Saturday, June 5, 2010

Sony PRS-300 eReader

Well, I just bought a Sony Pocket Edition eReader from Buy.com. I had my eye on these for a while, and when I found that the price dropped from $200 to $139.99 (with free shipping and no taxes), I sprung. I won't have it for two weeks (I was too cheap to do anything but budget shipping), but I am definitely looking forward to playing with this device.

I am a book addict. Anyone who has followed my blog for any length of time has probably noticed my "Books Read This Month" gadget on the side of my blog. I average fifteen books a month (more in the summer, less in the winter).

I also love to travel. I recently spent eight months in Central America, teaching English and learning about Guatemala's Internal Armed Conflict. Getting books is not quite as easy abroad, or as cheap. Hitting up book exchanges at hostels helped, as did finding a good used bookstore. One used bookstore even let you rent books! However, the selection was definitely limited, and you couldn't expect to find any recent best sellers or books in a particular series. For me, there is nothing like being able to buy the latest best seller and read it when you're missing all of the comforts and conveniences of home.

Since I'm planning on working in remote places (rural Alaska) and foreign countries, the Sony eReader made sense for me. An alternative would have been purchasing a laptop, and then using the free eReader software offered by Barnes and Noble, Sony, or Kindle. However, laptops are expensive! Also, I really like visiting Internet cafes in foreign countries, rather than toting around a laptop that can be broken or stolen. Besides, Internet cafes are fun!

How do you do your reading on the road?

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