Touch Screen for added interactivity

The Sony Reader Touch PRS-600 is a new Ebook reader from Sony that boasts a 6-inch touchscreen display for better interactivity. In fact, interactivity is one of the main selling points of the PRS-600, as it allows users to create notes on interesting passages using the virtual keyboard and highlight passages with a stylus pen.

The in-built dictionary feature is also very useful, as it allows the reader to check the meaning of a word by simply double-clicking on it. These features would appear to be of most interest to a student who needs to annotate their books.

PRS 600 expands your Portable Library to 13,000 titles

The main advantages of the PRS 600 are those associated with any Ebook Reader: that you can store many different books on one lightweight device and read any from your collection, at any time, in any place. The PRS-600 can actually store up to 350 books in its internal memory. This is a lot by anybody’s standards, but if you have more than 350 ebooks then you can store more on an SD memory card or Memory Stick Duo.

Compare Prices – PRS600

	Store	Delivery	Price
	WH Smith PRS600B IN STOCK PRS600S IN STOCK	Free	£219.00
	Waterstone's PRS600S IN STOCK PRS600B IN STOCK	£4.95 Courier	£229.00
	Dixons PRS600B IN STOCK PRS600S IN STOCK	Free	£245.00
	Advanced mp3 Players PRS600B OUT OF STOCK PRS600S OUT OF STOCK	Free	£245.00
	John Lewis PRS600 RED IN STOCK PRS600B IN STOCK PRS600S IN STOCK	Free	£249.00
	Comet PRS600B IN STOCK PRS600S OUT OF STOCK	Free	£249.99

Music whilst you read on the Sony Touch Reader

You can also listen to music files (MP3 or AAC) using the PRS-600, if you like to listen to music whilst reading. Storing music files is probably the primary reason for the expansion slots, rather than a lack of space for ebooks themselves, as few people require storage for the 13,000 books you could potentially store on the Sony PRS 600 when the possible capacity of the memory cards are accounted for.

Good battery life between charges but lacks wifi access

Reading from the PRS-600’s screen is pleasant as it uses an E Ink® VizplexT paper-like screen, which has no backlight or flicker, so it is very easy on the eyes. It is also viewable in direct sunlight and from virtually any angle.

The battery life is superb, lasting for an estimated 7500 continuous page-turns, which is probably enough to last up to two weeks. Included in the box is a USB cable and library software so you can download ebooks on your computer and transfer them to the PRS600 easily, although it is perhaps a little disappointing that the PRS 600 itself doesn’t have online connectivity so that you can download books directly to the reader at any wi-fi hotspot.

On the upside, however, is the compatibility of the PRS 600 as Sony have clearly decided to make a reader that can read all the different types of ebook, image and audio file formats including:

• EPUB Book
• Adobe PDF
• Microsoft Word
• TXT and RTF
• BBeB
• JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP
• MP3 and AAC

Conclusion

The look and feel of this Sony ebook reader is good. It’s ultra-slim and highly portable and has an aluminium front panel. It is even available in a choice of colours, so you can get one to suit your own personal taste.

Usability is superb as the PRS-600 allows you to bookmark and easily return to your place in a book. The menu page is clear and intuitive with the touchscreen interface and there are five adjustable font sizes so you will have a comfortable reading experience whatever your needs.

The search feature means you can find stored ebooks by author, title or date. Overall the PRS-600 is an excellent ebook reader that makes good use of touchscreen technology and has annotation and dictionary look-up features that students in particular will find very useful.

The Sony PRS 600 Reader Touch Edition is available in either silver of black finishes.

Product Codes
PRS600
PRS600S – Silver Case
PRS600B – Black Case
PRS600R – Red Case Exclusive to John Lewis
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