I currently own a black Sony PRS-650 and while I truly like it for reading, annotation and note taking functionality, the problems with ejecting the device from within calibre and the music playback leaves much to be desired.
As I had chronicled in the "
Boot loop after large changes" thread, the PRS-650 has trouble when more than a few music files are added to the internal memory at a time. When I did get a chance to test out the music playback (with music files on a memory card), I found that the PRS-650 could only play music files from a specific album and not all the files in a specific folder. <- Really?!
I'm sure that many of you would ask "Why not use your phone or your PSP for listening to music and just use the PRS-650 for reading?" or "Why not get a dedicated DAP (Digital Audio Player) as well?"
I like to be able to use all of the functionality on a device even if I don't use it all of the time. On the off chance that I decide to stop reading for a while or need to drown out so of the background noise to focus on my reading, the music would come in really handy. I current budget doesn't allow me to get myself a dedicated DAP in addition to an ereader.
I also own a very sensitive pair of In-Ear Monitors (HifiMAN RE-252: 16 Ohm, 116 dB/mW) which also tend to hiss when plugged into a less than ideal source (such as my Xperia X10). When plugged into my PRS-650 however, I don't hear any hiss when playing my music.
So my question to you all is should I stick with the PRS-650 (excellent build quality, smaller overall size, quirks and all?), return it and get a PocketBook Pro 602 (more supported formats and languages, text styles, wireless, larger overall size and potentially buggy software?) or just return it and use my Xperia X10 with FBReader for now?