Quote:
Originally Posted by Server
Thanks for the review.
But why the deliberate post of blurry pictures?
I think all it does it give off an already wrong impression
of a highly capable reader that the 5.xx people just can't
seem to stop slamming.
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The first three photos were taken in as close to identical lighting and angle conditions as I could manage (as I explained in the fifth paragraph), with the "Text Macro" built into my camera. I didn't have a camera stand handy, so I had to take them free-hand, and it's true that they're a bit blurry at full size. However, since the pix are intended to be
comparative, and they were taken in as close to identical conditions for each device as I could manage, I think they accomplish that purpose fairly well. Certainly it's fair to say that they should impose no more blurriness on the PRS700's pix than they do on the
PRS500's. 
If you're looking for a disclaimer that my photography skills are not professional-grade, please consider this gleeful and heartfelt one.
As I remarked earlier, the third picture was intended to capture the
pattern of the front light on the display, and was, necessarily, taken
in a darkened room, a situation in which most cameras have a bit of trouble focusing, and they all seem to have a bit of trouble focusing on e-ink in the first place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Server
In defense of Sony, The photos
taken in different light settings and angles displaying different
fonts are biased.
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Now I'm not so sure it's clear what I was attempting to capture with those pictures, so in case I
wasn't as clear about it as I hoped and meant to be: the first three are sets of two photos each. Each pair, as I've mentioned, attempts to replicate the same conditions in the photo of each device as closely as possible.
The three
sets look different from each other, because I was going for three different sets of photographing
conditions. I did try taking a single picture of both devices side by side, but the text macro didn't work all that well that way: All I got was lovely pictures of the two devices' frames -- not much help to anyone.
It's true that, the fonts and sizes vary some, however, by the time I got to the point of taking the photos, I was rather more pressed for time than I liked, so I skipped the step of loading an identical file on each device for photographing, trusting my readers to be able to make their own comparative evaluations of the photos, despite the variation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Server
In one photo (last one) even my son could
have shot better. Because of the touch panel extra care should
be taken when shooting stills.
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If you, or your son, or anyone else, for that matter, can take better photos,
please do share them with us! This is certainly an appropriate place to do so, and I would very much welcome them, I'm sure others would also.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Server
Its quite clear the reviewer is an
avid 5.xx owner which does no justice in giving a balance pictorial
of said review.
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I should
hope it's clear, that I'm a 500 owner, I did acknowledge it several times in the article, after all -- specifically so that the
reader would know what sort of background I'm approaching the 700 from.
Speaking as the reviewer, I think it's much more fair to characterize me as an avid
Sony Reader owner -- in spite of which fact, I've recommended Kindles to many folks because I believed that would be the best device for their needs.
I do
not have an axe to grind on the 700, in fact I had been planning to get one myself when I upgraded. After using one for two weeks, however, I feel that the 505 is probably better suited
to my own needs, but I very much recognize that the needs of
other people might well steer them to the 700, or to an iRex or a Cybook or a Kindle, or even
paper. 
My primary interest here is that folks get the device that is best suited to their individual needs, so that
they will be happy with their purpose, not to boost any particular brand or model.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Server
Either way, the review effort was appreciated
(even if late)
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Thank you, I did the review just as soon as they sent me a review unit. I did realize that I was coming late to the game, which is why I departed from my usual focus on the hardware and specs, in favor of an attempt at an informed user retrospective. I don't know that I achieved that goal, but it's what I was doing my best to do.