first ebook reader - up to 300$- what is right for me ?

[Fif23]

So I have 300$ for an ebook reader that will last me a long time.
What I am reading is mostly professional material pdf's.
This is what I think I want.

1. Must be as portable as possible (6" tops i guess)
I mean, I'm actually cool with my iPod on most books and it has a 3" screen.

2. Must have a fast CPU/RAM, it needs to respond without lags.

3. Must have alot of space of the option to expand it with alot of space. I would like to buy a 16/32gb SD card and put it in there if possible.

4. Probably the most important - It needs to have SUPERB BUILD QUALITY ! ! !
I will gladly take the lesser high-tech device if it's sturdy, quality, and has no flimsy parts in it - I can't stand chinese electronics.

5. big bonus - I'd like to highlight or add notes while I read if that's possible- not critical.


So far I have checked the SONY PRS-600, it looks like it's well made, has a touch screen, and is said to be fast ( According to the sticky matrix)

What do you think ? You can shout out models for me to research ...

Thanks !

[desertgrandma]

Welcome to MobileRead, silencer,

You can also look at our wiki page detailing the differences of all the devices out today here........

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_devices

and here

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix

Good luck on your choice.

[Fif23]

Thanks ! I did check these pages ... This is where I got the PRS-600 idea.
Do you think that it the best device that answers my requirements above ?
What else MAY be good for me ? or is the 600 in a league on it's own ?

[Elfwreck]

Consider the diffs between the Sony 600 and the 505.
600 reads letter-sized PDFs by zooming; the 505 reflows. The zoom doesn't stay put from one page to the next. (Both, technically, read them without editing--which means cramming a letter-sized page onto a 6" screen. I can read it that way... if it's content I really love.)

I like the reflow on the 505, but that may be because I have no problems editing the PDFs themselves if the reflow doesn't work right--I can add tags, crop out the white borders, add bookmarks and so on. But those features aren't available with free/cheap software.

600 allows annotations, I believe; 505 does not.

[lilac_jive]

I'm thinking the 600, so you can get that bonus highlighting. Plus I was playing with one today and it is wicked fast.

I say Sony in general because (1) you can add memory and (2) I know I've dropped mine twice (once three feet onto blacktop, although I was very lucky) and it's pretty sturdy (metal casing instead of plastic). BUT YOU MUST BE CAREFUL WITH ANY EREADER!!!!! Sorry, can't emphasize that enough. The screens are very fragile. But the Sonys are pretty freaking solid.

[wallcraft]

The only alternative to the PRS-600, given your requirements, is the PocketBook 360. This has a 5" screen, but is well made and has the best PDF capability of any EInk device in your price range.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Silencer23

So I have 300$ for an ebook reader that will last me a long time.
What I am reading is mostly professional material pdf's.

It really depends on what those PDFs are? If they are PDFs layed out for 8.5x11 paper and the content is format specific like it contains charts, graphs, or tables, or perhaps source code or math symbology you might not be very happy with any 6inch device.

However, if the PDFs are all or mostly text, then a 6inch device like the Sony that will re-flow the document will be fine for you.

BOb

[Fif23]

Thank you guys for the quick replies !
Bob these are mostly text, and a few images here and there.

I don't quite get the Zoom vs reflow with the PRS 505/600 thing.

Can you read comfortably on the PRS600 without having to play with the page layout every single page ?
I've never had these before so I am not quite sure what reflow means. Does it automatically change the font size etc to fit the 6" screen ?

What I want is to set up my device in a certain way, throw all my PDF's on there and then just open then for reading.... I don't want to mess with layout every page.

Thank you

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Silencer23

I've never had these before so I am not quite sure what reflow means. Does it automatically change the font size etc to fit the 6" screen ?

If you download Sony eBook Library software for a Windows PC or a Mac, its ebook viewer displays PDFs very similarly to all of the EInk devices that use mobile Adobe Digital Editions for PDFs (e.g. Sony PRS-600 in particular, but also the PocketBook 360).

Reflow is: extract the text (and images) from the PDF and turn it into something like a web page where changing the font size changes how many words there are per line. Zoom is: leave the page layout alone by only display part of the page.

I have some scans and screenshots in Font Sizes on Pocket Pro. The Adobe Digital Editions scans of the Pocket Pro will be similar to the PRS-600, as are the screenshots from Sony eBL.

For why I recommended the PocketBook 360, see Pocketbook 360 test diary. This is the most feature-rich PDF support available for 5" and 6" EInk readers today.

[Fif23]

Thanks !
So you recommend the Pocketbook over the PRS-600.
I am having trouble finding it on Amazon though... Can I have a link ?

Just confirming - What I see on Sony ebook library is what the PRS600 looks like ?
If you have to play with the zoom EACH PAGE, doesn't it make the PRS-600 completely useless and pretty "stupid" device ?

Thanks

EDIT: Why is the PRS-505 more expensive than the PRS-600 ?

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by Silencer23

EDIT: Why is the PRS-505 more expensive than the PRS-600 ?

Scarcity value? It should really be midway between the Pocket (the 300) and the Touch (the 600), except it's discontinued.

[Madam Broshkina]

Originally Posted by Silencer23

Thanks !
So you recommend the Pocketbook over the PRS-600.
I am having trouble finding it on Amazon though... Can I have a link ?

Just confirming - What I see on Sony ebook library is what the PRS600 looks like ?
If you have to play with the zoom EACH PAGE, doesn't it make the PRS-600 completely useless and pretty "stupid" device ?

Thanks

EDIT: Why is the PRS-505 more expensive than the PRS-600 ?

Useless and stupid for PDF files maybe, but the 600 and most readers out there were not designed especially for reading PDF files. To get the best result for PDF files you are going to have to get a large format reader but thats going to cost more then $300.

[Fif23]

Thanks.
I decided the technology is still not there to allow comfortable PDF text documents on an E-INK device..
Lets wait for CES 2010 ....

[Forkosigan]

Originally Posted by Silencer23

Thanks.
I decided the technology is still not there to allow comfortable PDF text documents on an E-INK device..
Lets wait for CES 2010 ....

Why? what it means for you is convenient? here an example of complex magazine article in German. Not ideally, but it is possible to read and a 5" Pocketbook 360 °

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Silencer23

Thanks.
I decided the technology is still not there to allow comfortable PDF text documents on an E-INK device..
Lets wait for CES 2010 ....

I don't think the technology will ever exist to display a PDF layed out for an 8.5x11 inch piece of paper on a 5 or 6inch screen whether it is an eInk device or an LCD device. There are only 3 ways to do it....

1. Reduce the document to the size of the screen. This usually retains all layout however the result is generally too small to be practically usable.

2. Allow you to Pan/Scan the document. This is ok if you are looking at a single page and can get away with looking at only a portion of it. But doesn't bode well for serially reading a document from page 1 to the end.

3. Reflowing the document which will allow the text to remain at a readable font size but you will loose all formatting. Also how graphics are handled is usually either shrink them, drop them, or keep them allowing pan/scan on the graphics. This is ok in some cases, in others not so much.

Most reader devices do support these 3 methods of viewing a PDF file. I don't think the technology of eInk or any display will every change that fact.

If the PDF is layed out to match the size of the reading devices screen it is displayed perfectly well. I have read several ebooks that were PDF on my Sony 500. Since the PDF was formatted for the 500 they were perfectly readable.

This is why the best option to reading 8.5x11 inch layed out PDF files is to use a reading device with a bigger screen. For example the Kindle DX, the iRex DR1002 or a Netbook, Laptop or PC with a larger screen.

BOb