PRS-350 PRS-350 at sony store for $69.99 (refurbished)

[seajewel]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Only by USB but ... if you connect an adapter to the USB and plug it to the light (as any other device), it will charge faster.

Ah, I see. I was looking for like a little hole that I could plug my PSP charger into (the one I use for my 505).. Thanks everyone for all the responses, I see now that I can plug it into something like my iphone charger!

But yeah, the other issues still bother me enough that I think I would like a different reader. Maybe my 350 is defective in page turns, because it definitely looks strange to me, it does a very quick page refresh so I see the letters of the next page, then that flashes dark again (so it flashes twice, the second one being a "darker" flash with the letters of the next page visible).. My 505 does not do that.

[Bookworm_Girl]

seajewel, I like reading on my 350 better than my 505. Maybe you should try reading on it for a few hours or days and see if you get used to it. Perhaps the screen flash is more bothersome at the moment because you are actively aware of it.

[seajewel]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

seajewel, I like reading on my 350 better than my 505. Maybe you should try reading on it for a few hours or days and see if you get used to it. Perhaps the screen flash is more bothersome at the moment because you are actively aware of it.

I will play with it this weekend. It seems that I can return it for a full refund (minus return shipping charges), so I'll see how I feel about it this weekend and decide accordingly. It is very light and cute, but I think now that I have it in hand I'd rather have a bigger screen. The 505 is quite heavy in comparison, but I think the screen real estate is worth it, especially now that the new 6 inch readers (like T1) are much lighter than the 505. Bookeen is going to announce price and release date for the Cybook Odyssey next Monday as well, and I've got my eye on that.

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by seajewel

I will play with it this weekend. It seems that I can return it for a full refund (minus return shipping charges), so I'll see how I feel about it this weekend and decide accordingly. It is very light and cute, but I think now that I have it in hand I'd rather have a bigger screen. The 505 is quite heavy in comparison, but I think the screen real estate is worth it, especially now that the new 6 inch readers (like T1) are much lighter than the 505. Bookeen is going to announce price and release date for the Cybook Odyssey next Monday as well, and I've got my eye on that.

Yeah see how you feel after the weekend. I played with it some today and really like it. The perfect reader to take out of the house. I noticed no difference in flashing from the 650 or the t1 I played with at Best Buy. I like it so much Im going to sell my 650.

I am also very curious about the Cybook. Hopefully they will be easy to obtain here in the US. I wouldnt mind picking one up next year.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by seajewel

A) the Pearl screen.. I did expect it to be a noticeable upgrade from my 505. Either I have an amazing 505, or a bad 350, or pearl isn't all that it was hyped up to be. Because I can barely see a difference in background paleness or text darkness. I tried looking at it in sunlight, in bright indoors light, not much of a difference, side by side. Then again, I didn't have much of a complaint about my 505, ever. I thought the screen had good contrast from the get-go. Both my 350 and 505 have silver bezel, btw, so it's not that.

B) Excessive screen flashing. Right away I felt like the 350 flashes more than my 505. I had gotten so used to the 505 that when I concentrated on the page flashing I realized it does so more than I thought, but it's less than the 350. the 350 has a way of sort of wobbling into the next page, so it's like it flashes twice, almost. or flashes "darker." This bothers me.

overall, i like that it is very light, but I'm bummed at the lack of a way to charge it other than by USB (unless I'm missing something)...

Sounds like we have identical PRS-350 refurbs.

A) Same here, the screen doesn't really look Pearl to my eyes, at least not the background. I can compare a 505 and K3 to the 350, and find the K3 has a lighter background, and is easier to read. The 505 text appears a bit lighter than the 350's, not sure about the background--sometimes the 350 looks grayer and the 505 creamier, other times they look similar. I was really disappointed about the background color when I first got it. Someone with two 350s (or maybe 650s?) commented that one was noticeably brighter than the other.

B) I don't want to investigate this aspect too much as it might begin to bother me. But yes, it seems to flash a darker black or something.

As to the charger, micro USB is now the standard. So you'll appreciate it going forward. If you keep it, that is. Mostly all new cellphones and gadgets have this micro USB connector.

Overall, though, I like mine a lot, mostly because of its small size and portability. I can like it more because it's not my only reader, but rather a more portable adjunct to my 6" readers. If I had to have just one reader, I don't know. I like also that it reads PDFs better than the 505 or K3.

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by jj2me

Sounds like we have identical PRS-350 refurbs.

A) Same here, the screen doesn't really look Pearl to my eyes, at least not the background. I can compare a 505 and K3 to the 350, and find the K3 has a lighter background, and is easier to read. The 505 text appears a bit lighter than the 350's, not sure about the background--sometimes the 350 looks grayer and the 505 creamier, other times they look similar. I was really disappointed about the background color when I first got it. Someone with two 350s (or maybe 650s?) commented that one was noticeably brighter than the other.

B) I don't want to investigate this aspect too much as it might begin to bother me. But yes, it seems to flash a darker black or something.

As to the charger, micro USB is now the standard. So you'll appreciate it going forward. If you keep it, that is. Mostly all new cellphones and gadgets have this micro USB connector.

Overall, though, I like mine a lot, mostly because of its small size and portability. I can like it more because it's not my only reader, but rather a more portable adjunct to my 6" readers. If I had to have just one reader, I don't know. I like also that it reads PDFs better than the 505 or K3.

I compared a 350 and a t1 at best buy a couple weeks ago and the 350 looked lighter than the t1. Both were set on original contrast. It could have been the lighting, shadows whatever. They were about 2 feet from each other. The 350 I got in the mail looks like just about everyone I have seen. It has a grey background. Far as I know all of them do. Look at some reviews or unboxing vids on youtube and compare yours to them. As for flashing. Looks about the same to me. But I have never even given the flashing much thought. I know that all ereaders have it and I accept it. Never has bothered me in the least. In fact the newer reader that have limited flashing have more ghosting, so I actually want a reader with flashing every page or at least the option to change it.

I wouldnt fret too much though. If its clear and readable that should be all that matters.

[Ripplinger]

I'm the one that posted I recently got a 2nd PRS-350 with a noticeably brighter screen. It just seems to be the normal variation that can on occur between any e-ink screen even made by the same company. It's not that the older one is harder to read at all; it's still a very nice contrast, easy on the eyes and easy to read even for extended periods. I wouldn't have even noticed it unless I had them both, and certainly have zero complaints about the first one even though it is slightly darker. And you can still adjust the contrast to get them similar looking anyway.

I really wouldn't worry about that difference.

I love the 350 and its 5" screen, it's so portable. And the smaller screen doesn't matter at all since it takes the slightest movement of my thumb to advance pages which doesn't break the reading flow at all for me.

[Analogus]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I really wouldn't worry about that difference.

I can confirm that. I too own two 350 (bought it with full price...) and they differ in brightness. It's a question of luck I presume.

Concerning the 350 I just can say:
Very good high quality product. Mature software (which just works). The original firmware has at least one bug (searching from the beginning of a book). But with PRS+ even that bug is eliminated. No crashing to expect). If I wouldn't have 2 350 I would buy a second refurbished one!

Besides:
I wonder why that counts obviously not much - but the 5"-display has better resolution leading in noticeable sharper fonts compared to a 6"-display.

A.

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by Analogus

I can confirm that. I too own two 350 (bought it with full price...) and they differ in brightness. It's a question of luck I presume.

Concerning the 350 I just can say:
Very good high quality product. Mature software (which just works). The original firmware has at least one bug (searching from the beginning of a book). But with PRS+ even that bug is eliminated. No crashing to expect). If I wouldn't have 2 350 I would buy a second refurbished one!

Besides:
I wonder why that counts obviously not much - but the 5"-display has better resolution leading in noticeable sharper fonts compared to a 6"-display.

A.

Well said. This little unit is just great. I dont know if I got a grayer one or not since I dont have one to compare. Either way I wouldnt care. It has been a joy so far.

[kennyc]

Very tempting.....must resist....

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Very tempting.....must resist....

I think you better resist. You already have 4 ereader/tablets. That should be enough for anyone.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Tony1988

I think you better resist. You already have 4 ereader/tablets. That should be enough for anyone.

But they make great christmas presents!

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by kennyc

But they make great christmas presents!

Sure they do.

[beautifulsoup]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Very tempting.....must resist....

Don't listen to Tony1988.

Don't resist! I love my PRS-350s. (Yes, I have two; bought a "backup" when it became evident that the model was to be discontinued).

Go for it!

[seajewel]

It's starting to grow on me. I haven't done any real reading on it, though, because I haven't broken open the plastic on the USB cord and all of that (and none of my other devices use micro-usb). I may keep it around. I did find that in low-light conditions, it has better contrast than my 505.

I just have to see about the Cybook Odyssey and also consider the Nook STR at its new price of $99. The Odyssey looks wonderful, although I don't know how a capacitive screen will effect the e-ink reading experience, if at all, and how easy it will be to get one from the States. The Nook STR is still tempting because of the ability to root it.. when I consider how much extra I can get for that, I have to question whether I really need two e-ink readers (3 if you count my 505, which I still love dearly indeed..)