Sony PRS T3 how to do a firmware update in 2024?

[123Passa]

Hi,

I recently got a Sony PRS T3. It's neat! I got it for really cheap and I just needed something to read ebooks and that had physical buttons.

I was wondering if there is a way to update it to the latest firmware (if it's even worth it) as mine has the original firmware. My hope is to be able to connect to the internet to use Evernote, even though I have the feeling that it is not possible anymore.

In any case I still really like it.

Thanks!

[Quoth]

The certs will be out of date so it won't connect to HTTPS. An update, if there even is one, will be so old it won't fix that.

The T3 was only out for a short while. Sony took down all their PRS model resources quite a while ago.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by 123Passa

Hi,

I recently got a Sony PRS T3. It's neat! I got it for really cheap and I just needed something to read ebooks and that had physical buttons.

Mine is a North American PRS T3. I think I checked when Sony still provided support and there never was an update for it. (It wasn't around long enough.)

I may be wrong about that, but I think i remember this.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by 123Passa

Hi,

I recently got a Sony PRS T3. It's neat! I got it for really cheap and I just needed something to read ebooks and that had physical buttons.

I was wondering if there is a way to update it to the latest firmware (if it's even worth it) as mine has the original firmware. My hope is to be able to connect to the internet to use Evernote, even though I have the feeling that it is not possible anymore.

In any case I still really like it.

Thanks!

Given that the T3 was released in September 2013, you could have a battery that doesn't work well. I would never buy a battery powered device that old unless I could get the battery replaced.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Given that the T3 was released in September 2013, you could have a battery that doesn't work well. I would never buy a battery powered device that old unless I could get the battery replaced.

I've got a T3 that still has a strong battery. Heck, even my PRS-500 (2006) still holds a good enough charge to use.

[Quoth]

My PSR-350 is still OK.

Li-poly cells vary greatly in life due to quality (impurities, other defects), storage temperature (cool, not frozen is longest) and total number of virtual cycles ( 3 x 1/3rd discharge = 1 cycle), number of times fully discharged, time left fully charged or discharged (storage is best between 20% & 80% or maybe 30% and 70%), charge rate (fast charge is shorter life) and discharge rate.
The Sony PRS, unlike Kindles, have a real off mode, so the Kindle cells wear out quicker. They also have slow charge and if no front light (or WiFi mostly off, if included) so have low discharge.

The PRS range thus have long life cells compared to Kindles.

A cheap enough PRS-x50, PRS-T2 or PRS-T3 might be good value. Some PRS-T1 models have a bug were it freezes if you press on a word.
Older than PRS-x50 range might not have epub support and are more likely to have a worn out battery (Li-Poly cell).

The cell can be replaced on some older ereaders.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Mine is a North American PRS T3. I think I checked when Sony still provided support and there never was an update for it. (It wasn't around long enough.)

I may be wrong about that, but I think i remember this.

The T3 wasn't released everywhere. I think only change on the last T2 update was swapping Sony Book Store to Kobo Book Store and that doesn't work now. If there is a T3 update it's likely only the store access and won't work anyway.

Trival to buy Kobo ebooks (and Amazon Kindle ebooks are feasible), deDRM and read on all the Sony PRS models that support epub, which at least is all PSR-x50, PRS-T1, PRS-T2 and PRS-T3. Also unlike current Kindles supports Collections via Calibre.
Calibre was originally created for Sony when it only did LRF, before they added epub.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Quoth

... If there is a T3 update it's likely only the store access and won't work anyway.

I think you're right. In my Internet search I did find a T3 update (that wouldn't download) but the only thing it "fixed" was changing the store from Sony to Kobo. Since the WiFi won't work anyhow, there's no real reason to pursue the update.

[123Passa]

Thanks everyone for all the replies. Yes my idea was to make sure that between version 1.0.00.07030 and the latest 1.1-something there was nothing important, otherwise I would have tried to ask Sony to send it. Though seems like the only fixes are made on the things that no longer work.

Indeed I also found the Softonic driver but does not work.

For the battery I'm not really concerned, I'm kinda used swapping batteries in any case so if it dies I'll just change it as it is a basic 3.7v lipo. BTW for 10 years old mine is amazing. I'm at around 400 pages and one charge only (I also use the cover with LED light). Now it tells me that I have only 1/4 of the battery but I feel it might be a bit buggy and might last for another book.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by 123Passa

Thanks everyone for all the replies. Yes my idea was to make sure that between version 1.0.00.07030 and the latest 1.1-something there was nothing important, otherwise I would have tried to ask Sony to send it. Though seems like the only fixes are made on the things that no longer work.

Indeed I also found the Softonic driver but does not work.

For the battery I'm not really concerned, I'm kinda used swapping batteries in any case so if it dies I'll just change it as it is a basic 3.7v lipo. BTW for 10 years old mine is amazing. I'm at around 400 pages and one charge only (I also use the cover with LED light). Now it tells me that I have only 1/4 of the battery but I feel it might be a bit buggy and might last for another book.

Sony Readers for not need a driver. They show up as a USB drive.

[123Passa]

Indeed and it is great to have Calibre support!

[kwik]

Originally Posted by 123Passa

I'm at around 400 pages and one charge only (I also use the cover with LED light).

sidenote: Sony really went cheap with the cases on the T3 line, materials-wise. Once mine started peeling (like a fake leather purse or office chair), I 'fixed it' by manually peeling the rest of the skin. It now feels more fabric-like and looks more of a textured grey than a black, but I like it. They should have released them like this.

The previous PRS-T2 case with light was vastly better. A superb gooseneck design for the light, and it had its own power supply (1x AAA) so it didn't draw power from the reader, and it offered better protection for the unit. It was a shame to see Sony go cheap on the cases with the T3 line-up, I think.

Incidentally my PRS-T3 battery is still fine. But there was a period where I didn't use the unit for an extended time, because I had to read some PDFs on a larger screen, so maybe that helped.

[Cyfranek]

Hi,
My Sony PRS-T3 runs 1.1.01.17210 firmware version. It's German edition. I have a few files seems to be kind of update but don't remember. I can share them if You want to try:
PRS-T3_UPDATER_1.1.00.11250.dmg
PRS-T3_UPDATER_1.1.00.11250.txt
PRS-T3_Updater_1.1.01.17210.exe

[Soire]

Hi Cyfranek

Hi,
My Sony PRS-T3 runs 1.1.01.17210 firmware version. It's German edition. I have a few files seems to be kind of update but don't remember. I can share them if You want to try:
PRS-T3_UPDATER_1.1.00.11250.dmg
PRS-T3_UPDATER_1.1.00.11250.txt
PRS-T3_Updater_1.1.01.17210.exe

Yes thank you, that would be great.

Do you happen to have a T2 Updater as well? I am looking to flash a Canadian T2 to German or EU version.

Have a great day!

[Cyfranek]

No, I haven;t got such files for PRS-T2. Here are PRS-T3 updating files: https://mega.nz/file/j5RCBZ6C#B0NDek...mZXLKwQcJDL5Og