Sony PRS-T1 6 Digital E-Ink Pearl eReader with Wi-Fi (Black)

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1 x 10 x 6 inches ; 10.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B005MIZKW8
• Item model number: PRST1BC
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 12, 2011

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

It's here: the world's lightest 6" e-Reader with a lovably glare-free, paper-like display designed for hours of comfortable reading, even in direct sunlight. Use your fingertips to select a title, turn the page or zoom in and out. Wirelessly shop books, magazines and newspapers at Reader Store and get instantaneous access to websites like Wikipedia and Google search.

Treasure your favorite books, magazines and more on the paper-like touch screen of the world's lightest 6" e-Reader3. Get the titles you want at Reader Store or borrow from your local public library wirelessly.

Use your fingertips to select a title, turn the page or zoom in and out

The Titles You Want on Tap

Line the shelves of your virtual library with the hottest new releases, page-turning bestsellers and classics close to your heart. Choose the books, newspapers and magazines you want to download at Reader Store.

Feel Free to Borrow

Want an eBook to read for free? Pay a virtual visit to your local library any time of the day or night without setting foot outside your home. Tap the Public Library icon to wirelessly peruse, borrow and download eBooks from local public libraries directly to the device.

Will Travel

At less than 6 ounces and lighter than most paperbacks, the small, fiercely stylish Reader Wi-Fi is the lightest 6" e-Reader there is. Simply pop it in a purse, pocket or bag and keep your reading material constantly close at hand.

The world's lightest e-Reader with a glare-free, paper-like display for comfortable reading

Fetching Display

A simple touch to the Clear Enhanced display calls up your favorite books, while a swipe of the finger turns their pages and a pinch of two fingers can zoom in and out. Your eyes will thank you for the natural reading experience the E-Ink Pearl V220 anti-glare screen provides, especially in direct sunlight.

Serious Book Smarts

Tap and hold your finger on any words you don't recognize for instant access to two on-board English dictionaries, as well as 10 additional foreign language dictionaries. Use the note-taking feature to highlight important text or jot down notes with your finger or the included stylus.

A Long, Healthy Life

Make it through your next long ride, flight or vacation without the need to plug in your Reader Wi-Fi since a single charge lasts over a month or up to 14,000 continuous page turns, whichever comes first.

Product Description

The Sony PRS-T1BC Wi-Fi eReader is an effective gadget for you to store and read eBooks in an awesome way. With its 1.3GB of internal memory, you can save your favorite reading materials and take them with you. Its 6” display along with E-Ink® Pearl V220 glare-free screen feature means you can always have this device handy and ready wherever you go. Moreover, find a hotspot and browse up to 2 million reading materials at the Reader™ Store using its Wi-Fi capability. This remarkable Sony PRS-T1BC Wi-Fi eReader also guarantees productivity with over a month of battery life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars PDF viewing tool (3.5 stars with a round-up), December 9, 2011

By 

wadrad (Land of Bitburger, Bratwurst, und Lederhosen) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony PRS-T1 6 Digital E-Ink Pearl eReader with Wi-Fi (Black) (Electronics)

As the title suggests, my focus of this review is using the Sony Reader as a tool for reading PDF files.

As a LOT of products (software, electronic gadgets, etc) don't print manuals anymore, I've amassed a bunch of PDF files that I would love to have easier access to, while on a plane, doing my business in the "library", lying in bed, or wherever. Realizing some kind of "e-reader" might just let me do casual PDF perusing under those aforementioned conditions, I started researching some of the e-readers a few months ago. After lots of Googling, browsing, and reading, it seemed that most of the then-on-the-market readers didn't handle PDF files so well. From what I read though, one of the older Sony readers was significantly better than the rest (Kindle, Nook, etc) for handling PDF's and when I learned that Sony was releasing the PRS-T1, I was hoping it was an above average PDF-reader as well.

So I went to YouTube to watch a few video reviews for the PRS-T1 and a few other readers that particularly addressed PDF viewing. I was impressed enough with what they said and with the price, that I went ahead and bought one (the Sony PRS-T1). Some other models didn't pan so easily or zoom as clearly.

And how is it? Well, from lots of other video reviews I saw, this really does handle PDF files better than a lot of older readers. LIKE a lot of other readers though, it is dependent on how graphics intensive the PDF file is. It handles graphics well-enough, but given the smaller screen size, it takes a bit of panning to sometimes see all of the graphic, and depending on the graphics complexity, it can also require a bit more processing/redraw time for the page view to fully come up.

I realize there are plenty of color readers that would probably process PDFs and graphics better than this product, but I really wanted a device that stuck with e-ink for easier readability and longer battery life, and minus the screen viewing size, and the occasional redraw lag time, I've been fairly pleased. Could be my expectations were fairly low, but they've mostly been met...especially considering what I paid for it.

Positives for PDF Perusing:
- If the PDF file has a overview/outline section, you can use that to more easily navigate your PDF file
- Graphics are presented in clear enough details
- PDF files are easy to load into the memory of the device...USB connect, and drag and drop
- Pinch-to-Zoom allows easy enlargement of small text
- Can increase the font size to more easily read non-graphic text
- Great battery life
- Sturdy enough construction (though supposedly less than previous Sony products according to a couple other reviews)
- Given the size, it's easy to drag along almost anywhere

Negatives for PDF Perusing:
- If there are a lot of graphics, the page redraw time can be slow
- If you increase the size of the reading font, the graphics in the PDF file disappear (are no longer presented)
- Using the pinch-to-zoom to increase text and graphic readability can (depending on your PDF file) require frequent panning to view all of the page because it doesn't fit so well on the smaller screen
- Given the size, you KNOW the screen won't be large enough for a lot of material that has graphics

Another use I've discovered is if I find articles on the internet I want to read later, I just "print" them to a PDF file using software (PrimoPDF or whatever) and load them on the eReader to browse through at a better time. Helping my wife research for a paper this last couple weeks, I've loaded a ton of PDF files into the eReader covering Government Policy for Cyber Security and been able to casually browse through them sitting in bed before I go to sleep (which, not surprisingly, has HELPED me fall asleep quite nicely).

Part of the success this eReader has with PDF files depends on how well the PDF files are put together. If you're mostly reading PDF files with fewer graphics and predominantly text, this reader is great. Its utility unfortunately drops off in direct correlation to how graphics intensive your PDF file is. And it does still work with graphics-loaded PDF files, and better than most the other e-ink readers, but you (like me) might get tired of having to pinch-and-zoom and pan as frequently (because of the smaller screen) just to read through something.

If I had to browse PDF files professionally, I would certainly consider an e-reader with a bigger screen, but for most of the casual reading I do, with a medium amount of graphics, this thing has worked quite well. Given the price, I've no major complaints and only a few minor ones.

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nice update to a solid often over looked reader, October 7, 2011

By 

Jade "just-jade" (boston ma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony PRS-T1 6 Digital E-Ink Pearl eReader with Wi-Fi (Black) (Electronics)

overall this is a wonderful reader. you don't have to pay extra to get a version without ads. sony has been in the ereader business long before it was mainstream. the new improvement in adding the wifi to its reader and bring the price down to 149 is long over-dued and in my opinion is the main reasons that has kept it from competing well and being as well known as the other big name readers we all know now. this version is made in a feather light weight plastic and rubber and a touch of metal instead of the aluminum that the others were. the touch screen is very responsive and you can change which way for the swipe. there are more options of fonts and sizes than before. the multi language built in dictionary, notation, search on google and wikipedia are well implemented. the online reader store experience is decent and has the usual best sellers at about the same prices as all other online sellers.

the sony reader store itself has always been a bit quirky and at times difficult and slow. the web estore is fast but it only lets you see the books; to buy the books, you either go online thru the ereader itself or the desktop app. the desktop app has been the vain of my existence but probably because i run it on a mac however even when i run it on the windows side, i still have the program freeze or hang. the new desktop app has an annoying feature: you can't delete books that are purchased. it wouldn't be a big deal but it imported my library 5 times and now i have duplicates that i can't get rid of and uninstalling the program didn't help.

the great thing is about this reader is that you can bypass the sony reader store and buy your books from any other online seller that sells books that are multi-format that are epub. if you buy a book that has an adobe drm epub format, make sure you buy it with the email address that you signed up for in the adobe id. the sony reader is linked to that singular email and adobe id. this also means you can shop around to find free books and sales without being locked in like others-kindle, kobo and nook. pdfs and word docs look great and need no special conversions. you just make the document to fit a 6 inch paper while on the computer before transferring.

in the box is the reader, stylus and micro usb charger. there is no cover for this in the box. the user manual is preloaded in the reader but there is a quick start guide on paper. the stylus is plastic with a rounded tip. although the tip isn't small enough to fit the reset button and there is no place to put the stylus and the clip on it isn't wide enough for clipping onto the reader but they are only minor quirks for me. if the internal 2gb isn't enough for your tastes, you can put in a microsd card up to 32 gb for all the books, pics, mp3, audio books you like.

the web browser is quick and has the major news, facebook, email links one needs with pinch zoom functionality. there's no way to watch video / youtube as there's no flash but this is an ereader first.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The reader is mostly wonderful; its computer software is frustrating but you don't need it anyway, November 15, 2011

By 

Jaylia3 (Silver Spring, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sony PRS-T1 6 Digital E-Ink Pearl eReader with Wi-Fi (Black) (Electronics)

I have the red version of this reader, identical to this except for its color, which I had a rough honeymoon with but have ultimately come to love when I'm using it for its most important purpose, reading. The touch screen is very sensitive, it's beautiful and light weight, there are multiple fonts and text sizes to choose from, and the wifi feature, especially the ability to connect directly with my local libraries to borrow books, is a mostly wonderful option.

Maybe because this reader can do so many things, it's more finicky than my Sony 350 which is a generation older than the PRS-T1. I have never had my 350 freeze, but in the short time that I've had the PRS-T1 I've had to reset it 4 times. Usually it has happened when I'm flicking the "pages", something that works perfectly most of the time, which somehow sets off wild unstoppable page turning ultimately freezing the device.

If you are used to earlier Sony readers, this one requires a tap, tap-hold-for-2-seconds instead of a quick double tap to highlight or call up dictionary definitions, which was a little hard for me to get the hang of at first. The good news is that the new tap, tap-hold-for-2-seconds also calls up a menu with options for text word search, google, wikipedia and note taking--it's very exciting to be able to google or wikipedia right from the reader. The bad news is that if you are used to how a tablet can access the internet, the PRS-T1 will seem slow and clunky. There are multiple negative-to-positive page flashes when navigating down a page or sometimes even when typing, which is distracting and annoying. Also the stylus is much bigger on this model and doesn't slide into the reader the way the 350 stylus does. I'm afraid of losing it so I keep it in a safe place which means I never have it on hand when I'm using the reader so my tapping is all done by fingernail which so far has worked just fine.

Books from your local library and free books from sites like Project Gutenberg and ManyBooks can be downloaded directly onto the reader when there is available wifi, but books bought from Google, Smashwords, or any site other than Sony need to be added via a USB link from a computer. There is new Sony software for the computer to use with this reader, but for me it has been unreliable, buggy and ultimately a nonfunctioning drag. After sort of working some of the time it now crashes every time it opens itself up on my computer--it comes alive automatically whenever the reader is connected to the computer. Fortunately books can be added directly to the reader through My Computer, a method the Sony User Guide describes but doesn't recommend--it's worked perfectly for me, unlike the Sony software.

Another problem with the new Sony computer software is that each time you connect it to your reader it syncs everything, which is time consuming and just gives the software more reasons to choke and stop responding. It's not possible to drag and drop a single book onto the reader they way you could with the older version of the software. Also, if you organize your books into collections on your computer using the Sony software, you cannot then move the books around on your reader, it will only be possible to delete books or move them in or out of collections using the Sony computer software and then re-syncing your entire collection. It seems a strange choice to me, creating new software with less options and less flexibility. I ditched the software and do everything right on the reader, which functions much more smoothly.

Early on I was having so much trouble getting everything set up and working--the biggest problem was trying (and ultimately failing) to get the new Sony computer software to work with my 350 reader--that I spent hours on the phone with Sony help personnel. They meant well, but maybe because the PRS-T1 reader was brand new then they didn't completely know what they were doing and their help caused me to lose the User Guide that came pre-loaded on the PRS-T1 (fortunately I had already read it and it can also be accessed on line) as well as all of the highlighting and notes I'd done on my 350. Even worse, all of the 350's 200-some books were tossed out of their well-organized folders into one mass list--a time consuming mess.

Now that the early problems are in the past I absolutely love this reader. I don't use the Sony computer software, but it's not necessary anyway. The new Kindles also have touch screens and the ability to borrow library books making them a good choice too, with any ereader 600 page books weigh only ounces and a massive collection of reading material can fit in a pocket or purse. For now I prefer the aesthetic of the Sony.