So, you have bought yourself a Sony PRS-T1 or shortly, a PRS-T2 ereader and are worried about protecting it from scratches, and want to be able to read it in bed?

Well, here is one good solution that I can recommend to you to meet those two requirements.

Sony have made a rather good, well actually, very good cover with integrated reading light for you.

This cover is a solidly made bit of gear, and the way the light works and is stored is really neat. As you can see from the pictures here, the cover itself is rather like a note book in appearance and remarkably elegant too I find. And the light is really good.

It spreads a wide beam across the page so there are no dark areas to irritate you – a common failing in ereader lights I have found. This light is actually more like a small neon tube light in appearance, and can be adjusted easily to shine its light wherever you want quite simply by means of the flexible swan neck it has. Also unlike many other such lights, the swan neck is very stiff, so once placed where you want it, it stays put.

Actually it uses several LED lights, so it is also very economical in battery use – Sony claim about 19 hours solid reading per AAA battery. The fact that it uses AAA batteries is also a plus, as they are cheap and easy to find, unlike those annoying little round batteries that lots of ereader lights use.

Further, as it is permanently built into the cover, you always have it there whenever you need it, simply pull it out (which automatically turns it on) and adjust it, and off you go.

The cover itself comes in two colours, a sort of sober reddish and a smart looking black, and is made from what they charmingly call “ faux leather”, which is a posh way to say it is made from imitation leather, but none the worse for that.

Your ereader is held in place by a simple set of clips, so very easy to remove from the cover should you wish to for any reason.

All in all, a good, sensible and good looking accessory for your ereaders I feel.

Which ereaders? It is made for the PRS-T1 and PRS-T2 ereaders, so wont fit any of the other ereaders that Sony make.

Cost: $49.50

Where to get it: The Sony online store and probably lots of shops that sell Sony ereaders too.

 Share with us:

Is this approach to making covers with built in lights a good idea, or do you think it makes it all too bulky?