Still doubting that Sony has
a new duo of e-book readers on the horizon? Have a look at this.
Sony Insider is reporting that retailer J&R posted up product listings for both the PRS-300 and PRS-600, but both were quickly pulled in order to avoid a stern wrist slap from the suits at
Sony. 'Course, neither were pulled quickly enough, and what we're left with is a list of full specifications and MSRPs for the both of 'em. If said sheets are to be believed, the 5-inch (800 x 600 resolution) Sony PRS300-RC Reader Pocket Edition will ship with 512MB of onboard memory, PC and Mac support, a battery good for 7,500 page turns and USB 2.0 connectivity. The 6-inch (800 x 600 resolution) PRS600-SC Reader Touch Edition checks in at 0.4-inches thin and boasts a virtual keyboard, doodle capability, 512MB of storage, a built-in English e-dictionary, PC and Mac support and the same battery as on the smaller sibling. We're looking at price tags of $199 and $299, respectively, but with no apparent WiFi or WWAN built in, it'll still be a hard sell over Amazon's connected
Kindle here in America.
posted August 3rd 2009 7:52AM
No remote delete. End of story.
Americans have it good with the Kindle but since its not available in Canada, I think the $200/$300 USD price tag is really competitive and I would easily import one. For reference the PRS505 is $350 CDN.
Kindle will probably not see the light of day here so this is the next best thing even without built in wireless.
Also what I found interesting is the PRS-300 doesn't support audio or images.
How scratch resistant is the current Sony touchscreen? I think the touchscreen on a 6 inch device makes playing "newspaper" games much more feasible. I think crosswords, jumbles, sudoku, etc will be more enjoyable to play when you can "write" your answers rather than type them in.
The Sony readers have always been Mac and Linux compatible. It shows up as a removable drive. Then you just drag and drop your files. When you turn the reader on it scans the files and builds a library. If Sony is now stating Mac compatibility they are likely taliking about their eLibrary Software. The software is kind of a joke. It looks a lot like old iTunes software and just organizes your files. If you organize your own files in a folder then you are ok without it.
Something that the Sony does that I don't think the Kindle does (i don't know for sure) is jpeg viewing. Many people will say "what? why would I want to look at my pictures in black and white?". What if those pictures were comic book scans that were already black and white, like most manga? I use my 505 to read a lot of manga as well as pdfs and I sync on a mac with no software, using drag and drop. I am going to be looking for this to drop and probably pick one up when it does.
The Kindle has a lot going for it and is a great product. People like to bash it for many reasons. Well if you want an reader then compare your options and pick what is right for you. The Kindle isn't perfect for everyone, and neither is the Sony. I think the best thing is that there is open competition. This will push all products to be better and cheaper for the customer.
"The Sony readers have always been Mac and Linux compatible. It shows up as a removable drive."
Actually that started with the PRS-505. The original PRS-500 needs the software to do anything.
A touchscreen is really maybe all it would take to kick the Kindle to the curb.
The Kindle's buttons take up a full 1/3 of the kindle real estate. A touch screen (allowing people to take "real" notes) would have an enormous advantage over them.
I'm betting we'll see wirelss shortly.
Keep in mind that touch screens can eat up a bit of the contrast on reflective displays. At least resistive and capacitive types.
i have the sony model from about 18 months ago.. there is no wifi and that is fine. my only complaint with it is it cant scan folders for music (pdf issues are not a fault of sony). I think this whole wi-fi on e-reader thing is way over hyped. I don't buy books on the spur of the moment and likely anyone with an reader is going to have it loaded with books and not be worried about running out on a moments notice. I personally do not feel that magazines format wise transfer well to the smaller screens and for most people using these they are reading books because they dont bother reading the newspaper to or from work.
The Sony Reader is amazing. Just found out you can use the Shortcovers eBooks on it as well.
Super easy process!
http://bit.ly/FsI77
You can compare PRS-300 with other e-bookreader at http://www.coolcheapest.com/EBookReader/3205--Sony_Digital_Reader_Pocket_Edition___Dark_Blue_(PRS300B.aspx . You can also buy other models and e-bookreader accessories at http://www.coolcheapest.com/EBookReader.aspx .