Sony’s recent EPUB support comes with a catch for current PRS-500 Reader owners

Posted August 8, 2008 at 05:43 PM by Robert Nelson

Section: Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous

It was only a few weeks back that Sony announced they were opening up the Reader, however for those that currently own one of the original PRS-500 models there is a pretty big drawback.

The update will not be offered for the PRS-500, and users would have to upgrade to a newer PRS-505 in order to receive the EPUB format support. Of course Sony is attempting to make up for it, but at the same time they are really just enticing you to buy a new Reader.

They are offering a $100 credit for your current PRS-500, which means that you will have to pick up a new PRS-505 for $299, and then ship your old Reader into Sony to receive your credit.

Long story short, if you are a PRS-500 owner you can get a new PRS-505 Reader for $199.

I guess depending on how much the EPUB format will offer you personally, this deal may or may not be worth it. Of course, if you were considering an upgrade anyway, it may not be a bad time, a quick check on some used PRS-500 Readers shows me that $100 is not all that bad of a deal, a little lower than what I found on eBay, but it would at least take away the hassle of listing it and selling it.

Read [SonyStyle] Via [jkOnTheRun]