Sony Reader Owners: What Are Your Initial Impressions Of The PRS-T1?

[mbelec]

Maybe Sony decided to appeal to more new reader buyers with a less costly product? Maybe they were even hoping to rope in a few Kindle owners? Or, maybe they assumed that those who already have a 650 won't upgrade anyway? After all, the 650 is a pretty good device already and I'm one of those who doesn't see a need for wifi.

I, myself, don't see anything I want to trade my 650 in for. Well, except maybe for the new clamshell tablet? O

[krighton]

newegg taking preorders for the device, first i've seen.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...rder=BESTMATCH

the Pottermore edition is the Harry Potter special edition one....sure to be sold out first.

[Harmon]

I own a 650. The question for me is whether to "upgrade" to the T1. Frankly, if I only had a Sony EBR, I'd be tempted. But the problem is that, putting aside touch, everything the T1 does the K3 already does, and better. T1 has wifi; K3 has wifi plus 3G. T1 has bookstore access; K3 has a better bookstore to access. T1 has library access; K3 will have it soon. And so far, at least, the T1 does not interact with Instapaper, Send to Kindle, or Readability. I use these three services to organize my K3 reading.

I've worked out a system for using these two EBRs. The K3 travels around with me to work, on the plane, etc. The 650 stays at home by my bedside.

So basically, I have the bases covered by having 2 EBRs, and replacing the 650 with the K3 adds nothing for me, since it's basically a less useful K3.

Even though I've always preferred actually reading on the Sonys.

[Asawi]

Originally Posted by Harmon

....putting aside touch, everything the T1 does the K3 already does, and better.

....

Even though I've always preferred actually reading on the Sonys.

Soooo... actually the K3 does not do "everything" better (if the T1 is similar to the 650). Reading is he main, close to only, use for my eReaders.

(But I do agree. As I have said earlier, not much reason for people with 650:s to get the new one. But lots of people who may have wanted a 650 but found them too expensive may get this instead.)

[Ashjuk]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Sadly, that's not entirely true for the x50. I have only 1 microSD charger (or rather, a charger where I can insert my own USB cable). That one works. I have 2 car (sigaret) chargers. One works, the other doesn't. My mother has a microSD charger (from her phone). It doesn't work. I bought a new one for her (a generic one, from a company that sells phone chargers) and that one works. Why? Don't know. What's the difference? No clue... And if you read about the x50 and wall chargers, you'll see the same thing everywhere: some work, some don't.

Very true, which is why I said "Why not buy a charger specific to your reader?" I bought mine as a charger for the Sony PRS 650 and it works! If you buy one advertised as for your reader and it does not work you send it back.

Just buying a generic charger with a micro USB plug is always going to be hit and miss.

There are plenty of chargers available advertised as being for Sony readers and, as I said, mine was less than £5, so I can't really see what the problem is.

[astra]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I wonder how many people will be boasting about their T1 a couple of years down the road.

Good question

Originally Posted by Harmon

putting aside touch, everything the T1 does the K3 already does, and better

{SNIP}

Even though I've always preferred actually reading on the Sonys

Originally Posted by Asawi

Soooo... actually the K3 does not do "everything" better (if the T1 is similar to the 650). Reading is he main, close to only, use for my eReaders.

Reading is the only reason I buy ebook reader for.
Reading ebooks.

[Analogus]

Originally Posted by Ashjuk

Very true, which is why I said "Why not buy a charger specific to your reader?" I bought mine as a charger for the Sony PRS 650 and it works! If you buy one advertised as for your reader and it does not work you send it back.

Just buying a generic charger with a micro USB plug is always going to be hit and miss.

There are plenty of chargers available advertised as being for Sony readers and, as I said, mine was less than £5, so I can't really see what the problem is.

I agree in all. And that is why I said:

Being able to load only via USB is a disadvantage over the former models (e.g. PRS300).

With a second possibility to charge a reader you should be on the safe side.

A.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Ashjuk

Very true, which is why I said "Why not buy a charger specific to your reader?" I bought mine as a charger for the Sony PRS 650 and it works! If you buy one advertised as for your reader and it does not work you send it back.

Just buying a generic charger with a micro USB plug is always going to be hit and miss.

There are plenty of chargers available advertised as being for Sony readers and, as I said, mine was less than £5, so I can't really see what the problem is.

I've only once seen a charger that was advertised as being for the Sony x50 readers (beside the horribly expensive Sony ones). And that's the one I bought for my mother

Originally Posted by Analogus

I agree in all. And that is why I said:

Being able to load only via USB is a disadvantage over the former models (e.g. PRS300).

With a second possibility to charge a reader you should be on the safe side.

A.

For me, it's not a disadvantage. Right now, I only have USB chargers (rather, 1 charger where I can put my own cable in). Even if the x50 had an alternative way of charging, I'd probably not even use it. So, it might be a disadvantage for you, for me, I couldn't care less as long as USB charging is supported.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I own a 650. The question for me is whether to "upgrade" to the T1. Frankly, if I only had a Sony EBR, I'd be tempted. But the problem is that, putting aside touch, everything the T1 does the K3 already does, and better. T1 has wifi; K3 has wifi plus 3G. T1 has bookstore access; K3 has a better bookstore to access. T1 has library access; K3 will have it soon. And so far, at least, the T1 does not interact with Instapaper, Send to Kindle, or Readability. I use these three services to organize my K3 reading.

I've worked out a system for using these two EBRs. The K3 travels around with me to work, on the plane, etc. The 650 stays at home by my bedside.

So basically, I have the bases covered by having 2 EBRs, and replacing the 650 with the K3 adds nothing for me, since it's basically a less useful K3.

Even though I've always preferred actually reading on the Sonys.

T1 has changeable fonts. K3 nope. Not at all. T1 has ePub. K3 nope. Not at all. T1 has an onscreen keyboard. K3 nope. It has that physical keyboard. T1 has a very nice touch screen. K3 nope. It has some physical page turn buttons that aren't as easy to use.

Really, most of what the K3 has, the T1 now has. And the fact that the T1 is ePub is a big deal. K3 has mobipocket. Big minus.

[adbosch]

I'm afraid selecting a book goes through the same nasty 'collections' mode we know from the existing Sony readers. I do hope Kartu will manage a software allowing users to browse through folders as each user wants them to be.

[Flip Martian]

The T1 looks very nice (although the pink/red one looks more garish than my pink/red 350). Its well priced and looks "similar" to the old *50 series. Looks a smart piece of kit and more modern/funky than Kindle (to me at least). The pricing point as well must make them more competitive - all down to the marketing now. Its an attractive, well priced reader, designed to appeal to people looking to buy an e-reader.

I doubt Sony will give 2 hoots about a few moaning minnies on a web forum who already own the latest (last model) Sony and don't want to upgrade to this. No disrespect intended but we're not the market for this (our e-readers only being a year old at best).

[mediax]

I'm not overly impressed with what I've read about the T1 so far. I upgraded from a PRS-505 (now donated to a very grateful son-in-law) to a PRS-650 and don't see anything in the T1 to tempt me to upgrade again.

As with several others who have posted in this thread, I use Calibre to manage my ebooks (which I obtain from a variety of sources. I have no great need or desire for WiFi - particularly if it would mean my being tied to one supplier.

I'm happy with the weight, feel and build quality of my 650 and my only real gripe is with the lousy selection of lighted covers available. I don't know if the T1 will handle PDFs significantly better than its predecessors, but I'll be (very pleasantly) surprised if anyone comes up with a reader than gives me a good reading experience with my Open University course materials on anything much smaller than an A4 screen.

The only potential area I can see where the T1 might tempt me is speed - faster loading of books and turning of pages would be nice, but it's hardly going to seal the deal (for me, at least).

[mediax]

Originally Posted by Analogus

2) There are rumors that battery degrades every charge done. So, when loading your ereader say every day with new content (for example newspaper) you degrade battery with every load cycle. Once a day.
But besides: With WiFi you don't have that problem for you can load content on the reader without starting a new load cycle.

Another way of avoiding this is to store your library on an SD card, which you remove from the Reader and connect to your PC using a suitable USB adaptor. Works well with Calibre or drag and drop updates, not sure about other software.

[Analogus]

Originally Posted by mediax

Another way of avoiding this is to store your library on an SD card, which you remove from the Reader and connect to your PC using a suitable USB adaptor. Works well with Calibre or drag and drop updates, not sure about other software.

The PRS350 for example doesn't have a card slot ;-)

Concerning card slot: I forgot one distinct advantage (for 0,0001% of users) of a card slot:

When you brick your reader with experimenting on altering the operating system a cardslot can help to unbrick it.


A.

[peitsao]

Well, the font choice is an improvement, but it looks like the left and right edges are still too thin. With the 350, I had trouble touching the screen when I held it to read, and had hopes that the new model would have a better edge grip, but now it's worse with the shiny, thin plastic. Probably be easier to break the screen as well.