350 or 650

[1trev27]

Went into the local Curry's to purchase a 350 yesterday. Long time user of a 505 but have broken the substrate . I ended up purchasing the 650, mainly because all of my books were already on an sd card and the 350 just seemed that wee bit too small to read comfortably (for me). Must say that I'm very happy with the 650.

Now to find a cover. They seem hard to come by in Ireland.

[SeaBookGuy]

As there's a Sony Store in Dublin, can't you order one online to be shipped to you?

Welcome to the site, 1trev27!

[Dixiemsala]

I've had a Kindle 2 since February. Last week I bought a Sony 350 primarily for library books (since I discovered the Free Library of Philadelphia--nothing available in south Alabama). It did take a little getting used to it after the Kindle (which I love and will continue reading), but I love the size of it as far as putting into and quickly getting out of my purse (for instance today I quickly grabbed it in the line at Wal-Mart and while gassing up my car).

I wear tri-focals and have the beginning of cataracts. Once I decided on the Medium print, I did get used to it. I agree with the poster in that it seemed to need another size between small and medium; but, again, I got used to it.

The first day that I had the 350, I though that I would read in landscape mode. However, the repeating of the last lines from the previous screen bothered me too much. Someone said that those lines were in a lighter print. I can't see that they are.

[zmix]

I've directly compared the PRS350 and PRS650 at all font sizes and the PRS350 screen is certainly sharper than the PRS650.

[brbubba]

Originally Posted by zmix

I've directly compared the PRS350 and PRS650 at all font sizes and the PRS350 screen is certainly sharper than the PRS650.

It's has a higher PPI, which for me translates into a much better reading experience. That 167 PPI that most of the readers out there have bothers me so much in any font size that isn't massive, making them worthless to me.

[zmix]

Originally Posted by brbubba

It's has a higher PPI, which for me translates into a much better reading experience. That 167 PPI that most of the readers out there have bothers me so much in any font size that isn't massive, making them worthless to me.

Yes, absolutely. I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating:
The PRS350 has a screen with 200dpi resolution and the PRS650 is only160dpi.
Considering that this dot pitch difference is roughly equivalent to the surface area differences, I would have expected the fonts on the 650 to use the same number of "dots" per character, and that the font sizes would be proportional to it's larger "dot" size. Instead, they tried to keep the font sizes the same (likely in order to take advantage of the potential to fit more text on the larger screen), and in so doing the resolution suffers on the PRS650.

[MojoMobile]

Originally Posted by MojoMobile

Will have to go back and compare. 350 for dpi and portability. 650 for page size.

ok, I'm baaaack...
bought the 650. pleased with the page size. after a few weeks bought the Sony cover (w/o the light) The cover makes it easier to hold w/o inadvertently touching the screen. The cover is very good quality tho will reserve opinion on how long the plastic prongs that hold the reader will last.
The touch page turn is great altho I dont always use it - sometimes the buttons are easier depending on the way you are holding it.
Gripes:
1. after a full charge the battery went flat after 60 pages, but havent had this problem since.
2. When charging it shows a full battery icon, even tho it isnt.
3. The PC software The Reader is absolute rubbish - too many issues to list. But the main one is syncing - it always loses my place in the book I am reading Also had problems with DRM rights for the book I currently reading.
4. In Australia the main ebook suppliers are Angus & Roberston and Borders and of the 30+ books on my want to read list there are 2 available. More are on the Sony store but we can't purchase from there for Oz. There is no point selling eReaders if there are no books! They need to get their act together asap and get rights to eBook all their paperbacks. Both these sites have rubbish searching and downlaod instructions - they are stuck in Kobo land.

In summary it will be difficult to get people off paperbacks into eBooks if there are continually confronted with poor quality software and lack of titles.

[elcreative]

Try looking more closely... there is a little lightning bolt symbol by the battery icon when it is in charge and read mode to show it's charging...

Originally Posted by MojoMobile

2. When charging it shows a full battery icon, even tho it isnt.

[viviena]

Originally Posted by MojoMobile

4. In Australia the main ebook suppliers are Angus & Roberston and Borders and of the 30+ books on my want to read list there are 2 available. More are on the Sony store but we can't purchase from there for Oz. There is no point selling eReaders if there are no books! They need to get their act together asap and get rights to eBook all their paperbacks. Both these sites have rubbish searching and downlaod instructions - they are stuck in Kobo land.

That's interesting, especially 2 / 30+. If you don't mind saying, do you have examples of books you're interested in but you can't get due to geo-restrictions?

KoboBooks isn't that bad either, though its interface does feel very dumbed down.

[Anthem]

A belated response here:

I have both a Sony PRS-350SC and a Kobo Wifi and I definitely fall on the side of preferring the six inch screen of the Kobo. Despite the improved clarity of the Sony PRS350 (and it is defintely a decent looking screen!). That extra inch makes a world of difference for me.

This is all subjective though. I still think the 350 is excellent and better than not having any eReader at all!

[digital_steve]

Gimme yer 350!
I wish i had've got the 350 instead of the 650 personally

[kartu]

I think when one wants to have something ultra-portable, 350 is the way to go, 650 if not.
And if reading A4 / Letter sized PDFs is important, 950.

Other than that, 650 is an excellent reader that is lighter than older 5" model! (and only a bit bigger)

[Coops]

Just recently got a (blue ;-) ) 350 to replace my still excellent 505 - also in blue.....
The guy who brought it over from Holland for me (if you too like the Sony blue, as i do, do, do) also got his wife a black 650 - so i had the opportunity to see and compare all 3... and all 3 with a pdf formatted in fontin font and to match the 6" or 5" screen as needed.

First - the 'old' 505 is wonderful.

But, it's best not to see anyone's new screen Sony (350, 650, 950) as the difference is very noticeable (perhaps more so with a serif Fontin font?), so...

350 is very good indeed - just switching over to epub, and looks like a fractional decrease in font size ( 1/2 a point?) makes no difference in ease of reading comparing the 650 to the 350, yet means you lose only maybe about 4 lines and a word per line per page... making the 350 very, very portable yet still an excellent ereader.

This may sound like i'm saying the 350 is the one to go for... but, then consider that due to the better screen you could possibly go slightly smaller font on the 650 - and the unit is smaller than the 505 already. Sorry to muddy the waters... good news is they're both good, so you can't really make the wrong decision.

As I had my 505 as a backup, I went ahead and Baroda'd my new 350 (!)... somewhat nervous experience (i'm in thailand so getting hold of a replacement would be a pain) but went fine and Fontin looks great & justified on epubs on these Sonys - much better than the built in 'font'.

Only real issue is the ridiculous font size increase from S to M - with 6 sizes to setup, whoever 'designed' this point increase at Sony needs to be... ah, what does this nincompoop deserve. How? How, in all that is possible, can anyone with functioning eyesight decide that this kind of step change is needed - and why not make it a user choice like in any basic word processor... ah, the 'choice' (lack of) of fonts, and the 'software' - hah. All praise Goyal, praise him.

Tried taking pics comparing all 3 - here's one of 350 then 505 then 650 (the 350 is resting on the 505's cover ;-) - the picture quality doesn't even remotely reflect how good the screens look in person, but it'll give you an idea of size comparison and you can see the number of lines of text etc.

This one with 6" PDF's for the 505 & 650, and a remade pdf to 5" screen


This one is an epub on the 350 (same Fontin font) but slightly smaller font - think you can see the approximately 4 fewer lines on the 350 cf 505.


Coops

[digital_steve]

Yeah... i really wish i had've got the 350 now; especially in blue.

[Wordeater]

I don't own a reader yet, have ruled out a Kindle altogether, on the way to eliminating a Nook, and seriously looking for the first time at Sonys.
I just happened to be looking at both the 350 and 650 today. Love the light weight and quality. (both issues for me with the K and the Nook....I thought the K3 was cheap looking and felt like it...didn't like the weight of the Nook)
I loved the size of the 350, but never really looked much at the display, and loved the 650 but needed the Large font with my reading glasses off.
I had never even considered the Sonys before. Now it looks as though that will be the way I will be going....which model is still up in the air. I am still going to look at the 950 as well. I think the 350 or the 650 will do the trick since I have no real need for 3G or Wi-fi, and it remains to be seen whether the larger 950 is overkill, not to mention the $$$.

WE