Sony PRS-T3 gets its first hands-on (video)

[Alexander Turcic]

Roughly one day before the official Sony PRS-T3 unveiling, the guys at Librista managed to get their hands on a retail package of this new e-reader. We wish we had anything new to report other than what we've already mentioned in previous leaks, but we don't.

At least now we have some very nice hands-on photos to look at.

Update: And now we also have a video. Kudos again to Librista!

[Kaitou Ace]

So last year's reader, today, at next year's prices? $189, no light, same feature set (epub,pdf,txt), same 2GB, $60 for cover with light. The screen is an improvement, except plenty of readers moved to it last year.

Meh.

I guess if you really want Evernote...

[Ripplinger]

The $190 price for me would have been ok if it was a front-lit reader. Not as it is now though, even though it has a cover without a light. To have to spend another $60 for the cover with a light seems silly. You would think a better option would have been to sell the reader 2 ways, with the basic cover or with the lighted cover.

And not sure about this quote, knowing it's Goodereader, whether it's accurate. Normally the 2 left hand buttons on the device will turn pages.

There are no dedicated page turn buttons on the T3. When you are reading a book, you have the ability to swipe pages forwards and backwards.

[Nate the great]

Is it just me or do the pictures on the 2 sites look identical?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Is it just me or do the pictures on the 2 sites look identical?

That *might* be because Goodereader's pics come from Librista, including the Spanish captions.

Of particular interest is that Librista points out that you *have* to use one cover or the other as the covers provide the reader's back panel.

[ersott]

It´s sad, very little expectation whith this new sony reader.

quite logical, basically are the same ereader that t2 and t1, very overpriced, in Europe near to 200€.

and I was a very fan of sony ereaders ...

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Is it just me or do the pictures on the 2 sites look identical?

Apparently someone from Goodereader got the photos from Librista and unceremoniously stamped their watermark on them. I edited our first post to point out the actual source.

[poohbear_nc]

Unbelievable! This is the company that gave us the Walkman? Now giving us last year's ereader at this year's price? When you can get a non-front lit Kindle for $69? Words fail me ....

[doctorow]

Underwhelming. Sony once had all the chance to become the #1 hardware manufacturer for e-readers. First the Librie, then the PRS-500 - and nobody else. Too bad they didn't know what they had in their hands back then. Today they are still producing nice devices, but nothing breathtaking anymore.

[mr_nihilism]

So basically if one so chooses to remove the cover the device will be without a proper back on it? Whoever green-lit this design choice should bow their head in shame as they are properly and ceremoniously fired.

[spellbanisher]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Unbelievable! This is the company that gave us the Walkman? Now giving us last year's ereader at this year's price? When you can get a non-front lit Kindle for $69? Words fail me ....

They use to own the mobile music market. Then they got quashed by the ipod.

For two generations they dominated the console market, selling more than their competitors combined. The last generation they were knocked off by Nintendo and after seven years have finally surpassed Microsoft in marketshare.

They use to dominate monitors and televisions. Now those departments hemmorage money.

They were the first to bring eink to the market. Now they are losing to Amazon in their own home market.

With music, they failed to take advantage of the digital wave. Apple capitalized on the fears that digital piracy would destroy the music industry be creating an ecosystem and model that allowed you to download individual songs to your device for only $.99, encouraging people to start buying music again. The Sony Walkman flourished on the music industry's consumer unfriendly model of producing CD's with only one or two good songs on them. Sony failed to ride the digital wave and provide a user friendly experience for music consumers.

With consoles, they overestimated the value people placed on great hardware and put out a device that was much more expensive than the competition.

I don't know really what happened with monitors and televisions, other than that two decades of deflationary conditions have made it difficult for Japanese manufacturers to compete with Korean manufacturers.

Ereading has some similarities to their fall in music. They produced good hardware, but failed to account for the content side of ereading. Not only did they not provide a quick and easy way to get books on the device, but they failed to negotiate prices down. Before the Kindle, most ebooks were a lot more expensive than their paper counterparts. Sony seemed content with dominating a tiny market rather than growing that market. Amazon came around and offered bestsellers for $9.99 in 60 seconds or less, downloadable right from your device. The rest is history. Now Sony aint even producing the best hardware, and they are charging more than their competitors.

[MarciaCat]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

That *might* be because Goodereader's pics come from Librista, including the Spanish captions.

Of particular interest is that Librista points out that you *have* to use one cover or the other as the covers provide the reader's back panel.

Originally Posted by mr_nihilism

So basically if one so chooses to remove the cover the device will be without a proper back on it? Whoever green-lit this design choice should bow their head in shame as they are properly and ceremoniously fired.

I ran that paragraph through Google translate, this is what I got:

We are the first to test and write about the Sony PRS- T3 ! The first thing that attracts attention is that the cover is built into the ereader apparently can not be separated .

I'm assuming something got lost in translation, otherwise how could one switch to a lighted cover?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by MarciaCat

I ran that paragraph through Google translate, this is what I got:


I'm assuming something got lost in translation, otherwise how could one switch to a lighted cover?

They mention that adding/removing the SD card requires removing the back plate. So the cover can be removed/replaced but you can't use it without a cover.

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by doctorow

Underwhelming. Sony once had all the chance to become the #1 hardware manufacturer for e-readers. First the Librie, then the PRS-500 - and nobody else. Too bad they didn't know what they had in their hands back then. Today they are still producing nice devices, but nothing breathtaking anymore.

They did know what they had on their hands (PRS-500). In fact, this reader takes them back a good 5 years!!

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by MarciaCat

I ran that paragraph through Google translate, this is what I got:


I'm assuming something got lost in translation, otherwise how could one switch to a lighted cover?

Sounds a lot like the official cover Samsung had for the Galaxy Note. The back part actually snaps into the back of the device like the back of a cell phone. So you can change to a light cover but you can't go coverless. (unless you buy a separate back)