Easy Reader

There’s no doubt that one of the most revolutionary products of the tech age is the digital reader. (Stores practically sold out of them over the holiday season.) Who could have imagined just three years ago that these gadgets would be able to hold almost an entire library? Now, I must confess, I do not own one…yet. But after testing one of Sony’s Readers I know what’s going to be on my wish list. And what should definitely be on your bridal registry list.

Sony has three new Readers and the one I tried was the 5-inch Pocket Edition that retails for $179 and is available in pink and silver. Plus, if you purchase the Sony Breast Cancer Awareness Reader (which is only available for the month of October), you'll help Sony donate $10,000 to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. It was so much fun to operate! I loved how lightweight and easy the Sony Reader is to use. There’s a stylus pen attached and you can also purchase a chic cover with mini LED light attached.

The screen itself has no backlight meaning it eases eyestrain (yay) and is even readable in direct sunlight. You can zoom in on the text and adjust contrast and brightness. Plus, you can use your favorite photos as a screen saver. It has 2 GB of memory and can easily hold 1200 books. In fact, the battery lasts for approximately 10,000 page turns. (That’s a lot of books!)

Pages turn easily with a tap of the stylus pen or a light finger swipe on the screen. Some of my favorite features include the dictionary aspect: Tap twice on a word and the definition pops up. Plus, there are ten translation dictionaries. Magnifique! Now you can work your way around in Paris for your honeymoon! You can record all of the words you look up in a word log as well as create and edit notes to print out. I also appreciate that you can easily change the orientation of the page and font size.

Honestly, I couldn’t put it down and thought how fantastic this is for all those hours spent waiting on long lines, or commuting on buses, trains and planes. Just toss it in your bag and you’ve got thousands of books at the ready to while away the time. So consider adding this tech treat to your registry list. You can even surprise your maid of honor or the best man with this special thank-you or gift your groom (and yourself) to one. It’s perfect for the honeymoon. No more heavy books or mags to lug (And who wants to pay for overweight luggage anyway?!). Just take the Pocket Edition out of your beach bag and relax for hours by the pool or on the beach immersed in your favorite novel.

Sony’s two other Readers are the Touch Edition for $229 that has a 6-inch screen, more memory and the ability to listen to MP3 and other audio files. The 7-inch Daily Edition (available in November) retails for $299. It has a wireless connection to Sony’s Reader Store and provides Wi-Fi and basic Web browsing plus lots of other fab features. Be sure to go to SonyStyle.com and SonyStyle stores for more info and read, read, read to your heart’s content!