PRS-T1 My thoughts on the T1

[Avwriter]

Having picked up a black T-1 with lighted cover a few days ago, I wanted to share some thoughts on the device that some may find useful for comparison:

1. I had seriously considered a different color because of the glare issue, but I also wanted to buy from a local store so that I could return it if necessary. Not having a Sony store in my area, black was thus my only option. While it is very shiny, I have not found the glare to be distracting, even when using the lighted cover. This is of course a personal matter, and some will be more bothered by it than others. At least the metal strip on the black model is non reflective, though I wish they would have painted the hardware buttons black like they did on the 650.

2. Because of all the problems I have read about regarding the new Reader software, I have not connected the device to my computer at all, and have not installed the new software. Instead, I used the Wifi to download all my content from the Sony store, and side loaded a few other items using the micro SD card slot. Connecting to the Reader store was easy, but a little slow. I had a couple of freezes, but determined that this was only because I was repeating commands while waiting for the reader to respond. As long as I give the reader time to digest things, it seems to be fine. The same was true with using the SD card.

3. Flashing: Flashing was annoying during web surfing, but not while reading books and periodicals. During normal reading, I observed no more flashing than with my 350. I do not find the T-1 is very practical for web surfing other than using the Reader Store and public libraries. For those purposes, it is fully adequate.

4. Periodicals. Newspapers and mags are not delivered automatically. You must download each new issue through the "Purchased Content" button. Sony has a notice in the store that there should be an update coming to solve this issue at some point.

5. Battery life seems great. After four days of intensive reading, and quite a bit of Wifi use, the meter has only gone down one bar. Not bad at all. It charges fine from my HTC smartphone wall charger.

6. Interface: The new Android based interface works well overall, but I do miss having the battery indicator available when reading a book. It also seems that by now, Sony should have taken the hint from PRS+ and provided the option of a constantly available clock readout. I also noticed that they have removed the option of turning off the auto-standby mode. I do not see any reason why they should take control of the device. I wish that they would have at least given us the option of changing the timer, which is permanently set at 10 minutes. Personally, I would rather set it to 15 or 20 minutes.

7. The lighted cover: As others have mentioned, the quality of the materials is poorer than on previous covers. However, the functionality does not seem to suffer. In fact, it actually offers slightly better protection than the previous covers, since the corners and sides are nicely encased in the plastic box on the bottom half. It is not pretty, but it works, and for travelling it fits nicely with the case into my old M-EDGE Touring Sleeve for the 900.

8. Freezing. So far, I have only experienced freezing when pushing the unit to hard during Wifi use. I have not experienced the page flipping issue that some have reported.

9. Overall, I like it. It was not a necessary upgrade, and my 350 works fine, but I enjoy the bigger screen, the light weight, and it is nice not to have to connect it to my computer.

[SeaBookGuy]

How does the battery indicator work on the T1?

[vxf]

Originally Posted by Avwriter

Having picked up a black T-1 with lighted cover a few days ago, I wanted to share some thoughts on the device that some may find useful for comparison:

1. I had seriously considered a different color because of the glare issue, but I also wanted to buy from a local store so that I could return it if necessary. Not having a Sony store in my area, black was thus my only option. While it is very shiny, I have not found the glare to be distracting, even when using the lighted cover. This is of course a personal matter, and some will be more bothered by it than others. At least the metal strip on the black model is non reflective, though I wish they would have painted the hardware buttons black like they did on the 650.

2. Because of all the problems I have read about regarding the new Reader software, I have not connected the device to my computer at all, and have not installed the new software. Instead, I used the Wifi to download all my content from the Sony store, and side loaded a few other items using the micro SD card slot. Connecting to the Reader store was easy, but a little slow. I had a couple of freezes, but determined that this was only because I was repeating commands while waiting for the reader to respond. As long as I give the reader time to digest things, it seems to be fine. The same was true with using the SD card.

3. Flashing: Flashing was annoying during web surfing, but not while reading books and periodicals. During normal reading, I observed no more flashing than with my 350. I do not find the T-1 is very practical for web surfing other than using the Reader Store and public libraries. For those purposes, it is fully adequate.

4. Periodicals. Newspapers and mags are not delivered automatically. You must download each new issue through the "Purchased Content" button. Sony has a notice in the store that there should be an update coming to solve this issue at some point.

5. Battery life seems great. After four days of intensive reading, and quite a bit of Wifi use, the meter has only gone down one bar. Not bad at all. It charges fine from my HTC smartphone wall charger.

6. Interface: The new Android based interface works well overall, but I do miss having the battery indicator available when reading a book. It also seems that by now, Sony should have taken the hint from PRS+ and provided the option of a constantly available clock readout. I also noticed that they have removed the option of turning off the auto-standby mode. I do not see any reason why they should take control of the device. I wish that they would have at least given us the option of changing the timer, which is permanently set at 10 minutes. Personally, I would rather set it to 15 or 20 minutes.

7. The lighted cover: As others have mentioned, the quality of the materials is poorer than on previous covers. However, the functionality does not seem to suffer. In fact, it actually offers slightly better protection than the previous covers, since the corners and sides are nicely encased in the plastic box on the bottom half. It is not pretty, but it works, and for travelling it fits nicely with the case into my old M-EDGE Touring Sleeve for the 900.

8. Freezing. So far, I have only experienced freezing when pushing the unit to hard during Wifi use. I have not experienced the page flipping issue that some have reported.

9. Overall, I like it. It was not a necessary upgrade, and my 350 works fine, but I enjoy the bigger screen, the light weight, and it is nice not to have to connect it to my computer.

The no-delivery of subscriptions is a deal-breaker for me. I was already worried about not having 3g for auto-delivery. But now you say auto-delivery doesn't work at all?

Thanks for the info - that's very useful. Do you by any chance have a link to the store post in regards? I searched, but couldn't find it.

[Avwriter]

Originally Posted by vxf

The no-delivery of subscriptions is a deal-breaker for me. I was already worried about not having 3g for auto-delivery. But now you say auto-delivery doesn't work at all?

Thanks for the info - that's very useful. Do you by any chance have a link to the store post in regards? I searched, but couldn't find it.

I checked, but you cannot see this message when viewing the reader Store from a PC, so there is no link to include. However, when you view the store from the device, and select any periodical, there is a tabbed message labeled, "A note about delivery." It explains that when ordering periodicals that the first issue will be delivered automatically, but that subsequent issues must be accessed via the "Purchased Content" button. It also states that a future update will correct this issue. Honestly, it is not a huge hassle, just a couple of button clicks and a short wait for the Wifi to wake up, but it is certainly a step back from the 900/950. Hopefully, it will not be too long before they correct it.

[Avwriter]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

How does the battery indicator work on the T1?

The indicator works similarly to previous readers, but it is only visible from the Home screen.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by Avwriter

I checked, but you cannot see this message when viewing the reader Store from a PC, so there is no link to include. However, when you view the store from the device, and select any periodical, there is a tabbed message labeled, "A note about delivery." It explains that when ordering periodicals that the first issue will be delivered automatically, but that subsequent issues must be accessed via the "Purchased Content" button. It also states that a future update will correct this issue. Honestly, it is not a huge hassle, just a couple of button clicks and a short wait for the Wifi to wake up, but it is certainly a step back from the 900/950. Hopefully, it will not be too long before they correct it.

The thing is... when auto-delivery fails, on my 950, it takes 5-6 different screens to get to the delivery option... log into the store, click on my account, enter password, click sing-in, click on purchased content, click on periodicals, select WSJ, click on download past issues, select WSJ (AGAIN????), click on the issue. Then tab out to home and hope it did download, which half of the time is does not. If it does not work, repeat all of the above.

On a sluggish 3g and slow eink screen, it's pure torture.

But, truth is, auto-delivery has never worked properly on my 950 either. It misses issues regularly, on both my device and PC software - and it often freezes my device if I am reading while the auto-delivery kicks in. So, in this regard, it sounds like it won't be a big difference....

[Avwriter]

Based on your description, it is somewhat easier on the T1 (I would say about 3 screens), though granted it is still an annoyance.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by Avwriter

The indicator works similarly to previous readers, but it is only visible from the Home screen.

It's also at the top of the screen now and not at the bottom.

I suspect that the lack of T1 auto-delivery explains why syncing with other devices doesn't currently work. I think they were in a hurry to release the new product. Hopefully the update is coming sooner rather than later. For now it's really quick and easy to download periodical issues from the Reader Store Purchased Content button.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

It's also at the top of the screen now and not at the bottom.

I suspect that the lack of T1 auto-delivery explains why syncing with other devices doesn't currently work. I think they were in a hurry to release the new product. Hopefully the update is coming sooner rather than later. For now it's really quick and easy to download periodical issues from the Reader Store Purchased Content button.

Funny thing is... over the past week I can't get the WSJ on my 950. Auto-delivery fails and when i try to download from the store I get the 'downloading' icon, but then the issue does not appear on my device. I have to sync with the desktop software to the WSJ (while The Financial Times is delivering correctly). I don't know if this is somehow related... it used to work, in the past, although far from flawlessly.

[Kai Winters]

I spent some time over the weekend playing with the wifi...it is not very good as a wifi device...the b+w just does not work for anything other than text...which is awesome.
I am using the new "reader library" software with no problems at all.

I downloaded the new version of Calibre that works with the T1 but have not had the time to play around with it yet.

All in all I really like my T1 over my 300 but I had no problems with the 300 and my son is thrilled to get a new ereader.

[Scott Nielsen]

Originally Posted by Avwriter

7. The lighted cover: As others have mentioned, the quality of the materials is poorer than on previous covers. However, the functionality does not seem to suffer. In fact, it actually offers slightly better protection than the previous covers, since the corners and sides are nicely encased in the plastic box on the bottom half. It is not pretty, but it works, and for travelling it fits nicely with the case into my old M-EDGE Touring Sleeve for the 900.

I hate it. Aside from it feeling terribly cheap and floppy, which is bad enough, it's just not comfortable to read with it on. Also, if you hold the reader in your right hand, the flipped-back front cover keeps slipping. I must find an alternative cover as this nonsense will have me go back to the Kindle.

I'd also have preferred if the reader powered the light, as it does on the Kindle, but not a big issue.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by Scott Nielsen

I hate it. Aside from it feeling terribly cheap and floppy, which is bad enough, it's just not comfortable to read with it on. Also, if you hold the reader in your right hand, the flipped-back front cover keeps slipping. I must find an alternative cover as this nonsense will have me go back to the Kindle.

I'd also have preferred if the reader powered the light, as it does on the Kindle, but not a big issue.

Yeah, the covers for the T1 are a pretty big step back from the previous models. My 650 looks and feels like a book in the cover (only metal and circuits instead of paper).

The T1 feels like a device being shoved into something quite unlike a book cover. Hopefully the Gecko cover fares better.

[David58117]

I haven't had experience with the previous device covers, but I was relieved it uses standard batteries instead of draining the readers power or using nonstandard batteries. However, I much prefer the reader without cover, so I keep it in my old kindle 3 m-edge go jacket and will be saving the lighted cover for travel.

[Ebookworms]

I've visited to Sony retail shop and I played with T1 (displayed one).
And I found a problem going back to the main screen whenever I try to get the ebook list screen. The manager said the problem appeared because it is demo version. I want to know if anyone has this problem.

[Avwriter]

Originally Posted by Ebookworms

I've visited to Sony retail shop and I played with T1 (displayed one).
And I found a problem going back to the main screen whenever I try to get the ebook list screen. The manager said the problem appeared because it is demo version. I want to know if anyone has this problem.

No, I have not experienced this issue, so I suspect the manager was right.