Question for those who've received the Sony 700

[sayhello]

I agree that the 700 suffers mostly in comparison to the 505. If you compare it to a lot of other devices, it's great. But knowing what the 505 looks like, knowing what eInk is capable of looking like, is what makes the 700 a disappointment to me.

I tried several times today to get a side-by-side picture of the two, but kept having problems, because no matter where I was, in what kind of natural light source, from whatever direction, I couldn't get a good picture without glare or a reflection on the 700. So that alone tells me a lot... I may post the pictures anyways...

Sayhello

[dhbailey]

Originally Posted by lisreed

Well I am glad you like it but to say there is something wrong with other's eyesight if they had trouble reading on the 700??
[snip]
I am glad you like your purchase, but those of use who do not like it don't need to be all but told there is something wrong with our eyesight!

I do apologize for my final remark -- I was really wondering, not trying to put anybody down. The strong negative reaction seems to me to be an over-reaction and not simply a "this isn't good for me" sort of reaction, and I guess I over-reacted to what I viewed as an over-reaction.

In any event, all this "it's fine / it's horrible" stuff regarding the readabilty of the 700 really comes down just to personal taste, and I think that many of the negative reactions may be doing a disservice to people who are just trying to form some sort of opinion about the device before making a purchase.

I know that all the negative messages about how horrible the screen is on the 700 really had me nervous about whether I had foolishly wasted my money and when I actually had the device in my hands I found that for my eyes, the negative messages didn't apply at all.

I wonder how many people new to e-readers who might have been very happy with the 700 have decided not to purchase it because of the research they did on forums like this one (I did that sort of research before buying my 500 back in March of 2007).

Remarks such as I've read here like (this is a paraphrase)"Sony's 700 is the best Christmas gift they could have given Amazon" simply do nothing to help anybody.

I've used the Kindle and I've used the 500 and I've seen the 505 in stores and I've used the 700 and the 700 is the best of them all, in my opinion.

Which is what makes me wonder "What are they seeing that I'm missing?" or actually wondering if their eyesight is making them find reading on the 700 impossible. Not a put-down, just a curiosity.

In any event, I do apologize.

[lisreed]

And I apologize for what now seems like my overreaction! Believe me if people like the 700 and keep it that's great. I'm not one to pick on someone for what they like. And I do not like all the comments that sound more like people being petty than helpful. I loved everything about it except the screen. I have never seen a 500 in person but it sounds like its a good move for someone who has. I also have never read a book on other devices that are not e-ink so for me personally I have only recently gotten interested in the whole ebook thing and its mainly because of the kindle and then discovering this forum and other devices. I really wanted to like the 700. I loved the touch screen and the design is so nice and if the next model could be something without that extra layer I will definitely buy it. Well if all goes as it has in the past, they should be making an announcement of a new model in 11 months :-)

[Trek]

Originally Posted by dhbailey

I've used the Kindle and I've used the 500 and I've seen the 505 in stores and I've used the 700 and the 700 is the best of them all, in my opinion.

Which is what makes me wonder "What are they seeing that I'm missing?" or actually wondering if their eyesight is making them find reading on the 700 impossible.

I posted a few pictures with 700 and 505 side-by-side here:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32038

The 700 might be faster, but as far as screen readability goes I don't think we're dealing with an user eyesight problem. The 700 screen is a mess.