Sony’s 13-inch Digital Paper Tablet has been a pretty low profile product, in fact, I was reminded of its presence only now after Sony decided to upgrade the same. The DPT-RP1 (damn the naming!) is an upgrade for the DPTS1 and the changes include an updated display along with a better PPI. The new Sony Digital Paper Tablet now comes with a display that resolves at 1650 x 2200 without having any detrimental effect on the battery life. Just like the other e-Ink displays the Sony Digital Paper tablet is rated to last for weeks.

The touch response has apparently gotten better and so has the texture. The sloppy touch screen is the only thing I detest on my Kindle and an improvised experience is always better. The device also comes with a new note taking feature and an annotation functionality along with bezels that appear to be thinned out slightly as opposed to its predecessor. However, the stylus dock that used to come with the bezels is missing. The Sony Digital Paper Tablet has also been treated with a new color scheme and the new tablet looks sleek. The tablet offers 16GB of onboard storage along with a microSD card slot. Furthermore, it also comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

The only disadvantage I could think of is the price tag, yes with each of this electronic slates cost $700 and that’s not exactly affordable. Also, the other digital e-ink tablets including reMarkable and the e-Ink slates that let you jot offer a similar set of functionality at a much lesser price point. That being said I don’t see why a Kindle with a similar functionality should not be created or perhaps a much simpler Digital Paper Tablet that can be sold to the students and thus completely eliminate the use of paper for note taking. On a side note, the hybrids like the Microsoft Surface Lineup are positioned to offer a better value for money as opposed to the Sony’s DPT-RP1 Digital Paper Tablet.