Just saw the PRS-700

JSWolf · 11-18-2008, 06:24 PM

I took a trip to the SonyStyle shp today and saw the 700.

The 700 is faster. The touch screen is nice. But the touch screen covers the Vizplex screen and makes the eink look less black and more gray. The screen does reflect in a more mirror like manner. Compared to the 505, the 505 looks better. The eink is blacker and the reflections are defused. The problem is the touch screen.

I'm thinking the touch screen layer is not flat against the Vizplex screen and that space causes the light to get diffused when it passes through the touch screen. It might be better if the touch screen was flat against the Vizplex screen. But without being able to see that, there's no way to know hoe much better.

So for now, the 700's screen just doesn't really cut it in terms of clarity & contrast.

dhbailey · 11-18-2008, 06:47 PM

I've observed several things about my 700 which may or may not be valid -- I think the touch screen is above the lights, which are between the eink screen and the touch screen. With the lights on, it's easy to see that the eink is most likely the same as the 505.

I've also observed that when the interactive dialogs appear, they're on the touchscreen and not on the eink screen, making them look different from the eink screen.

At least that's how it appears to me.

JSWolf · 11-19-2008, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhbailey

I've observed several things about my 700 which may or may not be valid -- I think the touch screen is above the lights, which are between the eink screen and the touch screen. With the lights on, it's easy to see that the eink is most likely the same as the 505.

I've also observed that when the interactive dialogs appear, they're on the touchscreen and not on the eink screen, making them look different from the eink screen.

At least that's how it appears to me.

Next time I am near the SonyStyle Store, I'll have to stop in and take a look again and see the dialogs. I didn't notice or not. So it could be the touchscreen layer is LCD?

dhbailey · 11-20-2008, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Next time I am near the SonyStyle Store, I'll have to stop in and take a look again and see the dialogs. I didn't notice or not. So it could be the touchscreen layer is LCD?

It looks like it to me -- the coloring is definitely not like the reading screen.

JasonWalton · 11-21-2008, 09:10 AM

If you're in Ottawa, the Bayshore store now has a PRS-700 on demo. It's the one I returned. :P

For those who have 700s on order, let me make one thing clear; The display is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. It is a beautiful display, it's just not as good as the 505. If I were buying for me, I might have even kept it, but buying for my wife, I know she'll want the nicer screen (and the lighter, thinner 505).

The Sony Stores in Ottawa don't have the 700s yet, but I got one on pre-order. I dropped by the Sony store, and opened up my PRS-700 so I could compare against their demo 505. I had all four employees gathered around me, and a few customers. It felt kind of strange to be demoing Sony products for Sony employees.

The contrast on the 700 wasn't as bad as some of the photos I've seen on this site, although it is slightly worse than the 505. Igorsk had some photos up which I can't find at the moment, but which I think accurately show it. (On a side note, the Sony Store had two PRS-505's out, and I actually noticed some slight contrast differences between the two 505s; one had a slightly lighter background.) The 700's glare was worse than the 505, but I think plenty acceptable.

The photos which show the 700 as being slightly "fuzzy" are accurate. There is also a gap between the touch screen and the surface of the e-ink display, presumably for the lighting, which gives the display some "depth", and makes it much more noticeable that there's a sheet of glass in front of the display. I think best way I can describe it is; the 505 almost looks like you're looking at a sheet of paper, whereas with the gap and the fuzziness, the 700 looks more like a screen.

Kolenka · 11-21-2008, 06:57 PM

Yeah, I'd have to say that the material used for the front lighting and the pressure sensors does tend to make the screen look softer than the 505. It isn't nearly as bad as I expected though, and I found it quite usable, even for usually difficult content with small text.

What does bug me is the glare. I'm ordering an anti-glare sheet for my laptop soonish, and I'll probably get a custom-cut sheet from them to see if it will help the PRS-700 as well.

BuddyBoy · 11-21-2008, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolenka

What does bug me is the glare. I'm ordering an anti-glare sheet for my laptop soonish, and I'll probably get a custom-cut sheet from them to see if it will help the PRS-700 as well.

Let us know it that impacts the contrast and clarity any. If it doesn't that might be a game changer for me. The clarify I can adapt to, but the glare was distracting me.

Kolenka · 11-21-2008, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuddyBoy

Let us know it that impacts the contrast and clarity any. If it doesn't that might be a game changer for me. The clarify I can adapt to, but the glare was distracting me.

Will do. I just placed the order a little bit ago. It would be ~21$ to get it custom-cut. A tad on the expensive side, but worth a shot anyways. It was the best anti-glare sheet they had.

Kolenka · 11-28-2008, 04:35 PM

Just received the anti-glare material. No-go.

Just as unreadable, and just diffused the glare across a larger area. Seems that it simply doesn't work without a light coming from behind (works great on my laptop though).

11-18-2008, 06:24 PM	#1
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,957 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Just saw the PRS-700 I took a trip to the SonyStyle shp today and saw the 700. The 700 is faster. The touch screen is nice. But the touch screen covers the Vizplex screen and makes the eink look less black and more gray. The screen does reflect in a more mirror like manner. Compared to the 505, the 505 looks better. The eink is blacker and the reflections are defused. The problem is the touch screen. I'm thinking the touch screen layer is not flat against the Vizplex screen and that space causes the light to get diffused when it passes through the touch screen. It might be better if the touch screen was flat against the Vizplex screen. But without being able to see that, there's no way to know hoe much better. So for now, the 700's screen just doesn't really cut it in terms of clarity & contrast.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
My thoughts, PRS-300, PRS-600, PRS-505, PRS-700, Kindle 2	zacheryjensen	Sony Reader	78	12-05-2010 07:33 PM
Port Search Function from PRS 700 to PRS 505 500	jessie102	Sony Reader Dev Corner	7	01-25-2010 11:11 AM
PRS-600 PSA: PRS-600 will hang when attempting to read database of PRS-700	Panther_Modern	Sony Reader	4	10-16-2009 01:08 PM
PRS-700 and PRS-505 Review and Comparison from a PRS-500 owner	geekmeetsworld	Sony Reader	5	03-01-2009 03:34 PM
Sony PRS-505 fast enough for skimming magazines? PRS-700 instead?	jj2me	Which one should I buy?	15	12-29-2008 03:31 AM

11-18-2008, 06:47 PM	#2
dhbailey Guru Posts: 604 Karma: 733 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: HP iPAQ211 / PRS 500, 700 and 505	I've observed several things about my 700 which may or may not be valid -- I think the touch screen is above the lights, which are between the eink screen and the touch screen. With the lights on, it's easy to see that the eink is most likely the same as the 505. I've also observed that when the interactive dialogs appear, they're on the touchscreen and not on the eink screen, making them look different from the eink screen. At least that's how it appears to me.

11-21-2008, 09:10 AM	#5
JasonWalton Member Posts: 23 Karma: 64 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Device: None	If you're in Ottawa, the Bayshore store now has a PRS-700 on demo. It's the one I returned. :P For those who have 700s on order, let me make one thing clear; The display is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. It is a beautiful display, it's just not as good as the 505. If I were buying for me, I might have even kept it, but buying for my wife, I know she'll want the nicer screen (and the lighter, thinner 505). The Sony Stores in Ottawa don't have the 700s yet, but I got one on pre-order. I dropped by the Sony store, and opened up my PRS-700 so I could compare against their demo 505. I had all four employees gathered around me, and a few customers. It felt kind of strange to be demoing Sony products for Sony employees. The contrast on the 700 wasn't as bad as some of the photos I've seen on this site, although it is slightly worse than the 505. Igorsk had some photos up which I can't find at the moment, but which I think accurately show it. (On a side note, the Sony Store had two PRS-505's out, and I actually noticed some slight contrast differences between the two 505s; one had a slightly lighter background.) The 700's glare was worse than the 505, but I think plenty acceptable. The photos which show the 700 as being slightly "fuzzy" are accurate. There is also a gap between the touch screen and the surface of the e-ink display, presumably for the lighting, which gives the display some "depth", and makes it much more noticeable that there's a sheet of glass in front of the display. I think best way I can describe it is; the 505 almost looks like you're looking at a sheet of paper, whereas with the gap and the fuzziness, the 700 looks more like a screen.

11-21-2008, 06:57 PM	#6
Kolenka <Insert Wit Here> Posts: 1,017 Karma: 1275899 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Puget Sound Device: Kindle Oasis, Kobo Forma	Yeah, I'd have to say that the material used for the front lighting and the pressure sensors does tend to make the screen look softer than the 505. It isn't nearly as bad as I expected though, and I found it quite usable, even for usually difficult content with small text. What does bug me is the glare. I'm ordering an anti-glare sheet for my laptop soonish, and I'll probably get a custom-cut sheet from them to see if it will help the PRS-700 as well.

11-28-2008, 04:35 PM	#9
Kolenka <Insert Wit Here> Posts: 1,017 Karma: 1275899 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Puget Sound Device: Kindle Oasis, Kobo Forma	Just received the anti-glare material. No-go. Just as unreadable, and just diffused the glare across a larger area. Seems that it simply doesn't work without a light coming from behind (works great on my laptop though).

Advert

Advert