Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
The 5" readers might offer more portability for a woman (perhaps the 6" won't fit in her purse but the 5"will), but for a man what difference does it make? Anything more than 4.2-4.3" with no edges around the screen will not fit into your pants pocket. And if you have a briefcase then both will fit easily.
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I beg to differ. I have a brand-new 5" 300 (and a 6" 505), and the 300 fits nicely into my front pocket (jeans or dress pants), even with the included foam pouch. (The folding cover will be smaller.) And the 300 is a bit thicker and definitely sturdier than the 505 (smaller screen, same frame size), so I'm not afraid to pocket it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baldrake
Thanks for all the input, folks. Yes, I don't really care about the extra portability of the 5", and it sounds like the extra screen real estate of the 6" is important for avoiding micro-type (which is important to anyone who has left their 30's behind, trust me.)
The trouble is that the most interesting new devices (the Opus and the 300) both went with the 5" format, giving less choice in 6" readers. I'd even consider the Iliad, but can't stomach the price.
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The text sizes are identical on the Sony 300 and 505. The 300 displays almost exactly 2/3 of the amount of text on a screen as the 505. ( (5/6)^2 is right about 2/3--and I checked with actual text!)
If you don't want a touchscreen/dictionary and slightly lower contrast, and portability isn't an issue I would recommend a 505. You can still find them for sale--it's an excellent device. (It is also very thin, even with the cover--just a bit too big for any pocket except cargo pants.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ea
The "lessons" I have learned so far, is to go for slightly more rather than less. I would say that the main feature of the 5" devices in comparison with the 6" is portability. If you don't need that extra portability, go for a 6" device. The touch screen and the dictionary lookup of the sony 600 seems to be the most important features. If they are important to you, go for the 600.
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Seconded. The 300 is very comfortable for reading, but if portability isn't an issue, 6" screens mean fewer page turns.
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Originally Posted by HarryT
Very little. The screens are the same resolution (600x800), so the 5" has a higher pixel density, which makes the text clearer and sharper than the 6". I find that it's comfortable to have the same amount of text on the 5" screen as on the 6".
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The Opus may work differently. On the 5" Sony 300, the font size is identical to the 6" 505 (same bookfile, same size setting). So, the 300 displays about 2/3 of the text per screen as the 505. The text/page is
NOT simply scaled down in size.
And, as someone mentioned, the 300 (and other 5" ebook devices, I imagine) is very easy to use with one hand.