MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - PRS-950 Is the sony daily edition worthless?

zylvere · 12-28-2010, 06:50 PM

I'm pretty sure it is - after a few days, I'm ready to take it back. I wouldn't want to do anything rash, however, without finding out the truth.

Here are a list of my principle complaints:
1. Wifi / 3G - I have connected twice successfully to my AT&T U-verse router, which is one of the most reliable on the market and I don't want to imagine that a device is crashing the router, but I can't ignore the facts. Also, it seems as if the only time 3G is ever used is when you make purchases.

2. Syncing - What? I plug it in and it will sit for hours saying "do not disconnect". The fix for this is to eject it in the reader library application, but that sounds inefficient. Also, the syncing program logic seems like it was planned out and then untested. Processes usually do not finish and you have to cancel them and reconnect in order to fix it.

3. Bookmarks, etc. I was hoping to be able to quickly highlight passages to be able to save them, look up words or anything else. But it seems like you have to enter some kind of mode which isn't very friendly and then select your phrases. And then it seems like those notes stay only on your device, where they can be easily deleted by the sync "program". In other words, it doesn't have any way of going back to your computer because it doesn't actually connect to networks or use 3G. This is in stark contrast to what I see in the Kindle.

4. Zoom with PDF. PDF seems to have some kind of Zoom function which allows you to temporarily adjust the page to a perfect position, and then snaps out of that the second you change pages. The relevance of this is that any PDF that wasn't formatted for the sony reader is impossible to read in its normal (computer) presentation.

5. Google reader. I thought I heard somewhere that the device could be used with Google Reader. This is where I do about half of my reading as I know it is with almost everyone who keeps up to date with RSS feeds. Does the Reader allow for installation of "apps"? I get the idea that it does not, hence the absence of such a category in the reader software.

6. Web browser: this has got to be something that was glossed over when they were doing the update, but you don't seem to be able to rotate the screen when using the browser.

All of these things make what was at first sight the excellent product a worthless piece of junk. I feel like Sony is taking a page from Nokia in making perfect hardware with largely unimplemented features to accompany it. Am I being unreasonable? Am I missing something online?

Thank you, kind reader for your attention and time.

12-28-2010, 06:50 PM	#1
zylvere Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: PRS-950	Is the sony daily edition worthless? I'm pretty sure it is - after a few days, I'm ready to take it back. I wouldn't want to do anything rash, however, without finding out the truth. Here are a list of my principle complaints: 1. Wifi / 3G - I have connected twice successfully to my AT&T U-verse router, which is one of the most reliable on the market and I don't want to imagine that a device is crashing the router, but I can't ignore the facts. Also, it seems as if the only time 3G is ever used is when you make purchases. 2. Syncing - What? I plug it in and it will sit for hours saying "do not disconnect". The fix for this is to eject it in the reader library application, but that sounds inefficient. Also, the syncing program logic seems like it was planned out and then untested. Processes usually do not finish and you have to cancel them and reconnect in order to fix it. 3. Bookmarks, etc. I was hoping to be able to quickly highlight passages to be able to save them, look up words or anything else. But it seems like you have to enter some kind of mode which isn't very friendly and then select your phrases. And then it seems like those notes stay only on your device, where they can be easily deleted by the sync "program". In other words, it doesn't have any way of going back to your computer because it doesn't actually connect to networks or use 3G. This is in stark contrast to what I see in the Kindle. 4. Zoom with PDF. PDF seems to have some kind of Zoom function which allows you to temporarily adjust the page to a perfect position, and then snaps out of that the second you change pages. The relevance of this is that any PDF that wasn't formatted for the sony reader is impossible to read in its normal (computer) presentation. 5. Google reader. I thought I heard somewhere that the device could be used with Google Reader. This is where I do about half of my reading as I know it is with almost everyone who keeps up to date with RSS feeds. Does the Reader allow for installation of "apps"? I get the idea that it does not, hence the absence of such a category in the reader software. 6. Web browser: this has got to be something that was glossed over when they were doing the update, but you don't seem to be able to rotate the screen when using the browser. All of these things make what was at first sight the excellent product a worthless piece of junk. I feel like Sony is taking a page from Nokia in making perfect hardware with largely unimplemented features to accompany it. Am I being unreasonable? Am I missing something online? Thank you, kind reader for your attention and time.