Sony PRS-T3 officially announced

[speakingtohe]

I would guess judging by the people I have encountered that there is a reasonably substantial number of people who buy ereaders as Christmas gifts for others who have never used one themselves.

Many will buy online, but for those who buy in store a slick integrated cover could be as big a selling point as other features.

When I was buying my PRS 350 the Sony store was the only store that actually had a working model. Future Shop, Staples and Walmart either had them behind locked cases in sealed boxes or non working models on display. Same last year with the Sony T2, the Kobo Glow and mini. And this is in Vancouver, a fairly big city. The Aura HD was on display working in a bookstore when it came out at least. And the light did not really show off well in the store.

People who have a front light and love it will want the light. Others may go for the snazzy case that puts the reader to sleep instead.

Perhaps Sony is not as interested in ereader development as I would like, or perhaps they are taking a holding position while developing a leading edge product. (my fondest dream)

Still their company, their choice. If they chose to spend more time on other product lines, most likely they have sound reasoning behind this choice. I see no reason for all the wringing of hands and too bad they can't make anything nice anymore whinging. Sony is a lot more financially successful than I could ever hope to be.

Helen

[samy2]

Originally Posted by simplyparticular

and then STILL using the glossy finish on the readers.

Not on all colours. It rather funny:;

T1: All colours are glossy
T2: red and white glossy, black not glossy (i had black one!)
T3: white glossy, black and red are not glossy

So on the T3 it's just the white one which are glossy. The red and black one are not glossy. You can see it you look on reviews which shows the black and the red one.

[speakingtohe]

I have a red T1 and don't notice the glossy while reading. When I am not reading, I notice it even less.

Sometimes I read in bed with a glossy multicolored bag of chips right beside the Sony and I only notice the bag when I reach for a chip and can't find it because someone has snitched it while I was reading

Helen

[samy2]

I'm owning an black T1. And I reading often inside and outside. I have no problem with the glossy. But there are some scratches you can see better on a glossy reader. For a view month I had the black T2, that's matt not glossy. I wouldn't prefer glossy but it's not as bad as it sounds, at least with an black reader. Maybe white an glossy is more reflecting? Don't know.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by robko

The thing that is generally being missed in all this discussion is that while the points being made (on both sides) are quite applicable to the people reading these forums BUT the people reading this forum represent a small (and likely tiny) portion of the e-reader buying public. While you and I may know what we want/like in an e-reader, probably the majority of buyers don't (at least on anything more than a superficial level). These devices are sold/marketed for mass consumption so you need to look at if from the perspective of a buyer who probably doesn't know or care about a lot of the features that we love or hate. If you look at it from that perspective, a reader with a light that costs the same/similar or less is automatically going to come across as a better deal to to the AVERAGE buyer (not necessarily the case to a more educated buyer) because they are getting another very obvious feature. Again I say this is what the AVERAGE buyer (who likely make up the majority of buyers) perceive. Yes there is a market for a reader specifically without a light and a reader with buttons, but the reality is that those more niche markets and I doubt you can make successful business case for them as a mass market reader. Alas, the same can be said for the possible large (13"?) reader that Sony is developing. I'd love to have one, but it's likely going to be really expensive because it likely doesn't have broad market appeal.

And how do you know what the average buyer wants?

[Ndaara]

In my experience, the vast majority of people choose to read on their tablets and are not bothered by back-lighting. Very few want e-ink. Since I don't care to read novels on my tablets (yes, I have more than one), I am very concerned that e-ink remains financially viable. I'm particularly interested in the Sony devices, since that's what we chose several years ago.

Since I'm already a happy Evernote user, I'm very interested in the Evernote integration too! Yet I don't think anyone's mentioned that in 6 pages of comments. Am I the only Evernote user here? I would LOVE to clip articles from the web and read them later on my e-ink device! That may be the biggest selling point.

That, and Husband is still using my old Sony 300, without a dictionary. He'd very much like to inherit my 350 with a dictionary, if I were to pick up a new reader.

[BadBilly]

Man oh man. I missed the press release that requires everyone to turn in their e-readers and get a Sony T3. Could someone please direct me to it? It must exist. I can't see any other reason why people who don't think it's the right reader for them would get all worked up.

No front light, that's true. That may be very important to some, one way or the other. If they had executed a front light well, I'd probably say it was a good thing. The lighted cover, however, looks pretty sweet and would probably do the job for me, though it's not an absolute necessity.

What it does come with is a cover. Given that I want a cover, that adds value because it's twenty bucks I don't have to spend getting a basic cover. It'd be nice if they offered the choice of getting it with plain or lighted cover, rather than making you get the one with the plain and shell out separately for the fifty bucks the cover is priced at in Canada. That's probably not going to happen. But it is a sleep cover, so that's nice.

Another value to me is buttons. I like the buttons on my T1. I'm not sure about these funny shaped buttons, but at least it has buttons. Saying you don't use or want buttons mean that it's irrelevant is stupid. It means that's not a value to you, so make your decision accordingly, but it doesn't mean it's not a distinguishing feature. For those that want buttons, it make be a deal-maker.

The screen is higher resolution, which will probably be nice. Not as high as some, higher than it was. Since there is no light-layer to get in the way, it will likely look just fine.

The Europeans seem to get great dictionaries, but not here in Canada, where we get two English dictionaries and just French/English and Spanish/English. This, even more than the lack of MP3, is probably the reason I'll hold on to my T1 as long as it works. If I got all the same dictionaries I get with the T1, I'd be tempted.

Now, to the pricing. At $130 in Canada and $50 for the lighted cover, that's $180. Paperwhite is $140. If I want the fancy sleep cover from Amazon, that's $40. So, $180. Kobo Aura is up for pre-order at $150. No cases on the site here, but Aura HD sleep cover is $25. If similarly priced, about $175. So, all three come in at about the same price if similarly equipped. So, I don't see the point to all the crazy talk about how the Sony is grossly over-priced. It's not budget priced, but it's about the same amount out of pocket for similar functionality.

Now, Kindle is out because I don't want mobi and it doesn't work with my public library. Kobo does not inspire confidence with all the bad stuff I hear about the firmware and no buttons. For me, the Sony would be the best choice if I were buying one now because it fits how I want to use it. If somebody else wants to use a reader a different way and finds a better fit with another set up, great. I hope they enjoy their reading.

Frankly, all the "it's not as good as my reader" sounds like people who are trying to convince themselves they made the right purchase.

[cfrizz]

Those of you who are techno geeks obsess over the specs, the rest of us simply don't care. We look for a reader that has every thing WE think is of value to US and that is what we get.

If it has buttons to turn pages, has an SD card or a minimum of 32GB of storage without an SD card slot and a nice readable screen, that is the reader I will buy. I don't care if all that tech came out last year or 10 years ago. So long as it has everything that I want it to have at a price I am willing to pay then that is what I will get.

So just stay here and yammer ad-nauseum about the specs while the rest of us go and get what suits us regardless of them!

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by BadBilly

Now, to the pricing. At $130 in Canada and $50 for the lighted cover, that's $180. Paperwhite is $140. If I want the fancy sleep cover from Amazon, that's $40. So, $180. Kobo Aura is up for pre-order at $150. No cases on the site here, but Aura HD sleep cover is $25. If similarly priced, about $185. So, all three come in at about the same price if similarly equipped.

I didn't realize that. Interesting. And that lighted case is compact being part of the case. It doesn't look quite as bad as I thought.

[BadBilly]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I didn't realize that. Interesting. And that lighted case is compact being part of the case. It doesn't look quite as bad as I thought.

Yep. I think you have to factor in the cost of a case into a comparison. It was the first thing I had to get. Even at bargain prices, I can't afford a new reader if my wife damages hers or I damage mine. The included cover adds value. Any reader I buy, I'll want a cover. The cost of that was always something I factored into my overall purchase price.

I corrected my arithmetic error. Kobo Aura with sleep cover would likely be about $175. Still, they're all priced similarly and which one to choose depends on what factors are important. If you're on a budget, none are the right choice. A refurbished T1 with an unlit cover can be had from Sony Canada for $60, so there are cheaper options.

[SuzanneTF]

This Reader is starting to grow on me, although I was really really hoping for one with a "glow" screen. Two features I've really enjoyed form my T1 were the ability to play mp3s (not a deal breaker), read ePub, and the ability to have a custom screensaver.

Doesn't Sony have some kind of trade-in program for old devices? My T1 has some black little blotches that have developed on the screen so I can't really sell it if I upgrade but it might be nice to get a discount on a new device.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Ndaara

Since I'm already a happy Evernote user, I'm very interested in the Evernote integration too! Yet I don't think anyone's mentioned that in 6 pages of comments. Am I the only Evernote user here? I would LOVE to clip articles from the web and read them later on my e-ink device! That may be the biggest selling point.

Used for that purpose, it's not a selling point over Kobo -- Pocket integration is going to be included from mid-September.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by meeera

Used for that purpose, it's not a selling point over Kobo -- Pocket integration is going to be included from mid-September.

I have to admit Pocket integration is something that really interests me with the Kobo, I have 100 of pages saved in Pocket I just don't get around to reading. Short stories I can be bothered to save and read on my Kindle.

[BadBilly]

Originally Posted by meeera

Used for that purpose, it's not a selling point over Kobo -- Pocket integration is going to be included from mid-September.

I don't think you understand what a selling point is. Ndaara already uses Evernote and thinks it would be great to have it integrated with an e-reader. That is a selling point. A point that would push Ndaara (or me, who also uses Evernote but not Pocket) to favour a Sony over a Kobo, all other things being equal. Not important to you does not mean not important to somebody else.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by BadBilly

I don't think you understand what a selling point is. Ndaara already uses Evernote and thinks it would be great to have it integrated with an e-reader. That is a selling point. A point that would push Ndaara (or me, who also uses Evernote but not Pocket) to favour a Sony over a Kobo, all other things being equal. Not important to you does not mean not important to somebody else.

Eh, different readings. I didn't read "That may be the biggest selling point." as a "for me" statement, because of the "the", and the lack of a "for me" or a "my" in the sentence; compounded by the brand newness of the Pocket integration announcement and the fact that many may be unaware of it. It may well have been meant that way, though. No biggie.

English is my first language. If it wasn't, I'd probably be interpreting your opening as a helluva lot ruder. I'm well aware of its propensity for ambiguity. We're all friends here, hey?