PRS-900 works abroad?

fragile · 03-08-2010, 05:39 AM

Folks,

I'm on the verge of getting an PRS-900. Initially was going after the 600 but after seeing reviews it appears the the PRS-900 is certainly better and I think the larger screen is just what I need.
I have two main requirements:
1. Good pdf support
2. Ability to highlight (and possibly make notes).

#2 I guess leaves me with only 2 options: Kindle or Sony. But since kindle has no touch screen, I believe I'll be more comfortable with the sony.

I'm never likely to connect to a book store as I'll be predominantly viewing pdfs only (commpany annual reports etc...).

Having said that, there are a few thing in the back of my mind that I want to confirm before I buy:
Does the PRS-900 work in other countries? (I suppose the SIM will be locked to the US but I'm not intrested in the 3G/book store... just want to make sure its not like mobile phones which will refuse to run anything unless the SIM card is inserted). All that I want to do is connect to a PC running linux, transfer pdfs and read. Don't have a sony ebook store account or anything.. will the device work fine for this sort of setup?

Thanks!

fragile · 03-08-2010, 06:38 AM

Just realized that there are a couple of other readers that seem to allow highlighting and annotate as well. In case you guys have suggestions please do let me know, I'm willing to push my budget furthur for the right device:

Absolutely required:
Touchscreen, highligh & annotate. PDF support, with zoom. shouldn't be locked to a particular country (i'll be using pdfs as noted in my earlier post).
Atleast 6inch screen, ideally 7 or 8 inches.
wifi, browser & an open API/sdk, dictionary will be a huge plus.

It looks like Onyx boox 60 seems to offer all of this. I'd like a larger screen though. Does this one have a dictionary?

perost · 03-08-2010, 06:56 AM

I can confirm that the PRS-900 works fine abroad, as I have recently imported one to Sweden. The 3G doesn't work of course, but everything else works. It also works fine in Linux (I'm using Linux myself, and haven't even looked at Sonys own software yet).

If you're mostly going to read pdfs on it I don't know if the PRS-900 is the perfect reader for you though. You probably want a reader with a larger screen, even though the PRS-900 does handle pdfs quite well in landscape view. It's not suitable for reading a whole page at a time in most pdf documents though, since each page is divided into three parts in that mode.

One alternative might be the IREX DR800S, an 8" reader. It's severely lacking in pdf capabilities at the moment, but improvements have been promised in an update in april. It doesn't have a dictionary though, and none has been promised yet I believe. There's also going to be several 9" and larger readers released later this year.

fragile · 03-08-2010, 09:04 AM

Perost thanks for your reply. Thanks also for your valuable comment on the pdf angle. I'll see if I can get a larger display device. Will move my queries on other suitable devices to the appropriate forum.

elcreative · 03-08-2010, 11:10 AM

And there is a long history of promised IRex upgrades that have been cancelled, still not released or just plain vanished... don't buy on the promise of future upgrades to meet your needs... get something that will do what you want now and hope that future upgrades make it better

Quote:

Originally Posted by perost

One alternative might be the IREX DR800S, an 8" reader. It's severely lacking in pdf capabilities at the moment, but improvements have been promised in an update in april. It doesn't have a dictionary though, and none has been promised yet I believe. There's also going to be several 9" and larger readers released later this year.

mgmueller · 03-08-2010, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fragile

Just realized that there are a couple of other readers that seem to allow highlighting and annotate as well. In case you guys have suggestions please do let me know, I'm willing to push my budget furthur for the right device:

Absolutely required:
Touchscreen, highligh & annotate. PDF support, with zoom. shouldn't be locked to a particular country (i'll be using pdfs as noted in my earlier post).
Atleast 6inch screen, ideally 7 or 8 inches.
wifi, browser & an open API/sdk, dictionary will be a huge plus.

It looks like Onyx boox 60 seems to offer all of this. I'd like a larger screen though. Does this one have a dictionary?

My personal ranking (see my thread "8+ readers in comparison"): Sony 900, BeBook Neo (=Onyx Boox), iRex 800.
Sony by far has the best design, features are very similar to BeBook Neo. Sony 900 has most glare though (still perfectly readable for me).
BeBook Neo has most features and most promising update situation, but is somewhat "boring".
iRex 800 for the moment lacks many features, but is a promising unit.

m-reader · 03-09-2010, 07:03 AM

My PRS-900 works just fine in KSA (obviously no 3G support).
WTR PDF, I read a lot of technical reference books (IT related). I find that text reflow works really well. The only issue some times is the printed source code formatting. This is easily solved by flipping the reading into landscape mode.
What I'm mostly impressed with is the TOC support. It is a great help when reading reference books (non-linear).

03-08-2010, 05:39 AM	#1
fragile Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: PRS-900	PRS-900 works abroad? Folks, I'm on the verge of getting an PRS-900. Initially was going after the 600 but after seeing reviews it appears the the PRS-900 is certainly better and I think the larger screen is just what I need. I have two main requirements: 1. Good pdf support 2. Ability to highlight (and possibly make notes). #2 I guess leaves me with only 2 options: Kindle or Sony. But since kindle has no touch screen, I believe I'll be more comfortable with the sony. I'm never likely to connect to a book store as I'll be predominantly viewing pdfs only (commpany annual reports etc...). Having said that, there are a few thing in the back of my mind that I want to confirm before I buy: Does the PRS-900 work in other countries? (I suppose the SIM will be locked to the US but I'm not intrested in the 3G/book store... just want to make sure its not like mobile phones which will refuse to run anything unless the SIM card is inserted). All that I want to do is connect to a PC running linux, transfer pdfs and read. Don't have a sony ebook store account or anything.. will the device work fine for this sort of setup? Thanks!

03-09-2010, 07:03 AM	#7
m-reader Guru Posts: 785 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS-300. PRS-650, PRS-900, iPad2, Iconia A500, Irex Iliad (sold)	My PRS-900 works just fine in KSA (obviously no 3G support). WTR PDF, I read a lot of technical reference books (IT related). I find that text reflow works really well. The only issue some times is the printed source code formatting. This is easily solved by flipping the reading into landscape mode. What I'm mostly impressed with is the TOC support. It is a great help when reading reference books (non-linear). Last edited by m-reader; 03-09-2010 at 07:05 AM.

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03-08-2010, 06:38 AM	#2
fragile Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: PRS-900	Just realized that there are a couple of other readers that seem to allow highlighting and annotate as well. In case you guys have suggestions please do let me know, I'm willing to push my budget furthur for the right device: Absolutely required: Touchscreen, highligh & annotate. PDF support, with zoom. shouldn't be locked to a particular country (i'll be using pdfs as noted in my earlier post). Atleast 6inch screen, ideally 7 or 8 inches. wifi, browser & an open API/sdk, dictionary will be a huge plus. It looks like Onyx boox 60 seems to offer all of this. I'd like a larger screen though. Does this one have a dictionary?

03-08-2010, 06:56 AM	#3
perost Enthusiast Posts: 32 Karma: 406634 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Sweden Device: PRS-900	I can confirm that the PRS-900 works fine abroad, as I have recently imported one to Sweden. The 3G doesn't work of course, but everything else works. It also works fine in Linux (I'm using Linux myself, and haven't even looked at Sonys own software yet). If you're mostly going to read pdfs on it I don't know if the PRS-900 is the perfect reader for you though. You probably want a reader with a larger screen, even though the PRS-900 does handle pdfs quite well in landscape view. It's not suitable for reading a whole page at a time in most pdf documents though, since each page is divided into three parts in that mode. One alternative might be the IREX DR800S, an 8" reader. It's severely lacking in pdf capabilities at the moment, but improvements have been promised in an update in april. It doesn't have a dictionary though, and none has been promised yet I believe. There's also going to be several 9" and larger readers released later this year.

03-08-2010, 09:04 AM	#4
fragile Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: PRS-900	Perost thanks for your reply. Thanks also for your valuable comment on the pdf angle. I'll see if I can get a larger display device. Will move my queries on other suitable devices to the appropriate forum.

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