Sony PRS 350 or Kobo?

[Fayth]

I'm going to be picking up an ereader tomorrow and I am wondering which one to get. One of the main features that attracted me to ereaders was that I could use multiple bookmarks and highlight specific passages in books to go back to later. The kobo doesn't do this, but I'm not sure if the sony one does either. I have demoed a 5 inch ereader and I think it is adequate, so that isn't really a big issue.

Is the battery in the Sony reader replaceable? I tend to read anywhere from 2-5 hours a day.

How easy is it to use books from the kobo store on the sony reader? Is adobe digital editions a good program? I'm also interested in whether or not the PRS 350 has the ability to go to highlighted passages. Any help would be appreciated.

Oh, I also really like that collections can be organized into folders on the sony ereader. Oh, and one more quick question, are kobo ebooks formatted correctly on the sony reader?

[sedgr]

Originally Posted by Fayth

I'm going to be picking up an ereader tomorrow and I am wondering which one to get. One of the main features that attracted me to ereaders was that I could use multiple bookmarks and highlight specific passages in books to go back to later. The kobo doesn't do this, but I'm not sure if the sony one does either. I have demoed a 5 inch ereader and I think it is adequate, so that isn't really a big issue.

Is the battery in the Sony reader replaceable? I tend to read anywhere from 2-5 hours a day.

How easy is it to use books from the kobo store on the sony reader? Is adobe digital editions a good program? I'm also interested in whether or not the PRS 350 has the ability to go to highlighted passages. Any help would be appreciated.

Oh, I also really like that collections can be organized into folders on the sony ereader. Oh, and one more quick question, are kobo ebooks formatted correctly on the sony reader?

I can answer a few of those.

Yes the Sony can have multiple bookmarks, and highlighted sections. Each bookmark or section shows up as a Note for that book, and you can jump to them as needed.

No the Sony battery is not user replaceable. Unless you're using a screwdriver anyways. But power consumption isnt really an issue anyways. Its easier to think of it in Page turn terms rather than straight hours. 10,000 page turns is the battery life. eInk doesnt use much in the way of power while the page is static, only really using power when the page is changed or refreshed. For a regular reader 10K page turns is probably a couple of weeks worth of reading. 5 hours a day would be more than average but still probably only needing to be charged every 3 or 4 days with extremely heavy usage. Charging takes a couple hours tops.

Kobo books would work fine on the Sony as they both use the Adobe Digital Editions if Im not mistaken. Even if there was an issue, you can still buy the books and strip the DRM to make them useable if you absolutely had to. Formatting wise, they should be fine as well.

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by Fayth

One of the main features that attracted me to ereaders was that I could use multiple bookmarks and highlight specific passages in books to go back to later.

The Sony 350 absolutely does.

Is the battery in the Sony reader replaceable? I tend to read anywhere from 2-5 hours a day.

The battery lasts a long, long time. I wouldn't worry about needing to replace it, personally.

I'm also interested in whether or not the PRS 350 has the ability to go to highlighted passages.

Yes. Within each book, you click the Options buttons, then Notes, then List. You'll see a list of links to all of the highlighted pages, bookmarked pages, or annotated pages in that book.

Oh, I also really like that collections can be organized into folders on the sony ereader. Oh, and one more quick question, are kobo ebooks formatted correctly on the sony reader?

Collections are a very nice feature indeed.

I've never bought from the Kobo store so I can't speak to the quality of their books.

[jehane]

I read Kobo books on my 300 without any problems. I haven't bought from the Sony store so can't compare, but the Kobo epubs certainly display better than the PDFs from my library. I would guess that since both Sony and Kobo use the standard epub format, they would display all standard epubs from anywhere the same. AFAIK the only nonstandard epubs are from B&N, and I don't really know anything about their system or how it might affect reading their books on other devices.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Fayth

I have demoed a 5 inch ereader and I think it is adequate, so that isn't really a big issue.

Keep in mind that with a 5 inch screen, you'll get less words per page than you would with a 6 inch screen. That means you'll be turning pages more often, which means you'll get less battery life.

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Keep in mind that with a 5 inch screen, you'll get less words per page than you would with a 6 inch screen. That means you'll be turning pages more often, which means you'll get less battery life.

That makes sense, but anecdotally...I actually haven't noticed a big difference between the battery life on my 505 or 600 compared to the 350. The battery on the 350 lasts for about 2 weeks, same as with the 505/600.

YMMV.

[jlbfoot]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Keep in mind that with a 5 inch screen, you'll get less words per page than you would with a 6 inch screen. That means you'll be turning pages more often, which means you'll get less battery life.

Of course, that makes perfect sense. On my quest to try to calculate the difference that would make in time between charges (just for fun), I found a site that compares eReaders. Specifically, the PRS-350 and PRS-650 are both rated at 10,000 page turns between charges. So, that implies that your logic is correct.

If anyone knows the difference in screen area, as a %, between a 5 and 6 inch reader, then I assume that percentage could be used to figure the difference in time between charges. e.g., Number of days between charges on the 6" reader, multiplied by x%, equals number of days difference between charges on the 5" vs 6" reader.

[Fayth]

After reading the responses here I decided to pick up the PRS 350. As for the whole 5 inch thing, well, its in my budget and it will be nice to be able to just slip it in my pocket at school rather than stack it on my other books.

I was glad to find out that multiple bookmarks and highlighting are possible so thank you for confirming that for me. As for the battery, I imagine I would end up getting a newer ereader by the time the battery diminished anyway, so I guess that really isn't an issue.

[brbubba]

Originally Posted by jlbfoot

Of course, that makes perfect sense. On my quest to try to calculate the difference that would make in time between charges (just for fun), I found a site that compares eReaders. Specifically, the PRS-350 and PRS-650 are both rated at 10,000 page turns between charges. So, that implies that your logic is correct.

If anyone knows the difference in screen area, as a %, between a 5 and 6 inch reader, then I assume that percentage could be used to figure the difference in time between charges. e.g., Number of days between charges on the 6" reader, multiplied by x%, equals number of days difference between charges on the 5" vs 6" reader.

It's not an oranges to oranges comparison because the 350's smaller screen also has a 200 ppi resolution so it can render smaller fonts more acceptably than the 167 ppi 6" screens. Personally I would call it a toss up even though I would never consider a 6" reader due to the low ppi; at least until someone comes out with one.

[bill_mchale]

Just a quick thought about battery consumption. Page turning is the activity that burns up the most battery, but in practice, the unit just sitting around in standby (which is what happens when one quickly slides the power button) probably burns the most battery for most users. I would say people who read an hour or two a day, probably get two weeks of use out of their reader, or a couple of thousand page turns. Heavy readers, say those who read 5-6 hours a day, probably get quite a few more page turns before they need to recharge.

The one problem I have with the Sony reader I am currently using is that I can't read on it while it is recharging via USB (Not sure about the PRS-550 and 650). Still, if I have been a one bar for a couple of days, I usually know the end is coming and just plug it in before I go to bed.

--
Bill

[Doogman]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

The one problem I have with the Sony reader I am currently using is that I can't read on it while it is recharging via USB (Not sure about the PRS-550 and 650). Still, if I have been a one bar for a couple of days, I usually know the end is coming and just plug it in before I go to bed.

Just get a $6 micro-USB wall wart and you can read and charge. Here's plenty of recommendations:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99760

[pholy]

Originally Posted by Doogman

Just get a $6 micro-USB wall wart and you can read and charge. Here's plenty of recommendations:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99760

The USB charger only works with the 350 and 650 (maybe the 300 & 600?). For the 505 you need to buy a cheap Playstation Portable recharger with the tiny yellow plug. The 505 will only charge through the USB port when connected to a computer. I have no idea why they did that.