MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Just saw the PRS-700

JasonWalton · 11-21-2008, 09:10 AM

If you're in Ottawa, the Bayshore store now has a PRS-700 on demo. It's the one I returned. :P

For those who have 700s on order, let me make one thing clear; The display is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. It is a beautiful display, it's just not as good as the 505. If I were buying for me, I might have even kept it, but buying for my wife, I know she'll want the nicer screen (and the lighter, thinner 505).

The Sony Stores in Ottawa don't have the 700s yet, but I got one on pre-order. I dropped by the Sony store, and opened up my PRS-700 so I could compare against their demo 505. I had all four employees gathered around me, and a few customers. It felt kind of strange to be demoing Sony products for Sony employees.

The contrast on the 700 wasn't as bad as some of the photos I've seen on this site, although it is slightly worse than the 505. Igorsk had some photos up which I can't find at the moment, but which I think accurately show it. (On a side note, the Sony Store had two PRS-505's out, and I actually noticed some slight contrast differences between the two 505s; one had a slightly lighter background.) The 700's glare was worse than the 505, but I think plenty acceptable.

The photos which show the 700 as being slightly "fuzzy" are accurate. There is also a gap between the touch screen and the surface of the e-ink display, presumably for the lighting, which gives the display some "depth", and makes it much more noticeable that there's a sheet of glass in front of the display. I think best way I can describe it is; the 505 almost looks like you're looking at a sheet of paper, whereas with the gap and the fuzziness, the 700 looks more like a screen.

11-21-2008, 09:10 AM	#5
JasonWalton Member Posts: 23 Karma: 64 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Device: None	If you're in Ottawa, the Bayshore store now has a PRS-700 on demo. It's the one I returned. :P For those who have 700s on order, let me make one thing clear; The display is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. It is a beautiful display, it's just not as good as the 505. If I were buying for me, I might have even kept it, but buying for my wife, I know she'll want the nicer screen (and the lighter, thinner 505). The Sony Stores in Ottawa don't have the 700s yet, but I got one on pre-order. I dropped by the Sony store, and opened up my PRS-700 so I could compare against their demo 505. I had all four employees gathered around me, and a few customers. It felt kind of strange to be demoing Sony products for Sony employees. The contrast on the 700 wasn't as bad as some of the photos I've seen on this site, although it is slightly worse than the 505. Igorsk had some photos up which I can't find at the moment, but which I think accurately show it. (On a side note, the Sony Store had two PRS-505's out, and I actually noticed some slight contrast differences between the two 505s; one had a slightly lighter background.) The 700's glare was worse than the 505, but I think plenty acceptable. The photos which show the 700 as being slightly "fuzzy" are accurate. There is also a gap between the touch screen and the surface of the e-ink display, presumably for the lighting, which gives the display some "depth", and makes it much more noticeable that there's a sheet of glass in front of the display. I think best way I can describe it is; the 505 almost looks like you're looking at a sheet of paper, whereas with the gap and the fuzziness, the 700 looks more like a screen.