Just to add my 2 cents (and believe me that's really all their worth
), I went to the Sony Style store in Tyson's Corner, Virginia this afternoon with every intention of purchasing the Touch Edition Reader (600). Unfortunately, they were all sold out.
I spoke with the manager (because I had called on Thursday and was told I didn't need to worry that they had plenty in stock so that if I got there Saturday morning, I would definitely get one). He explained that stores everywhere were sold out and that they were even on backorder if you tried to order them online. They had asked for more Readers when they first got them in but were completely surprised by the overwhelming response for the 600, selling their entire stock in 2 days. They still had plenty of 300's in stock, as most everyone coming in was asking for the 600. I even had to wait in line just to view the display model of the 600 that they kept behind the counter. They only had the black 600 on display, so I wasn't able to do any comparisons with the silver or red 600's.
As to my impression of the 600, the display is noticeably sharper than that of the 700 and nearly as sharp as that of the 505's display. The text color on the 700 could be described as a medium gray where as the text on the 600 is a very definite dark gray, although calling it black would be a stretch. There is still some glare, but not anywhere near as significant as that of the 700. The lighting in the store varies a bit due to overhead lighting, spotlights, etc., and I was able to move the reader around into the different areas to see how much improvement there really is with the 600 compared to the 700. There were times when I had to move the 700 quite a bit to reduce the glare but did not have to move the 600 at all. The gap between the touch screen and the eink display is noticeably reduced which makes for a much clearer display. There is still some glare with the 600, but nothing like the 700.
At first comparison, the actual screen size looks smaller than the screen on the 700 thanks to the 700's gray border. It took a little getting used to, but in the long run I liked the display better without the gray band. The over all size of the device is smaller, but the only thing you are actually losing is the side "wedge" on the right of the device which I guess was there to give the illusion of book pages.
The big difference for me, besides the really slick dictionary look-up
, was the reduction in the number of keys at the bottom of the device. They've removed the [Back or Previous] and [Search] keys. The [Search] key has been incorporated in the [Option] key menu but the [Back or Previous] key function has been completely eliminated. I very rarely used the search function but frequently used the previous screen function. What it means for me is that instead of going from the current book I'm reading to the list of books, I have to push the [Home] key and then the "Books" list. It may not seem like that big of a concession, but I was already missing the "Last" functionality of my EBW 1150.
I understand why Sony got rid of the light and because the search functionality has pretty much been incorporated in the dictionary look-up (although you can still key in a search phrase) so a separate button wasn't necessary, but the same can't be said for the previous function.
The neoprene cover is nice, I guess. It looks just like the cover that came with my Asus Netbook. I did try the 600 with my leather M-Edge cover and it fits but there is a little movement, more than I would be comfortable with were I to carry my reader around in it. I'm sure the covers that fit the 505 will fit the 600 just fine.
Bottom line: because the display clarity is so much better and with the dictionary look-up functionality, the 600 is a big improvement over the 700. I am heading over to Sony to put my order in ASAP!
