Sony Portable Reader System PRS-500 vs Sony Reader Touch Edition PRS-650

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Portable Reader System PRS-500 compared with Reader Touch Edition PRS-650

	SonyPortable Reader System PRS-500	SonyReader Touch Edition PRS-650
Overview
Released
Released	October 2006	September 2010
Screen
Screen size
Screen size	6″	6″
Resolution
Resolution	–	800 × 600
Sharpness
Sharpness	–	167 pixels per inch (calculated)
Colour
Colour	No	No
Front light
Front light	No	No
Display detail
Display detail	E Ink electronic paper; approximately six-inch diagonal and four greyscale levels reported by The Gadgeteer	E Ink Pearl electronic paper with 16 greyscale levels and optical touch sensing
Front light
Front light	No integrated illumination	No built-in light; optional illuminated cover
Page turns and refresh
Page turns and refresh	Physical page controls, three text sizes and portrait or landscape orientation; numbered menu selection buttons	Finger swipe or physical page-turn buttons; six font sizes and adjustable contrast
Reading and writing
Stylus
Stylus	No	Yes
Page-turn buttons
Page-turn buttons	Yes	Yes
Audiobooks
Audiobooks	Yes	Yes
Storage
Storage	64 MB	2 GB (better)
Software
Software	Other	Other
Formats
Formats	BBeB, PDF, TXT and RTF; Word converted to RTF; JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP; EPUB and Adobe DRM supported with later firmware 2.0.00.09180 and compatible desktop software	EPUB, PDF and TXT; Japanese version also supports XMDF and .book content; JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP images
Book store
Book store	Computer-based CONNECT eBooks purchases offered at launch; memory-card file transfer also supported	Sony Reader Store at launch; books transferred through a computer
Stylus
Stylus	–	Included touch pen for annotations and handwritten memos
Note taking
Note taking	Bookmarks; no touchscreen annotations	Handwritten annotations, highlights, bookmarks, text notes and dictionary lookup
Connections and battery
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	–	Up to 2.5 weeks
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Maker claims approximately 7,500 pages with a fully charged battery	Built-in lithium-ion battery; up to 2.5 weeks reading 30 minutes per day under the maker's revised test, or approximately 10,000 continuous page turns; older test claimed 14 days at 75 minutes per day
Charging
Charging	Supplied 5.2 V mains adaptor or computer USB; fully depleted battery requires mains charging	Micro-USB computer charging approximately 3 hours; optional PRSA-AC1 adaptor approximately 2 hours
Connectivity
Connectivity	USB; shared Memory Stick/SD card slot; approximately 64 MB user-available storage	Micro-USB, SD up to 2 GB and SDHC up to 32 GB, Memory Stick PRO Duo; no Wi-Fi or 3G; approximately 1.4 GB user-accessible internal storage
Audio
Audio	Headphone output; unprotected MP3 and AAC audio only; playback while reading supported	Stereo headphone socket for unprotected MP3 and AAC, including compatible spoken-word files; no Audible DRM support stated
Design
Weight
Weight	–	215 g
Size
Size	Maker maximum dimensions 6.9 × 4.9 × 0.5 inches without soft cover; approximately 8.8 oz without cover	118.8 × 168 × 9.6 mm excluding projections; maximum 119.1 × 169.6 × 10.3 mm
Colours
Colours	–	Silver, red and black, depending on region
In the box
In the box	Reader, protective cover, mains adaptor and cable, USB cable and Windows CONNECT Reader software	Touch pen, USB cable, two dummy memory cards and documentation