When Sony announced three new digital book readers in August, pundits quickly surmised that the mid-tier model, the Sony Reader Touch Edition, might find few takers. Their concern was that the $299 version might get lost between the lower-priced $199 Reader Pocket Edition, with its obvious appeal to budget-minded readers, and the high-end touch-equipped $399 Reader Daily Edition, which is due later this year and is expected to boast wireless access.
But after testing the Touch Edition over the past few weeks, it’s easy to see why Sony opted to include it in the lineup. The touchscreen and other features are a step up for users of the current Sony Reader. And new users who aren’t holding out for a wireless version will no doubt like the intuitive feel. Its features are far easier to master than those of the rival Amazon Kindle family of readers.
This isn’t Sony’s first touchscreen Reader. But the new Reader Touch Edition is a vast improvement over the previous iteration, the PRS-700, introduced in 2008. The now-discontinued earlier version suffered from the inclusion of a well-intentioned but poorly executed feature. Most e-readers are virtually impossible to read in poor lighting. To address that, Sony included a backlight. But to accommodate the light, Sony had to install another layer on top of the digital e-ink used to render images. Contrast was so poor in normal lighting situations, and glare so strong, that users needed to keep the backlight on all the time. That drained the battery within a couple of days instead of the two weeks without a charge that other readers boasted.
With the Touch Edition, Sony removes the backlight completely. Instead, it sells a book cover with an integrated book light for $55. Sony also jettisoned the stylish leather cover that came with previous Readers. It’s…