Upgrading from PRS-505 to Kindle 2: Good Idea?

[Drezin]

Thanks for the other side of the story, daffy4u. But is what I've read about the screen (fading, washing out in sunlight) true?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Drezin

Thanks for the other side of the story, daffy4u. But is what I've read about the screen (fading, washing out in sunlight) true?

It may be true. We know LG has been making some eink screens and some of them (LG screens) have that defect.

[orion2001]

Originally Posted by Drezin

Thanks for the other side of the story, daffy4u. But is what I've read about the screen (fading, washing out in sunlight) true?

Drezin, If you go and read the Amazon reviews, you will definitely find a few from owners who had this issue. This is how I first found out about the screen fade issue with Kindles. It isn't clear to me if it is something that affects all E-ink displays in all reader, all Kindle E-ink displays or only certain Kindle displays.

The person whose review I read exchanged his Kindle thrice and he still had the issue in all three but the third one didn't fade as much so he kept it. Of course there are a lot of happy kindle owners out there and it is most likely a defect with some Kindles and not all...although on the flip side, not many Kindle owners are necessarily reading in direct sunlight all the time.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by gwynevans

Well, it's "The Handmaid's Tale" and it doesn't look as if it's (legitimately) available as an eBook anywhere, including Amazon, so not in itself an argument either way, but personally, I'd view it as a downgrade...

Well, as far as I can tell my copy from Amazon is legit. It's from a legit US publisher, Random House.

Certainly not a reason to get a Kindle in and of itself though.

When I bought mine (when K2 was first released) there were quite a few books I wanted that were on Kindle, but nowhere else. That's not as much the case anymore, but it still can be depending on what you like to read. Of course I only buy books if they're AZW so they can be used on my Sony, Opus and Phone too (with a few minutes work). My K's paid for itself in what I've saved vs buying certain books from places like BoB and FW, but I buy and read a lot of books and the price gap used to be much larger/more frequent.


As far as compared to the 505. I think they're both great. The only reason I bought my K2 was for access to books only Amazon had. It paid off for me, but I'd take a good look at what they have for books before deciding if that will be the case for yourself (since you mentioned it as a primary reason). The dictionary can be nice too.

I do have a slight sun fade issue, but it's not real bad (the type thins a bit). FWIW some have reported the same thing on the 505, although mine doesn't have it.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Drezin

Thanks for the other side of the story, daffy4u. But is what I've read about the screen (fading, washing out in sunlight) true?

There have been some reports of screen fading and as AO points out, the same reports have been made in regards to the 505. I personally, have purchased one K1 and two K2's and none of them have had fading issued.

Cool thing though, should you receive a K2 with a fading issue, contact Amazon and they will ship a new K2 to you overnight.

[lev]

sorry to hijack the thread but would really like to clear this fading issue.
I have the 600 and last week while reading under the sun I did have fading issue. at times so much so that half the page was missing and could not be read.
I remember reading about this issue and thought this was the case with all readers. Am I to understand that is not the case and that my 600 has defect??
if so I may contact sony for an exchange.

[kennyc]

I've never seen this fading with four different readers. Any Pics?

[lev]

no pics.
like I said, at the time I just assumed it was normal. will try tomorrow and take some pics. if the weather cooperates

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yeah, I've been wanting that myself but as stated it is not available as an ebook.

oops, just checked and yes it is available on kindle for $3.95 apparently! Still not a reason to buy a kindle though.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Handmaids-...tag=inkmesh-20

Hmm - Sorry for the duff info. I'd gone to a couple of the pBook descriptions and checked for "Also Available in:" and, as I'm sure that in the past it had told me about the Kindle editions there, had concluded that it wasn't available!

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I've said several times that the 505 and Kindle 2 are not in the same class.

I'd be interested to know what you feel the main differentiating points are?

Personally, I like the 'feel' of the Sony, along with it's compactness while I don't put much value in a dictionary. I use online libraries & non-Sony sources, so haven't come across any books I want that I can't get that I could on Amazon. I guess the wireless access might be nice, but on the other hand, I can always use my phone for that, while I'd not want the battery life of the 505 to suffer.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by gwynevans

I'd be interested to know what you feel the main differentiating points are?

Just look at the feature set, you'll find more similarities in features between the K2, 600 and 700 than you will with the 505.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I've never seen this fading with four different readers. Any Pics?

Since the screens come from the same manufacturer, I think it's reasonable to assume to that some defective screens have hit a few different readers.

[lev]

To be honest, I am not so thrilled with the Kindle International edition as I fear how this will impact on the format war and eventual competition in the marketplace.
For a start, I am not sure how epub is going to hold up once kindle's own format dominates as their sales increase. I seriously doubt that kindle will eventually move to epub now that they can sell their format in other countries.
with its huge library, I think competition against sony and others will be moot, as most people will be more than happy to buy a kindle and not worry about whether they will be able to find the books they want to read.
although more books might be available if you are willing to search ebook sellers and that open format devices have more options, for the average person who is not aware of the ebook technology, kindle will be their first choice as its simple to deal with one store. And as time goes by, i assume publishers will have no choice but to line up with amazon.

to top it off, now that they have gone international any chance of Sony getting a larger share of market for competing against amazon has gone the way side. ..

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Since the screens come from the same manufacturer, I think it's reasonable to assume to that some defective screens have hit a few different readers.

May be reasonable, but I've never seen it and would like to see pics to confirm that it is real and not just someone's perception issue. I've used 4 different readers in bright sun, cold etc and not seen any differences due to environmental conditions.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Just look at the feature set, you'll find more similarities in features between the K2, 600 and 700 than you will with the 505.

Yeah, like more non-proprietary file types supported by Sony, including the 505.

I too would like to hear what you specifically think are the features that make it an "upgrade"