La rat-censione del Cybook Opus è tuttora uno degli articoli più letti qui nella Tana. Più in generale, i miei post a tema eBook, editoria digitale & affini hanno portato al blog discreti picchi di visite: l’argomento “tira”, e a me, convinto sostenitore della “rivoluzione digitale” in ambito libresco, la cosa fa molto piacere, molto più piacere di qualche centinaio di click in più o in meno (che comunque servono a pompare un po’ di autostima nelle vene del mio ego, sempre bisognoso di rassicurazioni!).
Il Sony PRS-650 è il mio secondo eBook reader: per ovvi motivi non includo nella statistica l’iPad, in favore del quale avrei comunque più di una lancia da break. However, for reasons equally obvious the experience of reading on a backlit tablet is in no way comparable to that offered by a reader technology eInk. But this is trite banality: we fly over and let's go into detail in the analysis of the last born of the house in Tokyo.
First, because this player and not, say, the new Booken Orizon ? Simple: with the Amazon Kindle, the PRS-650 (and 350, his younger brother) is the only eBook reader on the market with screen eInk Pearl. eInk Pearl means more contrast, background whiter, more defined characters: in essence, the new screens Pearl offer a reading experience much more comfortable and similar to that on paper compared to the "old" Vizplex or, worse still, the new Sipix (dall'Orizon exploited for example). Because you can get an idea a bit 'more precise than what I'm talking about, I refer you to this article appeared a few weeks ago on eBookReader Italy.
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| eInk vs Pearl. Sipix Vizplex vs: and the winner is ... Needless to say? |
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| Note the difference in contrast and definition between a panel and a Pearl Sipix: Bookeen, it was better if you kept the Vizplex you! |
Why the PRS-650 and the Kindle? Why the Amazon Kindle is good or bad, and I did not really want to be forced to convert each kindleformato in ePub, or of being must be tied to a single store: Thanks, I think Apple already mom to make me brainwashed !
And finally, why 650 and not 350? Why read on a screen 6 "is better than doing it on a 5-I am speaking from personal experience. Satisfied? Well, let's proceed.
The first impression the reader is better: compared to my old Opus, the PRS-650 proves once more solid and better finished. The shell (black, in my case), designed to provide a safe and solid grip with one hand, it is sturdy and compact and features on the top, the power button, SD card slot and one for nib. On the bottom we find the miniUSB connection, one for the earphones and volume control buttons: the PRS-650 can play it also functions as a reader mp3. Completing the outfit "physical" the classic panel on all the Sony reader and mother of a screen 6 "surprisingly white.
As mentioned above, power will immediately notice the superior quality of the panel and the absence of the Pearl fatal flaw of the old Sony screens, that annoying reflective effect (because of a bad implementation of the technology touchscreen) which made it very difficult to read under direct sunlight. Defect which, fortunately, was completely corrected in the latest reader.
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| The homepage of the PRS-650 |
The menu is simple and intuitive, in the best traditions of the Japanese: divided into three main sections (Home, Applications and Settings), allows quick access to all major functions (including the very useful ability to see all our records directly from the homepage, without leafing through the menus). Among the applications, besides the above mentioned mp3 player, there are also an image viewer (obviously in grayscale), a program of handwriting using pen and a great way of dictionaries (we are present 11), which integrates naturally with the eBook.
But let the experience of reading itself, then that is the only thing that really concerns us. As you read on the PRS-650? Well, indeed, great: not only thanks to the panel Pearl, of which I will never stop singing the praises, but also thanks to an amazingly responsive touch, whether by pen or finger through. The screen refresh is not ideal, but it is certainly an improvement over the older reader I have seen at work. Pages can be turned with the buttons located at altitudes below the screen, and "flipping" with your finger. Obviously, not being a multi-touch panel experience is quite different from that offered by iPad, but this is more of a comfort that never hurts, indeed.
double click on a term will automatically open a preview of the definition from the dictionary is preselected (but you can change in a race) and then clicking on the button of the dictionary will open the whole page, with the dfinizione extended. You can also search for other instances of that term within the text or create a quick note, by writing a mano col pennino sia attivando una tastiera virtuale (non molto reattiva a dir la verità).
Premendo il tasto “options” si accede poi a tutta una serie di funzioni complementari, dall’aggiunta di segnalibri alla gestione e consultazione delle note prese in precedenza (o alla creazione di nuove annotazioni), dall’accesso all’indice e alla cronologia delle pagine visitate alla regolazione del contrasto e delle definizione del testo. Come tutti i principali reader sul mercato (o almeno credo), il PRS-650 offre inoltre la possibilità di leggere in landscape mode.
Il tasto MP + is instead the choice of font size (but the difference between "Small" and "Medium" is too strong, a firmware update would be welcome), the page zoom and other viewing options. But you can not change the font (the reader will automatically show that embedded in the file) or the line spacing, rather useful option offered by the Kindle.
In short, the PRS-650 is a great product, perhaps the best eRader currently on the market: if you're going to throw you headlong into the magical world of the eBook and you have to spend € 250 (to which will be added altri 30 se vorrete dotare il vostro pargolo di una custodia degna , dato che in dotazione non ce n’è nemmeno una in cartapesta), andate a botta sicura, non ve ne pentirete. Se invece il vostro budget è più limitato, allora vi consiglio il Kindle: vero, c’è qualche sbattimento in più da fare, ma il rapporto qualità/prezzo che offre è al momento senza eguali.
Ah, dimenticavo: fatta eccezione per il PRS-950, disponibile solo sul mercato americano, come tutti i reader Sony nemmeno il PRS-650 è equipped with a wireless connection, let alone 3G. Personally it does not bother me at all: surfing on a screen eInk is pure folly, and the possibility to buy directly from the eBook reader is an optional minor.
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