PRS-650 A couple of pics PRS-650 vs PRS-900

[m-reader]

Hi all

I've been meaning to do this ever since I got my PRS-650. My apologies for shoddy photography, I came to find out that buying DSLR doesn't automatically mean you can take proper photos.
Hopefully the pics are self explanatory. The first batch is taken under very bright light (yes, it is my kitchen floor). The later ones are taken in the living room under somewhat dim light.
The purpose of these pictures is to show the difference between the two screens under most common reading environment (at least for me).
I hope you'll find them useful.

[SeaBookGuy]

I just saw those two models side-by-side at the store the other day. Your pics capture the difference well!

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I just saw those two models side-by-side at the store the other day. Your pics capture the difference well!

Thanks for that - I'm hoping the pictures will give people who don't have access to brick-and-mortar shops an idea of what the difference is.
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words
I just wish I knew how to take better shots though!

[terraskye]

Originally Posted by m-reader

Hi all

I've been meaning to do this ever since I got my PRS-650. My apologies for shoddy photography, I came to find out that buying DLSR doesn't automatically mean you can take proper photos.
Hopefully the pics are self explanatory. The first batch is taken under very bright light (yes, it is my kitchen floor). The later ones are taken in the living room under somewhat dim light.
The purpose of these pictures is to show the difference between the two screens under most common reading environment (at least for me).
I hope you'll find them useful.

For some reason the case on the 950 looks better in your photos than the official Sony ones. Great job

[Latinandgreek]

Your pictures are great, the screen on the 650 looks so crisp!

[jerryleejr]

I really was amazed at how much larger the 900 looks for just an inch more screen real-estate I was torn between getting the 650 and waiting on the 950 However if the 950's foot print is similar to the 900 it borders on cumbersome, and I am looking at an ipad anyway so I purchased a 650 should be here today. I hope to combine the two and cover all my reading needs, books on the 650 and pdf tech manuals on the ipad now if I can figure out how to pack all that around without looking like a gypsy wagon going down the street I should be fine

JJ

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by jerryleejr

I really was amazed at how much larger the 900 looks for just an inch more screen real-estate I was torn between getting the 650 and waiting on the 950 However if the 950's foot print is similar to the 900 it borders on cumbersome, and I am looking at an ipad anyway so I purchased a 650 should be here today. I hope to combine the two and cover all my reading needs, books on the 650 and pdf tech manuals on the ipad now if I can figure out how to pack all that around without looking like a gypsy wagon going down the street I should be fine

JJ

I hear 'ya. I have the PRS-900 and have been seriously thinking about getting the PRS-950. But when you think about it, I can't really use the 900 for what I bought it for - read techie PDF's. It's not bad for re-flowable documents, but as soon as you hit something with code blocks or diagrams in it, the fun is over. For fiction reading, PRS-650 is great!
Unfortunately I don't like iPad - I tried it for a while, the LCD just doesn't work for me.
Kindle DX is plenty big, but has next to awful support for PDF.
So in the meantime, it's going to be dead-trees + my laptop I'm afraid ...

[SeaBookGuy]

I saw a guy on the bus the other day with a DX (as I was coming home from the Sony Store to look at the 650 actually), which looked very nice for larger documents. However, for PDF's like yours, it seems a notebook would be about the smallest option.
The prototype 950 seems smaller and lighter than the 900, but I'm leaning against paying almost $100 more for another line or so of text; I have no interest whatsoever in wireless Sony book purchasing, and not much more in the clunky, limited web browsing that may be possible.
The 650 is noticeably lighter than the 505, as well as I believe slightly smaller dimensions.

[viviena]

Originally Posted by m-reader

Kindle DX is plenty big, but has next to awful support for PDF.
So in the meantime, it's going to be dead-trees + my laptop I'm afraid ...

Just tossing this out there, but maybe the Pocketbook Pro 902? It's been sticking in my mind recently -- don't know why, as I don't read particularly demanding PDFs. It's e-ink, 9.7", coming out this month, and apparently Pocketbooks have very good PDF support.

Nice photos. I was finally able to see some closeups of the new cases for the 650 (and the 350 since they will be similar but smaller). I'm glad I stuck with an older 300 case for my 350. Your photos of the 650 case confirmed my fears that the newer cases are not as nice as the older ones.

A couple photo hints: Be sure to turn on IS (Image Stabilization) for handheld photos and use macro when up close. But your photos were good. It just takes a while to get use to the DSLRs since they have so many settings and features.

And for those wanting to read PDFs on eInk devices, I've owned both the 900 and the Kindle DXG and neither was very good at reading them. But then again, neither is a computer. I wish those who produce docs in PDF would find a better, more current, more appropriate format than that crap Adobe invented two decades ago for portable, printable documents. The age of PDFs has long since come and gone, now if tech publishers would just learn that!

[rebarnmom]

Nice pics! Thanks for posting! I haven't been anywhere that had the new Sony's on display.

I love the red cover! What do you think of the light? Can you fold the cover back behind and still use the light? As I have a 700, I don't have any experience with covers with the built-in light. But I'm saving for a 650. I'm thinking a black 650 in a red cover.

[fiammetta]

Thank you for the photos. I noticed that the black 650 (judging by pictures and videos) somewhat collects fingerprints. Not that you can decipher the fortune of the owner by clear loops and arches of a fingerprint, which is the case with many glossy iphonish devices, but there seems to be visible smudges. Is this an issue with the red one?

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by rebarnmom

Nice pics! Thanks for posting! I haven't been anywhere that had the new Sony's on display.

You're welcome

Originally Posted by rebarnmom

I love the red cover! What do you think of the light? Can you fold the cover back behind and still use the light? As I have a 700, I don't have any experience with covers with the built-in light. But I'm saving for a 650. I'm thinking a black 650 in a red cover.

The cover is great! And this is exactly the way I use it the most - by folding the cover back and holding the whole device in one hand.
The light is incredible with the new screen. I find that leaving it at the first setting is plenty bright to read in bed. Compare that to my PRS-900 where even cracked up to the max the light is still pretty dim.

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by fiammetta

Thank you for the photos. I noticed that the black 650 (judging by pictures and videos) somewhat collects fingerprints. Not that you can decipher the fortune of the owner by clear loops and arches of a fingerprint, which is the case with many glossy iphonish devices, but there seems to be visible smudges. Is this an issue with the red one?

You're welcome! Re finger print smudges - situation is a lot worse with the PRS-900 simply because it has an additional glass layer on the top of the screen. I find that I have to give it a wipe every so often. BTW by black 650 you mean the PRS-900 right?
The PRS-650 is probably not going to collect so many finger prints on the screen, as the screen is nowhere near as glossy as it's older brother's.

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Nice photos. I was finally able to see some closeups of the new cases for the 650 (and the 350 since they will be similar but smaller). I'm glad I stuck with an older 300 case for my 350. Your photos of the 650 case confirmed my fears that the newer cases are not as nice as the older ones.

A couple photo hints: Be sure to turn on IS (Image Stabilization) for handheld photos and use macro when up close. But your photos were good. It just takes a while to get use to the DSLRs since they have so many settings and features.

And for those wanting to read PDFs on eInk devices, I've owned both the 900 and the Kindle DXG and neither was very good at reading them. But then again, neither is a computer. I wish those who produce docs in PDF would find a better, more current, more appropriate format than that crap Adobe invented two decades ago for portable, printable documents. The age of PDFs has long since come and gone, now if tech publishers would just learn that!

Hi, thanks for the photo tips - I have got the lens with IS on (It's a Canon EOS 1000D). I went and bought all the books and magazines, and then discovered the auto modes . Sheer laziness, I'm hoping for a course, but where I am at the moment, there aren't any going.
Yeah, it's a crying shame that there isn't a decent reader out there for PDF.
Unfortunately I get to read a lot of reference materials that come with software products, and all that is by and large in PDF.
I live in hope something will come up not before long ...