5" or 6"?

[DrMoze]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

The 5" readers might offer more portability for a woman (perhaps the 6" won't fit in her purse but the 5"will), but for a man what difference does it make? Anything more than 4.2-4.3" with no edges around the screen will not fit into your pants pocket. And if you have a briefcase then both will fit easily.

I beg to differ. I have a brand-new 5" 300 (and a 6" 505), and the 300 fits nicely into my front pocket (jeans or dress pants), even with the included foam pouch. (The folding cover will be smaller.) And the 300 is a bit thicker and definitely sturdier than the 505 (smaller screen, same frame size), so I'm not afraid to pocket it.

Originally Posted by Baldrake

Thanks for all the input, folks. Yes, I don't really care about the extra portability of the 5", and it sounds like the extra screen real estate of the 6" is important for avoiding micro-type (which is important to anyone who has left their 30's behind, trust me.)

The trouble is that the most interesting new devices (the Opus and the 300) both went with the 5" format, giving less choice in 6" readers. I'd even consider the Iliad, but can't stomach the price.

The text sizes are identical on the Sony 300 and 505. The 300 displays almost exactly 2/3 of the amount of text on a screen as the 505. ( (5/6)^2 is right about 2/3--and I checked with actual text!)

If you don't want a touchscreen/dictionary and slightly lower contrast, and portability isn't an issue I would recommend a 505. You can still find them for sale--it's an excellent device. (It is also very thin, even with the cover--just a bit too big for any pocket except cargo pants.)

Originally Posted by Ea

The "lessons" I have learned so far, is to go for slightly more rather than less. I would say that the main feature of the 5" devices in comparison with the 6" is portability. If you don't need that extra portability, go for a 6" device. The touch screen and the dictionary lookup of the sony 600 seems to be the most important features. If they are important to you, go for the 600.

Seconded. The 300 is very comfortable for reading, but if portability isn't an issue, 6" screens mean fewer page turns.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Very little. The screens are the same resolution (600x800), so the 5" has a higher pixel density, which makes the text clearer and sharper than the 6". I find that it's comfortable to have the same amount of text on the 5" screen as on the 6".

The Opus may work differently. On the 5" Sony 300, the font size is identical to the 6" 505 (same bookfile, same size setting). So, the 300 displays about 2/3 of the text per screen as the 505. The text/page is NOT simply scaled down in size.

And, as someone mentioned, the 300 (and other 5" ebook devices, I imagine) is very easy to use with one hand.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by hike_gc

I do mostly read just text.
<snip> The EZ Reader only has 4 gray scale levels and it seems like the newer models coming out have 8 or 16.

FYI: The gray scale will not affect you in any way if you are reading mostly text. It is only going to affect how well images display. Now, if you are reading many cartoons/manga or what have you then it is a much more important consideration.

BOb

[hike_gc]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

FYI: The gray scale will not affect you in any way if you are reading mostly text. It is only going to affect how well images display. Now, if you are reading many cartoons/manga or what have you then it is a much more important consideration.

BOb

This thread has been very helpful but I still cannot decide, although I am more open to purchasing a 5" unit now. I am waiting for my local Target store to get the new Sony models in stock so I can see the 5" and 6" screens side by side. They do have one last PRS-505 on the shelf that was obviously opened and returned, but it's not discounted any more than what Sony was selling them for. I did find a few online sources with some good prices though. Being that I am in northern Arizona (small town, slow deliveries), we will be one of the last to see the Sony shipment arrive. Maybe MR needs to start a poll to vote for the town most likely to be the last in the US to receive the new Sony models.

[sian]

i'd get the 5" ezreader as it has text to speech the (6" hasnt) and also has sd card etc.
i also have a kindle 2 which has text to speech as well.

the only differnts i can see is the ezread can read over 20 ebook formats and the kindle only reads around 4. also the sd card slot is in use constantly on the ezreader.

the down side of the kindle2 is no card slot and limited ebook formats . plus if u have a pdf file u have to send it to amazon for a small price to get it converted.


get 5"- ez reader pocket it its best of both world

[griffonwing]

Actually, some websites got it wrong. It will not read 20 ebook formats. It's between 12-14 (i think), depending on the firmware. It does, however, support 20 languages.

[JSWolf]

Don't buy a reader expecting to put it in your pocket. I would not take the risk of damage.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by sian

the only differnts i can see is the ezread can read over 20 ebook formats and the kindle only reads around 4. also the sd card slot is in use constantly on the ezreader.

you know, to me, 20 formats are just tick marks... you really only need support for the basic text formats, txt and html. And then one reflowable format like ePub or Mobi. Since these are the formats that you can get 90% of the content in why would you need more?

I would rather have them focus on features for 1 reflowable format and have it support it very well with fonts, layout, hyperlinks, dictionary support, annotations, searching, etc.

BOb

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

you know, to me, 20 formats are just tick marks... you really only need support for the basic text formats, txt and html. And then one reflowable format like ePub or Mobi. Since these are the formats that you can get 90% of the content in why would you need more?

I would rather have them focus on features for 1 reflowable format and have it support it very well with fonts, layout, hyperlinks, dictionary support, annotations, searching, etc.

BOb

Some people sweat by PDF, or FB2, or others. Also, someone may have a very large library in FB2 or LIT, and it's good, i think, to at least support these without someone having to batch convert all of their books.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Some people sweat by PDF, or FB2, or others. Also, someone may have a very large library in FB2 or LIT, and it's good, i think, to at least support these without someone having to batch convert all of their books.

It is definitely a "bonus" especially if you already have a large library in one format it is good to try and get a device that supports it. But, if that format isn't well supported I would much rather convert than deal with inferior viewer. (No I am not saying that this is the case for some device, I don't really know.)

BTW: Converting a bunch of reports in batch is pretty simple. That's what we have computers for. Click a button and come back later and it is done.

BOb

[DrMoze]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Don't buy a reader expecting to put it in your pocket. I would not take the risk of damage.

I did just that. And I have put it in my pocket. And I feel comfortable with the sturdiness of it. Frame is wider relative to the smaller screen, and it is slightly thicker than the 505. No flex at all.

[hike_gc]

After way too many hours of researching and pondering, I just purchased a Sony PRS-505 from Frys.com. They have a sale on them for $229.95 until 9/3. The silver and sangria red models are all they have left and the limit is one per household. I bought the silver model. Amazon also has a sale on the m-edge covers for $14.99 but I am waiting to see what the cover that comes with the 505 looks like first. Any 505 owners have advice on that?

I ultimately decided I really wanted the 6-inch screen but think I want to wait for the touch screen technology to mature a bit more before taking that plunge. In a year or so there should be some really nice devices available that will tempt me. I mostly read fiction and while the dictionary support and note taking of the touch screen models are tempting, I rarely write in my paper books and I am not usually that motivated to stop reading and reach for my paper dictionary.

And the 505 should fit in my purse. After all, the requirements for any purse I buy is that it has to hold those womanly necessities (which are fewer than you think) along with the book I am currently reading and a small bottle of water.

It is interesting to note the mixed reviews of the Sony 600 seems to be sparking a number of last minute sales on the 505. Hopefully Sony is watching their sales figures and taking notes.

So as the advice I read elsewhere on this site said, decide what features matter the most to you, do your research, and make the purchase (assuming a device currently exists to match your requirements, otherwise return to research mode). OK, so it took me a month of obsessing but I finally did it. I do appreciate everyone on this forum. I don't think I would have gotten this far if I had not found this site.

Now I want my new toy!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Some people sweat by PDF, or FB2, or others. Also, someone may have a very large library in FB2 or LIT, and it's good, i think, to at least support these without someone having to batch convert all of their books.

The problem is, though, that most of the formats displayed by the BeBook and its clones are not displayed well; they could be described as "mediocre" at best. They seem to have concentrated on "quantity" of display formats at the expense of quality.

Personally, I'd rather have a reader which displays one or two formats really well, than a dozen formats poorly.

[volwrath]

Originally Posted by hike_gc

After way too many hours of researching and pondering, I just purchased a Sony PRS-505 from Frys.com. They have a sale on them for $229.95 until 9/3. The silver and sangria red models are all they have left and the limit is one per household. I bought the silver model. Amazon also has a sale on the m-edge covers for $14.99 but I am waiting to see what the cover that comes with the 505 looks like first. Any 505 owners have advice on that?



Now I want my new toy!

Congrats! I love my PRS-505. I have never felt the need to replace the cover on my 505.

[DrMoze]

Originally Posted by hike_gc

After way too many hours of researching and pondering, I just purchased a Sony PRS-505 from Frys.com. They have a sale on them for $229.95 until 9/3. The silver and sangria red models are all they have left and the limit is one per household. I bought the silver model. Amazon also has a sale on the m-edge covers for $14.99 but I am waiting to see what the cover that comes with the 505 looks like first. Any 505 owners have advice on that?

The 505 is great. I prefer the OEM cover for the 505 but opinions differ. The m-edge cover is thicker, more padded, and is leather. If you don't want the 505 cover, I have an unused m-edge cover (black leather, original version) that I would swap for it in an even trade. Just pm me and let me know!

[Ea]

Originally Posted by hike_gc

After way too many hours of researching and pondering, I just purchased a Sony PRS-505 from Frys.com. They have a sale on them for $229.95 until 9/3. The silver and sangria red models are all they have left and the limit is one per household. I bought the silver model. Amazon also has a sale on the m-edge covers for $14.99 but I am waiting to see what the cover that comes with the 505 looks like first. Any 505 owners have advice on that?

I don't like the original cover. For one thing, it's syntetic leather, and the "tan" colour that goes with the silver reader, is a pretty ugly, thoroughly fake-looking colour. And it's plastic. I don't mind plastic, but I really don't like when it's trying to look like leather and fails utterly. That's my main gripe with the standard cover. Secondly it also feels a bit thin and flimsy, not sturdy enough for throwing into a purse/bag. I didn't trust it enough to keep the screen safe. The upside is that it is thin and has magnet closure - that's a very good idea.