Does PRS-350 or PRS-650 slow down in the sun?

[JSWolf]

Over in another thread, there are some saying that their K3's sometimes slow down and some are saying it could be the sun.

So, what I'd like is 350 & 650 owners to take their Readers out into the sun and let it ge nice and hot and try it and see if the page turns slow down. I'm trying to figure out if this is a K3 issue or a Pearl issue. I'm really hoping it's a K3 issue and not a Pearl issue. But I don't have a 350 or 650 and cannot try it. I won't have a new Reader until maybe November.

[jaxx6166]

It's possible that the people having that problem are in tropical/sub-tropical climates. Most readers have an operating temperature, and when it only goes up to 91 degrees and it's 97 out, well...you have an issue...

I've had problems with all of my readers getting laggy when I'm outside at the beach or pool.

[Dave Berk]

It's a Pearl issue. See here.

[Squirsier]

My PRS-350 doesn't need the sun to slow down.

[Robert22]

Originally Posted by Squirsier

My PRS-350 doesn't need the sun to slow down.

Does turning it off and back on affect it? Or as someone else has mentioned could it be an epub book getting to the end of a section and it resumes normal operation at the start of the next section? (Depending on how the epub was created a section does not necessarily have to be a chapter, it could be something like 256k chunks).

Thanks.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Squirsier

My PRS-350 doesn't need the sun to slow down.

I only have an old 505 and the last time I had a slow down it turned out the ePub was formatted entirely using <div> tags. Not one paragraph tag in the lot just a bunch of nested <div> tags. I opened it with Sigil did a find and replace and changed all the <div> tags to the proper class <p> tags and deleted a bunch of others. It took a few minutes and when I was done I didn't have another problem with that book.

[roger the rabbit]

My 505 is noticeably slower as temperature rises the black flash becoming more apparent.

Sun or not sun it is the same - more a temperature problem I think.

[Squirsier]

It is not because of an ePub, as I only use LRF files. And it's not because of the size of the book either ; this started happening at around page 150 out of a 888 page eBook.

If I leave it alone for 5 mins, it resumes to operate normally, for about 20 mins or so, and then does it again. I'm almost done with this book and will see if it does it with another one ; then I'll try loading ePubs see if it does the same too!

[astra]

Originally Posted by roger the rabbit

My 505 is noticeably slower as temperature rises the black flash becoming more apparent.

Sun or not sun it is the same - more a temperature problem I think.

My 505 slows down only when it is cold. Close to zero C.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Squirsier

It is not because of an ePub, as I only use LRF files. And it's not because of the size of the book either ; this started happening at around page 150 out of a 888 page eBook.

If I leave it alone for 5 mins, it resumes to operate normally, for about 20 mins or so, and then does it again. I'm almost done with this book and will see if it does it with another one ; then I'll try loading ePubs see if it does the same too!

Try converting that LRF to ePub and see how your 350 handles it. I'd be interesting in the comparison of LRF vs. ePub.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by astra

My 505 slows down only when it is cold. Close to zero C.

I have experienced the cold slowdown. But I've not experienced a heat slowdown on the 505.

I really don't think it is heat related. I have never experienced a slowdown with any of my readers even when reading outside in the hot Texas summertime. I've currently got a Kindle WiFi and a Kindle DXG with Pearl screens and have not encountered any slowdowns. The DXG has not shown any issues, but the K3 occasionally shows some lines of text as lighter than others. I simply refresh the screen and the issue is resolved. But that is a different issue and probably needs firmware to correct. The slowdown issue is quite possibly a formatting problem, that is the book was formatted incorrectly. Or in the case of the 350 it could be a slow processor being overwhelmed. Which processor does the 350 use? I know my 300 had a VERY slow processor, 200 MHz I think. I'll get my 350 tomorrow in the mail and then give it a go outside in our hot and humid Texas climate, but I really don't think that is the issue.

[Squirsier]

Alright, so this is what I'll do tonight :

I'll keep on reading the LRF version of The Dakota Cipher until it starts exhibiting the slowdown issue. Once it does, I'll finish the chapter I am currently on, hook it up to the Sony Software, delete the LRF and copy back the ePub and continue reading from there.

If it does the slowdown again, then it's not a formatting problem. I'm thinking like jswinden here ; sounds like a processor issue, which would explain why, when the problem happens, leaving it be for 5 mins seems to alleviate the slowdowns for another 20-30 mins...

[Avwriter]

Does anyone know if the 650 has a faster processor than the 350? Also, does anyone know how these processors compare with the 600/300?

Originally Posted by Avwriter

Does anyone know if the 650 has a faster processor than the 350? Also, does anyone know how these processors compare with the 600/300?

I can't find any info on the 350 or 650 as far as processor but the 300 had a 200 MHz processor and the 600 had a 532 MHz processor.

According to the MR Wiki...

PRS-300: Freescale i.MXL MC9328MXLVP20 (ARM920T core, 200MHz)

PRS-600: Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz)

Kindle 3: Freescale i.MX35 (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz)

The 600 is touchscreen and thus needs more processing power (I assume) than the 300 which is not touchscreen. With the 350 and 650 both having touchscreens Sony might have used the same processor in both, but I guess we won't know until someone takes them apart.