Sony Reader Pocket Edition:PRS-350 (eBook Reader)
Sony
AED 899.00
ISBN 4905524700886
Buy this ebook reader on our online store
Description
PRS-350 has something of an unattractive name, its physical appearance is anything but. The sleek silver chassis that surrounds the screen looks great, while five sizeable buttons sit along the bottom edge of the device. Although it looks good, we did find the buttons felt a little too plasticky, but thankfully this didn't affect their usability. A pink version of the PRS-350 is also available, should that take your fancy.
The 5-inch grayscale screen has adequate 800x600 resolution and, thanks to pages being displayed well, is big enough to enjoy a good reading experience. Almost all of the screen is used, leaving little wasted space at the edges. The device has 2GB of storage built in, which is enough for roughly 1,200 books, but there is no external storage card slot so you can't expand on this.
For those who don't get on with touchscreens, the PRS-350 comes with a pen that can be used to navigate around the various options. The pen slots neatly away in the top right of the chassis when not in use.
The Oxford Dictionary of English is built in, allowing users to double tap on a word to see a short definition, which is a neat and helpful touch. The screen also has a wealth of display options, including six zoom levels from extra small to extra large, as well as brightness, contrast and background lighting level adjustments; we found these more than adequate when finding suitable display settings for different environments. The screen can also be quickly switched between landscape and portrait modes, while the lighting level of the text can be increased or reduced to the reader's preference.
One of the most important features of any e-reader is battery life, and Sony claims that a full charge will last for two weeks. We were impressed to find that the battery indicator remained at the fully-charged level over a four-day period during which the device was used for an hour each day. However, while the design, interface and battery life are all impressive, the lack of any Internet connectivity is a drawback and means that books can be added only through a USB connection to a PC running Sony's software. The software is fairly basic and resembles Itunes - you download the books to the library, then synchronise to the device. It's a simple process, but not the most elegant software.
