Sony eReader: no more bad backs

Melita, who has several thousand books crammed onto overflowing shelves has become an early adopter of the Sony e-Reader in an attempt to save space (and trees) and is beside herself with delight.

“The gadget is sleek and well crafted – a little smaller than a standard paperback in height, but much thinner (even in its rather nasty faux-leather jacket) and about the same weight as a slim hardback.

Connecting it and downloading content is very similar to using an i-pod.  The user experience is excellent – the controls are simple, intuitive and well placed.  Holding it is very similar to holding a book, with page turning possible with either hand.  The screen could be a little bigger, there is about an inch of wasted space, which would allow slightly more content per page.

The initial reviews suggest that the page turn is annoying – a flicker of black, lasting less than a second.  It is not quite as smooth as turning a physical page, but I soon got used to it.  It can be read in bed, on the train, in the same level of light as a paper book, with none of the glare of a computer screen.

The price is a bit steep - £199, but there is a fabulous site www.feedbooks.com where you can download hundreds, if not thousands, of free out-of-copyright books, perfectly legally.  (Good stuff too, not just remainders).  This can be off-set against the price. (It comes with 100 on a disk already.)

It is also possible to download news-content from a range of sources, including BBC and The Economist (not the FT as yet, sadly).  Obviously, it is not internet connected, but if you connect it up to the pc and go to your download site (I have used feedbooks.com again, there may be others) it can be busy downloading the news from an RSS for you to read on the train whilst you are having your morning cuppa.  I am sure this will become slicker as the mainstream news sites adapt.

All in all, it is absolutely the best gadget I have ever had!  It will have to be prised from my dead hands…”