PRS-900 Sony 300 vs. Sony 505 vs. Sony 600 vs. Sony 700 vs. Sony 900

[Jiang]

Aftering watching these videoes, I was quite impressed, IMHO, it's one of the most mature ebook readers regrading both hardware and firmware part. As for irex reader, there is some power issue, and it's not finger-touchable.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Jiang

Aftering watching these videoes, I was quite impressed, IMHO, it's one of the most mature ebook readers regrading both hardware and firmware part. As for irex reader, there is some power issue, and it's not finger-touchable.

Sony 900 seems to generate lots of enthusiasm. I'm glad about that, it should further push interest and market value of eBook readers in general.
But (although being fan of all Sony readers myself) I wouldn't compare Sony 900 (or Sony 600) to iRex (neither 1000S nor iLiad).
iRex' units certainly are less "polished", but their UI and quality in my opinion still is superior. Especially concerning PDF capabilities.
For example, I prefer zoom over reflow for PDFs. Simple to explain: The original idea behind PDF always was, "conserving" the layout. Reflow may be fine for casual reads - I don't care about layout when reading James Patterson. But for "professional documents", remaining the original layout untouched is preferable to me. Sony 900 (and 600 or 700) can zoom and reflow. But zoom only remains for a single page. iRex on the other hand is able to use that zoom for an entire document.
There are lots of details like that on iRex: Renaming book title or author directly on the unit itself (iLiad), absolutely no glare (Sony 900 is a vast improvement, but still both iRex' are way superior = identical in quality to Sony 505).
But Sony clearly has the "cool" factor, plus their own bookstore. Plus marketing, plus market share, plus reputation, ...

[joewandy]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Attached: Sony 300, 600 and 900 comparing sizes.
Sorry, couldn't get a better picture.

Thanks for the great comparison photo ! I have decided to go for the 900, eagerly awaiting for my preorder now.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

There are lots of details like that on iRex: Renaming book title or author directly on the unit itself (iLiad), absolutely no glare (Sony 900 is a vast improvement, but still both iRex' are way superior = identical in quality to Sony 505).
But Sony clearly has the "cool" factor, plus their own bookstore. Plus marketing, plus market share, plus reputation, ...

I've yet to find a brand of eReader with the level of thought put into the experience for the book reader as Sony has, and that is pretty important to some people (myself included). Enough that we are willing to compromise in other areas to get that.

As for touch, that's a tricky problem. There are really only 3 forms of touch technology out there right now, and they all have drawbacks:

- Resistive. Upside is that this lets you use both fingers and a stylus to interact with the screen. Downside is that to get it to work, the materials are not always ideal for anything that isn't backlit.
- EM Resonance (Wacom). Upside is that it allows for a stylus, and the use of thin glass reduces reflections. Downside is that you can't use fingers at all with the panel, and the cost is a bit higher due to complexities in the stylus design.
- Capacitive. Upside is that again, you can use thin glass (or even plastic), and it lets you use fingers. Downside is that you can't use a stylus without a specific design, which makes it bulky, and the tech is less precise than the other two for now.

Sony went with resistive to get the ability to use both fingers and stylus (not to mention capacitive touch tech is still relatively new compared to the two others). Hopefully, advances in capacitive tech will remove its main drawback and make small styluses an option, which Sony could be encouraged to adopt.

[HarryT]

You can, of course, use combinations of the different technologies. Eg, the iRex DR1000S has a Wacom touch screen, but capacitive sensors for its "buttons".

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You can, of course, use combinations of the different technologies. Eg, the iRex DR1000S has a Wacom touch screen, but capacitive sensors for its "buttons".

It isn't really a combination when the capacitive buttons are not even part of the display layers. It doesn't suddenly let me touch the screen with my finger and expect it to work.

The advantage of being able to use both a stylus and your finger on the touch screen is simply so that you don't have to whip out the stylus every time you just want to open a book, and you aren't expected to do accurate things like sketch a note with your finger.

[Jiang]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

- EM Resonance (Wacom). Upside is that it allows for a stylus, and the use of thin glass reduces reflections. Downside is that you can't use fingers at all with the panel, and the cost is a bit higher due to complexities in the stylus design.

I heard of that the wacom screen is lying BEHIND of the eink screen, so it wouldnot affect the eink screen, but the stylus must be magnetic to get going.

Is that true?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Jiang

I heard of that the wacom screen is lying BEHIND of the eink screen, so it wouldnot affect the eink screen, but the stylus must be magnetic to get going.

Is that true?

The technology is "electromagnetic resonance".
So it's not touch sensitive. You can't use your finger or a standard stylus from you PDA. But there are tons of alternative styli out there.
Screen clarity is way better than of touchscreen units, but it's significantly more expensive.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

It isn't really a combination when the capacitive buttons are not even part of the display layers. It doesn't suddenly let me touch the screen with my finger and expect it to work.

True, but the iRex allows you to do pretty much everything using the buttons rather than the touch screen, if you prefer, so you do have the choice of either.

[badpool]

Although this thread has become a PRS-900 love-in (which I have no problem with - it seems like a great device!), I must throw in my 2c and say that for pure reading, I'd put the 300 above the 600 for the screen clarity alone. I just exchanged my 600 for a 300 , and after 20 minutes with it at home, I've yet to find an situation where I cannot read from it comfortably. This wasn't the case with the 600. The 600 was my first reader and I had never actually used a reader before (I received it as a gift), and upon using it for the first time I was actually surprised at how difficult it was to read from.

Also, after using the 600 for over a week, I would say the build quality of the 300 and 600 is pretty darn close. The back of the devices are made of the same exact material (ie, not metal). I'm also pretty sure that the chrome strip on the edge of the 600 is just chrome-painted plastic, as opposed to the non-painted plastic on the 300.

But I'm happy to hear that the 900 has improved over the 600. It's probably a good thing it's not yet available at my local sony store here in Montreal, cause my gf would be short an extra $250!

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by badpool

Although this thread has become a PRS-900 love-in (which I have no problem with - it seems like a great device!), I must throw in my 2c and say that for pure reading, I'd put the 300 above the 600 for the screen clarity alone. I just exchanged my 600 for a 300 , and after 20 minutes with it at home, I've yet to find an situation where I cannot read from it comfortably. This wasn't the case with the 600. The 600 was my first reader and I had never actually used a reader before (I received it as a gift), and upon using it for the first time I was actually surprised at how difficult it was to read from.

Also, after using the 600 for over a week, I would say the build quality of the 300 and 600 is pretty darn close. The back of the devices are made of the same exact material (ie, not metal). I'm also pretty sure that the chrome strip on the edge of the 600 is just chrome-painted plastic, as opposed to the non-painted plastic on the 300.

But I'm happy to hear that the 900 has improved over the 600. It's probably a good thing it's not yet available at my local sony store here in Montreal, cause my gf would be short an extra $250!

I totally agree: Readability on Sony 300 is great.
What I absolutely don't like about it: On Sony 505 you have various choices for turning pages. On Sony 300, you've got a single option: The 5-way-controller in the bottom middle of the reader.
I very much prefer the side buttons on Cybook Opus.
Or even more, having these buttons on both sides of the unit, as with Kindles or Nook.

[justlizz]

Thanks for the reviews I have the 505 and am thinking of getting the 300 as a spare for when my daughter wants to read one of my books and I end up bookless till she finishes if I have 2 ereaders can I have the same books on both
lizz

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by justlizz

Thanks for the reviews I have the 505 and am thinking of getting the 300 as a spare for when my daughter wants to read one of my books and I end up bookless till she finishes if I have 2 ereaders can I have the same books on both
lizz

You can have the same book on quite a few readers. Depending on the format, it's usually 4 to 6 accounts (PC usually already counting for 1).
It can be readers/units from different manufacturers.

As an alternative to Sony 300 I'd suggest Cybook Opus. Although being a Sony fan, I like the Sony 300 less than Cybook Opus.
Opus mainly has 2 advantages:
- Auto-rotation (similar to iPhone).
- Buttons for turning pages on the right side instead of the bottom, which I find way more ergonomic.

Both (like Sony 505) can read ePUB.

[RonF]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I totally agree: Readability on Sony 300 is great.
What I absolutely don't like about it: On Sony 505 you have various choices for turning pages. On Sony 300, you've got a single option: The 5-way-controller in the bottom middle of the reader.
I very much prefer the side buttons on Cybook Opus.
Or even more, having these buttons on both sides of the unit, as with Kindles or Nook.

There is a way to get a side button to change pages, but it involves flashing the firmware with an unofficial firmware. I did it on mine without issue, but it is definitely not for the faint of heart

With that said, I still find myself using the bottom button more often than the "8" button on the side. I agree that it would have been MUCH nicer to have a dedicated side page turner (even both sides) The Cybook Opus looks like a very nice unit and one I would have looked at closely as it handles a good set of formats like the Sony's. It was just too tough to pass up on the $169 that I paid for the 300 new

[justlizz]

I have a voucher for waterstones and they dont sell that make and as I dont know enough about the other makes elonex 5inch iriver story do any of you know about which one is the best
lizz