Which and Why?

[jaxx6166]

I started out the month in love with the 650, there was nothing to change my mind.

Or was there?

Now, I'm kind of falling in love with the 350. It's more compact, and does almost the same thing as the 650. I've never once used the audio feature on any of my eReaders. The optional extra storage may be a big factor, as my favorite feature of the 700 was dropping a memory card of my work in progress and line editing it. I think I'll head back to Sony tomorrow and play with them both again.

So, the question for all you early adopters:

Which do you want/have, and why?

Hmmm... it is a hard question. I own a PRS-650 and am very happy with it. Previously I had a PRS-505 and a 6" screen became a default size for me. The card slot is also convenient if you want to get a quick copy of non-DRMed content. However, it is also tempting to buy a PRS-350 because it looks so compact and easy to carry around for casual reading.

[Robert22]

Originally Posted by jaxx6166

I started out the month in love with the 650, there was nothing to change my mind.

Or was there?

Now, I'm kind of falling in love with the 350. It's more compact, and does almost the same thing as the 650. I've never once used the audio feature on any of my eReaders. The optional extra storage may be a big factor, as my favorite feature of the 700 was dropping a memory card of my work in progress and line editing it. I think I'll head back to Sony tomorrow and play with them both again.

So, the question for all you early adopters:

Which do you want/have, and why?

I've mentioned this in another thread:

My original eReader was the Sony 505. Got the 600 because I really liked all of the touch screen stuff... but found it irritating to read on, under most lighting conditions. On a lark I got the 300 to play around with for a while, intending to return it. I found myself using it exclusively. Comparing, side by side, a six inch to a five inch screen the 6 inch seems better, but when you do a lot of reading I really prefer the 5 inch form factor, especially for text only books. And this is doubly so for the 350 since it is lighter and smaller still and it feels so good in your hand. Which you have to admit, but is often overlooked, is a large part of the reading experience. In addition, when your reading, you're not comparing the 5 inch screen with anything else. So from now on, this is my format of choice.

The only time I would consider getting a larger Reader is when they get good color e-ink for reading Art and Technical books. But I will still use the 5 inch for novels, biographies, text mostly books.

[Avwriter]

I have been set for a 650 as well. I have owned the 505 and the 600, and so the 650 seems like the natural choice. I never really liked the 300. However, the 350 does have some appeal to me. The reduced size and weight are strong points in its favor, but then again the 650 is smaller and lighter that the 600 as well. Sometimes, I like to read sitting at a table with the reader propped up while eating. In this circumstance, with the reader further away, I think the bigger screen has an advantage. The other thing is than the 600 had a faster processor than the 300, thus I wonder if the same is true between the 650 and 350. For some reason, Sony seems to be holding this information back. No one seems to know. In any case, I am still set to get a 650, and kind of have my eye set on the red one. But if they turn out to be delayed for some reason (the 350s seems to be showing up earlier in some places), then I might have to take a closer look at the 350. I have yet to see either in person.

[hgwlackey]

The 350 is so tiny and sleek! I ordered it without seeing it in person, and I wondered if the 5" screen was going to feel too boxed in (I've been doing most of my reading on my iPad--lots of screen real estate there). Now that i have it in hand, for novels the 5" screen is just fine. In fact, it's an advantage--my book light can cover more of the screen than it did when I had a Kindle, so I'm fidgeting with it less when I read, which makes it all that much easier to forget the device (and the light) and just enjoy the story, which is one of the things I liked about the iPad--the device all but disappeared (for me).

So, I don't regret at all not getting the 650 instead.

And it's so tiny and sleek!

[viviena]

Originally Posted by jaxx6166

Which do you want/have, and why?

I got the 350, because I'm cheap.

Well, that's mostly true. I did weigh up the extra features of the 650 against the 350, deciding I didn't need the expansion slot and the audio capabilities, but price was definitely a factor.

Well, one other reason. I was drawn to the 5" screen, and liked how portable and light the 350 was -- its size did influence my decision greatly. Before the new Sony Pearl-screen models came out, I was eyeing the Bookeen Opus and the PocketBook 360 for the same reasons.

I got the 350 because it is small for portability and has a large enough screen to read novels and most of the non-technical books I read. It replaced my 300 which I liked as far as size. But the 350 has some important improvements like touchscreen, Pearl eInk, and a better ePub rendering engine.

[pikelet]

I have the red 650 and I think it's just about perfect. I have a 300 too and really there isn't much difference in size between them, and it's a comfortable size because it's so similar to a paperback. I used to read on Nintendo DS and found my hands cramped up after a few hours of reading because it was too small to hold comfortably, I wonder if this might be a problem with the 350 for someone who reads a lot.

My eyes are loving the extra inch of screen on the 650 because it lets me use a larger text size without constant page turns. The extra inch seems to work better for technical papers too, which I gave up trying to read on the 300.

I doubt I'll use the audio feature but the idea of being able to expand the storage to carry my entire library with me wherever I go really appeals.

[jaxx6166]

Ahem...you have a RED 650 and didn't tell anyone!? I demand pictures

[Avwriter]

I demand them too! pics pics pics. We have yet to see a red 650 in the wild.

[jaxx6166]

I'm beginning to think that with my K2 and my nook, there may be room in my digital family for a 5" runt. Hrm. This all stems from my frustration with trying to conceal my K2 in my vest at a detail where I shouldn't have had any toys with me...

But, we should wait to see the red 650 before making any sudden moves =)

[iptech]

I phoned the Cardiff Sony Centre this morning to see when they were expecting stock and was told, "they've just arrived two minutes ago". I had an appointment in Cardiff just down the road, so I popped in to have a look and compare it side-by-side to my PRS-600. Ten minutes later my bank is lighter by £199.99.

Anyway, I first put the PRS-600 & the PRS-650 side-by side for a direct comparison and boy what a difference, the PRS-600 is noticeably 'muddier' in readability, the 650 is so much more like the gorgeous screen I remember form the 505. I then had a look at the very cute PRS-350, again a very good screen with good touch response, but the Sony Center price for these is £159.99 (Waterstones have them already discounted to £129.99). I decided that I didn't want to downgrade on size and I felt the PRS-350 was not quite as quick as the PRS-650. Both are noticeably quicker then the PRS-600 though. I tried my SD card from the PRS-600 in the PRS-650 and it recognised all the books (a mixtrue of Epubs & PDFs) with no problem. The PDF handling seems to be much improved over the PRS-600, but I've yet to test it fully as I'm still charging the one I bought.

One thing that does annoy me is neither the PRS-350 or the 650 come with any sort of cover, and as of this morning no covers were available to fit either models as they are slightly smaller than their predecessors. At the moment I've butchered the cover I originally bought with my PRS-505, the new models still use the pivot hinge system. For a premium priced and relatively fragile product, a basic plastic protector case should not be too much to expect, both the 505 and the 600 came with cases - I guess that's a price we customers pay for the sub-£200 price tag.

The Cardiff Sony Centre only have the 650 available in black at the moment, the finish is every bit as good as previous models, in fact I'd say the navigation buttons on the 650 are better as they seem to lie more flush with the casing then they do on the 600 where the buttons are slightly 'wonky'. The 650 has the same slightly rubberised back as the 600 and the front finish is the same level of matt. The screen of the 650 is set slightly lower (.5mm?) than the 600 to accommodate the infra-red scanners. the silver panel above the buttons on the 600 has been replaced by a more tasteful-looking matt black panel and the chrome finish around the edge of the casing and on the buttons has now been replaced by a classier looking metallic black. The Power LED, switch , card slots and the stylus are all in the same relative places as the 600, but on the bottom the slot for a lanyard has gone, so has the external power connector - charging is now done via the now standardised micro-USB connector. I'm charging mine using the same cable used for my HTC HD2 phone and it's working fine, I also copied some files over the the device using Windows explorer without problem. In fact just as I typed that I notice the screen now says "charging complete". Micro USB is set to become the de-facto standard for mobile devices such as phones, ereaders and other hand-held gadget, so you can start to reduce the clutter of so many chargers - well until another standard comes along in a few months time!

So far my only hands-on experience with the PRS-650 is in the Sony Centre, but my first impressions were not only is it a much nicer reading experience over the 600 (the primary purchasing driver for me), but also it's noticeably faster to turn pages and navigate in general. The user interface has some nice upgrades over the 600 and the smaller form factor make the device feel slightly easier in the hand.

Now it's charged, it's time to have a play and get some fingerprints on that shiny new screen...

[pikelet]

Oh, I didn't realise there weren't many of them in the wild yet. I ordered mine from the Australian Sony Style website and it arrived earlier this week.

Here's a picture showing the red 650 next to my rose 300.

[Avwriter]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I got the 350 because it is small for portability and has a large enough screen to read novels and most of the non-technical books I read. It replaced my 300 which I liked as far as size. But the 350 has some important improvements like touchscreen, Pearl eInk, and a better ePub rendering engine.

For those that have the silver 350, do you find the outer shell to be too shiny? I wonder if reading in the dark with a light if it would be so reflective as to be distracting?

[jaxx6166]

Thanks Pikelet. It does almost look like the 505 red that I loved so much but never got the chance to own.

I went back and played with the 350 today. It hurt my eyes on Medium
I think that puts the nail in the coffin for the mini.
I also accidentally scratched the shiny finish of the silver 350 with the black 650. So, maybe their build quality has deteriorated over the years... or maybe it was just a scuff. I hope it was just a scuff.