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Specs:

Our Analysis:

How I conducted my analysis of the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition:

After formulating my own opinion about this device, I’ve also checked out what Cnet, Top Ten Reviews, PC Magazine, and other expert sites have to say about it. To reach my conclusion, I took about ten customer reviews and added them, as well, to complete this review. So, is the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition that much better? Read on and see for yourself.

What I thought of the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition:

Sony is undoubtedly one of the world’s leading electronics manufacturers, but for some reason, it seems to be struggling with the eBook reader market. At the end of 2009, Sony came rushing back into the competition with two new eBook reader modules, the Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition (replacing the Sony PRS-505) and the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition (replacing the Sony PRS-700).

When it comes to design, portability, and simple functionality, the Touch Edition is a market leader. It has an all-metal frame, it feels sturdy in your hands, and it’s basically the same size as its competitors. The touch screen has been improved from the older module, which resulted in two major achievements. One, the responsiveness of the touch screen is much greater than before and you don’t have to press down as much as you did in the older module. And two, and most importantly, the screen has a much less reflective glare.

I’m glad to say that the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition has made major progress and although its text isn’t as clear as the Kindle 2, the Nook, or even the PRS-300 Pocket Edition, it’s still pretty good and fairly easy to read from. The problem with the older version (the Sony PRS-700) was that because of the touch screen capability and some built-in backlights (which have thankfully been removed), the screen had a thicker layer of glasses. This caused a horrific glare on the screen, which made it sometimes impossible to read from.

Once that issue has been resolved, this whole device leaps forward in its usability as the touch screen is much more intuitive than using a keyboard or a joystick. So, knowing your way around the PRS-600 Touch Edition is pretty easy. You can swipe your finger across the screen to turn pages, write down notes and annotations using a virtual keyboard or a stylus pen, double click a word in order to bring up its definition from the built-in dictionary, and even turn your PRS-600 Touch Edition into a notepad where you can scribble notes.

But there is a big difference between the “device usability” and the device’s “environmental usability”. As much as the PRS-600 Touch Edition is intuitive to use, it lacks basic functions that make it somewhat frustrating to use it in daily activities. For example, the lack of wireless capabilities will not only not allow you to buy books from wherever you’re located, it also means that in order to upload your books to your device, you will have to connect the device to your desktop via a USB cable. Charging the device can only be done from a desktop, a wall charger or a car charger, but once your PRS-600 Touch Edition’s battery has been fully depleted, you won’t be able to replace it yourself, but you’ll have to send it back to Sony for replacement.

Regarding file support and the variety of books available for the PRS-600 Touch Edition, Sony has made a big effort to catch up with Amazon. The device supports a wide variety of formats, including PDFs including EPUB file format, which opens the door to a variety of free content, including public domain Google Books downloads and titles that can be electronically checked out from many local libraries. The Sony bookstore itself holds a large selection (although you can’t compare it to Amazon or B&N) giving the PRS-600 Touch Edition a nice arsenal of reading material.

On the wireless side, the PRS-600 Touch Edition isn’t internationally compatible as it doesn’t hold any Wi-Fi or 3G wireless features. It is, however, available for international shipping, depending on where you live.

Note, that if your main reading material is technical documents and PDFs, you’d better stay away from this device. It will render PDFs, but the screen is too small to read them in a convenient way.  Currently, the Amazon Kindle DX is probably the most proffered device for these sorts of documents.

Other aspects I liked about the PRS-600 Touch Edition are the fact that it seems to work a bit faster than its younger brother, the PRS-300 Pocket Edition, and it has two-memory expansion slots, which lets me hold thousands of books on this device.

The PRS-600 Touch Edition seems to be a pretty good eReader on its own, even though it still hasn’t fully overcome the annoying glare issue. But when you compare it to other eReaders in its category (like the Amazon Kindle 2 or Nook), you realize they give you a much better display, offer wireless capabilities, and cost $40 less.

Online Experts’ Opinions of the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition:

Regarding the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition, online experts (which in this case included Cnet, PC Pro, Top Ten Reviews, Mobile Tech Reviews, and PC Magazine) all said basically the same thing. Allow me to quote from PC Magazine in order to sum up their feelings: “Overall, the Sony Reader Touch Edition is a solidly constructed, stylish device, with a well-executed touch screen, but when you consider the problems that plague its screen, its lack of wireless connectivity, and the fact it costs $40 more than the Kindle 2, it becomes a tough sell—regardless of that touch screen.”

What customers who bought the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition thought about it:

Customers who were against the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition complained about Sony’s software for uploading books not being very user friendly (BrightLigh – “Mobile Read” forums & Anonymous user on “Buzzilions.com”), the contrast and glare issues of the screen (Masonv – Cnet reviewer), and the inability to read from the device while charging (Mike – “Amazon” reviewer).

Customers who loved the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition admired its great design, sturdiness  (Frank from “FrankPS”), and the fact that you can easily and intuitively navigate and add notes with the use of the touch screen (Leese from “LeesaLogic”). Another great feature users love is the fact that they are not restricted to one file format when they buy their eBook, such as Amazon’s or B&N’s propriety format.

The Verdict:

If I were to compare the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition to its predecessor, the Sony PRS-700, I would have to say that it is an extremely superior eReader. But, I’m not. I’m comparing it to the current competition on the market, which includes eReaders like the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook. And in comparison, online experts (Cnet, PC Pro, Mobile Tech Review), current customers, and I agree that the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition still retains two major flaws – screen glare issues and the lack of wireless capability. So, yes, the touch screen navigation is good and unique, but I don’t think it’s worth that much more and there’s no reason for the Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition to be more expensive than its wireless, crisper image competitors.

 

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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 Leesa Logic, Frank PS, MobileRead, Tech Republic, & Buzzilions. 

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