New Sony Reader PRS-300 and PRS-600 details leaked
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted July 30th 2009 2:37PM
posted July 30th 2009 2:37PM
You know the drill -- service manuals get posted for new / unannounced products, the kids in the forums pounce, and then Sony makes 'em disappear (the documents, that is -- Sony doesn't rub people out, at least not yet). In this case, user 'berboris' over at The Electronic Book found details for two Sony Readers as yet unheard of: The PRS-300 features a 5-inch display, roughly 440MB storage after system files are accounted for, and that's about it -- no touchscreen, no audio output, no card slots. The PRS-600, however, sports a 6-inch touchscreen, audio output (presumably for MP3 audiobooks and the like), SD/MS slots, and 380MB storage when all's said and done. The manuals don't mention any sort of lighting for the units or any kind of wireless connection, although both models will apparently be available in silver, red, and black -- which you can peep, conveniently enough, after the break.
[Via Mobile Read]
Read - Forum post
Read - More info and PDFs at Sony Insider
[Via Mobile Read]
Read - Forum post
Read - More info and PDFs at Sony Insider
interesting. lets just hope that the cost is low.
sub $150 ebook reader please!!!
Not just low cost, but Dual analog sticks!!
Atleast then SOMETHING portable by Sony would have them.
$100 for the little one and $150 for the big one, and we'll talk.
$50 and free ebooks for life and I'll consider it. No way do I wanna pay market rate for the latest gadgets. I want the latest tech at wholesale price, or less! Cos I'm cheap, and anyway I don't really need a book reader anyway cos I don't read. But, y'know, It's worth paying $50 just to get bragging rights
/s
I actually read quite frequently. But when comparing the value of an ereader to a regular book it just isn't there. I can see paying $100-200, maybe. But $300+ is ridiculous for something that merely displays black and white text. You could get a full featured two year old laptop for $300 off ebay, so why is a calculator with a big screen somehow worth $300?
So, you think $150 for a calculator with a big screen is worth $150?
"You could get a full featured two year old laptop for $300 off ebay, so why is a calculator with a big screen somehow worth $300?"
Yea great, but my wife couldn't carry it in her purse. She loves her 505.
I wouldn't mind paying $150 for an oversized calculator that has access to a decent library of fairly priced ebooks. Which is presumably where they would make their money, especially if these companies get it in their head that these things need to go mass market and soon if they want to make some money. Have 50 million readers buying $5 books is better than having 1 million buy $10 and the rest going to the library to get books for free.
And my point was not that you could actually use a laptop to read a book, but that the technology should be cheap enough to produce an ereader for around $100-150. It doesn't need a full processor or anything. As long as it can decode text I think it would be fine.
"You could get a full featured two year old laptop for $300 off ebay, so why is a calculator with a big screen somehow worth $300?"
Can you read thousands of pages of books on that laptop of yours in a single charge? And outdoors in the sun?
Didn't think so.
Re: "$300 laptop"
Apples and oranges. Here's what eBook Reader has to offer:
- WEEKS of reading on a single charge
- non-glare e-ink screen that doesn't strain the eyes (unlike the LCD)
- compact size/weight
If you can find a $300 laptop with such features, you'll be my hero... otherwise, moot point.
ill reiterate my point since you guys obviously didn't read my follow up. My point wasn't that one could use a laptop to read a book, or that they are close to the same thing, but that the technology is that cheap. Hell you can even get a brand new full featured laptop for $300. All of the interior hardware other than the screen should cost the company like $50 to make. And you mean to tell me that the eink screen is seriously $100+ to produce? Simplify. All I want to be able to do is electronically display a book so I can read it comfortably and it shouldn't cost $300 for me to do so.
@Victor
The keyword was comfortably. An lcd screen is backlit and causes eyestrain. E-paper does not. For people that read enough an e-book reader is a great value considering the discounted and free books that are available online, the portability of the reader, and the fact that you no longer have to worry about shelf space. If that sounds good to you, great. If not, I'm sorry?
"but that the technology should be cheap enough to produce an ereader for around $100-150. "
And yet, no, it's not cheap enough. But it will get there. And yes, e-paper does cost that much to produce. It's a relatively new tech that up until recently catered to a niche market. Prices are coming down but from the way you are asking for a simple reader it sounds like you just want something with an lcd screen... which defeats the whole purpose.
both will be over $200. depending on volume of production the 5 inch will probably have to retail for $250.
I have the prs505 and I believe touch screen which needs to be glossy and all the other bells and whistles are useless. 5" instead 6" is a loss. The Interface is stupidly complicated. But everything made in Japan has too many buttons. I think it can be done with 3. USB port for power and data is all that's needed.
No audio, cards is no loss. I've never filled 20% of memory and I've tried.
Eventually I see card for low bandwidth bookstore for people without computers or a separate model for same. eReaders are a commodity device.
BTW I use a Mac w/ no problems using Calibre. No vendor has solved the formatting problems for large print users. This is stupid. Of the people I have talked into buying one 70% bought because they need large print.
Strange, Tracy. You don't come across as much of a reader ;)
So all the people you convinced to buy one find it virtually useless? Well done, man. What a friend you are.
" which needs to be glossy "
What?? That defeats the point of the reader by making it a bit difficult to use in some conditions...
@Tracy: "But everything made in Japan has too many buttons."—The Readers are designed and marketed by Sony America.
@Richard: "That defeats the point of the reader by making it a bit difficult to use in some conditions..."—Yup. It's a tradeoff. I chose the PRS-700 because I wanted the touchscreen, for searching and taking notes. (Also because it's got a faster CPU; it turns pages about twice as fast as the PRS-505.)
count me in
count me in
oh and the button placement on the 5 inch is horrible
Hmm, if they can get the 300 out at €200 I can see it sneaking in as a pretty good present for people who wouldn't necessarily be running to shops for a reader.
I hope sony learn from it's mistake by not making the later product inferior to the previous model. The last reader had worse contrast than the one before that's why it didn't go anywhere.
-better contrast
-lower price
That is a pretty damn fair request I think.
Right on!
I'm surprised these aren't wireless models, that's really what Sony needs.
I dont know, I really dont care pluging it to my monitor side USB. USB is great for keep the price low.
I want one, and I have the disposable income, but $200 is my tipping point. No matter how much I want one, I cannot justify a $300 book reader. Unless Sony and Amazon start selling their devices for less than $200 then their not going to get dominant market penetration, and there is more and more competition undercutting them all the time. It hasn't happened yet, but someone will release a high quality ebook reader for less than $200 soon, and if it isn't Sony or Amazon, then they will suffer.
I still can't believe the price for e-readers. I can buy half a dozen different Netbooks for under $200, but a monochrome e-ink display costs MORE? Make an 8" e-ink display, Li-ion battery, SD card slot, and WiFi, and nothing else. Price it at $80 and you'd make millions.
Can you read thousands of pages of books on that netbook of yours in a single charge? And can you read them outdoors in the sun?
$80 is an impossible dream. The e-ink screen itself cost 2-3 times that alone.
the screens alone cost $60 to $80 from PVI. you cant retail something for less than it costs to make
So of these netbooks you mentioned..
How many weigh about the same as a DVD case?
How many are as small, or smaller than a DVD case?
How many are as comfortable to hold and use as a dedicated e-book reader?
How many don't need recharging every few hours?
Every device has it's pros and cons. And they will be different depending on your selection criteria. Mine are to be able to read books comfortably where I want, when I want, how I want. Yours may be to have a multi function device that does several jobs adequately. So we each choose a device to suit our needs. It is permitted by the great gadget gods to have a choice of more than one device.
Sony Reader needs WiFi/wireless direct-to-device purchase. That was the Kindle's killer feature.
Sony's hardware is more to my liking and it's more open + lenient in that you can easily get files on/off the device and it doesn't need some special conversion service.
I will happy pay $300 for a good reader and so will many others. Eventually, these things need to be cheaper for more mass market access, but that's obvious.
Someone should make and sell a small device that acts as WiFi connection with a folder that pretends on an USB port it's a storage device and exposed that shared folder to connected devices.
It can technically be done and it would benefit many devices and give them a new life.
A bit like the SD WiFi card but then not using a site and using USB instead of SD slots.
Mind you it would only be useful for devices that don't go propriety with itunes and such to DRM the connection to it.
I'm an ebook pirate. I haven't paid for a book in so long that my ebook reader has actually paid for itself, more than twice over. You could say it's paid for itself, and for the next one I buy. Even if these things cost £500 each they'd still be value for money, and anyone who can't see that should go ahead and buy a $5 calculator and do the maths for themselves.
Im with you on that, there is enough free classic stuff on the web fro a lifetime of reading anyway. For a good quality reading, you just cant beat Camus, Dostoevsky, Flaubert and Maupassant. Are the Conan Doyle free also??
I actually discovered these manuals first-and Sony Insider acknowledged me for finding these:
http://www.sonyinsider.com/2009/07/30/new-sony-prs-300-and-prs-600-reader-devices-appear-in-service-manuals/
Kewl :)
I wouldn't expect to see Sony being a price leader in any market. I'm betting over $200 on the 5" no-frills model.
Also, with the low power draw of an ebook reader, solar cells along those borders would have been a good idea.
Hey Sony, how about BIGGER SCREEN?
I played with the 505 reader for a while and it was great for reading paperbacks, but terrible for any type of legal size documents or books with any type of column format. I have a large library of technical books and most of them were unreadable.
Give it a larger screen and you won't have to worry about PDF "re-flow". Give it a reasonable price ($300 would be ok) and I'm in.
Thumbs up for bigger screens.
Was thinking of getting the PRS-505 but I'll wait a little until a date/price are released for these 2 models. They can really penetrate the market if they sell the PRS-300 for $200-$250. They 505 retails for $280 so its not that much of a stretch and maybe have the 600 at $350. But sony sure knows how to put premium pricing on everything they sell.
Yeah, the prs-505 black is really cool. The problem with Sony is they still think they are the best electronic company in the world. They still have a reputation here in Japan but competition from taiwan, Korea and China have mined it in most country.
These manuals for the unnanounced Reader models would usually be available via Sony's own Reference Library site which is for use by Sony's Authorized Service Network and invited users only.
So for the time being, Sony's copyrighted service manuals seem to be unavailable via docs.sony.com/release/smd/ links.
It's also likely the Sony's legal department will request Scribd.com to remove the manuals as well.
Personally, I love my PRS-700 because it has what nothing else on the market has, and the only feature I need: A back light. Plus, I DON'T want a silly internet connection to buy ebooks of books I already have. I prefer to link up to my computer and do my file adding, it charges while I do that too. Plus, I have a longer battery life because I don't have that silly wireless connection.
We can turn off the wireless on our Kindles from the menu and save battery life. We also have a handy usb cable so we can transfer things the old fashioned way.
The backlight is a personal choice, but I've seen enough Sony readers with glare issues from the light to know that I don't want one.
PRS-700 changed my life!!!!
Earth people to Sony:
Screen still too small.
Lol good job on specifying that's it's the documents that are rubbed out not the people, you have to nowadays, especially with such behemoths as sony, thanks for preventing confusion.
If it seamlessly supports PDF I'd buy one in an instant. Sadly the resolution will probably be too low for reading A4 or Letter sized papers which is what most of the world uses.
Amazing that most comments are from those who have never used one. In such a gadget friendly forum for products that have been out for many years with very little change this is not a good sign. I love mine. Sony needs to improve the product, but it works.
I've read books on my iPhone and on laptop. EReaders are superior. EInk is easier on the eyes. The iPhone was better than the laptop. For those wanting color, LCD is better for comics and magazines. At least the normal mags with articles of 1500 words or less. Foreign Affairs which is available on calibre I read on the Sony.
eInk and battery life is what it comes down to. European papers are experimenting with giving them away with two years subscriptions. This requires wireless download. Kindle wants 70% of the revenue which is a non starter. Phillips has talked about this as a business model. Selling them thru newspapers.