But those keys bulk up the Kindle by comparison. The Kindle also allows note taking through its built-in physical keyboard-which has even slower text input, but still allows for more accuracy due to the physical feedback of the keys themselves. You can imagine that even a slight delay in typing can quickly turn maddening. Users can tap out notes on that keyboard using their fingers (with woefully inaccurate results) or a stylus (slightly more accurate). It is even more of an issue with the virtual on-screen keypad that the PRS-700 uses to let readers take 'notes' on the Reader's virtual pages. The delay creates a bit of a disconnect between your gestures and the machine's responses. But it doesn't turn instantly, so there's almost enough time for you to attempt the motion a second time. Draw your finger across a page from right to left (or left to right-it's configurable) and the page turns. Despite the fact that the refresh rate on the PRS-700 is far faster than both the Kindle and the original Sony Reader, the new Reader is still relatively slow to react to touch commands, so you often find the device responding to gestures a fraction of a second after you're done making them. The touchscreen on the PRS-700, however, is a bit of a disappointment. In fact, when I first started showing friends the Kindle a year ago, one of the first things they did was start poking at the screen. Since in the iPhone's been on the scene, people expect to be able to interact directly with the screens of their devices. And indeed there is: The PRS-700 is the first device of its kind to have a touchscreen. It's the equivalent of a built-in Itty Bitty Book Light.īut, then again, you could just buy a book light and clip it to a PRS-505 or Kindle for about $10, so there has to be more to this device than just a light. Well, why not? The light turns on when you need it, and turns off when you don't. After all, isn't the whole point of the E Ink technology in the Reader and its main competitor, the $360 Amazon Kindle, battery life that lasts for weeks of reading? Because E Ink is a passive reflective, rather than active screen technology, it doesn't require the constant backlighting that laptop screens do, giving it much longer battery life. That estimate may based on the lowest lamp setting (there are two), however, and it is likely to invite the most criticism of the new Reader. Sony reps last night claimed that the light could shine for eight hours of reading on a charge. The most important advance is an integrated LED front light (not, as I've seen it mischaracterized, a 'backlight'). We got some brief playtime with an early model at Sony's launch event last night and found the improvements over the PRS-505 to be useful, but hardly revolutionary. Once it launches, the current Sony Reader, the PRS-505, will continue to be available for $300. Last night Sony introduced a new PRS-700 Reader e-book that will go on sale next month for $400.

Sony prs 505 reader