The Sony Reader Touch is my first effort with any sort of eReader device. Just as Nick, in Chapter 1 of the Great Gatsby, finds himself in a brand new environment of West and East Egg, I am suddenly reading a book without paper pages – what a new experience!
The Reader is small, and much thinner than any regular sized book. It slips perfectly into my purse and is so light, I carried it around all day without noticing. A potential problem with this, as I found out, is forgetting to turn the Reader off….so the touch screen went wild! I lost the page I was on and most of the battery power. Too bad there’s not a screen saver or off button for the touch screen.
The home page is simple to navigate. Learning when to push the physical buttons on the Reader or touch the buttons on the screen didn’t take too long to figure out. The “E ink technology” that’s used to light the screen was really easy on my eyes, and reflections were minimal too. It’s nothing like staring at a computer screen.
I also found the hidden touch-screen pen. This must be for underlining words and “writing” in the eBooks, or avoiding finger smudges all over the screen? It reminded me of the Palm Pilot from years ago, which made me laugh.
By the end of the day, reading on the Reader was like second nature. There were a few quirks I had to get used to: such as, the screen flickering black every time it changed, the horizontal text only facing one side, and swiping my finger along the screen the opposite way a page turns. That would have to be my largest complaint with the Reader. It goes against my trained instinct of how to turn a page.
The Reader is a great idea. Although I have a few complaints, I love how simple, easy and straightforward it is.
written by, M.E. Franchini
