Why it matters to you
Looking to save the planet? You could start by cutting down your paper use, especially now that Sony has a new, enormous e-ink tablet on the market.
Replacing paper comes at a high cost — at least initially. Sony has been trying to get you off of tree pulp for quite some time now, but unless you have money to blow, you may not be so enticed by the latest e-paper tablet. It’s called the DPT-RP1, and while it promises tons of high-tech features (and yes, the ability to help save the planet), it comes with a high price tag, too — $700.
The E Ink tablet has a sizable screen to come with its sizable price. At 13.3 inches, you’re basically carrying around a laptop — even if it an extremely thin one. Moreover, the resolution of the tablet is much improved over the last tablet Sony released at 1,650 x 2,200 pixels (the last one was just 1,200 x 1,600). And because the screen of the DPT-RP1 is “non-slip,” you ought to be able to write more easily, or at least, more as you would on actual paper.
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The tablet is about as thick as 30 sheets of paper, and it weighs less than an ounce. If you hold the new device horizontally, you’ll be able to see two pages side by side, and the tablet also comes with seven preset functions to help you format your note-taking. That means whether you prefer to write on college-ruled paper, in a daily planner, or on a spreadsheet grid, you’ll be able to do so all from one tablet.
Thanks to the stylus that comes with the DPT-RP1, you can seamlessly switch between writing, highlighting, and erasing. And you can write quite a bit — the tablet has an internal memory of 16 GB, which Sony says is the equivalent of up to 10,000 files. If you ever need to share your content (and you probably will), you can do so via a USB cable, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. Oh, and there’s also NFC functionality built into the tablet, which is to say you can unlock the device using your smartphone or any other NFC card.
The DPT-RP1 is expected to hit markets in Japan on June 5, so if you have deep pockets and a desire to cut down on your paper usage, this tablet may be a good place to start.