An Australian review of the PRS-350 and PRS-650

hedgeddown · 10-07-2010, 10:08 PM

Since we finally have Sony readers officially in Australia, I bought both the PRS-350 and the PRS-650 for work and evaluated them for my own personal use, with some comparison to the iphone and ipad.

There are a few people here who have played with them longer and given more detail but here's a link to my review for those that are interested.

http://blog.haydon.id.au/2010/10/sonys-2010-readers-hit-australia.html

For those that want the executive summary, this is probably the first generation of e-ink devices that I've actually wanted to buy due to the touch interface, but as others have noted the lack of alternative fonts is a negative for what is now the premium e-ink device in the market.

pikelet · 10-08-2010, 08:31 AM

Thanks for providing a review from an Australian perspective.
Lack of fonts doesn't worry me (can't choose the font in a paper book anyway).

SeaBookGuy · 10-08-2010, 10:57 AM

Audio really drains the battery fast, so I'm not sure the ability to listen to books is all that great a feature (on all devices, including Kindles). If one is really interest in that, the best bet would be to rip library books on CD to mp3 format.

ShellShock · 10-08-2010, 02:13 PM

I'm a bit puzzled by this:

"The key difference between the Sony screens and the Kindle is that the Sony trades some contrast for a touch screen. Unlike the previous model however the trade off is marginal and they have solved the reflectivity issue."

I did not think there was any trade off at all--the Sony 350/650 screen should be as good as the K3.

Also this:

"Sony would however provide a further justification for the premium price and add to the longevity of the device if they managed to enable additional default fonts or embedded font support via software upgrade."

OK the 350/650 do not support additional default fonts (without a firmware hack), but they definitely do support embedded fonts in epubs (and I believe in LRF). Some purchased epubs will come with embedded fonts which one hopes have been carefully chosen to enhance the reading experience--no problem for 350/650. If you are into making your own epubs you can have any font you want.

SkyDream · 10-08-2010, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Audio really drains the battery fast, so I'm not sure the ability to listen to books is all that great a feature (on all devices, including Kindles). If one is really interest in that, the best bet would be to rip library books on CD to mp3 format.

I'm using my brand new iPod touch 4G 64GB for audio as mine are always mp3 format.

kalex · 10-08-2010, 03:33 PM

You might want to check your facts on contrast and touchscreens. Sony uses infrared for touch control and I doubt that you can see the infrared

retro · 10-08-2010, 06:58 PM

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but what color is your 350? It looks black in the pictures.

Sonystyle AU shows the blue, but it's never been in stock. Do you know if they had a good stock of blue at the Sydney store?

TIA

hedgeddown · 10-15-2010, 02:19 AM

@retro - mine was the blue one. Not sure about the stock sorry.

@kalex & @shellshock - thanks. I have recently noticed that changing page can cause some ghosting which can also make some of the text or image on a following page appear less sharp. I think this is the difference I noticed and attributed to the screen, but I'm not sure if this is the same on the K3 since I've passed it on, and I wasn't flicking through the pages in the same way.

@shellshock - thanks for the correction about the fonts. Clearly publishers need to get their act together, and start embedding. I'll have to try some different epubs.

10-07-2010, 10:08 PM	#1
hedgeddown Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 26 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: none	An Australian review of the PRS-350 and PRS-650 Since we finally have Sony readers officially in Australia, I bought both the PRS-350 and the PRS-650 for work and evaluated them for my own personal use, with some comparison to the iphone and ipad. There are a few people here who have played with them longer and given more detail but here's a link to my review for those that are interested. http://blog.haydon.id.au/2010/10/sonys-2010-readers-hit-australia.html For those that want the executive summary, this is probably the first generation of e-ink devices that I've actually wanted to buy due to the touch interface, but as others have noted the lack of alternative fonts is a negative for what is now the premium e-ink device in the market.

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10-08-2010, 08:31 AM	#2
pikelet girl from oz Posts: 67 Karma: 834 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: iPad, Sony PRS-650, Sony PRS-300, Cybook Gen3	Thanks for providing a review from an Australian perspective. Lack of fonts doesn't worry me (can't choose the font in a paper book anyway).

10-08-2010, 10:57 AM	#3
SeaBookGuy Can one read too much? Posts: 2,015 Karma: 2487799 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Naples, FL Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650	Audio really drains the battery fast, so I'm not sure the ability to listen to books is all that great a feature (on all devices, including Kindles). If one is really interest in that, the best bet would be to rip library books on CD to mp3 format.

10-08-2010, 02:13 PM	#4
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,176 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	I'm a bit puzzled by this: "The key difference between the Sony screens and the Kindle is that the Sony trades some contrast for a touch screen. Unlike the previous model however the trade off is marginal and they have solved the reflectivity issue." I did not think there was any trade off at all--the Sony 350/650 screen should be as good as the K3. Also this: "Sony would however provide a further justification for the premium price and add to the longevity of the device if they managed to enable additional default fonts or embedded font support via software upgrade." OK the 350/650 do not support additional default fonts (without a firmware hack), but they definitely do support embedded fonts in epubs (and I believe in LRF). Some purchased epubs will come with embedded fonts which one hopes have been carefully chosen to enhance the reading experience--no problem for 350/650. If you are into making your own epubs you can have any font you want.

10-08-2010, 03:33 PM	#6
kalex Zealot Posts: 132 Karma: 3248 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: sony	You might want to check your facts on contrast and touchscreens. Sony uses infrared for touch control and I doubt that you can see the infrared

10-08-2010, 06:58 PM	#7
retro Groupie Posts: 188 Karma: 245 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: USA Device: Kobo Clara Blue PRS 350	It's hard to tell from the pictures, but what color is your 350? It looks black in the pictures. Sonystyle AU shows the blue, but it's never been in stock. Do you know if they had a good stock of blue at the Sydney store? TIA

10-15-2010, 02:19 AM	#8
hedgeddown Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 26 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: none	@retro - mine was the blue one. Not sure about the stock sorry. @kalex & @shellshock - thanks. I have recently noticed that changing page can cause some ghosting which can also make some of the text or image on a following page appear less sharp. I think this is the difference I noticed and attributed to the screen, but I'm not sure if this is the same on the K3 since I've passed it on, and I wasn't flicking through the pages in the same way. @shellshock - thanks for the correction about the fonts. Clearly publishers need to get their act together, and start embedding. I'll have to try some different epubs.

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