Improvements for PRS900

[unknownhero]

I think if Sony wants to keep ahead of it's competitors on PRS900 there are a few things which I think they can work on:

1. Improve the screen display - Less shine and reflection.
2. Improve battery life even longer.
3. Faster processor so pages turn quicker.
I have used a 32GB SD card and it is acceptable but can be a little better.
I've put my music collection in there as well.

I think these are the main things I would like. I like the quality of the PRS900
hence the reason I bought it over the kindle.

I don't need fancy things like what the IPad does otherwise I would get a
Tablet or notebook. Something simply for reading books and listening to music.

Anyone think of anything else?

[Ben Thornton]

The display is the key one.

Beyond that, improved software to make it easier to manage a large number of books (including folder support, and the ability to avoid having to parse all the metadata from scratch in order to start reading).

[dsvick]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

The display is the key one.

Beyond that, improved software to make it easier to manage a large number of books (including folder support, and the ability to avoid having to parse all the metadata from scratch in order to start reading).

I agree, for me the display is a secondary concern, I've only used the Sony so I have no basis for comparison, but I find the glare and occasional reflection well within the acceptable range for me.

I'm with you though Ben, I'd like to see more ability to manage collections and lists on the reader itself. Some of the things I'd like are:

• Ability to mark a book read/unread
• Ability to see the book details with out actually opening the book
• Ability to rate books
• Ability to control what information is displayed in the list (ie thumbnail, title, author,
• rating; or, thumbnail, title, synopsis
• Ability to sort books in a specific order within a collection, so you could sort your to read list in the order you're going to read them.

The only non collection management thing I'd like to see would be automatic RSS feeds that you could subscribe to and have delivered daily, liek they do with newspapers.

[Marcy]

Originally Posted by dsvick

I'm with you though Ben, I'd like to see more ability to manage collections and lists on the reader itself. Some of the things I'd like are:

• Ability to mark a book read/unread
• Ability to see the book details with out actually opening the book
• Ability to rate books
• Ability to control what information is displayed in the list (ie thumbnail, title, author,
• rating; or, thumbnail, title, synopsis
• Ability to sort books in a specific order within a collection, so you could sort your to read list in the order you're going to read them.

I'd love most of these things and also the only thing I miss from my Kindle, that little marker that showed how much of a book you've read. It let me manage reading a couple of books at a time without losing track of any of them.

Being able to order the collections on the reader would be a huge plus. No matter how much effort I make in Calibre to get everything in the proper order, they never appear correctly in the reader. I gave up and now put the book number after the book title, i.e. First Book [1], Second Book [2], etc., so I can still tell what order to read books of a series in.

-Marcy

[Penforhire]

I can see Sony's design dilemma just based on the OP's desires versus mine. I have zero need for a better battery or a faster page turn.

OTOH, screen improvement (less reflection, more contrast) is a must-have and I like some of dsvick's suggestions.

I'd like to suggest a flush-mounted screen so the bezel doesn't trap as many crumbs and such since I often read at lunch.

I also want a better OEM cover. Something like the M-Edge Executive design. Even the Sony cover-with-light can use a more powerful and evenly lit system. And the Case Logic soft case should properly fit the reader WITH cover attached.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by dsvick

I'm with you though Ben, I'd like to see more ability to manage collections and lists on the reader itself. Some of the things I'd like are:

• Ability to mark a book read/unread
• Ability to see the book details with out actually opening the book
• Ability to rate books
• Ability to control what information is displayed in the list (ie thumbnail, title, author, rating; or, thumbnail, title, synopsis
• Ability to sort books in a specific order within a collection, so you could sort your to read list in the order you're going to read them.

Actually, you can sort books 'by order' in a collection. The order is set in the Reader Library app on the computer though.

I think the key stuff for collections is really being able to edit the collections on the device (creating, adding to, removing from, reordering), and the marking of the book being read/unread as you say.

Faster page turns might be nice, but battery life is good where it is, and faster CPUs will eat into any additional battery life without very good power management (Sony already has some of the best in the e-reader business).

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

Beyond that, improved software to make it easier to manage a large number of books (including folder support, and the ability to avoid having to parse all the metadata from scratch in order to start reading).

Not sure folder support is a big one if collections are improved and can be edited on the deivce. Doubly so if I can create collections based on search queries like the 900 already hints at a bit.

Avoiding the refreshing of metadata is a hard one. If someone decides not to use the Reader software, then it is required for the device to function. And I don't think it is actually parsing it from scratch either. Time would scale linearly with the number of books you have, it seems to scale non-linearly, which suggests it's trying to find ways to reduce the work load.

That said, there are ways to improve the speed with larger libraries, but they are fairly complex approaches and the code would have to be able to fall back on more brute-force methods since they won't work 100% of the time.

My own sneaking suspicion is that there is a memory limit coming into effect that greatly slows down the scan on larger libraries (having to load large blobs of XML into structures can be painful... and is not an ideal way to store a DB). So you see decent refresh speeds based on what /changed/ up to a point. After that point, some unrelated effect comes into play and slows down the process due to limited memory.

[dsvick]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I'd like to suggest a flush-mounted screen so the bezel doesn't trap as many crumbs and such since I often read at lunch.

That would be a nice one too, and also the bevel will sometime create a shadow across the top line on the page.

[SCION]

Does that mean everyone here will spend another $400 if these improvements are implemented?

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by SCION

Does that mean everyone here will spend another $400 if these improvements are implemented?

For me, it will take a dramatic improvement in screen quality for me to invest in another device. The software improvements are secondary in that, although they make loading/managing books a bit klunky, I spend much more time reading than loading/managing things to read.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by SCION

Does that mean everyone here will spend another $400 if these improvements are implemented?

It would depend. The big thing is that the hardware changes are pretty much key to getting me to spend more money. On the software side, the sort of stuff I want isn't exactly things I'd shell a ton of money out for, since they are not 'gotta haves'.

Fix the screen though? Yeah, I'll pay. That said, I'm unusual in this regard, and the screen is already tempting me to try other devices and accept poorer software for the better screen. Give me the better screen with the best firmware (IMO) available for e-readers at the moment? Yeah, I'll pay just to avoid getting drawn to poorer devices.

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by Marcy

I'd love most of these things and also the only thing I miss from my Kindle, that little marker that showed how much of a book you've read. It let me manage reading a couple of books at a time without losing track of any of them.

Being able to order the collections on the reader would be a huge plus. No matter how much effort I make in Calibre to get everything in the proper order, they never appear correctly in the reader. I gave up and now put the book number after the book title, i.e. First Book [1], Second Book [2], etc., so I can still tell what order to read books of a series in.

-Marcy

Marcy, you have ability with the Sony Library software. I do it all the time. I have 2 big series that I have in chronological order, series has 19 books and the other have 23 books. You have to plug your reader and find the collection folder and move the books in the order you want them.

[erasure25]

-Ability to pin items to the Home Page
-Ability to email notes
-A dedicated button for pausing and playing MP3s (or a quicker way to access music while reading a book--could be a one-button access to a floating music app)
-Whiter background
-Font selections (serif and sans serif, fixed width and variable width, etc.)
-Make it so that when you are writing notes, there is no delay for the handwriting to show up (I don't know if this is related to the processor speed or e-ink technology)
-Ability to write and upload book reviews and star-ratings to the Sony Reader Store

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by erasure25

-Ability to pin items to the Home Page

Agreed. I get by right now by updated the modification date on the books I want to show up. The 3 most recently modified books are the ones that appear on the home screen. Making this easier would be nice.

Originally Posted by erasure25

-Whiter background

You would get this as part of the whole 'fix the touchscreen'. So yeah, a lot of people want this.

Originally Posted by erasure25

-Make it so that when you are writing notes, there is no delay for the handwriting to show up (I don't know if this is related to the processor speed or e-ink technology)

It's the e-ink. The iRex has similar delays, although it might be possible to tighten it up a bit to at least match iRex (not that it has far to go to do it).

Originally Posted by erasure25

-Ability to write and upload book reviews and star-ratings to the Sony Reader Store

Also a really good idea.

[jboardman]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I also want a better OEM cover. Something like the M-Edge Executive design. Even the Sony cover-with-light can use a more powerful and evenly lit system. And the Case Logic soft case should properly fit the reader WITH cover attached.

I have purchased a Kindle 2 Oberon cover for my PRS900. It takes a bit of "unengineering" to make it work well, but I love it. I purchased the Roof of Heaven" in sky blue. I had to remove the stitched-on vertical Velcro tab on the cover, move it an inch to the left, and glue it down. Remove the stitcing with a seam ripper (never heard of one before my wife showed it to me). I tried with a razor blade and slashed the inner cover a bit.

Before I attached any of the Velcro to the reader, I ran a 1" wide piece of packaging tape from where the sony reader cover (flap) attaches to the unit and over onto the removable cover down the height of the device.

Attach the Velcro to the unit and voila! It works great! I have shook it, dropped it, and it holds the PRS900 securely. And it's beautiful. Want more info? boardmanlaw@comcast.net

[jboardman]

I also would like the time displayed at the bottom along with the page number.