Same book, new screen: Sony PRS-350 review

For Christmas 2009 I received a Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300) and it changed my view of ebooks, as well as how I read new books. Last month I upgraded to a PRS-350, the newer Pocket Edition, which comes with a nifty stylus and touchscreen so I can edit documents anywhere.

I chose to get another Sony Reader for the same reasons as the first: the non-proprietary format allowing me to load my own books & read ePubs to PDFs, ease of use, size of the device, and generally good experiences with Sony devices since I used my first Walkman in 1980whatever. The Sony Reader Store is still absent from the UK, but I've never had a problem finding the books I want at Waterstones, Smashwords, or WH Smith (so long as they're available in ebook form at all. Oh the frustration when they aren't.)

There are a few new functions on this upgrade. Most important is the touch screen, which means that instead of a line of buttons down the screen there are just a few at the bottom. Most of the space on the device is dedicated to the screen, which is as it should be and means that the thing is smaller while the screen stays the same size. You can also turn pages by flicking the screen, which seems to be something people want to do with these devices so they can be reminded of real books. While I like the touch screen for the ability to highlight passages, look up words in the dictionary and make free-hand notes with the stylus, the page-turning thing doesn't matter to me. And unfortunately the touch screen functions make the "Put it in a zip-loc bag and take it to the bathtub" function sort of wonky. The zip-loc bag tends to turn pages for me, or tries to look up a dictionary definition while I'm not interested. I'd like a way to turn off touch screen functions and use strictly buttons when I want to.

That said, the ability to make free-hand notes is just fantastic. It means I can edit my own stories on the go. I can't edit the files entirely but I can make the same notes I'd make on a printed-out copy, and I can highlight problem passages for later editing. This device is also a lot quicker than its predecessor, and loading books is faster and less buggy. Even turning pages has a bit more zip than before. The menu re-design seems logical but possibly unnecessary. There are a lot of menu choices I'm just never going to use, for example "Unread Periodicals," and no way to get rid of them or see more useful menu items first. I wish they'd let me customize the menus so I don't feel like I have less than full functionality.

Overall it's a good step up from the last pocket reader and I'm glad I chose it. My other possible choice, the Kobo, was the same price but didn't include a touch screen--and in the last week they've released one that does, so my next review might be Kobo versus Sony. (It will never be Amazon versus Sony because I will not buy an ereader as proprietary as a Kindle.)

As for a cover/case, instead of an official Sony thing that works very well but demonstrates little imagination I went for a Tuff-Luv hemp jobbie. It's light, fits well, and when it's closed the reader looks like a hippie's notebook. I adore it.

Anyone else tried the PRS-350?

Pros:

• Touch screen for editing
• Dictionary functions
• Reads all file types from any source
• Device size &/vs screen size
• Loading/page-turning speed

Cons:

• Touch screen interference with a zip-loc bag
• Sony Reader Store unavailable in the UK
• Non-customizable menus