I had a play with a PRS-T1 last night

[WendyH]

I went to an exclusive Sony product launch in Sydney last night and had a play with the new PRS-T1 Reader. It's very nice. I can't believe how light it is compared to my PRS-650!

They had the white, black and red ones there and the covers, lighted and without the light. The stylus no longer slides into the reader, it is now separate.
The case is plastic, not metal like the PRS-650, so it doesn't feel quite as solid, but it still feels very substantial and it really is much lighter.

The wifi feature is good, but a bit limited because you still can't use it to buy books. You can double tap on a word, like before, and it will go online to Wikipedia and you can check stuff out on Google, so it does have a browser.

They are being released for sale in Australia next month and they will retail for $179 AU, much less than the $299 for the PRS-650.

[Noobien]

Originally Posted by WendyH

I went to an exclusive Sony product launch in Sydney last night and had a play with the new PRS-T1 Reader. It's very nice. I can't believe how light it is compared to my PRS-650!

They had the white, black and red ones there and the covers, lighted and without the light. The stylus no longer slides into the reader, it is now separate.
The case is plastic, not metal like the PRS-650, so it doesn't feel quite as solid, but it still feels very substantial and it really is much lighter.

The wifi feature is good, but a bit limited because you still can't use it to buy books. You can double tap on a word, like before, and it will go online to Wikipedia and you can check stuff out on Google, so it does have a browser.

They are being released for sale in Australia next month and they will retail for $179 AU, much less than the $299 for the PRS-650.

Wow, that's a fantastic price!

[Pegster]

The stylus is separate? Oooo not liking that one... that sounds like a recipe for printing money for lost stylus!

[Ken401]

Wendy, did you happen to notice if the T1 web browser displayed in landscape? The 950 only does that in portrait which is pretty lame as you have to scroll left and right to see a page.

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by Pegster

The stylus is separate? Oooo not liking that one... that sounds like a recipe for printing money for lost stylus!

Well from videos and pictures over the last few days it was evident the stylus was seperate.

Not a big deal though. Probably good for people who are prone to losing that stuff or breaking it. If either happens you wont have to buy an expensive sony one to fill the hole in your ereader.

There are plenty of aftermarket stylus pens that are nicer than the one they provide for you and cost much less. So I think that its actually a great idea that it no longer docks on the ereader.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Tony1988

Well from videos and pictures over the last fedays it was evident the stylus was seperate.

Not a big deal though. Probably good for people who are prone to losing that stuff or breaking it. If either happens you wont have to buy an expensive sony one to fill the hole in your ereader.

There are plenty of aftermarket stylus pens that are nicer than the one they provide for you and cost much less. So I think that its actually a great idea that it no longer docks on the ereader.

I personally don't like the seperate stylus idea... I'd have prefered them to make a hole that will fit any generic stylus...

[WendyH]

Originally Posted by Ken401

Wendy, did you happen to notice if the T1 web browser displayed in landscape? The 950 only does that in portrait which is pretty lame as you have to scroll left and right to see a page.

Sorry, no, I didn't see it display in landscape. My son was there with me though so I will ask him when he gets home. He may have noticed.

The stylus has a hook like a ballpoint pen does so that you can hook it over your shirt pocket or it might even hook onto the case I think. The cases are much lighter and thinner than the ones for the PRS-650, they just look like a plastic folder.

Ken, I just asked my son, and he didn't see it in landscape either. I suspect it only displays in portrait.

[melmac]

Originally Posted by WendyH

The wifi feature is good, but a bit limited because you still can't use it to buy books. You can double tap on a word, like before, and it will go online to Wikipedia and you can check stuff out on Google, so it does have a browser.

Lucky you!

Did they specifically say you can't buy books ? I was just watching the 4min video of it on another thread and they speciifcally showed it sourcing books. I think it would be quite useless to have wifi if it can't be used to get books.

[CommonReader]

Thank you for telling us your first impressions. I can't say that I am personally happy about Sony's decision to go down the cheap and flimsy route. As many people look at the price first this was perhaps unavoidable, though. Not including the stylus in the body is obviously another cost cutting measure, no point to gloss over this. As to gloss, using glossy plastics doesn't look as such a good choice to me either, as it introduces irritating glare and attracts scratches and fingerprints. Let's just hope that companies like Noreve and proporta continue to produce high quality leather jackets to maintain at least some semblance of pleasurable quality.

As to buying books via Wi-Fi I guess that Sony simply has no book shop in Australia. For the very reason of having Wi-Fi Sony wants to start a German bookshop now - something they didn't have up to now.

[WendyH]

melmac, they said that you can't buy books via wifi in Australia because we don't have the Reader Store here. Sorry, I should have clarified. In countries with a Reader Store you would be able to as far as I know.
So in Australia it is pretty pointless having wifi.

CommonReader, it doesn't feel cheap and flimsy at all. It would if you were holding a PRS-650 in your other hand, but it doesn't on its own. It feels very solid, but light.

I am a bit disappointed that it is plastic, but I am sure it was to make it more competitive with the Kindle, and it really does look and feel much better than that.

My husband said I should sell my 650 on eBay before the T1 comes out, and I would probably make a profit on what I bought it for ($299) because nobody can buy them, then I could buy the T1 for $179, but I couldn't do it. I would hate to give up my 650, especially when it is a red one!

[viviena]

Originally Posted by WendyH

melmac, they said that you can't buy books via wifi in Australia because we don't have the Reader Store here. Sorry, I should have clarified. In countries with a Reader Store you would be able to as far as I know.
So in Australia it is pretty pointless having wifi.

That's disappointing but not a surprise. I wonder how well the T1 will do against the Kindle 3 or Kobo Touch, both of which are either available now locally or soon.

Though right now I can't help but oooh and aaaah over the new, shiny, pretty thing, there doesn't seem to be anything that would entice me to upgrade from my 350 or get an additional ereader. I do hope they introduce 5" and 7" models later down the line though, I would be very tempted to get a 7" particularly.

[krighton]

is there a link that confirms the release date as mid september (as stated in another thread).

[Iskariot]

This model is quite disappointing.
I want a stronger processor, 4Gb internal memory, text to speech, and stuff like that.
This thing has almost no new features at all, but instead of the distinguishing stylish brushed aluminum casing it has a cheap shiny plastic casing. And the external stylus is a big NO too.
This model has been released for the sake of price competition not for the sake of innovation.
The only thing I like so far are the enhanced customization options. But probably they could do that for my model too with the release of some new firmware.

As far as the release date is concerned Bol.com says 19.10.2011.

[vxf]

I am pretty disappointed as well, the more I hear about it.

I like the metal and the thick, leather covers. But that's a change I can live with.

But, above all, I like the integrated stylus. I am used to carrying around an iPad with a separate stylus - it's a huge pain in the backside. I don't like that one bit.

[RajS]

am pretty disappointed as well, the more I hear about it.

I like the metal and the thick, leather covers. But that's a change I can live with.

But, above all, I like the integrated stylus. I am used to carrying around an iPad with a separate stylus - it's a huge pain in the backside. I don't like that one bit.

You might want to think about storing your iPad stylus somewhere else then