Is PRS-600 a "writing tool"

[Davidson]

I am considering seriously to get the PRS-600 although there are not many sellers yet available here in Finland. My friend is currently in the USA and I hope he could perhaps bring one for me. Given the current dollar-euro exchange rate the reader isn’t even terribly expensive.

BUT: What I am mainly looking for is a device which would allow me to write my own long notes which could be saved on the PC i.e a device which would replace the old paper and pencil. I have the feeling that PRS-600 would not be ideal for that. Perhaps a digital pen would better suit my purposes…on the other hand, I would definitely like to read PDF’s and make notes to them and for that PRS-600 seems to be a very good option.

I was wondering what is the situation with the note-function? Is it possible to write (with stylus) notes and then transfer them to the computer for further processing? I know that IREX's models could handle this job but they are pretty expensive.

All suggestions are welcome! It is difficult to find out which devices allow for what kind of notes.

[tovare]

E-paper devices is not very suitable for taking notes. The PRS-600 is good for reading, not creating.

Perhaps getting a small netbook with long battery-life is a better direction or a phone with a full keyboard and a word-processor.

I prefer taking notes on paper, and manually reviewing those and incorporate the material in things I write on the PC.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by Davidson

I am considering seriously to get the PRS-600 although there are not many sellers yet available here in Finland. My friend is currently in the USA and I hope he could perhaps bring one for me. Given the current dollar-euro exchange rate the reader isn’t even terribly expensive.

BUT: What I am mainly looking for is a device which would allow me to write my own long notes which could be saved on the PC i.e a device which would replace the old paper and pencil. I have the feeling that PRS-600 would not be ideal for that. Perhaps a digital pen would better suit my purposes…on the other hand, I would definitely like to read PDF’s and make notes to them and for that PRS-600 seems to be a very good option.

I was wondering what is the situation with the note-function? Is it possible to write (with stylus) notes and then transfer them to the computer for further processing? I know that IREX's models could handle this job but they are pretty expensive.

All suggestions are welcome! It is difficult to find out which devices allow for what kind of notes.

You *could* write a short story on the 600, but the refresh is very slow so you wouldn't be able to see what you're writing as you're writing it. You can export the notes, but I don't think you'd find that very useful - they're saved as vector drawings, not as text.

As to scribbling on PDFs, that's pretty much what the annotation feature is for. I bought mine to make portable editing on my novel possible, but I'll be using the 600 the same way I'd use a paper notebook - looking at it as I make changes on my computer.

[benlau]

Originally Posted by khalleron

You *could* write a short story on the 600, but the refresh is very slow so you wouldn't be able to see what you're writing as you're writing it. You can export the notes, but I don't think you'd find that very useful - they're saved as vector drawings, not as text.

As to scribbling on PDFs, that's pretty much what the annotation feature is for. I bought mine to make portable editing on my novel possible, but I'll be using the 600 the same way I'd use a paper notebook - looking at it as I make changes on my computer.

Writing long article (e.g blog) on 600 is not ideal, but it is still useful in taking minutes , short throught. (I take the PRS600 for every meeting) Just like what khalleron said , you could use it as a paper notebook , and type back your writing to computer. The main different is that you can view the note on computer.

[FragFrog]

I use my PRS-600 a lot for taking notes during lectures - especially when a prof decides he needs to scribble a drawing to elaborate I find it usefull to draw a note of it for future reference. Since my notes are interlaced with relationships between items, diagrams and drawings it would be nearly impossible to enter them on for example a netbook, but the reader handles it just fine once you get used to drawing on an ePaper touch screen (it does take some getting used to).

That being said, I would not want to use it for elaborate writing or even blogging - the screen is too small to make long notes and while "writing" works well, it comes out as vector image, not as text. You can make text notes as well, but the ePaper is simply too slow in this regard in my opinion: it takes perhaps half a second for a keypress to show up and the actual letter to appear, which does not sound too bad untill you consider the averate typing speed is around 40 ~ 50 words a minute and you'll be lucky to achieve a fraction of that on the PRS-600. For continues writing, you should probably go for a netbook instead.

[poshm]

I have the Sony prs-600 and an ipod touch. I wouldn't find it easy to write anything more than a few quick notes on the prs-600 whereas on my ipod touch which has a virtual keyboard plus using the supplied Notes program or writing software (Writeroom) I really could write a short story from start to finish - have written plenty of long articles on it. The responsiveness of the ipod touch is so much quicker that it keeps up. And the good thing is it is all saved as text so all ready to import into a full blown word processor.

My preferred writing tool though has to be my ASUS EEE PC which is small enough and light enough to be portable but big enough for comfortable typing. Hubby who has big hands, struggles to use my ipod touch but gets on with this ok.

There are many people who swear by the prs-600 for annotation purposes but that is a world away from doing any lengthy writing on the device. But perhaps there are some here who might disagree.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by poshm

There are many people who swear by the prs-600 for annotation purposes but that is a world away from doing any lengthy writing on the device. But perhaps there are some here who might disagree.

Certainly not I. The 600 is great for annotation - but I can't imagine doing any real "writing" on it.

[Davidson]

Thanks for the replies. I still don't know what to do. I have a normal notebook and a desktop computer. A small notebook could be quite useful, but (for some reason) I would like to write my short notes with pencil not with the keyboard. When I read paper articles I usually write short notes on them or have a paper notebook where I write short (sometimes incomprehensible) comments. After finishing the article there are usually pieces of paper everywhere with weird references to different papers! So the annotation function of prs-600 could perhaps be what I am actually looking for.

Has any of you tried the IRIS pen? If it works, it could be very practical.

[NightGeometry]

For taking notes you may be interested in the Livescribe pens. Not exactly cheap, but they do the trick (and you end up with paper notes, and electronic ones).

[NightGeometry]

Originally Posted by Davidson

Has any of you tried the IRIS pen? If it works, it could be very practical.

Our posts must have overlapped. The livescribe is similar to the IRIS. The difference (as far as I know), is that with IRIS you put a 'detector' at the top of your notepad, with the livescribe you need to use a special pad. I've never used an IRIS style pen, but have used the livescribe - my partner has one, and I've borrowed it off her a few times. I like the livescribe approach. Not awfully taken with the pen itself though - I prefer using my fountain pen, I just wish you could get an add on to use whatever pen you preferred.

[WillAdams]

A friend of mine works for LiveScribe and was sympathetic when I mentioned that I'd buy one if only I could use a fountain pen w/ it... but don't hold your breath.

For the OP, a TabletPC works well for writing --- I've authored some journal articles on mine and have been working on a book.

If the PRS-600 were only as capable at handwriting recognition and had ink as ink like my Newton MessagePad, I'd find it irresistible and would've purchased at least two.

William