Two PRS 300 Questions

[Cactusgod]

I picked up the 300 and I have it side by side with the 600. I've noticed that I definitely like the clarity of the 300 much more than the 600, but I had two questions.

1) Is the page-loading slower on the 300 than on the 600? And if so, is this a firmware issue that the 300 could be updated with or what.

2) Regarding zoomed pages; Does the battery get used more if you're "turning the page" multiple times in order to get to the next page? So, for instance, if I'm zoomed in and it takes me 3 page turns to get from page 28-29, does that use up more battery, or is it the same because its putting less words onto the screen?

[lilac_jive]

I don't know number one, but as for number 2, yes, the battery life is linked to the page turns.

[Cactusgod]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I don't know number one, but as for number 2, yes, the battery life is linked to the page turns.

Ok thanks!

[Xymantix]

I only have the 300, but I've played with the 600 a little in the store. I think the 600 is faster for page turns, but the 300 is very reasonable to me. The matrix at https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix shows that the 600 has a much faster processor, which makes sense: The 300, while a great reading device, is Sony's low-end device and has a smaller screen, slower CPU, no built-in dictionary, etc. In other words, the 300 probably won't ever match the speed of the 600.

My understanding of the battery issue is that you're going to be using it up every time you turn a page. It's likely (I'm not an expert), that the amount of text on the page has very little to do with the amount of power it takes to refresh the screen. But again, I'm only guessing.

With both of those in mind, I still think the 300 is a great reading device. It's smaller size is a plus if you're on the go, and the battery life will last you several books between charges.

[Bremen Cole]

The 300 is an excellent reader but yes, it has a slow processor. The 600 has a faster one mainly for running the touch screen, mp3 support, sd card support, photo's...... as the 300 is "just" a reader, it really does not need the extra power. If it did have the faster processor the battery life would take a hit as well, since you have to assume it has a smaller battery than the 600 (physical size difference).

And yes, more page turns = more hit on the battery. But honesty.... I have now ran mine down and charged twice.... and the battery life is amazing to me. After using an iPhone it seems like this thing never needs charging....

[Cactusgod]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

The 300 is an excellent reader but yes, it has a slow processor. The 600 has a faster one mainly for running the touch screen, mp3 support, sd card support, photo's...... as the 300 is "just" a reader, it really does not need the extra power. If it did have the faster processor the battery life would take a hit as well, since you have to assume it has a smaller battery than the 600 (physical size difference).

And yes, more page turns = more hit on the battery. But honesty.... I have now ran mine down and charged twice.... and the battery life is amazing to me. After using an iPhone it seems like this thing never needs charging....

Ok this is good to know. I have my font set around 14 or 15 point and I find its a very good size, however it does take 3 or 4 pageturns per page, so I was looking at a 913 page book which is essentially 3600 page turns as opposed to a small font which would be a lot less.

[Bremen Cole]

On the battery life issue, I have to say that any device I have owned (and I have owned a ton of PDA, iPods...etc over the years) I just plug them in overnight every other day or so. So to me the battery life of the 300 is absolutely miraculous. It gets better when you let it run all the way down, and then let it charge all the way up. The past two days I have read about 3 hours per day, and still have not lost a bar on my battery. I keep mine on the "m" font size, and on epub do about 3 page turns per "real" page (if you know what I mean).... On the iPhone, 2 hours of reading and by battery would be about gone.... (yes I know, back light, wifi, 3g, phone service, gps all hit the battery on the iPhone).... I am so thrilled now because I can read as much as I want, and without the eye strain

[badtux]

Originally Posted by Cactusgod

1) Is the page-loading slower on the 300 than on the 600?

As others mention, it has a slower processor. I notice that it does well with plain-text ePubs, and gets really slow with complex pdf's that have graphics. But I have a computer to use to read those.

2) Regarding zoomed pages; Does the battery get used more if you're "turning the page" multiple times in order to get to the next page?

Yes. Basically any time you refresh the screen it uses power. If it's just sitting there it uses virtually no power. It's that e-ink stuff, quite nifty stuff. On the other hand, this thing is so thrifty with power that it's ridiculous, so I wouldn't worry about it.