Why Such High Sony E-reader Prices?

[Richwood]

T1 and T2 lighted cover for $16 including shipping.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Standa....c100290.m3507

[Ghitulescu]

Originally Posted by Richwood

T1 and T2 lighted cover for $16 including shipping.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Standa....c100290.m3507

I had one for my T1.
It doesn't work as one might think it will - the light is uneven due to its position and lack of strength.
It has to be always folded before closing the cover, and the cover does not interact with the reader, like the T3 cover does.

But it's a Sony

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Does the front flap flip over to the back? I'm afraid to try it on the covers I have because they don't look they're really designed to do that.

Yes, the Sony covers do flip back. I've only used Sony covers with my Sony Readers.

[Richwood]

Originally Posted by Ghitulescu

I had one for my T1.
It doesn't work as one might think it will - the light is uneven due to its position and lack of strength.
It has to be always folded before closing the cover, and the cover does not interact with the reader, like the T3 cover does.

But it's a Sony

True of all the lighted Sony covers IMO. No worse though than the lighted Kindle covers but the kindle versions lights deployed and closed much easier and all had lights that ran off of the internal reader battery. Sony only had that for the T3 light. Per a CNET review apparently the PRS-700 was the only Sony reader with a illuminated screen and it had such poor contrast that Sony never tried it again.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Yes, the Sony covers do flip back. I've only used Sony covers with my Sony Readers.

I got one with the 900. Very nice cover (I wish it was for my 950 instead). It's why I bought one of these for the T1/T2 lighted covers that Richwood linked to.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Richwood

True of all the lighted Sony covers IMO. No worse though than the lighted Kindle covers but the kindle versions lights deployed and closed much easier and all had lights that ran off of the internal reader battery. Sony only had that for the T3 light. Per a CNET review apparently the PRS-700 was the only Sony reader with a illuminated screen and it had such poor contrast that Sony never tried it again.

I've actually done a lot of reading in the dark with my Kindle lighted covers. I think the best of the batch is the one for the Keyboard. I've also used my E-Luminator quite a bit – and it's less than ideal also. It appears that the Sony lighted covers match the other lights I use pretty well – less than ideal, but usable. (I guess I'll see when the T1/T2 cover shows up – supposed to be tomorrow).

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I've actually done a lot of reading in the dark with my Kindle lighted covers. I think the best of the batch is the one for the Keyboard.

They were good for their day, but they can't even begin to compare with a frontlit screen for clarity of reading, to my mind. I can't imagine why anyone would still want to use such a thing!

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by HarryT

They were good for their day, but they can't even begin to compare with a frontlit screen for clarity of reading, to my mind. I can't imagine why anyone would still want to use such a thing!

If you had my eyes you would. I can't keep my eyes focused correctly when using front-lit eReaders (it's like I'm trying to focus on two levels and it doesn't work for me). As much as I don't like LCD screens for reading, it's easier for me to read on my Fire or Blackberry Q10 than it is on a front-lit reader. Since my Nook Simple Touch w/Glowlight is "primitive" and not as bright as modern front-lit readers, I can do better on it -- but after 20 or 30 minutes I'm pretty much done on that one also. I can read for hours at a time with my non-lit eReader and a lighted case.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rcentros

If you had my eyes you would. I can't keep my eyes focused correctly when using front-lit eReaders (it's like I'm trying to focus on two levels and it doesn't work for me). As much as I don't like LCD screens for reading, it's easier for me to read on my Fire or Blackberry Q10 than it is on a front-lit reader. Since my Nook Simple Touch w/Glowlight is "primitive" and not as bright as modern front-lit readers, I can do better on it -- but after 20 or 30 minutes I'm pretty much done on that one also. I can read for hours at a time with my non-lit eReader and a lighted case.

That's very unfortunate. Would you not still be better off with a modern reader, though, if you simply didn't use the light? Modern eInk "Carta" screens have far better contrast than the older generations of screens do.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's very unfortunate. Would you not still be better off with a modern reader, though, if you simply didn't use the light? Modern eInk "Carta" screens have far better contrast than the older generations of screens do.

I considered that. So I went to Barnes & Noble and tried out the GlowLight 3 with the light turned off. I can't see much difference. I think the higher resolution must be more noticeable with the front-light turned on. I also went to Best Buy with the aim of trying out the Kindle Paperwhite and Oasis 2, but the demo mode they use on them now doesn't allow you to actually try out the reader. Besides, the Kindle's light doesn't completely turn off anyhow (although they probably turn off enough that the light wouldn't be noticeable.

I'm actually happy with my selection of available eReaders. My favorite is now the Kindle 3 (Keyboard) -- since I mostly read library books and using the Kindle is the easy way to borrow them (in the U.S.). The Kindle Keyboard has a simple font, but it's clear and dark and I do a lot of reading on that device. I also like its lighted case better than the others.

[HarryT]

I would just note that the light of the Oasis 2 actually does turn completely off. Amazon also offer the "basic Kindle" which doesn't have a light. It has the same screen resolution as your K3 (167 dpi), but a later-generation eInk screen, which should offer better contrast.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I would just note that the light of the Oasis 2 actually does turn completely off. Amazon also offer the "basic Kindle" which doesn't have a light. It has the same screen resolution as your K3 (167 dpi), but a later-generation eInk screen, which should offer better contrast.

I've got the 8th Generation Kindle. I like it okay, but I like the Keyboard better because the fonts seem sharper. The 8th Generation is definitely "snappier" and has features the Keyboard doesn't, but once I'm in the book "turning pages" none of that really matters much.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Richwood

T1 and T2 lighted cover for $16 including shipping.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Standa....c100290.m3507

Ebay USA lists it too for 99 Cents American with shipping from Chima. Also one seller offering it as apparently excess inventory from Best Buy with gold plated connectors and in a plastic bubble pack.for $4 USA. Best searched for as a Sony PSP cable.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Rocketf...72.m2749.l2649

I got this cover and the cable in today. Both are very good quality. The "new" (almost literally new) T1 "likes" the cover and the cable does what I hoped it would do ... it allows me to charge my older Sonys from power packs. I couldn't do this when trying to charge from the power pack using a microUSB cable.

Unfortunately the covers are gone and they jumped up the price of the cables by $3 (from $4 to $7) a day or two after I bought mine. They're still worth it, though – long (6') and heavy duty.

BTW, thanks to Richwood for both links.

[Richwood]

I was going to suggest too that you take a look at the Kindle Basic as the current firmware with greater selection of fonts, font sizes and six levels of bolding (0 to 5) does allow more individualized reading font adjustment. As for the improvement over the Kindle Keyboard with e-ink pearl screen any contrast improvement is minimal IMO. Same resolution and I have compared them side by side. To me the Kindle 4 and 5 are the best of the pre touch screen Kindles due to light weight and page turn switches as long as you do not try to use the keyboard which is a PITA. The Kindle Touch is the last one with speakers if you use the MP3 and text to speech features.

Prior to Christmas Amazon had the Kindle Basic refurbished units available for $40. Same price offered during their earlier 10th anniversary Kindle sale too. Same warranty as the new ones and mine appeared to be new. Not a scratch on it. Quite a bargain unless you do not care for capacitive touch screens.

I still personally think that the Sony infrared touch screen was about the best of the ebook reader versions. Better than capacitive screens and better resolution than the Kindle Touch infrared screen.

[Richwood]

One thing I note about Sony is that their backwards compatibility apparently sucked. Per the manuals the T series dropped support for the original Sony ebook format files, those ending in .LRF and .LRX. Did they offer a conversion service or leave owners who updated their readers in the lurch? A Kindle 1 can still go online and buy Amazon books or download from an owner's Amazon cloud.