Sony PRS-600 bad unit?

garrettwp · 12-18-2009, 05:35 PM

I bought the Sony PRS-600 on Tuesday and was happy to get it. It offered all of the features that I am looking for. This is my first ebook reader. My sister and mother both have the PRS-505. For the last few days I have been putting the unit though it's paces and I regret to say that I had to return the unit. The unit itself was awesome, but it suffers from one major flaw. The contrast on my unit was horrible. The text showed up as a washed out grey color. I know the PRS-505 has the best contrast, but putting the two units side by side made the PRS-600 look like complete crap. When I returned the PRS-600 back to the store, I went back to the demo section and noticed that the PRS-600 on demo showed the text to be way better then my unit. It was much more readable. What I am getting at with this post is do you think the unit I purchased was just a bad unit? Should I pick up another one and give that a try? Should I just hold off until the new year and see what others will be available? For the time being, my mother will let me barrow hers as she does not use it often. Which is a shame as it was a birthday gift from me to her.

- Garrett

omk3 · 12-18-2009, 05:42 PM

Hello Garrett.
Sorry you were disappointed with your 600's screen.
I cannot be sure if your reader was faulty or not without seeing it, but I suspect it wasn't.
For one thing, even though I just love my 600, I'm always severely disappointed when I see it side by side with 505. (Of course when I just use it on its own, as I'm supposed to do, I forget all about it and I'm happy again).
Another thing is that I have found the surrounding light affects very much the perceived contrast of the screen. If the lighting is dim, the screen will appear much worse than under a strong, bright light.
If you liked the screen in the store, I would suggest to give it another try, without being distracted by the 505s and taking care to have good lighting when reading. However, there are some people who just can't stand the screen, and you might be one of them. It's ultimately up to you.

AndreiC · 12-18-2009, 06:21 PM

Yes, indoors (at home where you definitely don't have strong ambient lighting) a light source is a must (I recommend Mighty Bright Xtraflex2).

CarolC · 04-29-2011, 01:09 PM

The contrast on my 600 was definitely one of my disappointments. I pretty much liked everything else -- especially the way I could record notes.

12-18-2009, 05:35 PM	#1
garrettwp Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505	Sony PRS-600 bad unit? I bought the Sony PRS-600 on Tuesday and was happy to get it. It offered all of the features that I am looking for. This is my first ebook reader. My sister and mother both have the PRS-505. For the last few days I have been putting the unit though it's paces and I regret to say that I had to return the unit. The unit itself was awesome, but it suffers from one major flaw. The contrast on my unit was horrible. The text showed up as a washed out grey color. I know the PRS-505 has the best contrast, but putting the two units side by side made the PRS-600 look like complete crap. When I returned the PRS-600 back to the store, I went back to the demo section and noticed that the PRS-600 on demo showed the text to be way better then my unit. It was much more readable. What I am getting at with this post is do you think the unit I purchased was just a bad unit? Should I pick up another one and give that a try? Should I just hold off until the new year and see what others will be available? For the time being, my mother will let me barrow hers as she does not use it often. Which is a shame as it was a birthday gift from me to her. - Garrett

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12-18-2009, 05:42 PM	#2
omk3 Wizard Posts: 1,455 Karma: 37243 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Europe Device: pocketbook 360, kindle 4	Hello Garrett. Sorry you were disappointed with your 600's screen. I cannot be sure if your reader was faulty or not without seeing it, but I suspect it wasn't. For one thing, even though I just love my 600, I'm always severely disappointed when I see it side by side with 505. (Of course when I just use it on its own, as I'm supposed to do, I forget all about it and I'm happy again). Another thing is that I have found the surrounding light affects very much the perceived contrast of the screen. If the lighting is dim, the screen will appear much worse than under a strong, bright light. If you liked the screen in the store, I would suggest to give it another try, without being distracted by the 505s and taking care to have good lighting when reading. However, there are some people who just can't stand the screen, and you might be one of them. It's ultimately up to you.

12-18-2009, 06:21 PM	#3
AndreiC Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 12 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bucharest, Romania Device: PRS-600, Kindle 2 International	Yes, indoors (at home where you definitely don't have strong ambient lighting) a light source is a must (I recommend Mighty Bright Xtraflex2).

04-29-2011, 01:09 PM	#4
CarolC Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Sony PRS-600	The contrast on my 600 was definitely one of my disappointments. I pretty much liked everything else -- especially the way I could record notes.


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