Side by Side Comparisons of 505, 600, and K2 screens

Originally Posted by owlrigh

I didn't realise how clear the Kindle2 screen was before, as compared to the 505 ... I like the font. Is it the default? Must consider tinkering with my 505 fonts and see what's the more readable, serif or sans-serif. You use all three? Which do you find the best for long reading?

It's not the standard Kindle 2 font. Their standard font is real light/thin and difficult to read. I cannot remember which one I substituted, but it is basically a bolded font.

I personally like sans-serif for long reading sessions.

Originally Posted by Crowl

I wouldn't mind my sony having the nice big buttons for page advance even if the rest of the kindle is a tad ugly.

The Kindle does have big buttons, but they feel cheap and you have to press them at just the correct angle sometimes. The buttons on the 600 feel right. As a comparison, I would say the build quality of a Kindle is like a Ford Pinto and the build quality of the 600 is like a 1980's hand-built Mercedes. The keyboard on the Kindle is a joke, IMHO.

Here is a photo I just took of my 600 using a LED reading light:



This is probably the best I can do to represent the screen quality of the 600 photographically.

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by owlrigh

I didn't realise how clear the Kindle2 screen was before, as compared to the 505 ... I like the font. Is it the default? Must consider tinkering with my 505 fonts and see what's the more readable, serif or sans-serif. You use all three? Which do you find the best for long reading?

I have a Kindle 2 and that's not the font. The font is much lighter, so he must have changed it. I use to own a K1 and the font was darker. There were a lot of threads at the beginning of people asking Amazon to darken the font, which was ignored by Amazon. The screen in the K2 is not bad, just not that dark.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The Kindle only has one font for AZW ebooks, it is Caecilia. On the K2 and KDX there is a hack to replace the font (the rest of the Kindle Optimizer site is also interesting if you want to know about fonts on EInk).

The font on the Kindle looks too much like Courier. Caecilia is not all that nice a font to use to read books with.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I personally like sans-serif for long reading sessions.

Give Fontin a try. It's a serif font that is not too serify. It's kind of like in the middle between a serif and a sans-serif. One that I think will please people who like serif or sans-serif.

[duskdawns]

Thanks Jack for the photos of your Kindle and Sonys!

Which device has the sharpest/clearest text and is the best to read on?

I've never seen a Kindle up close, but the letters on the PRS-505 and PRS-700 at the Sony Style store did seem fuzzy/blurry to me.

What would you recommend to those who are looking for an ebook reader- the Kindle 2, the PRS-505 or the PRS-600?

Also, how do you find reading on the ipod touch?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by duskdawns

I've never seen a Kindle up close, but the letters on the PRS-505 and PRS-700 at the Sony Style store did seem fuzzy/blurry to me.

Since you think the 505 is fuzzy/blurry, there is no eink display yet that you will like.

[kezza]

Originally Posted by jswinden

BTW: Last night I attached a clip-on LED reading light and the 600 screen looked as sharp as any I've ever seen and with almost no glare. I wll try to go outside in the direct sunshine today to see what it looks like. I suspect they designed it for high lit situations.

Oh, thanks for this. It was my first question, since I do about 90% of my reading nowadays with a clip-on LED reading light. Glad to hear it has little glare this way, not more.

[duskdawns]

I have not seen any other eink displays, so I don't know how they are in comparison.

There was another discussion in another thread where one poster commented that the text looked like soggy newsprint, while another one declared that the eink looked as sharp and clear as his paper books.

Keep in mind that while some people are blessed to have perfect vision, others are afflicted with farsightedness/nearsightedness/astigmatism/etc. that does impact their reading experience.

It's not an issue of not liking any eink display. It's more trying to find the best/most readable one out of those available.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Since you think the 505 is fuzzy/blurry, there is no eink display yet that you will like.

Originally Posted by duskdawns

Thanks Jack for the photos of your Kindle and Sonys!

Which device has the sharpest/clearest text and is the best to read on?

I've never seen a Kindle up close, but the letters on the PRS-505 and PRS-700 at the Sony Style store did seem fuzzy/blurry to me.

What would you recommend to those who are looking for an ebook reader- the Kindle 2, the PRS-505 or the PRS-600?

Also, how do you find reading on the ipod touch?

The best screen in my opinion is the Sony 505. The Kindle is very close, but their choice of font is terrible. There are a few fonts that can be added, but only one at a time. Also the Kindle reader does not format books as well as the Sonys. But that is a software issue.

As far as recommendations go, it all depends on your specific use and needs. I really love my 505, but I wanted a dictionary lookup feature and I wanted the touchscreen so I could highlight text and make notes. The Amazon tried to address those needs with the Kindle 2, but in my opinion the keyboard is terrible and the navigation controller is slow and difficult to use. Quite frankly, the only reason I have a Kindle 2 is because there are many more books available in the specific categories I like. The 505 and 600 are of much better build quality and have smaller, better built cases. I guess if you just want to read novels and don't need or want dictionary lookup or highlighting, I suggest the 505. The 300 might be great too, but I haven't seen one yet. If you need or want dictionary lookup or highlighting, I suggest the 600. I do NOT recommend the Kindle 2.

I spent over a decade using various PalmOS and Windows Mobile PDAs to read eBooks. In the PDA class of readers, the iPod touch/iPhone is the best I've used. The small screen is really not that big of a factor. The only real problem is that PDAs and the iPod touch/iPhone discharge their batteries very quickly--usually within a few hours. The one thing that really spoilt me with PDAs is that you are not locked into a proprietary format. On the Palms and Windows Mobile PDAs you can install reader software for most any format available. For example, there is a MobiPocket Reader, a reader for eReader format, a reader for Microsoft Lit format, etc. It was always so great to have that multi-format capability on my PDA. The touch/iPhone might be a bit more limited in formats. Another great thing about the reader software for PDAs is that you could select not only font sizes but choose from several available fonts, font colors, background colors, change the margin sizes, etc. The customization options were terrific. I really don't understand why Sony and Amazon don't give us more customization options, especially fonts. The main downside to using the iPod touch/iPhone (or any other PDA) is that it is uncomfortable to hold such a small device for an extended period. They are one-hand devices. The Sonys and Kindles are more book-like in size and lend themselves to a much better, more natural holding/reading experience, and their screens are better for extended reading periods. Plus some books are just not redable on a tiny screen. For example, books with lots of photos, images, drawings, tables, etc.

So I guess what I'm saying is that for short reading periods the PDAs are okay and the small device is great for doctor office visits and such as they will easily fit into your shirt pocket or belt holster. But for 90% of my reading I prefer the Sonys. I wish Sony would release an iPhone app like Amazon did for the Kindle.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by duskdawns

I have not seen any other eink displays, so I don't know how they are in comparison.

There was another discussion in another thread where one poster commented that the text looked like soggy newsprint, while another one declared that the eink looked as sharp and clear as his paper books.

Keep in mind that while some people are blessed to have perfect vision, others are afflicted with farsightedness/nearsightedness/astigmatism/etc. that does impact their reading experience.

It's not an issue of not liking any eink display. It's more trying to find the best/most readable one out of those available.

There are quite a few differing opinions and agenda at play. My statement about soggy newsprint applies in general to most e-ink devices, and is especially true for some like the PRS-700. A pretty large number of people believe that the best screen among the Vizplex options is on the PRS-505, which I have and don't particularly like the quality of (and I purchased it on recommendation of the screen, go figure). You said you saw one and the letters were a little fuzzy or unclear. That's pretty typical. It does get worse in some lighting situations, and in some it's tolerable. However, I've never, ever seen an e-ink display in any kind of lighting and thought "wow, that looks surprisingly good." I'm always hoping though.

[duskdawns]

Really appreciate your thoughtful response, Jack.

I find it interesting that as a Kindle owner, you don't recommend the Kindle. I occasionally read the Amazon forums, and usually any criticism of the Kindle is quickly blasted by others there.

Sounds like the ideal would be a Sony reader married to the Kindle store.

In the future, I wonder if Sony will be able to implement a dictionary on a non-touch screen reader such as the PRS-300. Or develop a touchscreen that does not come at the expense of screen clarity. I also wonder whether customization of fonts would help significantly the legibility of the type.

At some point, I'll have to swing by the Apple store to check out the iphone/ipod touch to see how my eyes perceive the text sharpness and contrast.

I agree with you that a Sony iPhone app would be nice, making it even more of a multi-format device. There have been a slew of articles recently on how the ebook market will expand primarily through PDAs/smartphones rather than dedicated ebook devices.

Like LDBoblo, I do hope the e-ink technology improves over time, or that another technology is developed that surpasses the quality of e-ink for future ebook readers.

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by duskdawns

Really appreciate your thoughtful response, Jack.

I find it interesting that as a Kindle owner, you don't recommend the Kindle. I occasionally read the Amazon forums, and usually any criticism of the Kindle is quickly blasted by others there.

Sounds like the ideal would be a Sony reader married to the Kindle store.

You're so right, if you say anything negative about the Kindle, half of the Amazon board will bite your head off! I love the Amazon store and I can't wait to get my hand on the Sony Daily Edition. If the Amazon store was open for people who do not own Kindles then I would only have a Sony.

[kezza]

Originally Posted by duskdawns

I find it interesting that as a Kindle owner, you don't recommend the Kindle. I occasionally read the Amazon forums, and usually any criticism of the Kindle is quickly blasted by others there.

It's refreshing for me, too. I live in Seattle, which I think must be the Land of Kindle (because it is, after all, the Land of Amazon) and never see Sony devices in the wild. I feel a little outnumbered here. I'm glad that not everybody LOOOOOOVES their Kindle.

Sounds like the ideal would be a Sony reader married to the Kindle store.

Boy, would that be nice.

At some point, I'll have to swing by the Apple store to check out the iphone/ipod touch to see how my eyes perceive the text sharpness and contrast.

I haven't tried most of the iPhone readers out there, but the Kindle software for iPhone is pretty decent, and you can send free samples of books from the Amazon store directly to the phone. Could be a good way to decide how you feel about the software without ever having to pay for anything.