Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Test Drive
September 20, 2009 | Sunday | 5 Comments
I've had a couple of weeks to spend with my borrowed toy, and here's my impressions, based on my unscientific but personally demanding testing methods. Overall, I like it, but the technology still has some serious limitations that keep it from being a serious solution for my personal library growth issues. I knew there would be a learning curve, so I gave myself several days to just play with it. I tried a couple of freebie downloads, but really wasn't warming up to the e-paper format at all. Then I downloaded the new Jeaniene Frost release I'd been dying to…
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September 19, 2009 | Saturday | 14 Comments
My background in ebook reading is online with my laptop which I don’t like because I can’t get comfy and also with my iPod Touch which is small but allows me to read in bed. I’m looking for something between the two so I jumped at the chance to test drive a Sony eReader. I received the Sony eReader 505. The whole family stood around and oohed and awhed. The only rule I told them was not to touch it since it didn’t belong to us. Inside the box with the eReader was a folded poster-size pictorial manual, a USB…
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September 11, 2009 | Friday | 8 Comments
Tony was Eustace and useless as well, Until his whole family went to hell. He became a thief to make a living, Now that he’s older, he works for the king Constance is a widowed duchess, Since her duke died, she’s in a big mess. Her skill set comprises curtsies and babies, To keep up appearances and be a lady. Now she’s in a lot of distress, Because the foul villain wants a mistress. He slaps and snarls and gets his hand on her deed, In the midst of printing up the money he’ll need. (You must pay the rent!…
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September 03, 2009 | Thursday | 6 Comments
I was tickled pink when the magic box of future books showed up on my front porch. The Sony 505 is a thing of beauty. It’s sleek, fits nicely in my purse, and impresses people in meetings. Not having Internet at my house, I took a laptop to my favorite bar (it’s like a coffee shop, right?), sat down at my bar stool and ignored the scowly face of James Joyce on the wall next to me as I set up my new toy. The “Quick Start Guide” was not really quick. Nor did it really get me started and…
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September 02, 2009 | Wednesday | 11 Comments
There is something I need to say before I start this review…I LOVE the Sony 505 Reader and it’s going to kill me to return it! My reading life is changed forever and I don’t know if I can go back now. The ability to carry multiple books with me, that I can whip out at anytime, is amazing. Likewise, reading on my treadmill has never been easier. It’s hard to walk/run with a book in your hand, but the largest font size on the Sony allows me to see from a distance! I didn’t want to love it, but…
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September 01, 2009 | Tuesday | 9 Comments
I never thought I would be in this situation—a woman torn between two devices. After six months of blissful monogamy with my iPod Touch, I believed myself to be settled and perfectly content with a device that gave me everything I asked of it. But then came temptation—the promise of a no-strings-attached fling with a device promising a larger screen and a longer battery life. Size and stamina, baby! But I’ve been a romance reader my entire life and I know this plot well—the fling becomes True Love and I live happily ever after (until September) with the Sony, the…
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August 31, 2009 | Monday | 4 Comments
Pt. I: Meet Cute So Sony 700 showed up on my front porch in a plain brown box, with none of the exotic fairy-tale wrapping of his distant cousin Kindle. That didn’t stop my teenage daughter from squealing “SOOOOO CYUUUUTTTE!!!” at the sight of him, and despite my embarrassment, I privately agreed. Short, sleek, and slim, he was almost everything I love in a hero; I only hoped he didn’t exhibit the psychotic tendencies I also had a fondness for – in fiction. I’m not much of a one for small talk, so after a cursory tussle with the unwieldy…
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August 30, 2009 | Sunday | 2 Comments
Since getting a hold of my Sony Reader I now characterize my life in two parts: BS and AS (Before Sony; After Sony, natch). Before Sony, my TBR pile overflowed ominously, the uncracked spines of unread books glaring at me whenever I entered my office. They glared even harder when new books joined them, impulse buys I can’t resist when I go to a bookstore or a store with a book section. Because of the volume of books left unattended, I find myself less and less willing to put a dent in the pile because I’m the kind of reader…
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August 30, 2009 | Sunday | 17 Comments
I made the switch to Ubuntu when I got my new laptop - Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system. As far as the Sony estore is concerned, Ubuntu does not exist. In fact, I had to do some work to uninstall the Sony software after I realised it wouldn’t actually work. Just corrupt my poor laptop. Further, when I plugged in my ereader (just to charge it!) I actually had the opposite response as in the newest comic. The laptop was all ‘ooh, new technology’, and the ereader wouldn’t even light up. But the software side is funnier, and more…
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August 29, 2009 | Saturday | 4 Comments
I think I’m a little different than most of the other test drivers. I’ve had an eBookwise reader for 5 or 6 years, that I used to use constantly. In December 2007, I bought an EEE PC 701 4G, the first of these new fangled ‘netbooks,’ and switched most of my ereading to it. Going into this test drive, I didn’t need to be convinced of the gloriousness of ereading, I was looking for a chance to convince others. My initial impressions: The quick start guide is a mess. Also, it’s not really useful. Or quick. It is a starting…
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August 29, 2009 | Saturday | 23 Comments
PERMISSION GRANTED Now that I’ve poked, prodded, played with, dropped, and otherwise abused my Sony PRS-700 eReader (thanks again to the generous folks at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books for giving me the opportunity to test drive one of these babies!) it’s time for The Review. In order to fit my review in the wordcount requested by the Smart Bitches, I basically had to resort to bulleted lists and incomplete sentences. It was horrifying. Worse than that, it was boring. Drier than the thanksgiving turkey at Aunt Edith’s. Taking pity on me, the Smart Bitches graciously permitted me to ramble. *cracks…
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August 14, 2009 | Friday | 10 Comments
I was picked for this test drive because I said, “I don’t think so. Convince me.” And then I was picked. And then I got excited. First reaction: my Sony 505 eReader has a brown cover. I’m so not into brown. It has a gray screen. I’m much more into gray. It’s a bit heavy. More heavy and solid than a paperback. Lighter and more streamlined than a hardback, though. It’s a tad awkward too, because the cover is pretty lightweight compared to the actual reader, so it’s always off-balance. I also have this nightmare vision of my toddler-who-throws-things getting…
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August 13, 2009 | Thursday | 4 Comments
PASSION AMONG THE PIXELS Episode One by John C. Bunnell *...there was one fierce moment of unbridled mutual ecstasy, and then they collapsed into each other’s arms.* # After exactly ninety-three seconds of utter stillness, the woman whispered hoarsely, “Is she gone?” Her companion tilted his head sideways on the pillow, cracked one eye just the slightest bit open, and listened to the silence for several moments. “She is indeed,” he said, stretching and untangling various limbs from those of his bedmate. “Closed out of Word entirely and logged into – yes, that will be *City of Heroes*.” The woman…
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August 12, 2009 | Wednesday | 13 Comments
I didn’t realize at first that *Medusa’s Master* was part of a series -quite an extensive series at that. Nonetheless, one of the best things I can say about the novel is that it’s admirably self-contained, and retains focus and pacing even when a platoon of guest stars invades the book in later chapters. Although labeled as a “H.O.T. Watch” novel, Dees’ introduction and the text make clear that the book is also seventh in the “Medusas” series, focused on an elite Spec Ops force made up wholly of women. Korean-born Katrina Kim (called “Kat”) is just five-foot three, but…
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August 11, 2009 | Tuesday | 10 Comments
I seem to have been one of the lucky few who had no issues with the postage service - my e-reader arrived very quickly (I have a 505) - so I didn’t have to wait with bated breath (good thing too - my artistic talents do NOT hold a candle to Brandyllyn’s). Since I travel a lot for my job, I went into the trial hoping that the e-reader would be a good solution to my book haulage problems (especially with the airlines getting really stingy about luggage). So you have some idea of where my preferences lie - I’m…
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