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Old 12-22-2009, 11:25 AM   #1
Clownzer
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Decision - Sony's PRS-600 or B&N Nook

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Hello everyone and please excuse my noobness as this is my frist post here on mobileread.com. To give a breif background, I have been looking at e-readers for quite some time, mainly at Sony's offerings, and it hasen't been until recently that I have found myself in situations that I would actually use one more often then not. So I figured this would be a good time to refresh myself with the latest offerings that the tech world has to offer.

With that in mind and having spent quite a few hours reading reviews from various sites and digging through this forum I think I have narrowed my choices down to the following:

Sony's PRS-600
B&N Nook

I really do not see much difference in the two besides the Nook having a wireless card in it and it being 40 dollars cheaper. I do understand that with the Sony I can make notes on it which may come in handy. So I am kind of at a crossroads between the two and looking for some input.

What will I be using this for?
  • School PDFs
  • Technology Books (some chm files)
  • Non-Fiction reading
  • Fiction reading

I do not plan on listening to music or browsing the web on it (isn't that what PCs and Phones are for lol).

Thanks for your input.
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Old 12-22-2009, 01:03 PM   #2
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Hi Clownzer - Welcome

A really good resource is the reader matrix, it will let you do a decent comparison of most of the key points between the two (and many others).

The note taking ability of the 600 is due to the touch screen, which also lets you perform dictionary look ups quicker. Although the wireless is a big factor too. Why not get the Sony 900 coming out as we speak and get the best of both worlds

Last edited by dsvick; 12-22-2009 at 01:05 PM.
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Old 12-22-2009, 02:25 PM   #3
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Clownzer - If you live near a Borders, Sony, Best Buy or Target, put some test files on an SD card then go to the nearest store and try to open them on the Sony to see how they are handled. Do the same for the Nook at Barnes & Noble.
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Old 12-22-2009, 02:35 PM   #4
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@dsvick
I was looking at the PRS-900 but not sure the price is justified when the PRS-600 seems to be a little high compared to its competition but I may have to glance over it again.

@grooks
That is not a bad idea at all, I actually live close to them, I guess it was more of a question of the features I would be missing out on if I chose one or the other. For instance I see some people complained about the fact that PDF's where not cropped correctly for the PRS-600.
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Old 12-22-2009, 02:46 PM   #5
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PDF is not very good for any device other than those with a larger screen. Taking a 8.5" x 11" page and shrinking it to a 6" screen will make the text very small. The Sony offers reflow but in reality only works for text based PDF.

I believe there are devices that will crop a PDF to get rid of the wide margins. There are other tools to remove the margins yourself before loading onto a Sony but I have yet to play with that.
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Old 12-22-2009, 02:54 PM   #6
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@grooks
Again great point and thanks for your input. I guess resolution isn't everything when you actually have to be able to read what your looking at. The only think I see the nook has on the PRS-600 is the wifi and the color cover screen, both of which I can live without since I am on a computer nearly 60% of everyday. How do you like your PRS-600, would you go with a 900 for that extra inch if you had to do it over again?
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Old 12-22-2009, 03:11 PM   #7
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I like the 600. I really don't need the added size of the 900 as most of my reading is fiction and non-fiction books. I do get the PDFs from my local library and Sony's reflow is adequate for my purposes. If I did need a device for technical manuals and/or textbooks I would probably need a larger screen.
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Old 12-22-2009, 03:30 PM   #8
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Clownzer - If you live near a Borders, Sony, Best Buy or Target, put some test files on an SD card then go to the nearest store and try to open them on the Sony to see how they are handled. Do the same for the Nook at Barnes & Noble.

Will demo models do this? Or is reading the SD card disabled in demo mode like so many other things are?
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Old 12-22-2009, 03:35 PM   #9
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I don't think the sony on display is in demo mode. I don't know about the nook, but since people seem to have done the trick with the SD card already, I would assume not.
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Old 12-22-2009, 04:01 PM   #10
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Checking the nook could be tricky being as you have to power down, remove the back cover, instal the micro SD card, replace the cover and power it back on so it will scan the card and find the contents. I can see one of the booksellers really freaking out as you disassembled their nook in the store!
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Old 12-22-2009, 04:05 PM   #11
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To be honest, neither the 600 nor the nook will give you all that wonderful a reading experience for your school PDF. The screens are too small and most PDF are made for a letter sized page. What I would try is some of your PDF on a Sony PRS-900 and see what you think of that. i cannot say if it would be good enough or not. Only you can say. You can put your PDF on an SD card and try it on a 900 when there is a demo unit at the local SonyStyle shop.

And there is also the KindleDX that moght be ok for your PDF needs as well. But the PDF support does not include links or ToC.
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Old 12-22-2009, 04:56 PM   #12
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I was a little worried, ok maybe not worried, but concerned on how those would display on a 6" screen. Really as long as I could read the material, I would be more than happy with the outcome. I am just torn as to what route to take and will demo them both in an hour or so, but from what I have heard and read they are fairly similar in they way the text is displayed. The PRS-900 and KDX is pretty nice, I am just not sure on the jsutification in the price.
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Old 12-22-2009, 05:36 PM   #13
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I remember reading on some sort of specs page for the PRS 900 that you will be able to zoom in to cut out margins... please don't quote me on that, as I'm not entirely sure I read correctly; however, if that is true it would be great for technical pdfs. I read a fair amount of journal articles and non-fiction (school) pdf on my PRS 505 and the reflow is great, I have no problems reading on a 6 inch screen. I can even read scanned pdfs and reflow the text if it is scanned with character recognition. I don't know if the nook has pdf reflow, you should try to check that out somehow before deciding.

I guess your choice boils down to the type of pdf's you read; mine are of a technical nature, but not TOO graph or picture heavy, and I am very happy with my 6 inch Sony. I also use programs such as pdftolrf if I come across a scanned pdf that is too small to read on my reader. The PRS-600 has a zoom feature that might come in handy for that sort of thing, and I imagine handles pdf's better than my 505. You might like the added note taking ability with a stylus. However, I'm really considering getting myself a reader with that ability and will probably be checking out the prs 900.

Best of luck in choosing, I'm sure that you will be happy with your reader, whatever you decide.

Last edited by Latinandgreek; 12-22-2009 at 05:41 PM.
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Old 12-22-2009, 10:26 PM   #14
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I don't think the sony on display is in demo mode. I don't know about the nook, but since people seem to have done the trick with the SD card already, I would assume not.

The ones I have seen in Best Buy and Targets are. You cannot save notes, for instance, and I came across another thing or two that was non-functional in the course of my fondlings. Can't recall specifics.
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Old 12-22-2009, 11:07 PM   #15
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@JSWolf
I was a little worried, ok maybe not worried, but concerned on how those would display on a 6" screen. Really as long as I could read the material, I would be more than happy with the outcome. I am just torn as to what route to take and will demo them both in an hour or so, but from what I have heard and read they are fairly similar in they way the text is displayed. The PRS-900 and KDX is pretty nice, I am just not sure on the jsutification in the price.
In some cases, depending on the PDF, they will be extremely hard to read. I'd tell you to download the Sony Software (which is free) and load some books on it (they have a good emulator). If you go into full screen mode, that should be close to what you'll see on a Reader. I just held my Reader up to the screen to compare, but then again I'm on a netbook so it *might* be smaller.
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