The Sony Reader PRS-T1 is on sale from a number of retailers this week for $129, including Sony.com and Amazon. It’s only been out for little over a month, so it’s about time they marked the price down. It normally sells for $149.
If you are a student, you can get a further discount from Sony, knocking the price down to $116 at their Education Store. Sony also has bundled packages from both stores that come with covers and ebook gift cards.
The Sony PRS-T1 is a really good ebook reader for that price because it is the most advanced 6-inch ereader on the current market. I’ve been using mine a lot lately because I really like the fonts, the web browser is hands-down the best of any ereader, library ebooks are easy to get, and the advanced note-taking features are a definite plus.
Another thing that is really cool with the PRS-T1 is that it can be hacked to run Android apps. If you want to read Kindle books or install a different ereader program like Cool Reader, you can. It’s not as nice as a rooted Nook Touch is for running Android apps, but it is functional, and it supports audio unlike the Nook.
Here’s my PRS-T1 review for more info about it. It has some quirks but is a good ereader overall. I would recommend it, especially for the more advanced users. Sometimes it can get slow and funky with PDFs but I haven’t had any problems at all with reading EPUB ebooks and using the web browser. With all these quality low-priced ereaders now I’m sure glad I don’t have to choose one.
Sorry for the delay on posting this, folks. It’s been on sale for several days now but it’s been a busy week.
[Sigh] It’s not on sale in Canada.
Nathan, given this development, do you think Sony might, just might, do a 7 inch screen version? I’m assuming the price cut is due to sluggish sales, but I would wonder why, given the high quality of the product.
Jim,
I don’t think we will ever see another 7 inch reader from Sony again. I think the future lies in developing e-ink tablets, that can be all things to all people, in a range of sizes, including your beloved 7 incher.
Purcelljf,
If so, then an even larger screen makes sense where you can display a regular size sheet of paper without having to zoom up size.
I have to agree with purcelljf. I don’t think Sony will be releasing any 7 or 5-inch ereaders again, especially since they only sold the 950 for like 8 months before pulling it altogether—that’s the most telling sign.
I read on amazon were someone had said the battery had only lasted about 3 days is this true? concerned about this due to having a nook classic which does only last 3 days,I have had the battery replaced at the store twice.
Thank you for all the reviews
I have had pretty decent battery life so far, even with experimenting with rooting. I think I’ve charged it twice since I’ve had it, which has been about a month.
Though I have seen photos of the red one, I have yet to see the red on display. Fry’s had one boxed but not for view. I couldn’t believe even a Sony store I visited did not have a red one. I need to see it. I don’t want to buy it blind.
Has anyone tried some steel wool on the finish to reduce the gloss on the plastic frame?
I don’t want to scratch it. I’m going to wait for Decalgirl to get some skins. The glossiness is annoying with the reading light.
Jim,
Sales could be sluggish due to recent product announcements from Amazon and B&N and/or Sony just wanting to compete on price.
Sorry, but my english, as you can see, is not good. But, however, I want to thank you for all the news about this e-reader you have wrote: they encouraged me to buy it and I finally have got it. I hope Sony release a new firmware in order to make it as fast as the nook touch.
I just checked the Sony site, and while it looks like this particular sale is over, they are now offering a $50 trade in credit for any brand e-readers towards their new e-readers.
I input a couple different ones (Original NOOK, NOOK Touch, Kindle 3, Kindle 1) and they ALL gave $50 credit. Kindof cool.
“Trade-in any brand eReader and experience Wi-Fi® access to over 2 million titles on the new Reader Wi-Fi, Reader Wi-Fi Travel or Starter Bundles.
Offer valid through December 31, 2011”
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentDisplayView?hideHeaderFooter=false&storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&cmsId=tradeup