Technology has made our lives easier in many different ways, particularly when it comes to entertainment. Music can be copied from CDs to a computer and then stored on a music player that fits in the palm of your hand. Movies can be stored and watched on a mobile phone.

However, there are some areas where technology is still competing with more traditional methods. A few years ago, people were talking excitedly about electronic books, with predictions that normal books would become a thing of the past. That hasn’t happened but, while nothing can beat a real book for many avid readers, there are a couple of advantages to going hi-tech for your reading material.

On the go
Having a portable electronic book reader can be a great way to ensure that you get to bring your favourites novels with you, no matter where you go – and all in one slimline device. It’s particularly useful while travelling, as it means you don’t have to lug around a heavy load of books to keep you entertained on long journeys.

There are a number of portable e-reader devices available to buy online but one of the most widely available in Ireland is the Sony Reader PRS-505.

Sony’s e-book reader, which is about the size of a paperback novel and significantly slimmer, uses e-ink on a six-inch greyscale screen rather than a full-colour LCD screen. Because the PRS-505 is not lit from behind the screen, the book is easier on the eyes than a regular PC screen or laptop. Of course, like a normal book, it means that reading in low light requires external light to read properly. A newer version of the reader, currently available in the US, has a touchscreen with the ability to take notes and has a backlight.

The PRS-505 has space for up to 160 books, depending on the format they are in. If this is not enough for you, the capacity can be expanded with the addition of a secure digital memory card or a Memory Stick Duo, which is Sony’s own type of memory card.

It is compatible with a number of file formats, from PDFs and Microsoft Word documents to ebook formats such as EPUB Book and BBeB Book. It will also allow you to view images in black and white and listen to MP3 and AAC music files through headphones, so you can listen to your favourite music while you read. You can even use the device to listen to digital versions of audio books.

The device charges up through a USB cable that you plug into your computer; this takes up to four hours. However, you can get an external charger that plugs into a socket, which halves the charging time. A full charge will get you almost 7,000 page turns – enough for a couple of weeks’ worth of reading.

The Sony Reader PRS-505 is available online and from Waterstones stores, with prices around €250

Another e-reader is the Iliad from iRex, which can connect to your PC or laptop without the need for any wires and supports HTML format. It also allows you to make notes on the book and has 16 levels of grey to adjust the darkness of the screen. The Iliad costs in the region of €500.

The Bebook e-book, meanwhile, stores thousands of book, newspapers, documents and audio files. It is compatible with file formats from PDFs to HTML and text files, and is available for about €329.

Up close
One of the clever and most useful things about the Sony reader is that the books can be magnified at the touch of a button. The text can be transformed in an instant from tiny illegible lines to large print.

Pages are turned by pressing a single button, and you can bookmark pages and sections to return to later. When you turn off the reader, it automatically remembers the last page you read, making it very easy to pick up where you left off.

Easy as ABC
Transferring books is simple enough; they can be dragged and dropped to the reader through Windows, or transferred through software supplied with the device.

One of the previous drawbacks was the lack of availability of books in their electronic format. Unlike digital music, it’s not quite as easy to create your own digital books from your personal printed collection. E-books can be cheaper than their paperback or hardback alternatives. A few websites, such as Waterstones and Ebooks.com sell the books legitimately, giving you access to a decent library of electronic books.