Sony PRS-700 Reviews

I just ordered the PRS 700 and I must say, I’m liking it more than my old Kindle every day. The touchscreen interface is the best, it makes doing anything extremely easy, and I can just upload PDF’s or EPub’s I buy from anywhere (or get for free, like public domain stuff or when a Publisher gives away the PDF as a promotion) without having to pay 10 cents for conversion.

The only downsides? No Wifi, but that’s not why I bought this. I want to read without distractions, not get bored in the middle of the book and buy another one, or check my email. The other downside is a bit more serious- there is glare on this device. And one of the things I love about e-ink is the reduction in glare.

From what I’ve read it’s from the touchscreen interface. So, I guess it’s a trade off I’m willing to go for. Since I can get a touchscreen and lighting for reading in the dark, a teensy bit of glare won’t kill me.

I really wanted something like this, but with WiFi. I mean, even if I could do it just to access the Sony Library, that would be cool. The touchscreen is awesome, and the batter life is cool. But I really wanted wifi. I can still get some use out of it, though.

I was a hard core Kindle Fantatic. I mean, I was screaming it’s awesomeness to everyone, it was like a religion for me. And then out came the Kindle 2, and I felt ripped off. I mean, what was so different about it?

And then I saw this- and it had all the features I wanted in the Kindle 2, but they never gave it to us. Touchscreen? Yes please. Backlighting? Gimmie! PDF and Epub support? Well, thank you kindly.

Very happy.

PRS-700 is my main reader (I have 505, had iLiad v2 until last week, and had PRS-500 for over a year). I like the size and shape, at home always read without the case (have the case always on when leaving home). Built-in light is good for night-time reading, you quickly get used to uneven light (more interesting the read, faster you stop paying attention to it). Contrast is not as good as 505 and there is screen glare but these are not big problems for me, I can always find a position without glare. Screen contrast is similar to 500 and I was happy when I had it so cannot complain about 700’s screen.
I don’t care for wireless connection, usually use Calibre for library management. I buy books from Sony store and FictionWise, have also checked out few books from my local library in secure pdf and epub formats. Pdf re-flow is good for non-technical books but sometimes you get badly created pdfs (iLiad was good for that).
I have pre-ordered Kindle DX, it will become my reader for technical books and documents. Also I may use Amazon store for books that I cannot find for Sony. But I expect to keep the 700 as my “daily reader”.

I had to take this back the minute after I got it. The glare was just too much! I’ve got a PRS 505 and I just loved it. It did everything I wanted and made it easy to read on the little screen. When I first heard about this I thought it would be awesome- touchscreen and backlight! How cool is that?

But adding in these two features took away the whole reason I wanted an ereader- the non glare, easy to read screen. The touchscreen adds a layer of super glare that makes it hard on the eyes. If I wanted to struggle to read a screen, I would’ve gotten a laptop. If you want to buy this, I suggest testing out a display model first so you know what you’re getting into. I wish I did.

This is my first ereader and I couldn’t be happier. The screen looks nice, and I love the touch interface. It reminds me a lot of the iPhone. Very nice! Other gadget makers need to pay attention- touch is the future! AND I so love being able to read in poor lighting with the backlight. So awesome. This is like a book++, it’s the size of the paperback yet holds an entire library. Rock awesome.

I shopped around for a bit until I found an ereader that matched my needs. The contrast isn’t as awesome as the others, but it’s still much easier to read compared to my laptop. I needed something to make it easy for me to take notes and search through my college text books. And this works a treat. It’s super easy to do what I need it to do- which is study. Too bad most of my text books are still print only.

No matter how many nice features the PRS 700 Sony Reader might possess, the glare on the screen kills my desire to use it. Since I Iive overseas, I didn’t need the wireless Kindle and was happy that our BX carried both versions of the Sony Reader. I really wish I had not bought the darn PRS 700 because I do not want to see glare when I’m trying to read. I really hate it and wish I could get my money back. I also think the selections from the e-boostore aren’t so great. Overall, I’m very disillusioned with my venture out of paper books. I waited for a long time to buy one because I love reading a real book, and this purchase affirms my initial hesitation. I should have hesitated much longer.