PRS-600 Thoughts after Use

[the_callant]

I got one of the 600 models as soon as they were available in the UK. I have a 505 as well. Looking at other posts the main comments seem to have been about the screen and the battery life. For me, the screen is not quite as crisp as the 505, but I do not find it to be a problem. I prefer the speed of page turning and the additional memory capacity over the 505.
What appears to be a retrograde step, is the battery life. I don't think my reading habits have changed, if they have, I may be reading slightly less with the 600. With this I have gone from recharging the battery once a fortnight to twice or thrice a week. Now one of the reasons for buying an ebook, is that I do a lot of travelling, and books used to make up a sizeable chunk of my luggage. Now one device, and I have mor ebooks than I could carry. With the 505 I could go away for a couple of days, and not bother with the AC charger, I can't do that with the 600. On a long haul flight I could read for the 12 to 14 hours and the 505 still had a reasonable charge at the end. I have not done that with the 600, but I'm not confident it will last.
I have also had some strange behaviour from the 600, where when I bring it out of standby it starts rapidly paging through the book. Which probably does not help the battery life. I have seen posts where it is suggested I should shut down the device overnight, but I didn't need to do that with the 505.
I like the touchscreen, although I usually use the buttons, and rarely use the touch features.
I am displeased with the battery life and have raised a complaint via Sony-Europes support web site. It will be interesting to see if others have had similar experiences and what Sony's response is.

[kennyc]

Hmmm, interesting -- significant difference in battery performance. Wonder if other's have seen that or if maybe you have a defective unit? You don't have the MP3 Player turned on by chance do you?

[the_callant]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Hmmm, interesting -- significant difference in battery performance. Wonder if other's have seen that or if maybe you have a defective unit? You don't have the MP3 Player turned on by chance do you?

As far as I am aware the MP3 player is turned off. Since I am looking for the maximum in terms of battery life, I never use this feature. If I want to listen to music I use a small, walkman MP3 player.
I can never quite get my head round the idea that some manufacturers have that electronic devices have to do everything. Next thing someone will want IR on it so it can be used as a TV remote.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by the_callant

As far as I am aware the MP3 player is turned off. Since I am looking for the maximum in terms of battery life, I never use this feature. If I want to listen to music I use a small, walkman MP3 player.
I can never quite get my head round the idea that some manufacturers have that electronic devices have to do everything. Next thing someone will want IR on it so it can be used as a TV remote.

Understand, I'm the same. I just mention this because there was someone with the Aztak PP that had battery discharge issues due to the mp3 player being on all the time.

I'm wondering what other users are seeing as far as battery usage?

I'm somewhat interested in the 900, but if the battery performance is poor there as well then likely I'll pass and look for something else.

[scottjl]

hmm.. been 2 weeks and i haven't charged up yet. read 100-200 pages a night. maybe you have a bum unit? from what i've read putting the reader into sleep mode vs. shutting it off can make a big difference as well. sleep mode is just sliding the power switch quickly and letting the screen go dim. holding it a few seconds until the unit asks you to power down completely shuts it off and saves more power. might want to try that.

also, as with any new electronic. it may take a few complete charges and discharges to properly calibrate the battery gauge. so be sure to charge it up completely and run it until it shuts off from a dead battery. also a good idea to do that once every month or so.

[the_callant]

Originally Posted by scottjl

hmm.. been 2 weeks and i haven't charged up yet. read 100-200 pages a night. maybe you have a bum unit? from what i've read putting the reader into sleep mode vs. shutting it off can make a big difference as well. sleep mode is just sliding the power switch quickly and letting the screen go dim. holding it a few seconds until the unit asks you to power down completely shuts it off and saves more power. might want to try that.

also, as with any new electronic. it may take a few complete charges and discharges to properly calibrate the battery gauge. so be sure to charge it up completely and run it until it shuts off from a dead battery. also a good idea to do that once every month or so.

I can understand the sleep mode issue, but why the big difference between the 505 and the 600. I only ever put my 505 into sleep mode. When I look back I think that I got much better battery life when new, but this is very subjective.
I have done the full discharge and charge cycle and that gave no benefit.

[grooks]

I've seen a big difference between sleep mode vs. turning off. Some have even mentioned draining the battery completely a few times then doing a full charge before seeing good battery results.

[the_callant]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I'm somewhat interested in the 900, but if the battery performance is poor there as well then likely I'll pass and look for something else.

One major difference is that the battery in the 900 can be replaced by the user, so the user is not quite so vulnerable. I would look at one as well, but no sign of it being offered here in the UK.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by the_callant

One major difference is that the battery in the 900 can be replaced by the user, so the user is not quite so vulnerable. I would look at one as well, but no sign of it being offered here in the UK.

Ah, thanks for that. I'm just beginning at looking/lusting after a "bigger-than-6-inch" ebook reader.

[omk3]

Originally Posted by the_callant

I have also had some strange behaviour from the 600, where when I bring it out of standby it starts rapidly paging through the book.

This sounds really strange to me - and suspicious for the battery drainage. Never had this happen to me.

The battery of the 600 does drain faster than the 505, but not that fast. The battery probably needs some calibrating, because it seemed to drain faster in the first week I had it than now. Use of touchscreen certainly drains it faster too. But it's true: I will be going away for a few days without a laptop (if the weather permits it, but that's another story) and I went and bought an ac charger just to feel safe. I would never have thought that I would need a charge in four days with my 505, but with the 600 I just might.

[twinszz]

I have had my PRS 600 for about three weeks now. I have had to recharge about three times already. I use a wall charger. After a full over night charge, the reader will last about three days with about 300-500 page turns until I loose a bar. It will take another two or three days same page turns until I loose another bar. I have not let the reader go lower than that before recharging.

I do use the touch screen a lot to turn pages, however, others have posted that doesn't drain the battery more. I have not used my MP3 player, so, it is not on. I have reset my reader after fully charging it, this does improve the battery drain.

I just realized yesterday, I could delete books after I read them which is somehting I love to keep organized.

Other than this, and having to have bought a book light for my reader due to the glare, I love it.

[NightGeometry]

I moved from a 500 to a 600, and noticed that I get less battery - I used to get three to four weeks with the 500, I get around two with the 600 (sometimes a bit less).

When I go away I tend to have a laptop with me, so I can charge through USB, but it is a bit disappointing. Mind you, even if it were one week per charge, it's still a bucket load better than my phone or iPod...

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by NightGeometry

I moved from a 500 to a 600, and noticed that I get less battery - I used to get three to four weeks with the 500, I get around two with the 600 (sometimes a bit less).

2 weeks is what Sony claims, so if you can get that, you are getting what Sony says you should be getting.