PRS-900 Sony 300 vs. Sony 505 vs. Sony 600 vs. Sony 700 vs. Sony 900

[dsvick]

Originally Posted by Lilly

... ordered the PRS-900 from Best Buy this past Saturday. It's not set to arrive before January 15th since they are on back-order. Every time I learn a little bit more about the PRS-900, I feel more confident I made the right choice ...

I'm in the same position as you, I ordered mine on the 30th from Best Buy and now have to wait 2 weeks

I did a lot of research prior to ordering and was pretty close to getting a nook at one point until I heard about the 900. I made myself wait until there were some actual hands on reviews before ordering, and the only upsetting thing is that I made myself wait - all the reviews have been good so now I can't wait to get it!!

[Starka]

Originally Posted by dsvick

I'm in the same position as you, I ordered mine on the 30th from Best Buy and now have to wait 2 weeks

I did a lot of research prior to ordering and was pretty close to getting a nook at one point until I heard about the 900. I made myself wait until there were some actual hands on reviews before ordering, and the only upsetting thing is that I made myself wait - all the reviews have been good so now I can't wait to get it!!

Don't hold your breath!

My ladyfriend ordered one from Sony for me for Christmas during the first week of December. It's not here yet.

Oh well.

[Hogan]

Originally Posted by rwe

Hi mgmueller
i tried this question on a different thread but it wasn't picked up.
I would assume the 900 also comes to europe soon,
from the pictures in the manual it seems the simcard is replaceable, can you confirm this?

As far as I'm aware the PRS 900 uses bands 850 and 1900 MHz for wireless, whilst most of Europe uses 900 and 1800 MHz, so even you manage to unlock it, it wont work in Europe.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by dsvick

I'm in the same position as you, I ordered mine on the 30th from Best Buy and now have to wait 2 weeks

I did a lot of research prior to ordering and was pretty close to getting a nook at one point until I heard about the 900. I made myself wait until there were some actual hands on reviews before ordering, and the only upsetting thing is that I made myself wait - all the reviews have been good so now I can't wait to get it!!

I'll get my nook beginning of February. If you can wait that long, I'll compare Sony 900 against it.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Lilly

Another person has tried to put the Sim card in another device and it's blocked; I believe they got an error message about inserting correct card.

I don't get that error message. I just can't get any connection. Briefly (1 to 2 seconds) it shows the "3G" sign, so it obviously tries to connect...

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I'll get my nook beginning of February. If you can wait that long, I'll compare Sony 900 against it.

Maybe B&N will have had time to fix some of the glaring design issues with the nook by then (in the software... the hardware design is fine) and make it a fair fight. Right now, I'd wager the 900 beats the nook hands down.

I almost bought a nook, my friend has a nook, and while there are things to like about it, it is definitely a rev A product and lacks the polish that Sony has in their software UI.

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

Maybe B&N will have had time to fix some of the glaring design issues with the nook by then (in the software... the hardware design is fine) and make it a fair fight. Right now, I'd wager the 900 beats the nook hands down.

I almost bought a nook, my friend has a nook, and while there are things to like about it, it is definitely a rev A product and lacks the polish that Sony has in their software UI.

I'm back to work today and a co-worker came over with their Nook to show me (I introduced everyone of them to ebook readers in Dec 2007 when I purchased the Sony PRS-505). It's funny she always seems interested in learning about my readers, in fact she use to ask a lot of questions about my Kindle 2 (which is now ugly according to her ). She had a few problems with her Nook, which she called glitches but sound like problems to me. Then got defensive when I told her I would never hold the line for more then 15 minutes to talk to customer service (she waited 55 minutes to speak to someone); sorry that Nook would have been returned with a quickness. She was telling me about the problems, sorry uh I mean glitches she encountered with her Nook and asking me if my K2 and Sony PRS-505 were the same; I was like NO, in fact my K2 & 505 has worked perfectly from the start. I told her I can't think of any software issue with Amazon but there's a screen fade problem in the sun that was widely reported and those afflicted with that problem can get exchanges immediately (B&N told her to wait for next update when she ask for exchange). I told her my PRS-505 has had no problems but the Sony Library software can be a nightmare for some. I hope B&N gets it right soon because the Nook is really pretty, even more so in person (even though with the 'glitches' I would never buy it because of B&N customer service).

[joewandy]

i'm wondering whether it's worth upgrading from a PRS-505 to the 900.

Is the 900 noticeably larger than the 505 when used to read (technical) PDF in the landscape mode? Especially with the crop margin enabled.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by joewandy

i'm wondering whether it's worth upgrading from a PRS-505 to the 900.

Is the 900 noticeably larger than the 505 when used to read (technical) PDF in the landscape mode? Especially with the crop margin enabled.

To me, Sony 505 still is one of the most advanced readers in the market. It's far from being obsolete or outdated. So I don't see any need for a replacement.
If you think about a touchscreen unit and consider this an upgrade, Sony 900 is a great choice, highly recommendable. But Sony 600 more or less is equal, Sony 900 to me only is a minor improvement, not a quantum leap.

Sony 900 isn't noticeably larger. I didn't compare measurements before ordering, but I've expected it being bigger (but on the downside have been worried about being more bulky). That's not an issue for me, but if it's a criteria for example iRex may be worth considering (my absolute favorite for PDFs).

Sony 900 is a great unit. So far, there's only a single minor disappointment: I've expected a bit more of landscape mode. 2-page-view did seem very promising, but I couldn't make any use of it yet. For the books I've tried, it's not too helpful (not enough information vs. readability).
Nearly forgot the 2nd issue (refuse to call it "negative", love my Sony units too much for that): Zoom still only is valid for a single page in PDFs, whereas iRex does remember it for the entire document.

Attached: Sony 300, 600 and 900 comparing sizes.
Sorry, couldn't get a better picture.

[mgmueller]

http://www.sonyinsider.com/2009/12/2...eview-roundup/
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/ubbt...p?Number=35512

[rwe]

thanks mgmueller,
with regards to the landscape mode,
i saw also pictures where there was only one page/collumn in this mode,
isn't possible in landscape mode to turn off the two page view?
it is not very clear in the documentation.
rene

[jbloudg20]

Originally Posted by rwe

thanks mgmueller,
with regards to the landscape mode,
i saw also pictures where there was only one page/collumn in this mode,
isn't possible in landscape mode to turn off the two page view?
it is not very clear in the documentation.
rene

Yes you can.

[rwe]

wow

from all i read seems sony did a great job,
i'am now eagerly waiting for the international release )

[jbloudg20]

Originally Posted by rwe

wow

from all i read seems sony did a great job,
i'am now eagerly waiting for the international release )

I'm eagerly awaiting my preorder!

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by rwe

thanks mgmueller,
with regards to the landscape mode,
i saw also pictures where there was only one page/collumn in this mode,
isn't possible in landscape mode to turn off the two page view?
it is not very clear in the documentation.
rene

Single column view is the standard one. You can switch to 2 columns and back manually.
If you go to landscape and single column, the column width in my opinion is too wide. It's not convenient in that width. Can be done for some text passages, but I wouldn't read an entire book that way. But of course it depends on your source material. If you're into the casual read, your Stephen King or James Patterson in my opinion is absolutely fine on Cybook Opus for example, I don't see the need for a bigger unit. If you need technical documents, the bigger the better. But than iRex with its smart zoom feature has tons of advantages in my opinion.