Reading Without Wireless – Do eReaders That Lack 3G Still Belong On Your Holiday Wish List?

Don’t Break The Bank: Sony Reader Pocket Edition

Sony Reader Pocket Edition
Size:	5″
Price:	$199
Storage	512MB
External Storage	None
Supported Formats:	EPUB/ACS4, PDF, Microsoft Word, BBeB Book, text file formats.
Content:	Sony eBook Store, Google Books, booksellers that distribute EPUB, public libraries.
Other Media:	RSS Feeds.

At the same time we got our first peek at the Touch Edition, Sony also showed off the Pocket Edition, a slightly smaller device that resembled the previous generation of eReaders but with the advantage of the new generation’s software. Acknowledging that prices have kept many consumers from giving eReaders a second look, the Pocket’s cost is more affordable: $199. In order to get it down to that price Sony had to make the screen smaller and leave off touch capability.

Even with a 5-inch screen, the Pocket still offers a satisfying number of lines. On the medium sized font there’s about as much text as you’d see on a mass market paperback page. Unlike it’s touch-enabled sibling, the screen is as bright as other e-ink displays. And the smaller form factor does make the Reader pocketable and easy to pull out even in on a crowded commuter train.

I like the one-button access to font size changes, bookmarking, and the Home and Back buttons. Turning pages is comfortable since the arrow buttons are in the center of the device and within easy reach of my thumbs. Navigating menus was not intuitive and took a bit of getting used to, but I adjusted after a few days.

Unfortunately the Pocket Reader interface is slow, just like the Touch Edition. Turning pages took about the same time as the Touch. And the device would routinely take more than a second to respond to a button press. This often resulted in me pressing it again and activating some function I hadn’t intended to.

The most oft occurring example is opening a book — in the book list menu users press one of the numbered buttons along the right side to choose a book. The Pocket takes so long to respond that I often thought it hadn’t registered my key press, so I’d press the key again. When the book finally opened the reader would then react to the second button press and bring up the Jump To Page dialogue. This happened almost every time I opened a book for the first three days.

$199 is an attractive price for an eReader and a full $60 less than the Kindle or the nook. Sadly, Sony and Amazon’s selection don’t match exactly. I got ziltch when I went looking for the latest installment of the Blue Bloods series. But, Pocket Edition owners aren’t locked into Sony’s store.  Loading PDFs and Word documents was easy and free. That combined with the price make up for the lack of wireless. If you really want an eReader this season but your budget is small, then this is the device to get.