Just to let prospective buyers know, this item will take about three weeks to arrive. They ship from Sony out of California.
It’s well worth the wait if you know that up front, but you’ll go bonkers if you buy it assuming a one week turn-around.
If you don’t have a Reader, jump on this deal.
I’m in the same boat as I bought the pocket version, but I’m happy with it as it doesn’t have the glare the touch model has. Your eyes will thank you after dozens (if not hundreds) of hours staring at the screen.
The OP is referring to an issue with ALL reader screens where some fade significantly when a page is turned in direct sun-light. The same manufacturer makes the displays for all of the e-ink readers on the market. My Pocket Reader does not have the direct sun-light fade defect.
Does anyone know how scanned images look when they are done through PDF? If you run across a user image of one can you post it for me. Thank you wooters!
well rats, I just got the Pocket Edition for the same price at Best Buy last week. I love it myself, very handy and easy to use. There is a great third party software program (free) to manage the files plus get some free news items:
I like it better than the Sony software. It works with other e-readers too. Even the i-phone I believe.
I see there’s no wifi, but if you can sync daily, can you get newspaper (NYT) subscription on this?
I have the Sony pocket reader and I love it. This is a more expensive model, and Woot is now selling it refurbed for $50 less than the price I paid for mine.
It has a larger screen and many more features (see the item page).
E Ink technology makes for a much more pleasant experience than the older eReaders gave (I used to use an RCA Reb 1100). However, be aware that the ink is gray, and the background is off-white, so you won’t see the contrast you’re used to in a newly printed book.
Still, this reader can’t be beat for convenience, and it’s one of the top-rated models on the market today (new ones are coming out all the time).
I bought this from a previous wooting, and have been using it for my bedtime reading for about a week now.
General thoughts:
Overall, I’m glad I bought it. There are some firmware changes that would make it a game changer - folders for both ebooks and MP3 stand out - but it’s a competent job. And its use of open standards is very welcome.
I read somewhere that the Nook was going to stop allowing library books?
I own this and it rocks. I have already sold or given away all my old books. I only wish it had WiFi. I could care less about 3G. I just wish I could sync it at home wirelessly. Make sure you download Calibre to manage your elibrary. It is free and can convert to whatever file type you want.
Have people been having issues with the refurbs from woot from last time? I’m tempted to bite at this price, but the 90-day warranty worries me, to say the least. And buying a Squaretrade warranty cuts the deal significantly (to the point where I might well be able to get a new or few-month-old one on ebay for the same price, or maybe $10-15 more if I’m lucky and diligent which would still have a significant manufacturer’s warranty on it.
I bought the square trade warranty, just in case.
my reader was frozen once. I reset it and it has been fine since. I have used it a lot too.
Agreed! What you get for the price of a Nook far surpasses anything the Kindle OR Sony offers.
I had the opportunity to test drive all 3 for a good length of time, and the Nook scored highest on all my ‘must have’ points, including ease of use, screen readability, customer service (Barnes & Noble is awesome in this department), and of course, the ebooks.
Nook is non-proprietary, but really, anything I wanted was available from B&N, and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of free books they offer.
The screen on the Kindle was nice, but the nook has the same one. I also got a $50 gift card (I think this is a limited time offer though) that you can use for anything in-store or online.
Save your wooting for something else and get a nook if you want an e-reader.
E ink is the best ereader technology available today. But I wonder about the future:
My first e-reader was an RCA REB 1100 (a remade Gemstar, first offered in 2000). I found I didn’t use it very often, since it was cumbersome (17 ounces, much of which was the thick battery pack that was needed for the older displays), and the display (backlit black-and-white LCD) was hard on the eyes. The newer e-ink displays are a lot closer to what’s on the printed page, but the contrast is still not that of a new (white!) printed page. I find myself wondering if the e-book manufacturers are doing the right thing by attempting to simulate the paper book reading experience. Is black on white really the easiest on the eyes? Research says no - I remember that manufacturers of tournament chessboards relied on research that said green (a forest green) and buff (a very light yellow/green used for the light squares on the board) were best. Early automobiles were a lot like horse-drawn carriages, save for the motors. Perhaps future e-readers will evolve away from their predecessors, as cars did.
I purchased this one and the Pocket version from Woot. Both items took about 2 weeks to arrive each time, and neither one were defective in any way. I’ve only had one minor problem with the Touch, where it hung up because the battery was getting low. I charged it up, and it worked like a charm again.
I’m sure you can look back over the past Woot discussions on this item and see you’ll need to acquire a cover, a booklight, and a PSP charger as valuable accessories.
I purchased the M-edge cover for the PRS-700 on Amazon, as it was much cheaper than the PRS-600 variety. Excellent cover!
I also purchased a Mighty Bright 2 clip on booklight, as it was a bit cheaper than the other light. The booklight really helps with the glare issue.
You can find inexpensive PSP chargers on Ebay or Amazon. Mine was about $4.00 and works great. It’s much faster than USB charging.
The biggest difference between the Touch and the Pocket are that the Touch offers Touch screen (obviously), built in dictionary, notes, and mp3 playback,expandable memory, and 1 more level of text magnification. The Pocket is more barebones, but is still a fantastic ereader if you’re not needing any frills.
Just don’t forget about the 2 weeks shipping thing! If you’re thinking “Father’s Day gift”, it might be pushing it.
Well, even new, the warranty is 90 days labor, one year parts, which seems to be the case on the refurb.
With previous deals the main issues were with screen fading, which mine had (PRS-300, but the 600 seems to have the same issues). I got a brand new item from Sony to replace it, but it had the same problem. The fading only occurred when reading in direct sunlight, so for indoors, no issues. I gave up on the RMA after the first replacement.
A few people also had problems charging. They seemed to all be people that didn’t have an AC adapter, but were relying on the USB charging method that comes with the deal. If you go on ebay or elsewhere you can find a compatible charger for a few bucks seeing as this can use a PSP adapter, but otherwise the unit can take a long time to charge if it arrives to you fully drained.
I read something where someone pressed the reset button in, flipped the on/off switch a few times, and then after an hour of charging the reader was able to use the USB charging method just fine. In my case the reader came with about a 50% charge and had no issues when it came to power. I don’t think too many people ran into that, and I don’t know of any other issues, other than an epub conflict problem that can occur with library book rentals and other books, and that would occur with any Sony reader.
The problem I see with the Nook and the Kindle is that they are plastic. And, quite obviously, manufactured by a third party, as neither Barnes and Noble or Amazon are manufacturers. Sony is an established electronics manufacturer, one of the best in the business. A solid metal tool wins out over plastic any day.
Dosent Borders (smirk…) have the (hee hee…) the, Nook ebook? Bwahahahahahahaha… huh huh huh, hmmmmmmmm yeah, I think so…
Do you think anyone, I mean, anyone at all, at some point said, “ya know, maybe we should rethink this Nook eBook thing…?”