).

Customers who were in favor of the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition admired the screen quality (Paul D. – “Cnet” reviewer), the price for money value (Dr. Moz – “Modile Read” forum), and the outstanding ergonomics and interface (C. Milazzo – “Amazon” reviewer).

The Verdict:

Yes, the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition is cheap, but it comes with a price (no pun intended). It is a basic eReader, which is excellent if you just want to get a feel about what the eReader market is all about or extreme portability is of great value to you. But as a matter of fact, expert websites, such as Cnet, PC Pro, and Mobile Tech reviews, customer reviews, and I agree that if you’re serious about eReading, it would be worth another $60 to get a world-class eReader. If the cost would have been $50 less, I would have definitely recommended this to any newbie to the eReader world.

 

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Our Sources:

As part of eReader Central's review process, aside from examining the product ourselves, we review various websites in order to get addiditonal information about this specific eBook reader. For this review we have used information gathered from

           

and also Live Journal, Anti Pope & eBook Test.

*Prices are only estimates and may vary from time to time, eReader central does not guarantee the stated prices.