Okay, who still LOVES their Sony?

[fgdas]

Originally Posted by emonti8384

So here's me, a proud Sony owner-who feels the same?

If DPT-S1 would be mine you bet I would be pretty happy.

[muse]

I love my old PRS-T1 after rooting it and reading with Cool Reader!

The internal reader is pretty terrible in this age to be honest; the only thing it allows to change is font size and fonts, and changing fonts doesn't work most of the time.

A problem is I have bricked the USB and Wifi because of firmware issues so now I have to load the books through the microSD card and charge the reader only in recovery mode.

I don't think I like Sony simply because they blocked access to the Linux kernel in thereader.

I like my old reader but not Sony.

[Teknikal]

I think Sony went to Android without providing the hardware to run it properly their T range were just too under powered and because of it crash prone.

I wasn't surprised at all when they lost the market but up until the end I kept hoping they would take it seriously.

[FacebookVirus]

Very happy with my PW2, but I do miss the note taking ability of the T1.

Also, my 350 is an ideal size, still working, and I still use it.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by FacebookVirus

Very happy with my PW2, but I do miss the note taking ability of the T1.

That's the price of having the light layer. I think it would be folly to be poking at it with a hard stick, as it would likely damage the layer and make it bright along the dents. So, no stylus.

[FacebookVirus]

Originally Posted by rkomar

That's the price of having the light layer. I think it would be folly to be poking at it with a hard stick, as it would likely damage the layer and make it bright along the dents. So, no stylus.

Ah, hadn't thought I'd that. My android can do handwritten notes, so no huge loss but it was a nice addition.

[auspex]

Originally Posted by muse

I love my old PRS-T1 after rooting it and reading with Cool Reader!

Well, I'd love that too. Unfortunately, they closed the loophole that allowed T1s to be rooted shortly after releasing the T2s, and my version can't be rooted (or at least nobody has figured out how to do so up to May of this year, when I last tried).

Generally, I wouldn't care if the wifi was broken—I update my books via calibre—but not having USB is a bit of a pain.

I don't agree with the other poster that the hardware is too underpowered to run Android. I've never had a crash that was due to Android: all my crashes occur when adding notes, and they're reproducible, so it's the reader software.

Honestly, if Sony wanted to buy some goodwill, they'd put out one last software upgrade that made it posssible to root all the Sony Android readers.

[muse]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

I think Sony went to Android without providing the hardware to run it properly their T range were just too under powered and because of it crash prone.

I wasn't surprised at all when they lost the market but up until the end I kept hoping they would take it seriously.

It's how they locked down the firmware after people started to root them that annoys me the most.

Originally Posted by auspex

Well, I'd love that too. Unfortunately, they closed the loophole that allowed T1s to be rooted shortly after releasing the T2s, and my version can't be rooted (or at least nobody has figured out how to do so up to May of this year, when I last tried).

Honestly, if Sony wanted to buy some goodwill, they'd put out one last software upgrade that made it posssible to root all the Sony Android readers.

It's really a shame what Sony did to PRS-T1 and T2. They might as well leave the reader with the old firmware or disable rooting in the first place. I don't see how messing with the current users will help with future sales.

Lesson learned: it's probably better to avoid companies who tend to locked down their software/hardware. That's one of the reasons I'm not getting the Kindle Voyage. I don't fancy being spied on by Amazon either.
PRS-T1 till I get a Aura H2O or something similar.

[auspex]

Originally Posted by muse

That's one of the reasons I'm not getting the Kindle Voyage. I don't fancy being spied on by Amazon either.
PRS-T1 till I get a Aura H2O or something similar.

Kobos are no less "locked down" than Kindles. fwiw, there aren't many Android devices of any sort that aren't locked. It's just that the really popular phones get a lot of people hacking on them to open them up.

[Teknikal]

[QUOTE=muse;2969125]It's how they locked down the firmware after people started to root them that annoys me the most.

I think that was probably for the best this forum was pretty full of people who rooted and had major issues basically bootloops/or worse and couldn't recover easily if at all.

I don't know what version of Android Sony used but I really suspect it was one of the very early ones and I think it was also stripped to the bone your far better with a cheap tablet or something if you want to play with Android apps.

[muse]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

I think that was probably for the best this forum was pretty full of people who rooted and had major issues basically bootloops/or worse and couldn't recover easily if at all.

I don't know what version of Android Sony used but I really suspect it was one of the very early ones and I think it was also stripped to the bone your far better with a cheap tablet or something if you want to play with Android apps.

There is a reason for that. Sony restricted access to the Linux Kernel and because of that, downgrade of firmware is not possible and there were conflicts if you used mods made for another firmware.

As long as you have firmware 1.0.05 or below, you can easily restore the reader in recovery mode. The community made a sd-rescue package for firmware 1.0.05.
There are also restore packages for other older firmwares.

It is almost impossible to brick the reader with firmware 1.0.05 and below.
Recovery mode is accessed through a recovery file on the microSD card so it doesn't matter how corrupted the OS is. (Linux kernel access is disabled so you can always entered recovery mode as long as it is powered).

I'm restricting your freedom in case you hurt yourself.

Doesn't that sound familiar?

T1 runs Android 2.2.1.
I myself root the reader to install Android apps, such as a much better reader like Cool Reader or better dictionaries or even Dropbox for cloud storage. There is even a wiki page for working apps on T1.
No one should be trying to play Angry birds on it.

Originally Posted by auspex

Kobos are no less "locked down" than Kindles. fwiw, there aren't many Android devices of any sort that aren't locked. It's just that the really popular phones get a lot of people hacking on them to open them up.

It seems are readers from both companies can be modded and firmware downgradable(to allow modding), unlike Sony.
However, I dislike how I have to create an Amazon account to use it (or have some functionalities disabled) or have my reading habits uploaded to their servers. In that regard, I think Kobo is more open.

We don't need any more surveillance.

You are mistaken about Android phones.
Phones nowadays ships with locked bootloaders for security reasons, which can be unlocked through the manufacturers' website, no hacking necessary. Once that is done, anything is possible - custom recovery, rooting, custom ROM, updating of radio firmware etc.
Anyway, Android (AOSP) itself is open sourced and pretty much 'made for modding'.

I got into Sony ereaders late in the game, with a T1, and really enjoyed it for reading.

Unfortunately, I also enjoy modifying the software on my devices. On that front, I found the T1 exceedingly fragile and I ended up breaking it. I think, in the future, I'll stick to Kobo devices since they are much friendlier on that front.

muse: I was under the impression that unlocking the bootloader was vendor dependent. If you do you research and find a vendor that ships with an unlocked bootloader or provides a service to unlock your bootloader, you're in good shape. Since there is a multitude of Android devices out there, it's also a good idea to verify that there is a working recovery and firmware before making the purchase. (For most popular devices, there will be. For the less popular devices, you'll either have to spend a great deal of time developing your own solution or have to deal with potential bugs.)

[muse]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I got into Sony ereaders late in the game, with a T1, and really enjoyed it for reading.

Unfortunately, I also enjoy modifying the software on my devices. On that front, I found the T1 exceedingly fragile and I ended up breaking it. I think, in the future, I'll stick to Kobo devices since they are much friendlier on that front.

muse: I was under the impression that unlocking the bootloader was vendor dependent. If you do you research and find a vendor that ships with an unlocked bootloader or provides a service to unlock your bootloader, you're in good shape. Since there is a multitude of Android devices out there, it's also a good idea to verify that there is a working recovery and firmware before making the purchase. (For most popular devices, there will be. For the less popular devices, you'll either have to spend a great deal of time developing your own solution or have to deal with potential bugs.)

That is what I said if you read my reply.

Almost all manufacturers provides the service to unlock the bootloader nowadays. Unlockable bootloaders are a thing of the past.

As for the reader, do you mean breaking or bricking?

[auspex]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

I don't know what version of Android Sony used but I really suspect it was one of the very early ones and I think it was also stripped to the bone your far better with a cheap tablet or something if you want to play with Android apps.

No, you're not. And saying so suggests you don't have the first inkling of what makes an eInk reader superior to a tablet. Sony Readers (running Android 2.3, iirc) could be used perfectly well for running _reader_ apps. And a few other things. You don't want to be running HD games on them, of course, but there are probably a half-dozen apps that could do a better job of presenting books than the Sony app does.

[auspex]

Originally Posted by muse

No one should be trying to play Angry birds on it.

LOL. But absolutely true.

Originally Posted by muse

It seems are readers from both companies can be modded and firmware downgradable(to allow modding), unlike Sony.
However, I dislike how I have to create an Amazon account to use it (or have some functionalities disabled) or have my reading habits uploaded to their servers. In that regard, I think Kobo is more open.

You don't have to have an Amazon account to sideload books to your Kindle. You do have to have a Kobo account to download books from Kobo to your Kobo reader. So I really don't see the difference.

That said, I prefer to deal with Kobo than Amazon, but I do deal with both.

Originally Posted by muse

We don't need any more surveillance.

True, 'dat.

Originally Posted by muse

You are mistaken about Android phones.
Phones nowadays ships with locked bootloaders for security reasons, which can be unlocked through the manufacturers' website, no hacking necessary.

Like hell... If I could unlock my phone through Samsung's website, I'd be thrilled. It took hackers to do it, thanks.

Originally Posted by muse

Anyway, Android (AOSP) itself is open sourced and pretty much 'made for modding'.

Yes, and no. The telcos, who still supply most of the phones in North America, quite rightly believe that allowing just anybody to modify their phones would be a support nightmare. But a simple agreement that rooting your phone makes it entirely your own responsibility should be sufficient.