Sony PRS T2 2T

Shop e-readers is offering the wireless PRS-T2 for pre-order at $180.  I can’t image how an e-ink reader can succeed at this price point. According to Good e-readers:

The main selling feature is the inclusion of Overdrive to let people borrow library books right on the Sony reader. The second major factor is the strong PDF support for reflow and augmenting the viewing experience. Word has it that one of the main new features is the inclusion of EPUB 3 support, which will help Sony compete in the Asian markets. EPUB 3 will allow for complex symbols and strong Japanese language support

5 COMMENTS

  1. Considering how much money I paid for the 650, (and I think it was worth every penny,) I think $180 for a premium reader that doesn’t try to tie you to an ‘ecosystem’ would be a good purchase. The keyword there, however, is Premium. Considering how badly Sony fumbled the T1, and never bothered to correct the more obvious flaws (italics and bold font styles intermittently just not working when a user selected font is used, for example.), it will take some work for Sony to convince me they have this mythical premium product.

  2. Sony, despite its problems seems to still have the delusion that they are a premium brand. When they were offering the PRS-505, 650, 300 and 350, their relatively high price was justified by both their excellent build quality, medal bodies and offering features no one else did (In the case of the early days of the 505 that included being essentially the only e-ink ereader available for most people). Now however, there really is not enough difference in features or abilities between the the Sony readers and the Kobo, Nook and even Kindle to justify the higher price of the Sony. I have a 505, and my wife has a 650… but if I was buying today, I would almost certainly be buying something else unless I got a really good deal.

  3. Never heard of ShopEreaders before, are we sure it’s reliable? They may be anticipating things a bit and the price might end up being lower. AFAIK Sony hasn’t even announced the T2 yet and if they had it would be available on more than that one site. Plus the pic on the site (and above) is a PRS-900.

  4. Apparently this has the same tried and true 800×600 resolution eInk screen that has been standard on other devices for a couple of years now. And all that marketing speak about improved pdf flow is very misleading. You’ll never be able to really read a pdf document on an 800×600 dpi screen no matter how many flow and zoom tricks they include.

    Really baffling to see Sony come out with a new model that brings almost nothing new to the table except a higher price point. That should go over very well with consumers!!

    As much as I love reading on eInk devices I’ll be the first to admit that eInk readers are not likely to have an upward trending market share. Tablets are all the rage. And tablets are undergoing rapid improvements along with continuous price drops.

    My only hope is that eInk readers continue as a strong enough niche product that they at least get some improvements. How about a slightly bigger and slightly higher resolution eInk screen for starters?

  5. This is why I don’t follow Teleread anymore. Poor naive Paul can’t see that those morons at Good e-Reader are a bunch of losers who make up stories just to get attention.

    The Shop eReaders store is owned by the guys that run Good eReader. They use the site as a platform and then they jack up the prices on all their devices and sell them to poor unsuspecting people that don’t know any better. Right now they have the old 9″ Pandigital novel for $299. It sells for $69 from Walmart.com.

    A legitimate online retail would not be able to take pre-orders for a product that doesn’t even exist yet. I don’t know how they continue to get away with ripping people off.

    The page for the PRS-T2 is just copy and pasted from a different listing and is showing the PRS-900 instead. They know nothing about the actual specs because Sony hasn’t even announced the device yet, much less put it up for pre-order.

    Those guys have no integrity whatsoever, and yet Paul continues to link to their stories all the time. It’s a shame.

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