I'm in Love

Meet the Sony Reader IS-505.

It's sleek and pretty and it fits quite nicely in my handbag and weighs a lot less than the books I normally lug around with me everywhere I go.

I begged Santa for one this Christmas. I even did all the research on all the eBook readers out there, including the Amazon Kindle and the newer Sony Reader 700 model - and I settled on the 505 model. Here is why:

The Amazon Kindle is white and bulkier (plastic-y looking). It doesn't come with a cover or anything like that (I'm sure you can buy separately), but it does have internet capabilities. You can go online and browse and buy books right from the Kindle itself. I believe you can only buy books from Amazon though (not 100% sure of that).

The Sony Reader 700 is touch screen. It comes with a built-in LED light for reading in the dark and stylus for highlighting text. It also has note-taking capabilities (which is great for students) with a virtual keyboard for easy typing.

The Sony Reader IS-505 (my new toy) is exactly what I needed. Yes, it does not have the online capabilities the Amazon Kindle has and, nope, it is not touch screen nor does it have the neato LED light already built in, but in the end, it had all the capabilities that I needed in my reader. My reader is just for my comfort. I have no problems with connecting online using a USB port and uploading my books. The actual Sony eBook site is somewhat like iTunes. You get to see books, read excerpts and even read book reviews right from the site and with one click you can purchase your book quite easily. (Not to mention you can buy books from your favorite book stores that carry eBooks - i.e. B&N, Borders, even the local library). I find that the uploading time is quick and it syncs with your Reader right away. The reader itself is very thin and it can be read directly under sunlight (one of the main issues with 700 model is that the screen is basically a mirror - it has a lot of glare and is very difficult to read in the sun). If you do need light for reading at night, they sell a cover with a built-in light or you can always turn on your bedside lamp (I've always done it in the past). It has 3 different font sizes (small, medium and huge-mongous). You can upload pictures and mp3's onto it as well as PDF documents. It also has long battery life (I've been using it for about 5 days now and it hasn't made a dent in my battery life). All books are more or less $12 or cheaper (which is a plus for us book buyers). The way I see it, if I love the book and plan on re-reading it, I'll buy it. If not, I can delete it right off the Reader and on we go. An added bonus is, if you buy it between now and March 2009, you get a free 100 classics. Meaning all the Austen, Shakespeare, Kipling, Bronte, etc. my little heart desires.

All in all, I find the Sony Reader IS-505 worth the $259 we paid for it (we got it at BJ's). The other models are about $150 more - you pay for all those extra goodies that in reality I didn't need. It's comfortable, basically weightless (weighs less than a paperback) and very user-friendly. I recommend it 100%.

Plus the way that I see it, in a year or two a new reader will come out in color that can basically read the book out loud to me and I won't feel that bad paying $260 vs the $400 when I decide to replace it with a new high-tech(ier)? version.