Updated PRS-505 - faster?
 

I just updated my Reader and it just might be wishful thinking, but it does appear that the pages turn much faster than before. Am I just hoping it refreshes faster or have any of you noticed the same?

Whoa! I just put a device manual that's in pdf form on the reader just for testing. The text was itsy-bitsy previously and now, with the new update, it's definitely very, very legible. YAY! I can even see the pictures. Thank you Sony!

Page turning might be slightly faster now (I never had a problem with this). I do see a HUGE speed increase in the menus - this was one of my biggest gripes about the 505. I have the NIV Bible on mine and it was almost unusable. Selecting it on the Sony book menu and clicking through to the TOC (book list) and then trying to select a chapter, literally took minutes before. Now it's downright zippy. Well done Sony! My only other gripe with the 505 is that the Next Page button should be slightly larger or more prominent. Not Kindlized, but maybe just raised up a bit more than the Previous page button would work. You should be able to find it without thinking, by touch. As I've used it over the past 9 months, I've gotten used to this poorly designed button and it no longer bothers me as much as it first did.



PCH

I'm afraid that'd be a tad too hard to fix with a firmware update :P

Do you think it would help if I complained about Sony abandoning me during this time of button deficiency?

I only mentioned it because all of my big gripes with the 505 are now gone or I gotten used to them. I just might actually start to like my 505 unreservedly!



I'll have to come up with something else to complain about now,
PCH

Oh I see another thread coming... Oh wait never mind already been Done!

JJ

You could try going by the shape of it, round edge versus flat ....

THe PRS505 definately gives a faster feeling. I'm reading LRF-books over 50MB in size. With the previous firmware, the complete book needs to be loaded (it's already formatted) before I can start reading.

Now the 505 loads the menu instantly and you can start reading. It only read the first index I think.

But it may be me, but it seems that the contrast has decreased. Black isn't that black anymore....

It's not you only. ;) In fact, I do believe that the white isn't as white as before.
Perhaps there is a hack to fix this?

That's really worrisome, unless this is also tongue-in-cheek humor. I don't see why firmware would affect contrast at all. As it is, I want MORE contrast. (I have not yet updated for various reasons.. about to go on a transpacific flight and i dont want to risk messing anything up)

Not sure
 

Im not sure man. The contrast issue may be some sort of personal perception.
Perhaps it is worth to create a new thread just to discuss contrast?

But at any rate, IMHO the update is worth to do... you are going to feel a better experience loading and changing books. It is faster than before.

It seems that there are more light dots on the black area, and more dark dots on the light area, which makes the image seems less contrasty...

I always use the status/batterybar as a reference for black and the margins for whites. And to me, it seems that there is a light "line" of ligher spots across the bar. As if it's not completely refreshed.

And of course... firmware could very well affect contrast. Remember that the way the screen is build up, totally depends on the controller, which is controlled by the firmware...

Just going back to speed for a second, how is it with books with embedded fonts? I know that was a problem before, that if a book contained embedded fonts it was extremely slow. ePub and lrf support embedded fonts, so I'd be curious to know if the new firmware brings a speed increase for it.

Another speed enhancement I noticed today-multiple page turns. If you hit the 'next page' button several times quickly, it will flip to the next page and then immediately to the final page. E.g., I'm on page 10 and hit the page button 7 times fast. It will bring up page 11 and then page 17 straight away. Very fast, and a nice alternative to the +/-10 page flip for moving multiple pages.

Even before reading this thread I was thinking how much faster my reader was after the upgrade. Not only page turning (and multiple thereof) but also just navigating around the menus.......