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Gear Reviews

Review: Sony Reader

No need for a pile of paperback in your pack, this e-reader stores over 100 novels

Books

Don’t ration reading material on your next big trip. You can pack up to 160 novels on this electronic reading device, and it still only weighs 10.7 ounces and remains thinner than a slice of bread. Buy and download books for around $10 a pop at ebookstore/sony.com. Our tester plowed through two best-sellers during one rainy weeklong outing and reported, “The menus are intuitive, the buttons are easy to use one-handed (nice when you’re curled up in a sleeping bag), and the screen is immune to direct sunlight, so it always looks just like the white page of a paperback.” The Reader charges off your computer or wall jack (one charge lasts for 7,500-plus page turns), and its hardback-like protective cover makes it plenty tough enough for backpacking. $299; 10.7 oz. (with included protective cover); sonystyle.com. Reader service #124

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