A couple of white lines, vertical and horizontal, have appeared in my sony reader PRS-500. Is there something I can do? I am really despperate because I use it when I am at hospital as a patient.

I am thinking in replace it by a Cybook 3Gen. In this case, wll I have the same problem?


Alex

Are these lines always the same? (Do they go away or reverse during screen refreshes, for instance?) Can you post a photo?

From what you've said, it sounds like it may be a display or controller problem, neither of those is a good thing, as they'd probably require a trip to Sony's service department. :sad:

I'm guessing that you're in the UK (based on your usage of "hospital" :wink:), which would mean that sending it to Sony for repair probably isn't a good option.

If that's so, then I'd think that looking at a Cybook might be a very good option for you, since they provide warranty support in the UK, and you'd be getting the newer generation of display over the 500

And to answer your specific question, no, you shouldn't have the same problem with another display, this sounds like a malfunction of some kind, rather than something that "just happens" to e-ink.

Oh, yeah, by the way, welcome to MobileRead, alext. :hatsoff:

Sorry it's not under better circumstances. :sad:

Are these lines always the same? (Do they go away or reverse during screen refreshes, for instance?) Can you post a photo?

From what you've said, it sounds like it may be a display or controller problem, neither of those is a good thing, as they'd probably require a trip to Sony's service department. :sad:

I'm guessing that you're in the UK (based on your usage of "hospital" :wink:), which would mean that sending it to Sony for repair probably isn't a good option.

If that's so, then I'd think that looking at a Cybook might be a very good option for you, since they provide warranty support in the UK, and you'd be getting the newer generation of display over the 500

And to answer your specific question, no, you shouldn't have the same problem with another display, this sounds like a malfunction of some kind, rather than something that "just happens" to e-ink.


No, I live in Spain. They don't go away by refreshing the screen. I think they went worse under the sun.

Ah, yeah, that sounds like a display or display controller fault creeping in. :sad:

think on this, if you have a lot of eBooks already in LRF format,you'd be best getting a PRS-505. It uses the same Vizplex screen but a better controller that gives 8 shades instead of just 4. But the screen without the controller is identical to the one used on the Gen3.

Vertical or horizontal lines are probably due to the controller, rather than the screen itself. But yes - all eInk devices can develop faults like that. Your problem, with the PRS-500, is that Sony won't fix if you're outside the US (at least the Gen3 has a world-wide warranty).