Sony PRS-700? Or what in the UK?

[mark.dathorne]

Hi Guys,

I've been buying and reading PDF books for ages ... I work in the IT industry downloading PDF books from manning.com mainly.
Frankly, I find it quite tiresome reading on a PC/laptop so have been looking at solutions for a while.
Thought about a new laptop but probably best if I get an ebook reader for this specific task ... could be cheaper also.
Now colour would have been a nice-to-have option for the lovely pdf mags I can pick up but most important is readability/portability.
I also like the idea of reading my RSS news while commuting but this is not necessary either.

Waterstones have been selling the Sony ebook reader without specifying the exact model ... my guess is the PRS-505 model. My leaning is towards the PRS-700 ... looks a good buy for a new venture so do I wait for it to come out in Europe or take my chances on a US purchase?

Any advice or input is much appreciated. I'd like to buy something by mid-Jan latest.

Regards,
Mark

[DDHarriman]

Tday, In the UK and the Sony you can get just the 505. The 700 you have to import it from the US.

For what you describe, I advise you to consider the Iliad.

[pdurrant]

For reading PDFs that are formatted to A4/US Letter/Magazine page size, andy of the current crop of 6" eInk display ebook readers is going to disappoint you.

There isn't really a good solution to reading PDF formatted for large page sizes on small screens, especially eInk with the slow refresh rate.

I'd advise looking at the Illiad, or waiting for other larger screen devices to appear in the first half of 2009.

The 6" ebook readers are great for reading ebooks in a proper ebook (resizable, reflowing) format, e.g. Mobipocket. Not so good for PDFs.

In the UK, i'd recommend the Bookeen CyBook, available from W.H. Smiths online for just under £180, which includes a cover. http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndS...-90010859.html

Originally Posted by mark.dathorne

Hi Guys,

I've been buying and reading PDF books for ages ... I work in the IT industry downloading PDF books from manning.com mainly.
Frankly, I find it quite tiresome reading on a PC/laptop so have been looking at solutions for a while.
Thought about a new laptop but probably best if I get an ebook reader for this specific task ... could be cheaper also.
Now colour would have been a nice-to-have option for the lovely pdf mags I can pick up but most important is readability/portability.
I also like the idea of reading my RSS news while commuting but this is not necessary either.

Waterstones have been selling the Sony ebook reader without specifying the exact model ... my guess is the PRS-505 model. My leaning is towards the PRS-700 ... looks a good buy for a new venture so do I wait for it to come out in Europe or take my chances on a US purchase?

Any advice or input is much appreciated. I'd like to buy something by mid-Jan latest.

Regards,
Mark

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by mark.dathorne

Thought about a new laptop but probably best if I get an ebook reader for this specific task ... could be cheaper also.

I also have several manning ebooks and also several pragmatic bookshelf PDFS. Reading them on the Sony et al is not fun.

You best bet it to get a larger reader. The iRex Iliad or even better the iRex DR1000. However, the DR1000 is about the same as an inexpensive laptop... $800ish. But, the PDFs will display in full size... the DR1000 is about as big as an 8.5x11inch sheet of paper.

Personally, I want a device to read these type of books also.. but can't justify $800 for the DR1000... so I wait and just stick to reading this stuff on the PC or on paper.

BOb

[wallcraft]

Try out the PRS-700's PDF capability on your Windows PC by downloading Sony's Windows ebook Reader. The latest version emulates a PRS-700, which has two extra font/magnification levels than the PRS-505. The 600x800 image will be larger on your monitor than on the actual device.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by mark.dathorne

Hi Guys,

I've been buying and reading PDF books for ages ... I work in the IT industry downloading PDF books from manning.com mainly.

The 700 handles very well pdf's as long as they are one column/one page so horizontal half page works if reflow does not.

I am currently reading a 100 MB pdf scan and it's as fast as any book on the 700 and while it's readable vertically, at horizontal half page is perfect.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

The 700 handles very well pdf's as long as they are one column/one page so horizontal half page works if reflow does not.

I am currently reading a 100 MB pdf scan and it's as fast as any book on the 700 and while it's readable vertically, at horizontal half page is perfect.

also, i tested for a friend a text pdf made with 2 columns of text per page (like having two facing pages of a book on one page) ; it correctly reflowed the text with no trouble on larger font sizes.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

also, i tested for a friend a text pdf made with 2 columns of text per page (like having two facing pages of a book on one page) ; it correctly reflowed the text with no trouble on larger font sizes.

When the pdf reflow works then the 700 at larger fonts is excellent.

Sometimes - and even in pdf books got directly from publishers for review purposes - the reflow does not work well, so at M/L font you get cut lines, half lines and such which are annoying, so then the half page horizontal reading is the best option.

The irony is that the pdf arcs I got from small publishers/independents tend to reflow better than the ones from biggies like Orbit

Same with e-NYPL ADE books, some reflow well, some do not...

[reader_uk]

Just noticed that waterstones have hiked the price to £224 (from 199) - does that mean it is the newer 700 model ??
Even the sony website isn't clear about the model number (sony.co.uk) Any inputs ??

Thanks,

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by reader_uk

Just noticed that waterstones have hiked the price to £224 (from 199) - does that mean it is the newer 700 model ??
Even the sony website isn't clear about the model number (sony.co.uk) Any inputs ??

Thanks,

actually, sadly, it's probably an indication of bad exchange rates right now. i think if the 700 were available in the UK we would have heard about it.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by reader_uk

Just noticed that waterstones have hiked the price to £224 (from 199) - does that mean it is the newer 700 model ??
Even the sony website isn't clear about the model number (sony.co.uk) Any inputs ??

Thanks,

It probably has to do with the exchange rate from Euro to Sterling.

I know the Euro to US Dollar has greatly equalized over the last few months. Last July a Euro was worth about $1.60 today a Euro is about $1.30. But, I think the Sterling has moved alot too.

Today a 1 GBP is worth 1.12 Euro. But, in July 1.26 Euro. Also, in July 1 GBP was about $2 where today 1 GBP is about $1.46.

So, 199 GBP in July was 250 Euro
And today 224 GPB is 250 Euro

BOb

[reader_uk]

Mmm, makes sense.
Btw, the cheapest price for the Sony 505, was at Dixons - Gatwick (169£ if I remember right)

[drazzy]

Yeah the Waterstones price increase was pretty annoying, the lowest price I've managed to find is 199£ + 4£ postage to everywhere in Europe, which is pretty reasonable.

If anyone's seen it for a lower price on some website that sends to non-UK addresses too, I'd like to hear about it.

[HarryT]

Given the falls in the value of the pound against both the US$ and the Euro, I doubt you'll find anything cheaper.

Any reason that you're only considering the Sony? Why CyBook is cheaper, (£179 from W.H.Smith's) and supports MobiPocket, which gives you access to a huge range of eBook stores.

[drazzy]

The problem is that WH Smith's doesn't, again, ship to non-UK addresses (funny that I've ordered misc. stuff like 100+ times from the UK, some even more expensive than any of these readers and I've never come across this problem until now).

Also, I'm not sure I even want to support a company that has different prices for the same thing in different countries inside the EU. If you order from the official site into a UK address, the price is 200£, but choose Finland (and a lot of other countries) and the price jumps to 280€. Same in Pixmania, for example, 220£=>280€.

But yup I'd definitely consider CyBook aswell if it had a comparable price to the PRS-505.