350 not the same as 650

cwappy · 03-09-2011, 07:54 PM

I recently purchased a 350, 650, and a Kindle 3 for comparison. For all that I've read about the benefits/drawbacks of the 350 and 650, I don't think I've heard much about a couple things. Namely, the 350:

has a slightly darker background color (doesn't affect text)
has a sharper screen - text, pictures, everything
is noticeably slower to operate, including screen refresh

The Kindle, for what it's worth in this Sony forum, is very similar to the 650 in background color and speed, but has much cleaner text despite being the same resolution screen. I think this has been discussed before elsewhere. Something to do with better font rendering.

Time has come to choose one, and I think it'll be the 350. I love the 650 for it's size and speed, but not it's pixelated display and high price. The Kindle is simply too big with that worthless keyboard, although I like it a lot too.

Anyway, I wonder if anyone cares to comment on these differences, especially how much slower the 350 is, which I've never heard before on here (and I've been lurking for weeks).

Pomtroll · 03-09-2011, 08:11 PM

I can't compare the 350 to a 650 since I don't have one. But my 350 seems faster than my kindle3 to me. But it could be because I really like my 350 so much more than the Kindle3. You know how that goes.

cwappy · 03-09-2011, 08:24 PM

It's not faster than a Kindle 3, believe me. In pages turns, compared to a 650, it's slower. And the 650 is a hair slower than the Kindle. I actually didn't notice it until I got my 650 (three weeks after I got the 350 and K3, due to supply problems), and then the difference became obvious.

Jason Green · 03-09-2011, 08:25 PM

The speed can depend on how many books you have loaded on the reader.

I take it you did a comparison with the same amount of books?

The 350 is slower than I would like, especially as you have to turn the pages more than the 650 because of the smaller screen size but it's not so slow as to spoil the reading.

cwappy · 03-09-2011, 08:34 PM

I have roughly the same amount of books on each device. Not much, around 20, which I don't think is nearly enough to slow down a reader. And this slowness is not just the page turns, but is very obviously everywhere-- book list, pictures, settings, etc. The 650 just does everything faster.

It struck me as odd because I've never heard this mentioned before anywhere. It was always how much faster the 350 was than the 300. I assumed the 350 was a smaller version of the 650, minus a couple features.

Xanthe · 03-09-2011, 09:01 PM

Interesting. This is the first mention I remember about the 650 being faster than the 350.

Hoyt Clagwell · 03-09-2011, 09:07 PM

Just picked up a 650 now that it recently came available again and perhaps it is the black case but the text is noticeably darker then my 350.

lightandclouds · 03-09-2011, 09:35 PM

I've got the Sony 600 and got tired of waiting for the 650 to become available. In the meantime, I purchased a Nook Color and a Kindle 3. I thought I would hate the Kindle keyboard, but it turns out that I love it. The Kindle is now my favorite.

elizilla · 03-09-2011, 10:51 PM

I have a 350 and a 650 and I can't tell the difference in speeds. The 350 does have a sharper screen, though I believe that is because it's got the same resolution packed into less real estate? I thought perhaps they'd render matching pages and I'd just need to strain my eyes more to look at the 350, but when I put the same book into both, side by side, I could not find any font size where the lines wrapped the same on both units, and the various font sizes were equally readable on both even though "S" on the 350 measures smaller than "S" on the 650. What the 350 loses in size it makes up in clarity.

But I haven't gotten to play with the 350 in some time, since it's been continuously being borrowed from me. I think the 350 will be the instrument that converts a lot of my friends to e-readers.

Papi · 03-10-2011, 01:17 AM

It has been suggested before, but I think EInk screen may not be all of the same exact characteristics. My 950 seems to me a bit darker than the 650 which is on par with the 350. Didn't notice anything about the 350 being slower. As for the rendering, the font used definitely is important, Kindle's version of Caecilia makes the text look more crisp and contrasted than Sony's default font.

Poppaea · 03-10-2011, 01:57 AM

Too many tags slow it down as it has to sort through all of them to show the collections. Remove tags and it will respond faster.

As for the rest, there is absolutly no need for the 650 if you just want to read. When it comes to audio books you will want to keep the 650.

mcrmama · 03-10-2011, 02:15 AM

I haven't seen a 350, interesting. I have the 650. I always convert my books to a font of my choice. Every once in a while I have a book with the default font and can't believe the difference. It is huge!

Enjoy your reader.

delphin · 03-10-2011, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwappy

I recently purchased a 350, 650, and a Kindle 3 for comparison . . .

Time has come to choose one, and I think it'll be the 350. I love the 650 for it's size and speed, but not it's pixelated display and high price.

Part of the reason for that high price you found so objectionable is the millions of dollars each year that manufactures like Sony and Amazon must pay to process needless returns from folks who buy 3 of something intending all along to return 2 and keep only 1.

As for the supposed differences in sharpness . . .

The 650 and 350 have the exact SAME 800x600 screen resolution.

In the 350, having the same number of total pixels packed into a smaller physical sized screen gives it a higher pixel density per inch (DPI) so it will look a little sharper at the same viewing distance.

On the other hand, if you hold the 350 slightly closer, and the 650 slightly farther back, so the apparent size of the screen and text is the same in your field of vision, then they should be exactly the same sharpness.

So though the screen on the 650 is larger, you don't get more pixels, only a larger viewing area for the same number of pixels.

The 650's larger screen does let you hold the reader farther back which may allow some to read comfortably without glasses, but for young people with good close-in vision, the 350 should give almost exactly the same viewing experience for less money.

Asawi · 03-10-2011, 04:21 AM

I don't get how page turns can be much faster than on my 350, but then I haven't actually compared it side to side to anything but a PRS-600, but the 650 is probably much better than the 600 in more ways than the screen contrast.
The actual page turn is instant for me, once it starts to turn. There is a very short lag before it actually starts to turn though. VERY short, and maybe the 650 doesn't have that at all? But, like I said, I really can't imagine it being noticeably faster than my 350. Maybe there is a difference from unit to unit and I was lucky to get fast one?

Ripplinger · 03-10-2011, 06:41 AM

There's a few threads around, one very recently, where some comparisons were done and the conclusion was that having a darker frame around the reader made the text appear darker, such as when comparing a black 650 to a silver 350. So it could just be that optical illusion going on there. I believe what they finally did was make a cutout frame for both readers from the same color paper to really judge them fairly, and then they could see no difference.

03-09-2011, 07:54 PM	#1
cwappy Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Sony PRS-350	350 not the same as 650 I recently purchased a 350, 650, and a Kindle 3 for comparison. For all that I've read about the benefits/drawbacks of the 350 and 650, I don't think I've heard much about a couple things. Namely, the 350: has a slightly darker background color (doesn't affect text) has a sharper screen - text, pictures, everything is noticeably slower to operate, including screen refresh The Kindle, for what it's worth in this Sony forum, is very similar to the 650 in background color and speed, but has much cleaner text despite being the same resolution screen. I think this has been discussed before elsewhere. Something to do with better font rendering. Time has come to choose one, and I think it'll be the 350. I love the 650 for it's size and speed, but not it's pixelated display and high price. The Kindle is simply too big with that worthless keyboard, although I like it a lot too. Anyway, I wonder if anyone cares to comment on these differences, especially how much slower the 350 is, which I've never heard before on here (and I've been lurking for weeks).

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03-09-2011, 08:11 PM	#2
Pomtroll Guru Posts: 822 Karma: 1341819 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Minnesota USA Device: Sony 350, Sony T1, Kindle Touch, Kindle PW1	I can't compare the 350 to a 650 since I don't have one. But my 350 seems faster than my kindle3 to me. But it could be because I really like my 350 so much more than the Kindle3. You know how that goes.

03-09-2011, 08:24 PM	#3
cwappy Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Sony PRS-350	It's not faster than a Kindle 3, believe me. In pages turns, compared to a 650, it's slower. And the 650 is a hair slower than the Kindle. I actually didn't notice it until I got my 650 (three weeks after I got the 350 and K3, due to supply problems), and then the difference became obvious.

03-09-2011, 08:25 PM	#4
Jason Green Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Sony PRS-350	The speed can depend on how many books you have loaded on the reader. I take it you did a comparison with the same amount of books? The 350 is slower than I would like, especially as you have to turn the pages more than the 650 because of the smaller screen size but it's not so slow as to spoil the reading.

03-09-2011, 08:34 PM	#5
cwappy Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Sony PRS-350	I have roughly the same amount of books on each device. Not much, around 20, which I don't think is nearly enough to slow down a reader. And this slowness is not just the page turns, but is very obviously everywhere-- book list, pictures, settings, etc. The 650 just does everything faster. It struck me as odd because I've never heard this mentioned before anywhere. It was always how much faster the 350 was than the 300. I assumed the 350 was a smaller version of the 650, minus a couple features.

03-09-2011, 09:01 PM	#6
Xanthe Plan B Is Now In Force Posts: 1,894 Karma: 8086979 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Surebleak Device: Aluratek,Sony 350/T1,Pandigital,eBM 911,Nook HD/HD+,Fire HDX 7/8.9,PW2	Interesting. This is the first mention I remember about the 650 being faster than the 350.

03-09-2011, 09:07 PM	#7
Hoyt Clagwell Not an Addict Posts: 301 Karma: 5678807 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: The blue one next to the fish.	Just picked up a 650 now that it recently came available again and perhaps it is the black case but the text is noticeably darker then my 350.

03-09-2011, 09:35 PM	#8
lightandclouds Member Posts: 21 Karma: 16 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Sony PRS 600, Nook Color, Kindle 3	I've got the Sony 600 and got tired of waiting for the 650 to become available. In the meantime, I purchased a Nook Color and a Kindle 3. I thought I would hate the Kindle keyboard, but it turns out that I love it. The Kindle is now my favorite.

03-09-2011, 10:51 PM	#9
elizilla Addict Posts: 271 Karma: 610286 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Michigan, USA Device: Kobo Elipsa, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Sage, others	I have a 350 and a 650 and I can't tell the difference in speeds. The 350 does have a sharper screen, though I believe that is because it's got the same resolution packed into less real estate? I thought perhaps they'd render matching pages and I'd just need to strain my eyes more to look at the 350, but when I put the same book into both, side by side, I could not find any font size where the lines wrapped the same on both units, and the various font sizes were equally readable on both even though "S" on the 350 measures smaller than "S" on the 650. What the 350 loses in size it makes up in clarity. But I haven't gotten to play with the 350 in some time, since it's been continuously being borrowed from me. I think the 350 will be the instrument that converts a lot of my friends to e-readers.

03-10-2011, 01:17 AM	#10
Papi Addict Posts: 311 Karma: 547600 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Paris Device: Kindle Keyboard, Kindle NT, PRS-650	It has been suggested before, but I think EInk screen may not be all of the same exact characteristics. My 950 seems to me a bit darker than the 650 which is on par with the 350. Didn't notice anything about the 350 being slower. As for the rendering, the font used definitely is important, Kindle's version of Caecilia makes the text look more crisp and contrasted than Sony's default font.

03-10-2011, 01:57 AM	#11
Poppaea Lucifer's Bat Posts: 2,577 Karma: 20638583 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Earth/Berlin Device: Kobo Libra Colour	Too many tags slow it down as it has to sort through all of them to show the collections. Remove tags and it will respond faster. As for the rest, there is absolutly no need for the 650 if you just want to read. When it comes to audio books you will want to keep the 650.

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03-10-2011, 02:15 AM	#12
mcrmama Addict Posts: 239 Karma: 16806 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo Aura One	I haven't seen a 350, interesting. I have the 650. I always convert my books to a font of my choice. Every once in a while I have a book with the default font and can't believe the difference. It is huge! Enjoy your reader.

03-10-2011, 04:21 AM	#14
Asawi Gadgetoholic Posts: 1,467 Karma: 3865860 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sweden Device: Kobo Libra2, Tolino Vision 6	I don't get how page turns can be much faster than on my 350, but then I haven't actually compared it side to side to anything but a PRS-600, but the 650 is probably much better than the 600 in more ways than the screen contrast. The actual page turn is instant for me, once it starts to turn. There is a very short lag before it actually starts to turn though. VERY short, and maybe the 650 doesn't have that at all? But, like I said, I really can't imagine it being noticeably faster than my 350. Maybe there is a difference from unit to unit and I was lucky to get fast one?

03-10-2011, 06:41 AM	#15
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	There's a few threads around, one very recently, where some comparisons were done and the conclusion was that having a darker frame around the reader made the text appear darker, such as when comparing a black 650 to a silver 350. So it could just be that optical illusion going on there. I believe what they finally did was make a cutout frame for both readers from the same color paper to really judge them fairly, and then they could see no difference.