Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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147 of 149 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Touch screen: cool page turner, slightly foggy effect, November 13, 2008
I had a Sony reader PRS-505 for a year then bought the new PRS-700 model.
The new model comes with a touch screen put over the letter screen, allowing to turn pages back and forth with swiping motion like iphone. As a result there are fewer buttons for control; a stylus is provided to highlight or search words and make notes.
A little drawback: The added layer of the touch screen causes the underlying letters to appear slightly foggy. However, unless you have a previous model next to the new one to compare, you wouldn't notice it. The appearance of the letters is still excellent. The new PRS 700 offers LED lights around the screen to allow reading in a dark environment. It is slightly thicker and comes in one color. (black). It can now take up to 8G SD card instead of 2G. The grey scale is 8; the resolution is 170 psi---no change from previous model. I upgraded to the new model after thinking about the slightly diminished appearance of the ink letters; I am very happy with the purchase.
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174 of 187 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Poor screen hurts product, November 16, 2008
The most striking change in the new 700 when compared to the 505 is the new touch screen. Unfortunately, this is the exact thing that has actually caused the 700 to be a less desirable product than the 505. The main problem is readibility. With the 505, the E-ink screen is really like paper. You can read it in low light, angles, etc., and it is very clear. That is not the case with the 700. Due to the touch screen addition, the screen now looks much more like the grayscale screen on something like a graphing calculator. There is a significant decrease in contrast (the "white" now looks "gray"). I found it hard to read in some normal lighting conditions and it also had more glare than the 505. For example, when sitting in a normally lit room in the evening, with a light causing a mild shadow on the reader, I could not see then text (but could easily read a book in the same light. And the tragedy about this is the touch screen to me is a big "who cares". The 505 was easy enough to navigate. The only real new features are the notes and search, and I can't say that I have ever wanted to write notes in my books or search for words. Maybe you will, but I don't.
The other downgrade is navigation. By losing some buttons in favor of the touchscreen, more items now must by chosen on screen. An exaple - changing fonts with the 505 is one button press and it cycles to the next font size. With the 700, you have to press the font size key, then touch the screen to the desired font, then touch the screen to close the menu. Finally, in terms of user interface, the previous page turn buttons just seemed to sit at a natural location and were natural to use. Swiping your finger if you are holding the reader now requires a second hand (again, minor but a strange downgrade). (Oh - there are still page turn buttons, but they are now in the middle of the bottom, and awkward to get at with one hand.
The upgrades - a faster processor means quicker navigation, page turns, etc. This is very nice. Also, you can scroll pages and it quickly flashes up each page as you scroll. Very Nice. The built in LED is OK, but the above problem with the decreased contrast means it is already harder to see, and using the marginal lighting of the LED required me to always use a larger font or I could not see the text without straining. Finally, the internal memory is increased, but again, who cares, as an SD card can be added for a few dollars.
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91 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than the Kindle and iRex Iliad; NOT as good as the PRS-505!!, November 25, 2008
This past fall, I bought the Sony PRS-505/LC Blue Digital Book Reader a few weeks PRIOR to finding out that Sony was going to be releasing a new model. At first, my inner gadget-aholic was crushed -- I wouldn't have the latest and greatest.
However, after now being able to compare and contrast -- I'm convinced that the PRS-505 is still a better reader.
-- The PRS-505 screen is a non-glare screen so that it doesn't show fingerprints and smudges.
-- I believe the buttons make for a much more user-friendly interface than the touch screen. I just don't really see the value of the touch screen.
-- The screen (and more importantly, the print) is significantly clearer on the PRS-505. This is due to the fact that in an effort to appease the "why isn't there backlighting" crowd, Sony has added LEDs around the frame to try to facilitate reading in the dark. This has had the effect of significantly reducing the contrast and clarity of the type.
-- From a tactile perspective -- I really don't like the ridges on the left hand side of the device. I'm left-handed so I tend to hold the reader with my left hand and it is not a nice feeling.
-- The PRS-505 is nearly 150.00 bucks cheaper than the 700. This will buy a lot of ebooks! And the trade off -- having to push buttons rather than having a touch screen is not worth the money.
It is clear that Sony has put the PRS-700 out to compete with the iRex iLiad Book Edition which has a touch screen and is twice the price. But it just doesn't cut it because the wireless capability is still not there.
If you would like to download newspapers etc, I would suggest checking out Calibre -- though, come to think of it, not sure if it works with the 700.
Calibre is a free/shareware book management utility and it also has a feature that allows you to "Fetch News". The list includes the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Wired, CNN, BBC, LA Times, and many foreign news sources as well. You can set up a schedule to have them downloaded auto-magically to your computer and to your Sony Reader.
Here is the link for Calibre:
http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/
Also, the MobileRead Forum is a very useful place to get information on where to get additional content any reader that exists today:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/
[[ standard disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with either of these sites or organizations -- I just found them to be EXTREMELY useful if you are new to the world of eReaders, DRM issues, device management etc.]]
When you compare the Sony PRS-700BC against the PRS-505 -- you are MUCH better sticking with the 505.
That said, if you are trying to decide between the Kindle or the Iliad, Sony, in my humble opinion still has the advantage.
-- Cost: The new Sony is still competitively priced with the Kindle and has a much better build and aesthetic quality (no cheap plastic here).
-- Supports a wider variety of formats than the Kindle: Amazon's Wireless Reading Device (though the Iliad is best from that respect -- but not 300.00 bucks better).
-- better response time and page turns
No, the Sony still doesn't have wireless -- but again, that is not a limitation for me. If you really want to read newspapers on the eReader, you can get Caliber (a shareware format conversion and library management program) and download periodicals onto your PC and then use the USB connection to get them onto the reader.
For me, the thing that I really like about the Sony readers is that they are solidly built -- they use a metal case as opposed to cheap plastic. This makes the device heavier but to me, that is a bit like reading a hardcover vs a paperback. I personally prefer the more substantial feel.
The upshot -- if you are trying to decide whether to get the "latest Sony Technology" -- don't. Save your money and stick with the PRS 505. However, if you are trying to decide between Sony and one of the the main competitors (Iliad, Kindle, Ectaco jetBook e-Book Reader - Red), then go with the Sony.
NCJAR
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