Sony PRS-600 Review from first-user

[superfrank]

Hello,

You might remember me as the guy who hesitated forever to order his mobile reader. Today I received my PRS-600 silver, my FIRST e-book reader. Here is my review of it.

My main concern was the pdf reflow. I read 90% pdf so this was critical for me. On this, I have been VERY positively impressed. My concern was that I would need to keep zooming around and manipulate the magnifier on every page a dozen of times in order to read my pdf. Not at all.

95% of my pdf collection is very-well read. By this, I mean that the text reflows very nicely and can be zoomed in. I was very impressed. My collection of Dummies book is all readable.

I have tried to upload all kind of books and I've found that the PRS-600 does an awesome for all but the oldest scans (1990 and earlier) where it will convert to image and be unreadable. Overall, I have been very impressed. Even finance and mathematical books read fine.

The readability of the PRS-600 is impressive too. It definitely isn't a "computer screen" and in my opinion, can be read as easily as paper. After a couple of hours reading on it, I felt perfectly normal.

But what I liked the most on the PRS-600 is the ability to highlight text, then refer to it quickly on the main menu, in two clicks. When you are trying to summarize - and might forget the exact details of the book after a few months - this is by far the best feature for me.

The dictionnary is nice, but unless you don't speak english well, useless. The ability to take notes is VERY good. The drawing option is in my opinion useless; too slow to take notes, and there are better alternatives if you want to write yourself. The collection group is also great.

The design has much improved, the unit is still robust. The only little concern is about the glare on the screen I had heard of. However, this is nowhere as bad as some people mentioned it. Yes, under direct light (for example), the glare can be fairly annoying. And yes, there are positions where I definitely felt not confortable reading. However, simply moving the device a bit solves the problem. This is nowhere near as bad a problem as I thought.

My thoughts? Overall an excellent buyer, particularly for a first reader. The big con? Only 8 shades of gray. This is in my opinion a device designed for beginners - although some features will please more advanced users - because it doesn't have the clearest possible text. Experts will be better served with more advanced (and expensive) models; however, I do believe 90% of users will find this device particularly fine. At $399CAN ($299 USD) it's well-priced.

In my opinion this is the best device for beginners currently on the market.

[DrMoze]

The gray shades really only affect the images. These devices are primarily for reading, as opposed to displaying graphics. I'm sure future generations of e-ink (or similar easy-to-read display technologies) will have improved contrast (blacker blacks and whiter whites) and clearer graphics displays.

As for the glare issue, it is truly relative, and is not a real problem for many 600 owners. Enjoy your new Reader!!!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by superfrank

The dictionnary is nice, but unless you don't speak english well, useless.

You think so?

Here's an example for you, from my "Barchester Chronicles" ePub book in the MR library:

Thus clad, she peered out into the tent, went to the ha-ha, and satisfied herself that at any rate the youngsters were amusing themselves, spoke a word to Mrs. Greenacre over the ditch, and took one look at the quintain.

Now, without using the dictionary, do you know what a "ha-ha" is? What about a "quintain"?

Personally, I find the dictionary to be invaluable.

[richman]

The dictionary feature is not useful for me either. That book Harry quoted was good because I didn't know those words, but , also , they are not words I see in anything else I read , so it's not normal usa book! ha-ha and quintain are not stuff I would read, yeah if I was reading chaucer and shakespear and lots of old time guys , yeah , I would need a dictionary, but , I don't. I read stuff that is NORMAL !
You guys know what I mean.

p.s. but it's useful to have dictionary and to the first poster, enjoy your 600!

[HarryT]

For me, 19th century novels ARE "normal" - they are what I spend the majority of the reading time in reading . We all have different interests, and I appreciate that for someone who reads modern fiction, the dictionary may be of less use, but if, like me, you read the "classics", it's extremely useful.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by richman

yeah if I was reading chaucer and shakespear and lots of old time guys , yeah , I would need a dictionary, but , I don't. I read stuff that is NORMAL !
You guys know what I mean.

I used the dictionary on my Kindle several times during a recent read of an Agatha Christie novel. With a pbook I wouldn't bother but the dictionary on the Kindle makes it so easy to look up a word that I am more likely to if I an not 100% sure what the word means.

BOb