PRS-T3 Sony PRS-T3 and lighted case impressions

[Wetdogeared]

Probably posted elsewhere, but here are the instructions on how to properly attach the lighted cover to the Sony PRS-T3.



*update* New thread has already been started here.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

I have to disagree with your assessment of the lighted cover. In my opinion, it's user error not a faulty case. I saw the reader in the store as well and played with the lighted cover. Sony will no doubt run into what you described and I witnessed but it's going to be user error not faulty hardware. People are going to B & moan about it ad nauseum.

The rep couldn't get the light to work and had to take it on and off a few times before it did. I do not find the contacts to be too small at all. They're the right size and work just fine IF the user snaps the case fully to the device that is. If not, then the contacts won't touch and the light either won't come on or it'll blink or have to be held down the way you did.

There are two locations to the left and right of the contacts that need to be snapped in in addition to the rest of the ones around the reader. If not all of them are snapped in, the light won't work.

I liked the T3 otherwise. I like not having a lighted device. I have a Paperwhite but I like to read without a light too and I love the look & feel of the Sony's. I didn't buy it because I want to wait for it to drop in price as it traditionally does a couple of months after launch. Then I'll buy it. My black T1 has decided to go wonky on me after only two years. Thankfully my red one is working just fine!

That does throw a different perspective on the light contacts, thank you

[Teknikal]

Seems like a step backwards to me user error or not, If theres one thing I actually really like about the T1 it's the fact the light takes a single triple AAA and last easily a few weeks even with a rechargeable.

It's the one thing Sony had actually done perfectly right in my opinion and now you have to align tiny contacts that also drain the reader and to finish the fact the light can't be repositioned either I'm very unimpressed.

I really think Sony readers are going backwards with each iteration, I'm guessing there is still no way to search the books a-z which is something I badly wish was still there given the size of my library.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Thanks for sharing your first impressions. Who knows when we'll be able to see one in the US! Were you able to see the different colors? Can anyone confirm please if the red & white are still glossy or have a matte finish now?

[Shopaholic]

Hi Bookworm! I only saw the red one. They didn't even have them out on display yet so I never saw the other colors but to me, it did look as if the shiny bezel was gone. I had my red T1 there to compare and to my eyes, it wasn't nearly as shiny. I don't know if I'd say it was completely matte but I don't think it's as shiny at all.

And yes I wonder too when it'll show up in the US. I find it really odd that it's not even on the Sony.com website!

[Bookworm_Girl]

Thank you! I'm really disappointed about the lack of built-in light since I use it frequently on my Kindle Paperwhite. Not sure the T3 is worth upgrading from my T2. However I could be tempted by the red one, especially if they have a sale around Christmas time.

[Lynx-lynx]

The problem I see with the lighted cover being sold separately is that, in Aus anyway, the covers rarely go on special and if they do then it's maybe by a couple of dollars.

So that still makes the T3 an expensive purchase even if the ereader is sweetly discounted.

[Kadje]

Sticking with the t1 in the mean time, and at the price I just bought another t1 for my mother.
The next two versions offer features I don't want or need, as I just want to read a book. With a light. The screen renews slightly better and the resolution is slightly better but the original works well with the case and light almost two years later so until there is a significant improvement in the reading experience I will be saving my money.
The one thing sony does well is design products that last, unlike my experiences with other e readers. I drop it, spill drinks on it, and cart it everywhere with no issues, which alone is worth an increased purchase price compared to notoriously unreliable kindles etc.

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by Kadje

The one thing sony does well is design products that last, unlike my experiences with other e readers. I drop it, spill drinks on it, and cart it everywhere with no issues, which alone is worth an increased purchase price compared to notoriously unreliable kindles etc.

I love my Sony but I also like Kindle. Where are you getting your info from that you say Kindles are notoriously unreliable? Never heard of it.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

I love my Sony but I also like Kindle. Where are you getting your info from that you say Kindles are notoriously unreliable? Never heard of it.

If you look around enough you can find complaints about all of the various brands to make you think they're all extremely fragile junk if you don't have any positive comments to even things out. I have dedicated devices from Amazon, Kobo, Sony & Bookeen and they've all been fine, some for many years. The older Sony's (505, 650) had a perceived better build quality due to their metal housings, but other than that I think all of the eInk devices are of similar quality. They all have the same type of glass substrate screens (with a few exceptions) which are generally their weak point as far as durability.

[speakingtohe]

I've been lucky so far with all my readers and I am not very careful of them Spilled dropped, carry around in pockets with change and other crap, and no damage. My wee 87 year old mother has had two kindles replaced and she treated them like gold. No screen or case damages, just thing came loose inside. Amazon replaced them immediately, but despite using a leather cover and carrying them around when she went out in a lined box, she still thinks it is her fault. She thinks maybe she squeezed the page turn buttons to hard with her poor arthritic hands.

Helen

[parkher]

So, the whiteness of the screen and the contrast is similar to T2?

Because I read a different impression:

"I love the new Sony reader, the screen has (to my eyes) far better contrast than that of PW, Glo and Aura HD. ... The text is black and crisp, background whitest I have ever seen"

I can confirm that Aura HD has a very similar contrast and whiteness and even the hue of the white color as T2.

However, T3 still uses Pearl when Kindle switched to a newer Carta.
This is a bit disturbing. Is now Sony a second-tier e-reader maker not allowed to use the newest e-ink screens?
I remember when Sony and Amazon did this together to others.

In any case, I will buy T3 if/when it is rooted. On T1 and T2 I am using Cool Reader and GoldenDict with the native Sony indexing of books switched off. So I need the same on T3 in order to consider buying it.

[Jasmine GreenTea]

After viewing a few videos of the new T3, there is one novelty I would like to mention (which was not mentioned here):

The T3 has more dictionaries available. Of special interest for those of us reading french is that there is a a French-French dictionary. It's called "Multidictionaire de la langue française".

I hope that the T3s sold in Europe also have similar dictionaries for Spanish, German or Italian.

[Jasmine GreenTea]

And, yest, the North American edition also has a

Dicctionario general de la Lengua Espanola Vox

Way to go, Sony!

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

If you look around enough you can find complaints about all of the various brands to make you think they're all extremely fragile junk if you don't have any positive comments to even things out.

That I understand completely. I myself pretty much lost all sense of reason when I first got the T1. I despised the new software and how it integrated with the device & toyed with returning it or chucking it against the wall I was so incensed. I merely had to get used to the software and adapt it to how I wanted to use the device. They're not going to change for me.

But what I don't understand is the poster using the word notorious. I really don't believe that at all applies to the Kindles. I get the feeling it's a post and dash bash of Kindle from a new user. Everything has problems but on the whole, I'd say Kindle is more known for being reliable than for not. Notoriously unreliable does not apply here.