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dhbailey · 11-29-2008, 07:18 AM

I got the 700 because I was tired of the limitations of the 500. I wasn't able to see the 700 in person, so I ordered it blind and hoped that all the negative reviews on mobileread were wrong.

I have been very happy with the 700, thankfully, but I had been torn between buying the 505 and the $70 cover with the lightwedge or buying the 700 with the built-in light. In the end it was the other features which made me bypass the 505 and get the 700. The touchscreen makes it ready for the inclusion of a dictionary (more thoughts on that in a moment) and the increased speed and internal memory were major factors as well.

I have not been disappointed at all, even though the screen is not as crisp and clear as the 505. It is about comparable to my 500 which I was very happy reading on for 18 months and it was only the restrictions (horrible SD / memory card interface which drained the battery faster and slowed down the device) which I had grown tired of working around.

As for the potential for a dictionary on the 700, it is primed and ready to go and I think they haven't put the development dollars into a dictionary yet because they wanted to see how many units sell to see whether it will be a product which will sell.

The ability to zoom in and then move around either a text page or a graphic is wonderful for complex diagrams and other graphics or PDF files from Googlebooks which are simply graphical scans of pages from physical books.

I did look at the 505 as a serious step up, but in the end the increased technical specifications of the 700 drew my vote, and I love the built-in light. With the negative postings about the light-wedge cover for the 505 (dust showing up as huge light points and the easily scratchable and vulnerable under surface which creates lines of light along the scratches) I was less enthusiastic about that option. With the 700, I can read it at the beach just like I did my 500 -- seal it inside a plastic bag so water and sand won't get at it and read it that way even as the sun goes down and the light becomes necessary.

11-29-2008, 07:18 AM	#6
dhbailey Guru Posts: 604 Karma: 733 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: HP iPAQ211 / PRS 500, 700 and 505	I got the 700 because I was tired of the limitations of the 500. I wasn't able to see the 700 in person, so I ordered it blind and hoped that all the negative reviews on mobileread were wrong. I have been very happy with the 700, thankfully, but I had been torn between buying the 505 and the $70 cover with the lightwedge or buying the 700 with the built-in light. In the end it was the other features which made me bypass the 505 and get the 700. The touchscreen makes it ready for the inclusion of a dictionary (more thoughts on that in a moment) and the increased speed and internal memory were major factors as well. I have not been disappointed at all, even though the screen is not as crisp and clear as the 505. It is about comparable to my 500 which I was very happy reading on for 18 months and it was only the restrictions (horrible SD / memory card interface which drained the battery faster and slowed down the device) which I had grown tired of working around. As for the potential for a dictionary on the 700, it is primed and ready to go and I think they haven't put the development dollars into a dictionary yet because they wanted to see how many units sell to see whether it will be a product which will sell. The ability to zoom in and then move around either a text page or a graphic is wonderful for complex diagrams and other graphics or PDF files from Googlebooks which are simply graphical scans of pages from physical books. I did look at the 505 as a serious step up, but in the end the increased technical specifications of the 700 drew my vote, and I love the built-in light. With the negative postings about the light-wedge cover for the 505 (dust showing up as huge light points and the easily scratchable and vulnerable under surface which creates lines of light along the scratches) I was less enthusiastic about that option. With the 700, I can read it at the beach just like I did my 500 -- seal it inside a plastic bag so water and sand won't get at it and read it that way even as the sun goes down and the light becomes necessary. Last edited by dhbailey; 11-29-2008 at 07:23 AM.