This Kindle 3 vs Sony PRS-650 review outlines all the differences between two of the most popular ebook readers on the market.

Trying to decide between getting a Kindle 3 or Sony PRS-650 is not an easy task (I’m glad I don’t have to choose). Hopefully this post can help you make the right choice for your specific ereading needs.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle, Reviews, Sony | Tags: kindle 3, prs-650, sony touch | 52 Comments »

This is a quick note to mention that the review for the new Sony Touch is now finished and can be found on the dedicated Sony PRS-650 Review page.

Also, here is the link for the PRS-650 PDF review. The PDF review includes several large close-up pictures of the Sony Touch.

I plan on updating both reviews later next week to add more information.

As usual, feel free to ask any questions below.

Filed under: Reviews, Sony | Tags: prs-650, sony touch | 11 Comments »

For whatever reason, the PRS-650 Touch Edition shipped about a week and a half after the PRS-350. So now that I’ve had plenty of time to test the Pocket Edition, it’s time to get on with the PRS-650 review.

First off, I will admit that I like the PRS-650 better. Partially it’s because I’m used reading on a 6-inch ereader; I like the amount of text on the screen versus the smaller 350. Reading on the PRS-350 makes me feel . . . claustrophobic, for lack of a better term. The small font setting is just too small for my personal preference and the medium setting appears cramped and closed-in, like I want it to zoom out just a little more.

Messing with the font hack and changing the settings using Calibre helps to get a better font size for the PRS-350′s screen, but just using the regular medium setting on the 650 feels “right”. The font sizes are exactly the same on both devices, so the extra real estate on the 650′s screen makes a big difference.

I’ll do a proper comparison of the two next week with a video. For now here’s the PRS-650 video reviews. I’ll have the written reviews up shortly; the main review will be posted on the existing PRS-650 review page when it’s finished.

PRS-650 Touch Edition General Review

Touch Edition PDF Review

Filed under: Reviews, Sony | Tags: prs-650, sony touch | 6 Comments »

Here’s a really good high-def, informative video from ARMdevices.net of the new Sony PRS-650 that’s expected to be released around the 16th of September. Make sure to visit the recently-updated Sony Readers page to find specs and other videos and photos of the new devices.

Filed under: News, Sony | Tags: prs-650, sony touch | 2 Comments »

Now that the new Sony Readers were officially announced a couple of days ago, more details about the technology used for the touchscreens are coming out, along with the user manuals and videos for both the PRS-350 and PRS-650.

If you missed the details about the new Sony Readers, the big news is that they use the new high contrast Pearl screens from E Ink.

But the bigger news is that they feature touchscreens that don’t have an added layer over the top of the screen like Sony’s previous touchscreen ereaders. The added layer reduced contrast and caused quite a bit of reflection and glare, so now that they’ve removed that, the new Sony Readers’ display should look just as good as the new Kindle 3.

Neonode’s zForce Touchscreen Technology

The answer to the question about Sony’s new touchscreen comes by way of Neonode’s zForce eBook technology. From the press release:

Neonode’s patented touch screen technology, zForceTM, supports high resolution pen writing in combination with market leading finger navigation including gestures, multi-touch, sweeps and much more. zForceTM uses no overlay (like resistive and capacitive touch screens) on top of the e-ink display thus creating a 100% clear window free from reflexes and parallax effects and produces a true paper like experience.

The press release basically repeats that same exact paragraph 3 times without going into any specifics on how the technology works. More information can be found on the Neonode website, but there still isn’t much explaining how it works. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

User Manuals: Sony PRS-350 and Sony PRS-650

Sony has put up the user manuals for two of the new readers. Here they are for the PRS-350 and the PRS-650.

Some new features mentioned in the manuals:

• User changeable screensavers for when the device is sleeping.
• Fixed Zoom setting can be locked so that it doesn’t reset when changing pages.
• Page mode: margin cut, 2 and 3 column split mode.
• Adjustable brightness and contrast settings.
• Change dictionaries while looking up a word.
• Word log saves previously looked-up words.
• Create and manage collections from the device itself.
• Clock added to menu.

Sony Reader for iPhone and Android

The last bit of news is that Sony is finally working on applications for iPhone and Android for their Reader store software so that users can read and sync ebooks on multiple portable devices. Given the fact that Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and even Borders have reading apps, it’s about time that Sony started working on them too.

New Sony Readers Country List

With the release of these new readers, Sony plans to expand their market for the PRS-350 and PRS-650. The PRS-950 remains US-only at this time because of the 3G wireless (Sony’s ebook store is Canada and US-only so marketing their wireless ereader in other counries doesn’t make much sense—you’d think they’d at least sell it to Canada though).

As for the PRS-350 and PRS-650, these are the countries that it will officially be available to: US, Canada, UK, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Austria, Japan, France, Italy, China, and possibly others.

Sony’s New eReader Video

Sony LearnTV – The New Sony Reader PRS-350 and PRS-650

Filed under: New eBook Readers, News, Sony | Tags: prs-350, prs-650, sony pocket, sony touch | 1 Comment »

Details of Sony’s new line of ebook readers are starting to roll in. Sony unveiled 3 new ereaders on September 1st, all upgrades of the current Sony Touch, Pocket, and Daily Editions.

The big news about these new Sony Readers is that they all have touchscreens and all use the new Pearl displays from E Ink that have much better contrast.

The touchscreens don’t have an added layer over the top of the display, so these new models won’t have the shiny, glare-prone screen that the previous models had. They work with both fingers and a stylus.

The disappointing news is that the new Sony Touch and Pocket Editions don’t have any wireless connectivity, only the Daily Edition will have WiFi and 3G, along with a basic web browser.

The price point for these new readers really hasn’t changed from the previous models. The new Sony Pocket sells for $179, the Touch for $229, and the Daily Edition for $299. They are now listed on the Sony Style website.

The new Sony Touch and Pocket are available starting today, and the new Daily Edition will be released in November.

Sony PRS-350 (Pocket Edition)

• Display: 5-inch E Ink Pearl touchscreen with 800 x 600 resolution and 16 levels of gray scale.
• Battery Life: 10,000 pages.
• Dimensions: 5 3/4 x 4 1/8 x 11/32.
• Weight: 5.47 oz.
• Memory: 2GB internal.
• Formats: Adobe ePub and PDF, BBeB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
• Comes in Silver and Pink.
• 2 English dictionaries, 10 translation dictionaries.
• 6 font sizes.
• Note-taking capabilities.
• Sells for $179 from Sony.

Sony PRS-650 (Touch Edition)

• Display: 6-inch E Ink Pearl touchscreen with 800 x 600 resolution and 16 levels of gray scale.
• Battery Life: 14 days.
• Dimensions: 6 5/8 x 4 3/4 x 13/32.
• Weight: 7.58 oz.
• Memory: 2GB, plus SD card slot and Pro Duo card slot.
• Formats: Adobe ePub and PDF, BBeB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3, AAC.
• Built-in audio player, headphone jack.
• Comes in Black and Red.
• 2 English dictionaries, 10 translation dictionaries.
• 6 font sizes.
• Note-taking capabilities.
• Sells for $229 from Sony.

Sony PRS-950 (Daily Edition)

• Display: 7-inch E Ink Pearl touchscreen with 16 levels of gray scale.
• Battery Life: 14 days with wireless on, 27 with it off.
• Dimensions: ?.
• Weight: 8.99 ounces.
• Memory: 2GB, plus SD card slot and Pro Duo card slot.
• Built-in WiFi and free 3G.
• New web browser (WiFI only).
• Formats: Adobe ePub and PDF, BBeB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3, AAC.
• Built-in audio player, headphone jack.
• Comes in Silver.
• Note-taking capabilities.
• Releases in November for $299.

Source: Sony

Filed under: News, Sony | Tags: sony pocket, sony reader, sony touch | 6 Comments »

The picture shown above is from Engadget. If it is indeed authentic, then we’ve got some really big news about the new Sony Readers, most notably the touchscreen.

If Sony has managed to find a way to remove the additional layer over the E Ink screen, then the new PRS-350 and PRS-650 could be huge. The main thing holding back Sony’s previous touchscreen ebook readers from wider acceptance was the fact that the added layer required for the touchscreen functions caused them to have noticeable glare and reflection—not a good combination for prolonged stretches of reading or reading in certain lighting conditions.

So the big question is will the new Sony Readers require the use of a stylus? There are currently no ereaders that have a finger-friendly touchscreen without an added layer over the E Ink display. All the ones that are touchscreens and don’t have an added layer require a special stylus to operate. Either that or Sony’s come up with a completely new touchscreen technology. I guess we’ll soon find out.

While on the topic of the screen, the picture oddly does not mention anything about using the new higher contrast Pearl screens from E Ink. If Sony doesn’t get the new screens then that will be a huge blow to them and a major win for Amazon, who is currently the only company using the better screens. However, the picture does say improved page-turn speed and the battery life is considerably better, both indicators of the new Pearl screen.

Another thing that Sony needed to improve on over previous models was the fact that the Zoom function reset with each page turn. Perhaps “Intelligent Zoom” is the solution for this. Can’t wait to find out more.

Filed under: News, Sony | Tags: prs-350, prs-650, sony pocket, sony touch | 1 Comment »

The prices of ereaders are dropping all the time. Sony Style now has the refurbished PRS-300 marked down to $99 and the refurbished PRS-600 marked down to $119.

Refurbished products are often items that have been returned or ones that have had minor fixes, so they’re generally a good deal and this time, for an ereader under $100, it’s definitely a good deal.

The Sony Pocket is available in all three colors: silver, navy blue, and rose. And the Sony Touch is available in both silver and black, the red must have already sold out because it used to be listed.

The price cuts on these devices most certainly strengthen the rumors that Sony is about to unveil the new Sony PRS-350 and PRS-650, the two updated versions of these ereaders. The new version of the PRS-300 is expected to have a touchscreen, so if that’s something you don’t like, now is probably the best time to get a PRS-300 before it is replaced by the PRS-350.

Filed under: Sales and Discounts, Sony | Tags: prs-350, prs-650, sony pocket, sony touch | 1 Comment »