PRS-650 Is Sony 650 good enough for me?

[Student90]

Hello everyone,

I am a university student, I love to read and take notes and make highlights on pdf ebooks, I heard good things about SONY 650 which is good for students, and I will order one today but first could you answer these few questions for me please?

1- Which sony 650 is better: The red one 650R , the balck 650B, or the grey/white one 650S?
2- Is it better to get one from the official sony website or from other websites like Amazon or Cyberport,...etc?
3- Are there any things should I be aware of before I start using my ereader?
4-Should I let it charge for a long time before I start using it the 1st time? Let's say 8 hours? More?
5- Does sony 650 have a real good battery? Is this battery built in or removable?
Thanks lots for your attention and your guidance.

PS: Please dont direct me to other ereaders, I am interested in this Sony only, and would like to know if it will satifsy me as a student. Thanks again.

[Mark Nord]

Originally Posted by Student90

Hello everyone,

I am a university student, I love to read and take notes and make highlights on pdf ebooks, I heard good things about SONY 650 which is good for students, and I will order one today but first could you answer these few questions for me please?

Hi and welcom to MR Student90!

Have you even tried to read or seach this forum?
Most, if not all, of your questions are discussed several times

The ability of working with PDF's is discussed just few post below Questioning Sony PRS 650 abilitiy

1- Which sony 650 is better: The red one 650R , the balck 650B, or the grey/white one 650S?

They are absolutelly the same except of the color. What color do you like best?

2- Is it better to get one from the official sony website or from other websites like Amazon or Cyberport,...etc?

Get it whereever you can get it, as there is a shortage over the last month.

3- Are there any things should I be aware of before I start using my ereader?

nope

4-Should I let it charge for a long time before I start using it the 1st time?
Let's say 8 hours? More?

As a lithium polymer battery is used, do as you like. But charging for some more hours after the red led wents off is recommended.

5- Does sony 650 have a real good battery? Is this battery built in or removable?

The battery last for about two weeks depending on your reading habits and it is built in.

PS: Please dont direct me to other ereaders, I am interested in this Sony only, and would like to know if it will satifsy me as a student. Thanks again.

Sorry to disappoint you, but for extended work with PDF's the Sony may not be first choice. A tablet with a larger screen and sophisticated PDF-Reader App may suite your needs better.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Mark Nord

Sorry to disappoint you, but for extended work with PDF's the Sony may not be first choice. A tablet with a larger screen and sophisticated PDF-Reader App may suite your needs better.

Agreed. No 6" reader works well with PDFs. If this is your primary requirement, you need a 10" or larger screen.

[Student90]

Originally Posted by Mark Nord

Hi and welcom to MR Sudent90!

Have you even tried to read or seach this forum?
Most, if not al,l of your questions are discussed several times

The ability of working with PDF's is discussed just few post below Questioning Sony PRS 650 abilitiy


They are absolutelly the same except of the color. What color do you like best?


Get it whereever you can get it, as there is a shortage over the last month.


nope


As a lithium polymer battery is used, do as you like. But loading for some more hours after the red led wents off is recommended.


The battery last for about two weeks depending on your reading habits and it is built in.


Sorry to disappoint you, but for extended work with PDF's the Sony may not be first choice. A tablet with a larger screen and sophisticated PDF-Reader App may suite your needs better.

wowo.. Thanks for the great answer, I know I should get a bigger screen for pdfs, but the other ereaders are costly for a student who works part time. I will be happy if I can take notes and make highlights on the sony 650.

[Student90]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Agreed. No 6" reader works well with PDFs. If this is your primary requirement, you need a 10" or larger screen.

Thanks Harry, but a 10'' screen needs more money ):

[UpSpin]

Originally Posted by Student90

I will be happy if I can take notes and make highlights on the sony 650.

Handwritten notes? Then don't buy the eReader.

To take notes you need a Wacom or N-Trig digitizer and pen.

How good the PocketBooks are, which have one, don't know.

If you really want to take handwritten notes on PDF files your only option is a real Tablet PC with a Wacom pen running Windows and Bluebeam PDF Revu.

[delphin]

Apologies for some of the prior sarcastic comments by other posters, and welcome to the forum.

Originally Posted by Student90

1- Which sony 650 is better: The red one 650R , the black 650B, or the grey/white one 650S?

As stated all of them are identical function wise, so it's partially aesthetics and personal preference, but on a practical basis, some have found the silver finished Sony readers can create glint reflections in bright light. I personally would find a bright red frame distracting, so I went with the black 650B.

Originally Posted by Student90

2- Is it better to get one from the official sony website or from other websites like Amazon or Cyberport,...etc?

Again, there is no functional difference, regardless of where you purchase your Sony, so make your best deal. I bought my Sony through a third party independent dealer on Amazon for $199 several months back (before they became so scarce) and it arrived very quickly, in perfect condition. Even if there should be a problem, it has a full Sony warranty to cover any problems.

Originally Posted by Student90

3- Are there any things should I be aware of before I start using my ereader?

Be aware that, except when you select words for highlighting or lookup in the built in dictionary (which use double taps on the touch screen) almost all other functions require ONLY SINGLE TAPS.
(I mention this because using double taps where single taps are required will cause the 650 to react in unexpected ways).

Originally Posted by Student90

4-Should I let it charge for a long time before I start using it the 1st time? Let's say 8 hours? More?

No, this is not needed (though it won't hurt anything either). If you charge on the PC, just charge till the screen indicates that charging is complete. This should never take more than two or three hours, but DO make sure that your PC power save settings allow it to stay on for this full time, and do not cause it to hibernate and shut down the USB ports, or you will have problems.

Originally Posted by Student90

5- Does sony 650 have a real good battery? Is this battery built in or removable?
Thanks lots for your attention and your guidance.

Yes, the PRS-650 has a high quality rechargeable Lithium Ion battery that has good battery life. The reader should only require charging about once a week when used a few hours per day, and left in power save standby the rest of the time. You can also shut the reader down completely when not in use to extend this time even more.

The battery is built in, but should be good for hundreds charge/discharge cycles. With reasonable care, it should last for years.

Originally Posted by Student90

PS: Please dont direct me to other ereaders, I am interested in this Sony only, and would like to know if it will satifsy me as a student. Thanks again.

Contrary to what has been said, the Sony is fine for light note taking and highlighting, INCLUDING occasional hand written notes, which you can add using the stylus.

You should be aware however, that as some others have already stated, most PDF files are optimized for display on larger devices, and though readable on the PRS-650, a larger screen will give a better view.

As a student, hopefully, you also have a Notebook or Netbook. If not, I would suggest that you consider at least purchasing an inexpensive Netbook to supplement your Sony reader.

[carpetmojo]

..Yes.

[charleslou]

For student, you can purchase the reader from Sony Education Store for a discount. Just google Sony Education store and it will direct you there.

[odiakkoh]

Originally Posted by charleslou

For student, you can purchase the reader from Sony Education Store for a discount. Just google Sony Education store and it will direct you there.

Wow thanks for sharing. I was thinking of buying a 950 for school but ill wait till i have my student info first. $15 off isnt bad. Every penny counts.

[Student90]

Originally Posted by charleslou

For student, you can purchase the reader from Sony Education Store for a discount. Just google Sony Education store and it will direct you there.

Thanks for the info, I didnt know it, but I think it works only in the States and not in Germany, or?

[Student90]

Originally Posted by delphin

Apologies for some of the prior sarcastic comments by other posters, and welcome to the forum.



As stated all of them are identical function wise, so it's partially aesthetics and personal preference, but on a practical basis, some have found the silver finished Sony readers can create glint reflections in bright light. I personally would find a bright red frame distracting, so I went with the black 650B.



Again, there is no functional difference, regardless of where you purchase your Sony, so make your best deal. I bought my Sony through a third party independent dealer on Amazon for $199 several months back (before they became so scarce) and it arrived very quickly, in perfect condition. Even if there should be a problem, it has a full Sony warranty to cover any problems.



Be aware that, except when you select words for highlighting or lookup in the built in dictionary (which use double taps on the touch screen) almost all other functions require ONLY SINGLE TAPS.
(I mention this because using double taps where single taps are required will cause the 650 to react in unexpected ways).



No, this is not needed (though it won't hurt anything either). If you charge on the PC, just charge till the screen indicates that charging is complete. This should never take more than two or three hours, but DO make sure that your PC power save settings allow it to stay on for this full time, and do not cause it to hibernate and shut down the USB ports, or you will have problems.



Yes, the PRS-650 has a high quality rechargeable Lithium Ion battery that has good battery life. The reader should only require charging about once a week when used a few hours per day, and left in power save standby the rest of the time. You can also shut the reader down completely when not in use to extend this time even more.

The battery is built in, but should be good for hundreds charge/discharge cycles. With reasonable care, it should last for years.



Contrary to what has been said, the Sony is fine for light note taking and highlighting, INCLUDING occasional hand written notes, which you can add using the stylus.

You should be aware however, that as some others have already stated, most PDF files are optimized for display on larger devices, and though readable on the PRS-650, a larger screen will give a better view.

As a student, hopefully, you also have a Notebook or Netbook. If not, I would suggest that you consider at least purchasing an inexpensive Netbook to supplement your Sony reader.

Thanks lots for the long answer, thats nice of you! Actually I am still looking online as I didnt find any sony 650 available, all sold out here in Germany where I live.

[Prestidigitweeze]

BTW: Anyone who wants to be amazed should read UpSpin's How-to post on PDF conversion and then look at the screen shots.

I had the chance to look at his conversion of a physics textbook chapter on both the eReaders I own and was obliterated by the flexiblity and readability of that file. If all PDFs looked like that, then I'd recommened that everyone who wants to read PDFs should buy an eReader.

(Sadly, most PDFs prove awkward and idiosyncratic.)