Annotation feature missing on PRS-600

[NoHolyGrail]

I was in the SonyStyle store in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago to check out the new models. I was particularly interested in trying out the annotation on the 600. But the unit did not have the ability to enter annotations with an on-screen keyboard, like the 700 can. Two separate employees at the Sony store confirmed that the 600 has no way to enter notes with a keyboard.

Sony's website, however, says that the 600 can enter notes with a "virtual keyboard". Does anybody know if this is true?

[kenmark]

A reliable source is here.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by NoHolyGrail

I was in the SonyStyle store in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago to check out the new models. I was particularly interested in trying out the annotation on the 600. But the unit did not have the ability to enter annotations with an on-screen keyboard, like the 700 can. Two separate employees at the Sony store confirmed that the 600 has no way to enter notes with a keyboard.

Sony's website, however, says that the 600 can enter notes with a "virtual keyboard". Does anybody know if this is true?

You can enter "text notes" with a virtual keyboard, but that's a separate feature from annotation. Text notes are a separate, notepad-like, application.

When you annotate a document, you can highlight blocks of text, and enter freehand annotations with the stylus.

[NoHolyGrail]

Well, that manual for the PRS-600 says on page 104 that it is possible to enter annotations with the keyboard. However, that's the method we tried in the store to no avail--tapping a highlighted word. The manual says that should pull up a "method menu" that lets you choose between freehand & keyboard. What makes the manual reliable?

HarryT's experience seems to confirm mine, that this feature does not exist. Anybody else have experience with this? Has anybody actually used this feature successfully?

[FragFrog]

I just tested it and it works fine, key is to highlight first and then only single-tap the word.

Procedure:

1. Double-tap the word to highlight. A small menu comes up with dictionary, highlight, etc.
2. Hit the highlight icon - most left one in the small menu on the bottom
3. Single-tap the (now) highlighted word. A popup comes up asking 'By drawing' / 'By keyboard'.
4. Hit 'by keyboard'
5. Use the keyboard to type away, hit 'Done' when ready.
6. Single-tap the word again to view / edit / delete the annotation (example).

This is of course the European version (with the latest firmware) but I very much doubt it works any different on other 600's.

[ltamote]

You can enter typed notes as an attachment to either highlighted text or a bookmark. Once you've highlighted the text or created the bookmark, tap once on the highlighting or bookmark. At that point, you'll get a pop-up menu asking you if you want to add notes by drawing or by keyboard. (After that, there will be a tick mark on the highlight/bookmark to show you that there are additional notes.)

The store might have their unit in demo mode. I went to the Sony Style store first to see the new models, and they weren't able to demonstrate this feature because their display units were in demo mode. It works fine on a 600 in "regular" mode, though.

[ziegl027]

Originally Posted by ltamote

they weren't able to demonstrate this feature because their display units were in demo mode. It works fine on a 600 in "regular" mode, though.

Would the same be the case for the freeform "pen" notes? I tried to fiddle around with a Best Buy demo and couldn't get it to save those. Interestingly, it DID save the on-screen keyboard note I made.

[NoHolyGrail]

Thanks, that's definitely the method we tried at the store so it sounds like the unit must have been in demo mode. Seems odd that they would disable features like that in the demo mode though. And leave their employees uninformed. Personally, that feature is the only selling point for me on that model.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ltamote

You can enter typed notes as an attachment to either highlighted text or a bookmark. Once you've highlighted the text or created the bookmark, tap once on the highlighting or bookmark. At that point, you'll get a pop-up menu asking you if you want to add notes by drawing or by keyboard. (After that, there will be a tick mark on the highlight/bookmark to show you that there are additional notes.)

Thank you for explaining that - obviously I need to go and read the manual! I've only ever used freehand annotation, since I use it primarily for marking errors while proof-reading.