PRS-350 How comfortable is a 5" screen

[doreenjoy]

I love the 350 and find the screen to be great for reading, even for long periods of time. It's super light to hold in the hand and fits in a small bag or pocket.

[DreamStreetRose]

oops! Yes, you are right; it is the 300! But I STILL love it! LOL

[ScotPjotr]

All,

Many thanks for your feedback, you seem to be almost unanimous... So 350 it is then ! Unfortunately without a BestBuy or WalMart in The Netherlands I'll have to pay the equivalent of $240 for it but that's life.

Looking forward to Santa's arrival !

[Coops]

But at least in the Netherlands you can get the 350 in BLUE...... plan to get friend of mine coming over from Holland, to get me one at Schipol - I have a blue 505, but just saw a guy's blue 350 in hand at work; the screen is noticeably better along with faster response etc (although always found the 505 to be perfectly good enough).

Will see how Fontin font looks on the better contrast 350..

Coops

[glazwegian]

Well, I've been looking at eReaders(primarily Nook and Sony) and played with a 350 at Best Buy yesterday.

I've been "sharing" my wife's Nook and we use the library a lot, so any eReader I purchase will have to support ePub. The Nook is ok, but I really like the 350, especially the pearl ink display with its responsive touch screen. And even though I only spent about 5 minutes with it, navigating through the various menus was very speedy, simple and straight forward. I love the physical size too, but like others have commented am concerned the screen might be a bit small for extended reading.

My wife definitely thinks it's too small and says I only want one because with all the page turns, it will seem like I'm making great progress through the books I'll be reading. (I'm a very slow reader compared to her.....as she enjoys reminding me)

[mlewis78]

I cannot read tiny print, but I'm finding that I can get more on a page with my Sony PRS-350 5" than with my Nook (6" screen). There is a nice feature on the Sony where I can choose a page mode, so I use the one that says "margin cut" and that is how I get more on the 5" screen than on the Nook 6" screen. Many ADE books from the library have large margins (on all my epub readers), so I love using that margin cut feature.

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

I cannot read tiny print, but I'm finding that I can get more on a page with my Sony PRS-350 5" than with my Nook (6" screen). There is a nice feature on the Sony where I can choose a page mode, so I use the one that says "margin cut" and that is how I get more on the 5" screen than on the Nook 6" screen. Many ADE books from the library have large margins (on all my epub readers), so I love using that margin cut feature.

Yes I use 'margin cut' too, I like to have the text fill the page.

The one thing I think the Sony is missing is the ability to change the font and font size from the menu.

I feel that sometimes the leap from one font size to another is too much and it would be better if there was a step in between.

Hopefully this can be changed in a firmware upgrade.

[Dixiemsala]

I have a Kindle 2 and Sony 350. I actually like my Kindle 2 best (probably because I've had it longer and know how to do most things on it). I bought and use the Sony just for library books. As someone mentioned above, I use the margin cut to get more on the page. It makes the words appear larger to me (probably not true).

I also agree that an inbetween font size is needed. I start the day with the small, but, at nighttime, I often move up to medium.

But, I do read for hours on the 350 with no problem.

Wish I had gotten that Wal-Mart price. I paid $179 at Best Buy, ordered a cover for over $30, use my Kandle for light and my Kindle charger for charging.

[Kai Winters]

I have the 300. I am very happy with this device as a pocket reader. I read for 5 or so hours per day...I work in a lab and can read between testing...and find the size perfect for easy handling and reading.

My eyes aren't what they were when I was young and I do wear prescription reading glasses. I usually use the medium or large font size, depending on how each looks.

Unfortunately I was playing with the Samsung Galaxy at our local Best Buy a day or two ago and fell in love with it.
Fortunately it is too costly and does not to Sony format or epub at the moment...whew, they almost got me. It does do Kindle format but there were no books in the device so I could not try it out.

Overall for a simple, small ereader the Sony 300 is perfect for me.

[bluerfoot]

if you don't require ultra ultra portability (cause the 650 is still quite portable compared to say a kindle) get the 650. I got it for my wife yesterday and I have a 350. The inch makes a difference. plus black reads better then silver, it actually does make a difference too.

[grooks]

Originally Posted by Kai Winters

Unfortunately I was playing with the Samsung Galaxy at our local Best Buy a day or two ago and fell in love with it.
Fortunately it is too costly and does not to Sony format or epub at the moment...whew, they almost got me. It does do Kindle format but there were no books in the device so I could not try it out.

Since the Samsung Galaxy Tab is an Android device, there are apps you can download to read non-DRM epub files. There is also an app for library books called Overdrive Media Console.

If you wait until next year, there is supposed to be a wi-fi only version of the Galaxy Tab coming out.

[trekchick]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

To me, the 5 inch screen is the perfect fit for holding cupped in one hand

Absolutely! The 350 is my primary reading device. It's the most comfortable to hold and it's ultra portable. The 350 gives you more than twice the reading surface of an iPhone, and a lot of people read on those.

The only drawback I've found is that it's harder to make meaningful hand-drawn annotations and notes on the smaller screen than it is on the larger one. But, that's not really a major concern for most people.