Sony DPT-S1 as a school/college reading companion

[xtech]

Ok, just got a little time to write this.

Sony may upgrade this product, but even in its current form, it is all good as a "reading companion" for schools/colleges/universities/home use.

1. As compared with Kindle DX and other 9.7 models, it is lighter.
2. The capacitative screen is very convenient when turning pages with a slightest movement of the fingure. I would have been greatly annoyed, if I had had to use some other stylus-only model.

3. Some software can be cut out, if this will bring the price down.
4. The screen is good enough for reading big size text-oriented textbooks.

Now, Sony get bring to the market new models, with new e-ink screen, updated software, but it will put it at some price of around $800. This is no good for many school/colleges, which do prefer to use tablets/notebooks both for reading/playing/navigating, and they will be very hesitant to buy such a thing for around $1000, when they can get away with some tablet.

So, just few students will be tempted to buy something merely for reading (occasional annotating) for $800, if they can buy 12.9 Ipad for the same price. Surely, Sony can position it as unique niche product, but my point it that a new "ultimate" version may remain at around up to $800 (I would prefer less, of course), but Sony may still continue to produce the current version regularly decreasing the price for it.

Now, when the flex epearl screen's price goes down, the Sony may offer it for the market at around $200.

Then folks can really consider buying it as the reading companion. Some textbooks, some books are just plain text. And this is where the Sony is perfect.

With all the new developments of screens by Apple, it is still not good for reading for hours.

I think that if Sony decides to send out her sample products to the educational departments of various countries, they may begin to recommend buying the device.

But the price should be much lower than $800, and the texts should be a little tuned by Calibre.

The Sony's system is closed, but there is a benefit to focus on the text itself, and not on the surroundings. If someone is willing to play, he can play with the tablet's tuninings.

[Randy11]

Originally Posted by xtech

But the price should be much lower than $800, and the texts should be a little tuned by Calibre.

The Sony's system is closed, but there is a benefit to focus on the text itself, and not on the surroundings. If someone is willing to play, he can play with the tablet's tuninings.

Two good points.

About the "closed system", the fact that only the PDF files can be read it's a too big limitation. PDF and EPUB are necessary. Yes, with a big screen a A4 paper can be read with the crop fonctions, but the EPUB format can offer more, you can change the font and his size, when you have some troubles with your eyes it's very important. An other reason, many users bought some EPUB files because it's useful on an 6" or 9" device, if only the PDF files are supported, the EPUB files must be converted.

If the DPT-S1 was able to read the EPUB files, I've already bought it.

[xtech]

Originally Posted by Randy11

Two good points.

About the "closed system", the fact that only the PDF files can be read it's a too big limitation. PDF and EPUB are necessary. Yes, with a big screen a A4 paper can be read with the crop fonctions, but the EPUB format can offer more, you can change the font and his size, when you have some troubles with your eyes it's very important. An other reason, many users bought some EPUB files because it's useful on an 6" or 9" device, if only the PDF files are supported, the EPUB files must be converted.

If the DPT-S1 was able to read the EPUB files, I've already bought it.

I use Calibre, converting files from various formats, with some tuning (setting margins, etc). Maybe some work can be done to adapt the Calibre for better conversion to Sony. I learned how to choose the better options in Calibre, but it may be the problem for some people. And without turing, there can be some problems with margins width, optimal font sizes.

Yes, Sony does zoom, but if the proper font sizes are not set in Calibre during the conversion, the outlook of some pdfs in Sony may be not entirely perfect, though readable.