If you’re in the market for a tablet, Sony has another offering that may catch your eye. The Japanese electronics company recently released its new DPT-CP1 “Digital Paper” tablet, an E Ink tablet that is really meant for folks who still want to pretend that they’re writing on actual paper while taking advantage of the convenience afforded by a digital tablet. While the tablet was initially made available exclusively in Japan, it has now also up for pre-sale in the United States. For $600, you can reserve your E Ink tablet from Amazon or B&H.
About a year ago, Sony released the DPT-RP1, a rather large E Ink slab that is the same size as a sheet of A4 paper (so you can really feel like you’re writing on that antiquated tree offering). But seeing as people probably don’t want to carry around a giant tablet everywhere they go, Sony now offers a smaller version. The DPT-CP1 is effectively the exact same thing as its older (and larger) sibling but in A5 paper size.
Coming in at 10.3 inches, this new E-Ink tablet boasts a resolution of 1,404 x 1,872 at 224 dots per inch, and can handle 16 levels of grey scale. The E Ink tablet also comes with 16GB of storage for your PDF files (that you can then annotate on the tablet) and is capable of sharing files with iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac devices by way of a companion app. At only 5.9 mm thick, the DPT-CP1 only weighs around half a pound, and much like regular paper, you won’t have to charge it — well, you won’t have to charge it much. Sony says that the device is well-equipped to last a full month on just one battery charge.
“Our new 10-inch notebook-sized Digital Paper extends all the benefits of going paperless to a broader array of business professionals and students,” said Bob Nell, director of Digital Paper for Sony Electronics. “Now, with a choice of two models, more people can experience what we refer to as ‘paper perfected,’ enjoying the easy readability of the glare-free screen and precision handwriting associated with the paper-like look and feel of Digital Paper.”
The tablet is cheaper than its older, larger sibling, coming in at “under” 70,000 yen in Japan, which translates to about $650. Of course, it’s currently available for pre-order at the even lower price of $600 in the U.S. That said, given that you can buy some budget laptops or transformer tablets for the same amount of money, it’s not exactly a can’t-miss deal.
Updated on May 21, 2018: The DPT-CP1 is now available for pre-order in the U.S.
