3 weeks with the PRS-700... my two cents

[el.astrologo]

Hello everybody I hope you are all doing well

I just thought I might type down my thoughts on this device along with several things I have found fiddling with it. I hope it helps those of you who are unsure about buying it (even after the price cut down)

A little intro
I've owned the PRS700 for little over 3 weeks and though at first I was hesitant now I definitively love it.

I live in Argentina and here e-ink technology (and ebooks) is a concept regarded similarly to the existence of extraterrestrial life: we accept that it might exist somewhere but is probably a couple of lightyears away from grasping reach. So I was quite excited when my girlfriend told me she was going to spend a few months in the USA... ok, I admit I had mixed feelings about it because she was going to be gone for a long time... but getting back to the point it meant she could bring me goodies. So I read everything posted here about the PRS700 and went ahead and gave her the go sign. Of how such order went you can read here

The real deal

I read a lot about design flaws and issues so I would like to address them here from what I have experienced so far.

Mirror, mirror on the wall
Since you ask, glare is pretty much only an issue if you have never EVER used a device with a glass screen... I mean if any of you ever played on a PSP or DS or whatever you MUST have noticed the glare on those screens but I never heard anyone complain about it as much as they do for this device, yes, it's a bit glary but so is an iPhone or any other cell phone. You can always angle it and it will go away. So on this particular item, I say have no worries.

Crispy or extra crispy
Here is a real issue, the screen quality as most of us would have to agree is of the utmost importance because the whole idea of the thing is to read ebooks as if they were their paper counterparts. I have never had a reader before so I think it's pretty darn good IMO but I do think it could be clearer: at first I always got the impression of reading a piece of newspaper that has been framed on a portrait.

After reading this forum for several months I was well warned about it and I had seen enough pictures of the 50x series to be a bit displeased with how mine looks. This however was just my impression and every single person I showed the 700 to called me crazy.So on this one it's a matter of what you expect, my friends and family all thought I was wasting money and then TOTALLY FELL IN LOVE WITH HOW IT LOOKS. Sorry for the upper case but I want to stress that part, regular people (that is people who aren't as anal as me as to read dozens of reviews before actually making the decision to buy it) think it's "like paper".

One thing I must mention is that the right set of Fonts goes a long long way. I currently use DejaVu in all my books and plan to make it the reader's default font as soon as a hack is available for it. Here I must salute the brave individuals who found this trick and to all of you who might want more information on Font families the thread can be found here

Fairy dust
I read the dust issue posts when they first came and dreaded like only a man who would get no recall or repair could. Right now there's a construction site next door and my place is dusty as hell (or possibly a museum) and I am happy to report that no dust has been found on my reader so far which pleases me to no end.

Going with the flow
As any newcomer here will confess, at first whenever we hear the term "e-book" we think "PDF". I know, I know, they are anathema but that doesn't erases the fact that we are most familiar with this format. I had a bunch of PDFs and was shockingly (and pleasantly) amazed at how well the little guy handles them. I sometimes want to sing praises to the reflow gods and the speed of the little bugger is just lovely.

The zoom function is GREAT.

Oh, Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo?
The search function works like a charm. Honestly. It rules, especially for those books you are just too lazy to create a TOC, you just type in the name of the chapter and boom, you are there.

High with the light
As I have mentioned in some other posts I am a med student and wanted the device to use as reference and study from it because it is a lot more comfortable than having to carry around lots of books and papers, so highlighting and note-making were important factors here. It works rather well, not as sharp as one would like but it's good. I find that making notes is quite cumbersome because you can't really type as fast as you'd like but well.. we must make due.

Anyways...
As I have stated earlier the PRS-700 is a very good reading device though it might not be the best one out there it has suited my needs well and I thank it for it.

That's all folks, I hope this post is useful to someone and not just a sign of me having nothing to do while waiting for my take-out to arrive.

Have a good one everybody!

[Alphapheemail]

Hi astrologo!
I have the reader for about the same time as you have yours, and I have to agree with you on many things.
I, like you. read and reread the reviews before buying it, went to sony to check it out personally ( I am sure if you would have done the same.) Honestly I wasn't sold until I saw it. I tip off my hat to you for taking that leap!

I agree the glare is not to bad and the screen could be crisper. My friends tell be that when I have spent so much on a gadget I should not be lookig for things to improve; they might be right but it was a pros/cons issue with the 505 ( which i saw side by side in sony... and the 505 is like paper!) But to that I say to each thier own reader.

The only problem I am having is charging it while reading. I had and old PSP charger and if i try chrging it while it's still on it freezes and I have to do a hard reset. If I charge it while its still off it's fine...

Kinda beats the purpose of having an external charger...

[thibaulthalpern]

Hmmm..as to that charging issue, it's not my experience. I use an Apple USB power adapter that plugs into the DC port (not USB port) of the PRS-700 and can read while it charges.

[jbruce]

I had and old PSP charger and if i try chrging it while it's still on it freezes and I have to do a hard reset. If I charge it while its still off it's fine...

I saw someone mention trying a different USB cable - one that doesn't transmit - only charges (makes it so the USB Connected doesn't come up). Not sure if this will fix the exact issue you are running into or not.

J

ps. Love the Alias.

[Alphapheemail]

Originally Posted by jbruce

I saw someone mention trying a different USB cable - one that doesn't transmit - only charges (makes it so the USB Connected doesn't come up). Not sure if this will fix the exact issue you are running into or not.

sorry if i was not clear. My old PSP charger plugs into an outlet not the computer. I was under the impression that the one they sell you in sony for the PRS is the same as the PSP, so I thought "heck why not". The USB cable it ceom with for the computer severs its purpose of syncing it perfectly.

Originally Posted by jbruce

ps. Love the Alias.

Thanks~

[el.astrologo]

Thanks for the comments Alpha, thi and J

Now about your charging issue I say that's a very odd thing indeed. I've had no problems using my old PSP charger, have you tried using a different one? Maybe the charger is damaged someway.

[Alphapheemail]

Originally Posted by el.astrologo

Thanks for the comments Alpha, thi and J

Now about your charging issue I say that's a very odd thing indeed. I've had no problems using my old PSP charger, have you tried using a different one? Maybe the charger is damaged someway.

I have no idea. I was wondering if other people were having the same issue. I guess it is just my charger. I mean I'll just have to suck it up and only charge while the device is off.
bo0o0o0o

[dhbailey]

Originally Posted by Alphapheemail

I have no idea. I was wondering if other people were having the same issue. I guess it is just my charger. I mean I'll just have to suck it up and only charge while the device is off.
bo0o0o0o

Have you tried a different PSP charger? They're only about $20, and if you buy it at the right store, you can bring it back and get your money back if it doesn't work better.

[jbruce]

sorry if i was not clear.

I do apologize.

I was under the impression that the one they sell you in sony for the PRS is the same as the PSP, so I thought "heck why not".

Near as I can tell from the products page (of the PSP adaptor I found online) - they are very very close, but may differ in a (couple) key point(s).

Both are:
100 - 240v ~ 50/60hz input, 2A output

However:

PSP output is 5v - PRS is 5.2v. And, the PSP input Amp is .3 - the PRS is .26

I'm not an electrician - but this might be enough voltage/amp difference to explain the freeze while it's on. For instance, if it tends to happen when you turn pages. Or, when the minutes change on the clock. The device may not have the oomph to divert the "required" electricity to charge, and whatever is causing a process to run on the device.

Does it freeze up if you put it in "sleep" mode - while charging via the PSP charger?

This is, admittedly, a wild shot in the dark.

J

ps. I figured I saved $30 for not having to purchase the case; so, I went ahead and spent it on the wall charger.

[dragonbone]

Originally Posted by el.astrologo

Hello everybody I hope you are all doing well

I just thought I might type down my thoughts on this device along with several things I have found fiddling with it. I hope it helps those of you who are unsure about buying it (even after the price cut down)

A little intro
I've owned the PRS700 for little over 3 weeks and though at first I was hesitant now I definitively love it.

I live in Argentina and here e-ink technology (and ebooks) is a concept regarded similarly to the existence of extraterrestrial life: we accept that it might exist somewhere but is probably a couple of lightyears away from grasping reach. So I was quite excited when my girlfriend told me she was going to spend a few months in the USA... ok, I admit I had mixed feelings about it because she was going to be gone for a long time... but getting back to the point it meant she could bring me goodies. So I read everything posted here about the PRS700 and went ahead and gave her the go sign. Of how such order went you can read here

The real deal

I read a lot about design flaws and issues so I would like to address them here from what I have experienced so far.

Mirror, mirror on the wall
Since you ask, glare is pretty much only an issue if you have never EVER used a device with a glass screen... I mean if any of you ever played on a PSP or DS or whatever you MUST have noticed the glare on those screens but I never heard anyone complain about it as much as they do for this device, yes, it's a bit glary but so is an iPhone or any other cell phone. You can always angle it and it will go away. So on this particular item, I say have no worries.

Crispy or extra crispy
Here is a real issue, the screen quality as most of us would have to agree is of the utmost importance because the whole idea of the thing is to read ebooks as if they were their paper counterparts. I have never had a reader before so I think it's pretty darn good IMO but I do think it could be clearer: at first I always got the impression of reading a piece of newspaper that has been framed on a portrait.

After reading this forum for several months I was well warned about it and I had seen enough pictures of the 50x series to be a bit displeased with how mine looks. This however was just my impression and every single person I showed the 700 to called me crazy.So on this one it's a matter of what you expect, my friends and family all thought I was wasting money and then TOTALLY FELL IN LOVE WITH HOW IT LOOKS. Sorry for the upper case but I want to stress that part, regular people (that is people who aren't as anal as me as to read dozens of reviews before actually making the decision to buy it) think it's "like paper".

One thing I must mention is that the right set of Fonts goes a long long way. I currently use DejaVu in all my books and plan to make it the reader's default font as soon as a hack is available for it. Here I must salute the brave individuals who found this trick and to all of you who might want more information on Font families the thread can be found here

Fairy dust
I read the dust issue posts when they first came and dreaded like only a man who would get no recall or repair could. Right now there's a construction site next door and my place is dusty as hell (or possibly a museum) and I am happy to report that no dust has been found on my reader so far which pleases me to no end.

Going with the flow
As any newcomer here will confess, at first whenever we hear the term "e-book" we think "PDF". I know, I know, they are anathema but that doesn't erases the fact that we are most familiar with this format. I had a bunch of PDFs and was shockingly (and pleasantly) amazed at how well the little guy handles them. I sometimes want to sing praises to the reflow gods and the speed of the little bugger is just lovely.

The zoom function is GREAT.

Oh, Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo?
The search function works like a charm. Honestly. It rules, especially for those books you are just too lazy to create a TOC, you just type in the name of the chapter and boom, you are there.

High with the light
As I have mentioned in some other posts I am a med student and wanted the device to use as reference and study from it because it is a lot more comfortable than having to carry around lots of books and papers, so highlighting and note-making were important factors here. It works rather well, not as sharp as one would like but it's good. I find that making notes is quite cumbersome because you can't really type as fast as you'd like but well.. we must make due.

Anyways...
As I have stated earlier the PRS-700 is a very good reading device though it might not be the best one out there it has suited my needs well and I thank it for it.

Thanks for your great review!