I just got my PRS 700 today, thanks to my husband who gave me it as an early Christmas present after picking it up from Purolator today. And man, do I LOVE it!! It's everything that I had hoped for. On first view, the thing that came to my mind was "why do people think that the screen is unreadable?" I admittedly haven't owned another ebook reader, but it seems perfectly clear to me. It is obviously not as crisp and white as the 505, but is still perfectly fine. The pictures about the glare seemed to be misleading - I find that there is not much of a glare and there is a good range of viewing angles (however I haven't used it in direct sunlight yet). The light is awesome, the lowest setting would be fine for me in total blackness. I love the touch screen and the features. I am just so happy with it!! The moral of the story is don't completely trust what others are saying. Go see the PRS 700 for yourself before you evaluate whether it is a good reader!

I glad you finally got your PRS-700 and LOVE IT! I'm going to pick up mine tomorrow at Sony store here in T.O...Happy reading Sarah...

Amen to your final comment, Sarah! I'm delighted you love your 700. I've had a terrific first week and a half with mine and find that in total darkness the lower light setting is perfectly fine. Also like you I easily find a reading angle which eliminates the glare. I have read it outside but not in bright sunlight, and it works just fine there as well.

I find the zoom feature to be excellent for viewing graphics and details in books.

Enjoy!

(however I haven't used it in direct sunlight yet)

Sunlight is usually the strongest point of eInk vs LCD, so I guess you should not worry about it.

I think the PRS-700 is great two but I am somewhat disappointed with the battery life. I don't know how other's can go a week or more on a charge, I find myself charging every 24hours. I know part of the problem is I use the biggest and/or second biggest font size and I use the light a lot but that is why I was attracted to the new sony e-reader in the first place. I like that I can read without my reading glasses by using the large font and I like reading at night, so I do turn more pages than most but no way am I turning thousands....
I am somewhere around page 800 out of 1600 in the L and this is after about a week of reading and charging each night because I go down to one line left. I seem to go down about 1/4 of the battery charge each hour or so of reading regardless of XL or L. It's not that it's a big problem to charge, I have the A/C adapter but I would like it if I got by without having to do it so often if possible.
Am I the only one experiancing this?

I believe that bulit-in light is the culprit.
That's why so many of us were opposed to the idea, because we prefer external light, which doesn't affect the battery. Just for the sake of a test, try to use the reader without built-in light and measure time between full re-chargings.

thanks for the suggestion, I've been wondering the same thing myself. I really like the built in light though so it will be hard to not use it. Will try some day time reading though to see if I can keep the bars up.

The manual states 4 hours of battery life with the light set on max.

I had the same experience with the light on in the evenings (battery was lasting about 4 hours), but after fully charging the unit and not using the light at all I have read 4 hours night for the past 2 nights and the battery meter still has all its bars (full).

"I have read 4 hours night..."

4 hours is a lot of night reading.


someone can't sleep...

OMG you all are so helpfull. I read the manual but totally missed the above. Now I see it was mentioned in the specifications, 4 hours with light on max or 8hours with light on low. Well that explains it! Now I'm not so worried my battery is defective. Thanks for pointing that reference out to me.

I read for over an hour last night in bed with the light on the lowest setting and the battery went down a little, but it worked great.

I used it in various settings today and it works really well. It was a rather gray day, so I still haven't used it in direct sunlight, but I'm sure it will work just fine. I find that there is more glare when you are in medium light settings, but then if you put the light on the it is fine.

I went into my local Sony store today to compare the 700 to the 505 myself (they didn't have a 700 model). I found the screen difference to be quite minimal between the two, and the 700 is so much easier to navigate.

It was funny, when I went into the sony store one of the guys working there was like "how did you get that?" since they don't even have a display model, lol

There's also the silly little battery they use. Presumably so they can boast about the small, light device. Wah wah wah it's so small and light that the battery dies after 4 hours.

I lost my 505 (left it on a bus) so I'm looking for a replacement, and it looks as though it'll either be another 505 or I wait for the currently-rumoured next wave of devices with bigger screens.

This is my first post, although I've been reading threads here about the PRS-700 for a couple of weeks. I'm a tech junkie, so I've been through the ropes in comparing a diversity of opinions on products many, many times. I won't tell you how many devices I own, but my adapters alone will fill a suitcase. No joke.

Anyway, I ordered (and placed a deposit) on the 700 a few days ago at the local Sony Store. It should arrive any day now, but as it is a Christmas present from wife and daughter (last year they bought me a GPS, trying to contain my addiction!) I won't be using it until Dec 24th after mass. So, my next post won't be for a month, once I've had a chance to get my hands dirty with the 700 (more on that in a minute).

I dropped into the Sony store today to get up close and personal with the 505. There are lots in stock (and no customers in the store, by the way -- recession anyone?). It's a nice product. I really liked the size and feel of the product. I'm talking esthetics here-- form, not content -- I'm sure I'll get the same vibe from the 700. I REALLY like the feel of the 505 in my hands. If I can't get the right vibe from the product, I can't use it. For example, although I devour paperbacks, I cannot read the new format paperbacks -- the tall and thin ones -- you know the ones I mean. I hate them. Refuse to buy them. Have actually written the company to tell them how much I hate this format (I normally never do that).

So -- my first impression -- the 505 is simply okay. I like the physical part. On the tech side, it's obviously early in development. Lot's of room for improvement -- the 700 seems to address some of these issues. In fact, the 700 screen would have to be awfully bad for me not to go with newer technology. For those that adore the 505, great. I have no criticisms, and value your opinion. Enjoy it. But for me, I expect to go with the next generation. I'll have no problem going to a PRS-7xx when the time comes, and will save my money in anticipation.

Sorry if this is a bit of a rambling post. But my motto is "The person with the most gadgets when they die, wins". And to have the most gadgets, you need to keep ahead of the tech curve!

Oh, on the "getting my hands dirty" subject. I have to laugh at the people concerned about fingerprints on the 700 touch screen. Fingerprints/smudges on products are a way of life -- unless you choose to wear white cotton gloves -- just check out the touch screen on the video display the next time you fly. Or take a close look at your cell phone or blackberry. I clean them every day, several times a day. That's life. Another funny thing -- when examining the 505 I kept touching the screen! No way I could live with buttons -- there are too many touch screens in my life to go back...just my opinion.

Cheers,

Archaic

I got my Sony PRS 700 and I love it...What can I say...you really have to see it for yourself ....

Friday, I will get my PRS-700.

What you and others have written, has made me proud that I ordered a PRS-700 when it was first released.

When you are on the "bleading edge of technology" then you have contributed in making something totally new, a product that everyone will want.

In 1975, I was on the "bleading edge" with the Altair 8800 computer, and the rest is history....

I got my Sony PRS 700 and I love it...What can I say...you really have to see it for yourself ....
That's exactly how I feel about it. I'm glad you love yours too, at least there is a handful of us on here that do love our 700s :p

I believe that bulit-in light is the culprit.
That's why so many of us were opposed to the idea, because we prefer external light, which doesn't affect the battery. Just for the sake of a test, try to use the reader without built-in light and measure time between full re-chargings.

the Light does kill the battery, i think their 8 hours is a joke,

but 5 hours of light should be about right

And the notion that using an external light is preferable to the built-in light is simply moving the recharge (or replace) of batteries for the external light to a different schedule but using external lights doesn't remove that requirement unless one only uses plug-in lights, which sort of negates the full portability of the reader.

I moved to the 700 in part so that I would be free of the necessity to read only in well-lit situations or carry around the extra weight and requisite spare batteries of an external book light. And the balance change from attaching an external light was something that always bothered me with my 500.

I haven't been in a situation where I have had to read for such a long period in the dark, but I don't mind bringing along the PSP charger since I also own a PSP.:)

And the notion that using an external light is preferable to the built-in light is simply moving the recharge (or replace) of batteries for the external light to a different schedule but using external lights doesn't remove that requirement unless one only uses plug-in lights, which sort of negates the full portability of the reader.

I moved to the 700 in part so that I would be free of the necessity to read only in well-lit situations or carry around the extra weight and requisite spare batteries of an external book light. And the balance change from attaching an external light was something that always bothered me with my 500.

I haven't been in a situation where I have had to read for such a long period in the dark, but I don't mind bringing along the PSP charger since I also own a PSP.:)
So the PSP charger does work with the 700? I'm thinking of picking one up sometime for mine.

And the notion that using an external light is preferable to the built-in light is simply moving the recharge (or replace) of batteries for the external light to a different schedule but using external lights doesn't remove that requirement unless one only

Not really.

First of all, when you read any book you need light. So, for ebook reader you just need no more and no less light than for regular pbook.
If you have external portable light it doesn't draw on reader's battery. Huge difference.
Second, some of external portable lights work with standard AA/AAA batteries. You don't need to recharge them. Just drop a pack of 12 in traveling bag. I always have a bunch for my external flash. Let alone you can buy it virtually anywhere.

I don't mind unexpectedly get stuck in airport or having a 10h flight without sufficient supply of AAs for my verilux, but it would drive me nuts to run out of battery on my reader under the same circumstances. Or read a book and check the battery every hour worrying that it is going to end any time.
Long battery life is one of features that distinguishes Sony Reader from other eInk readers. All other readers have shorter battery life. (Although 505 is not as good as 500, when I bought 500 it required recharging every 3 weeks, when I bought 505 it required recharging every 2 weeks.)

Hello everyone...

This is my first post in this forum, although I have been reading this forum for quite a good time, and I have a question for you guys.

I just traded my PRS-505 for the new PRS-700. My old one had a problem with the display (the same one some of you had - only half of the display was turning on). I took it back to the Sony Store and after a few days they gave me back a brand new reader. Luckly, on the same day they just got the PRS-700 so I was able to trade my old one for the new one.

I quite like the PRS-700 I should say. It is much faster than the 505, the UI is much nicer and I like the backlight. I just think that those used to the 505 will think there is too much glare. It doesn't bother me but there is definitely more reflection.

What I wanted to know is, when I had the prs-505, I used to map the font so I could read Chinese documents. Now with the 700 I can't map it anymore. I remember that with the 505 all I needed to do was copy 3 font files plus another one to the internal memory and then run the script with a SD/MMS card. I tried the same thing with the 700 but as there are no more buttons on the side of the reader I can't press the number 1 to activate it. I know I can read Chinese when using PDF but it is much better if I can use .txt so I can change the size of the font...

Does anybody know if there is a script to map the font for the 700? Or does anybody know how to get around it using the same thing as for the 505?

I appreciate your help.
Thx

sounds to me that you will need to wait for a firmware update to handle
the mapping. Unless I am wrong, and someone else has figured out a way,
I would call sony and verify for sure.

Hi Hi....

I've had my 700 for two weeks now. I was almost put off by reading the reports about the screen and glare. However, because of the new touch screen and what it offered, decided to go ahead and get it. Glad I did.

The 505 is primitive compared to the 700. Sure, the screen is a little better, but the trade off with the touchscreen features are More than worth it. The features are very well designed making navigation and use of the Reader so very very pleasant. The 5 different font sizes are helpful. And the letters are sharp enough. The reader handles pdf's very well, too. I import Word docs into it, too....then I can study my notes.

And for me, the features of the 700 are vital. I teach A Course in Miracles. It's about 1000 pages long. It just came out in Ebook reader format.....so loaded it up onto the 700. Amazing! I'm now able to search through the book at ease. I can enter a word, phrase or page and presto--there I am. And yes the zoom feature is great. Also you can double tap on any word, hit the search feature and immeadiately it finds that word anywhere in the book.

Also, by tapping on the bottom of the screen where the page number area is....a nav bar comes up allowing for quick forward or backward nav.

I'm addicted to reading again! I have heard that soon we'll be able to go to our local libraries, their online site and "borrow" books, check them out, to our readers. We're going to save a lot of trees. Soon students will be using the readers in place of text books. The future is here now!

Finally, I use the note section to highlight and write definitions of words --just great. And then to see our notes....we just tap on the word that was highlighted, or go to the notes section and read all the notes we've written. This machine Will be very popular with readers, it's positive design features, far outweigh loss of some screen contrast. I find the glare tolerable, and usually moving / tilting the screen to a different angle will do the trick.

Lastly, the battery life isnt as good as advertised....but, that's usually the case with products. It's good enough. I charged fully on Thanksgiving, had the fonts set to XL and many page turns later, I read constantly for two days....at least 6 hrs, maybe 8 hours.....well now it's Sunday and I'm down to one bar...not bad.

The Reader needs to have a built in dictionary. It seems unconscionable, to me, to have a reading device with a lovely search feature, and NOT to have a built in dictionary.

From Kauai,

Tony

Hi Hi....The Reader needs to have a built in dictionary. It seems unconscionable, to me, to have a reading device with a lovely search feature, and NOT to have a built in dictionary....

From Kauai,

Tony


Yes I agree, dictionary would be nice but for now eBook dictionary will
suffice.

Hello everyone...

What I wanted to know is, when I had the prs-505, I used to map the font so I could read Chinese documents. Now with the 700 I can't map it anymore. I remember that with the 505 all I needed to do was copy 3 font files plus another one to the internal memory and then run the script with a SD/MMS card. I tried the same thing with the 700 but as there are no more buttons on the side of the reader I can't press the number 1 to activate it. I know I can read Chinese when using PDF but it is much better if I can use .txt so I can change the size of the font...

Does anybody know if there is a script to map the font for the 700? Or does anybody know how to get around it using the same thing as for the 505?

I appreciate your help.
Thx

There is already such a script for Russian fonts, I have them on my 700. I'm sure more generic script will be available soon.

What is the the Ebook Dictionary? Where can I get it? And my wife is Japanese. I wonder if the 700 reader would read Japanese fonts...or what would I need to do to make it read Japanese fonts? Thanks, Tony

sounds to me that you will need to wait for a firmware update to handle
the mapping. Unless I am wrong, and someone else has figured out a way,
I would call sony and verify for sure.

I think so too. It's too bad though because the script for the 505 works but I can't figure out how to run it.

There is already such a script for Russian fonts, I have them on my 700. I'm sure more generic script will be available soon.

where did you get it from?

I found it on http://reader-sony.ru/ but I can't read Russian and don't know where to download it from...