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Old 06-10-2010, 04:00 PM   #1
maxbookworm
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Posts: 372
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Device: Kindle Voyage, Galaxy Note 2
Battle of the three readers

I currently have three readers under evaluation: the Sony PRS-300, the Sony PRS-600, and the Pocketbook 360. I am going to narrow this down to 2 readers, and possibly even one.

So the background is, I bought the PRS-300 last fall and love it. Truly – Iove the size, the screen, the battery life, everything. OK – so I could have just stopped there and been happy. But no, I continued to hang out here, and read about amazing deals and other great readers.

One day, it occurred to me that, with the great pricing we now see on the Sony’s, I could potentially buy a second reader to keep in my purse, while leaving my other reader at home. Basically, I’m lazy (tired of running back upstairs to grab my reader on the way out the door), and I was trying to justify the purchase of a new toy.

The PRS-600 deals caught my eye. Who could resist? Although I’d already seen for myself in store that the readability was nowhere near as good as my beloved PRS-300, I thought this might be overcome by the convenience of a touch screen that would allow me to read the NYT without having to sloooowly scroll down 10 hyperlinks to get to the story I wanted to read.

Then, after the PRS-600 arrived, I somehow (not sure how, now that I think of it) decided that I should try a Pocketbook 360 as well. I guess the thought process there was, “Hmmm… I love how speedy the PRS-600 is, but it’s a bit big for carrying around everywhere, and the screen really is hard to read sometimes. Maybe I should try the PB360 since it should be faster than the PRS-300 and it’s lighter, and it’s got that handy-dandy built-in case. Perfect for carrying around.”

So now I have all three and as obsessed as I am, even I can’t justify having 3 readers at this point. One will need to go.

Here are my thoughts so far:

PRS-300: This is my original love, and going into this whole exercise, I was convinced that the PRS-300 would stay and I would just be deciding between the other two. But this is not so certain anymore.

Likes: I like the size of this reader, and its layout. I find it very easy to hold one-handed and the buttons are quiet and easy to push. I find navigation really quick with the numbered buttons, the home buttons, and the back button. I actually like that there aren’t any folders (many people prefer folders, but I only keep 40-50 books on my reader at a time so I’d rather just see all my books in a flat view), and I like being able to sort by date easily as it’s a good reminder to me of what I last added. The clarity of the screen is great, and I am quite happy with the 5” screen, finding this a good tradeoff to gain the compact size.

Dislikes: It’s a bit slow. It’s slow to pull up the home menu after being disconnected from a PC, it’s somewhat slow opening books and changing font size, it’s pretty slow clicking down through a list of hyper links, and it’s just a hair sluggish on page turns (I need to push the button several words from the end of the page).

PRS-600: My first reaction was, “Wow, people weren’t kidding about this screen. It sucks! This is the loser.” However, I’ve spent more time with this reader, and it has really grown on me.

Likes: This thing is so zippy! I love it. Where the PRS-300 is like, “Is that what you want me to do? Really? Uh, let me think about that for a second. OK, here you go.,” the PRS-600 is like, “Yes ma’am, here you are, and would you like coffee with that?” I also like the 6” screen. It may be a tad on the big/heavy side to be my carry-everywhere reader, but as my leave-at-home reader, it is acceptable. So while I’m totally fine with reading off of a 5” screen, I’m even happier on a 6” screen if I’m cozied up on the couch and am laying the reader on my lap. I do find the touchscreen pretty nifty. It’s great for those long lists of hyperlinks, and it’s pretty convenient swiping pages. I would love it even better if Sony updated the firmware and allowed tapping on one or the other side of the screen to change pages rather than doing a full swipe. The dictionary, highlighting, note-taking and search capabilities are nice, but I don’t really use them. I also don’t care about the expansion slots because, as I mentioned, I don’t keep that many books on my reader at a time.

Dislikes: Well, the screen. Yes, it’s very reflective. *But* it is quite readable in good lighting situations. So, if you tend to read in your favorite reading chair with a good reading lamp, this should not be an issue. But there are situations where you will really have to work to be able to read this thing (e.g., a semi-dark room with all of the light coming in through the windows, any situation where there is more light falling on your face than the reader). Since this would be my at-home reader, and I do tend to read with a good reading lamp, I may be able to accept this trade-off.

Pocketbook 360: This is a very cool reader. I’d say it’s a very strong contender for remaining in my collection.

Likes: I like how customizable it is. I like being able to map the buttons to the functions that I use most. I like being able to choose my font size (defined by pt size – not just 3 or 5 font size choices!), line spacing, margin spacing, etc. etc. I’ve been reading all my epubs in Gentium and find it very enjoyable. I also find the contrast on this screen better than on my 300 (even though I think they’re supposed to be the same)? The background is lighter, and the Gentium font shows up really crisp and clear. Also, this is the only e-ink device I’ve ever gotten my hands on that does not fade in the sun. I like that it’s small and light and I do find the hard case very convenient. Reading docs like the NYT, I can navigate via the table of contents. And while I still have to click down 10 times to get to that interesting story, it’s at least faster to do than on the 300. It has games and such, but I don’t use those features.

Dislikes: I’m not that fond of the folders (I do realize I could manually arrange the files however I like, but I like having Calibre take care of this for me). I’d much rather see all my books in a flat view. This could probably be easily added in a firmware upgrade or theme so it’s a fixable dislike. I also find that opening books is really really slow. Slower than the 300. Page turn speed is somewhere between the 300 and 600, so it’s kind of a neutral. The buttons are ‘clicky’, taking a bit more force to press and being more audible than the Sony’s. It’s pretty pricey. With the Sony’s priced as they are, I’m a bit on the fence regarding whether the likes listed above justify a $70 - $90 upcharge (relative to the 300 full and on-sale price).

So there you go. I’ll keep you all updated on which two are the ultimate winners. At this point, I’m not really sure where I’ll end up. I’m going to give it at least a few more weeks before I make a decision.
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