PRS 600 JUNK

[khalleron]

I hope you're happier now, farmersteve.

If I understand your complaint, Waterstones promised 100 classics already installed, but the truth was that you get 125 classics downloaded from the site instead.

Sounds to me like six of one, 63/100ths of a dozen of the other.

Enjoy your 600 - it's a good machine, with lots of content available for it.

Oh, and I read Shakespeare all the time.

[nick101]

Originally Posted by farmersteve

I think it is fair to update everyone on this site about the current state of play
I have now been able to do the download and the reader is working fine

Good news, and congratulations

Originally Posted by farmersteve

There are several issues I have
The staff at waterstones are obviously totally unsuitable for selling electronics they are in totally unfamiliar territory. They obviously have no one to hand who have any knowledge of these gadgets, they should really stick to selling books. places like PC world should sell electronics. Actuallly I would far prefer John Lewis since they always have staff who really know what they are talking about[

I think it would be a big mistake to restrict sales of readers to electronics outlets. They're a gadget, true, but a single-use one (unlike, say, a smartphone) and their use is reading. As such, I'm delighted to see them in bookshops (which is where, incidentally, I bought mine).
Pre-Christmas is a rotten time to get support and advice from knowledgeable staff: shops, (even John Lewis) are full of partially-trained temp seasonal staff and even more full of customers. There simply isn't the time for them to provide the support we really ought to get. I'm not defending it - I'm simply observing the world as it is.

Incidentally, 2 friends of mine have run into recent issues at John Lewis (different branches) for precisely this reason. They were buying electronic gadgets (cameras as it happens) and could not get some simple questions answered by the JL staff. I'm a longtime fan of John Lewis, as are my friends, but we recognise that if we want to spend time and get support, the Christmas rush is not the time to do it.

Originally Posted by farmersteve

The law is quite plain the sale of goods act and contract law state quite plainly that on any sale the retailer is responsible for the sale and it is the retailer who is responsible for customer satisfaction. The retailer need only refund if the goods iether do not do what they said when the goods were sold or are faulty.
As the product was not what it was described as and could not immediately be sorted I should have had a replacement or a refund. Unfortunately at the time I had a limited time to argue my case so I had to back down knowing that Barclaycard would be a far more effective weapon, as they have equal liability with the retailer as it was puchased with a credit card. Obviously as it is now working I will not be taking this route now.

You would have been very unlikely to succeed in any attempt to force a replacement or refund. Firstly, the issue you had was not a result of a fault with the product, nor of misleading advertising - it was the result of faulty information from a staff member. Replacing the product would not have made any difference. Secondly, arguing for a refund on the grounds that the product did not work as advertised would have been difficult: although the individual member of staff at the retailer misinformed you, the advertising and promotional material for the Sony (whether by Sony or any of their major retailers) doesn't say that the books are preloaded. Waterstones could reasonably argue that it was an individual mistake.

For those reasons, and because it wasn't subject to distance selling regulations, I doubt that Barclaycard would have helped.

Originally Posted by farmersteve

I am aware that many people were affected by this problem over christmas and if Sony have any sense they ought to make some recompnse for the hours of wasted time spent, in my case probably about 20 hours to get the product working

Only Sony can respond to this - have you contacted them to ask for recompense? I doubt you'd succeed. At this time of year, support lines and message boards are filled with messages of the form "I got this for Christmas and I don't know how to make it work". Gadgets (sadly) are just not as easy to use as they should be. Especially new types of gadget.

Originally Posted by farmersteve

...
ps I am not over impressed with the range of free books which come with the reader, does anyone read Shakespeare after leaving School? Actually I am one of those old enough not to have had him rammed down our throats which probably accounts for the fact I like reading so much

I am old enough to have had Shakespeare stuffed down my throat all through secondary school. I read Shakespeare frequently, and I'm delighted to have access on my reader.

[Yottie]

What a great Christmas prezzie - and what a shame that your wife's pleasure in giving you something you appear to have expressed an interest in will have been spoiled.

I have the 505 and the associated CD, and was genuinely pleased to have some old favourites available straightaway - my partner on the other hand, has never loaded his "freebies", tending to buy new novels from Waterstones etc. We both love the convenience, the fact that we can go on long journeys and never run out of books, and carry lots of books around with us for very little weight.

Compared to a paperback, you don't need as much light for the reader, because you can simply adjust the font size. However, I do have a clip on light for low-light situations, and find it works well. I wouldn't want backlighting (spoils the e-ink effect), nor any form of lighting that drew from the eReader battery.

So far as Waterstones go, clearly they got it wrong when they told your wife the books would be pre-loaded, and they should have been better informed. I don't think selling you the power supply was such a bad thing (unless you already have a PSP power supply, and of course, the price was a bit steep) - if the 600 is anything like the 505, you will find that occasionally when the battery gets very low, you really need to charge it via a plug and socket rather than a usb. Also, it's faster - and useful when you are on hols etc, and may not have a laptop with you. However, I don't think Waterstone's should give up on selling the eReader altogether, it's surely part of the future of bookselling - and I would rather buy an eReader from someone who loved reading than from someone who spent all their time playing PC games (for example). They just need to make sure their staff are better trained, and this is always more difficult at Christmas.

As others have said, a lot of these questions could have been resolved in advance if you had done the research prior to purchase. As it is, it seems that your wife, who is less computer literate than you, wanted to surprise and please you with a great Christmas gift. For someone considering buying an ereading device, her choice is a good one, and it seems the only thing she expected to get, but didn't, was some pre-loaded books which are easily available from the Sony site (and other sources). The fact that you don't happen to like the books on offer is irrelevant.

I do hope you enjoy your Christmas present, and that your wife gets to feel you aren't too disappointed with it.

[Bremen Cole]

Originally Posted by esowden

A Windows Media file...

Post of the day

[Jacobdan]

Originally Posted by farmersteve

My wife bought me a PRS 600 for Christmas and the promised 100 preloaded books she was assured were pre loaded by the kind Waterstone staff who obviously can spot a techno phobe at 100 paces. They also kindly sold her a charger which is entirely unneccessary for a further £20.
Well with great excitement I opened my gift and lo and behold the promised books amounted to just 11, 4 of which were in german, 3 in french and 3 of the rest were only part books and the fourth a cook book!
I have since tried downloading as instructed and have had absloutely no joy although spending at least 2 whole days trying. I have then spent a further whole hour on the phone to the tec support and nobody could be bothered to answer.
So this morning I took it back to Waterstones in Bury St Edmunds and was refused a credit or an exchange for it. The manager is obviously totally unaware of the sale of goods act as was the central office person she rung and put me on to. They did acknowlkedge that there was a prolbem but said it was nothing to do with them.They said I should post it back to sony, yes right registered parcel post say, £20 at my expense to sort out their problem rarely have I experienced such poor quality service and I fnd it difficult to believe in this day and age.
I must say I found the barclaycard complaints service a far nicer group of people to deal with and have promised a refund the trouble is now do Waterstones want this book back? will they come and pick it up?
In the past I have felt a pang of guilt when I have bought on- line as I think it must be damaging the local retailers, well with this sort of service I wont have this problem again. Amazon have never quibbled anything always picked up returned goods they will get more of my custom
! other point about this reader without a backlight it is often difficult to use probably not helped by todays low energy bulbs

Hey there,
I too was surprised that you had to download the 100 free books yourself
via the Sony website.
I got my PRS-600 and it went quite smoothly. You have to get "Adobe Digital Editions" onto your PC or laptop (free from Adobe) and then you can import the free ebooks and move them to you Sony Reader. I am not great with all this but it's step-by-step and works.
Good luck, Dan

[Fringecup]

I bought my 600 at a Sony store out of town (we don't have one here), but I've been getting lots of good help from salesmen at the local London Drugs store (which also is our best computer/electronics vendor); they admit they don't know all the answers, so I fill them in when I discover something myself. Their problem is that the readers all leave the store the same day they come in, so the guys never get a chance to play with them. Don't forget that the readers are being rationed to the stores for now!

[AprilHare]

Give your new Reader a chance It was an excellent gift idea. Ignore Waterstones (they sound like idiots). You've got your 100 odd free books - give it a red hot go

Originally Posted by farmersteve

The issue of the backlight is not a major issue but seeing the common sense in being able to read in places while not causing annoyance to other people is one whicxh I would have thought would have been a major selling point and I think from these threads that other models do have them
The issue of not causing eye strain with them is I think fascetious surely they could have adjustable back lighting so in bright light you could just turn it off

I am interested that you think so. It is a known fact that looking at a backlit display is 'unnatural' for the eye. It causes excessive eye strain; that's why it hurts to look too long at a ordinary television set as compared to any other ordinary non-glowing object. We were designed to look at reflected light, after all; like Nature intended. That's what e-ink comes in.
I can appreciate that you aren't pleased your particular model doesn't have a in-built external light; however a clip-on light would do the job nicely and would cost only a few pounds?
I have had one of these devices for quite a while now and I find the only boundaries are the same for normal books. That is, the only place I can't read is in bed with the light off. - Since I sleep alone, I haven't bothered to get one of the clip-on lights.

[nick101]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Ignore Waterstones

One member of staff makes one mistake, and Waterstones are idiots, eh?

[HarryT]

It is a slightly odd thing to say, given that Waterstones are by far the largest, and arguably the best, chain of bookshops in the UK .

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by nick101

One member of staff makes one mistake, and Waterstones are idiots, eh?

Why not The phrase I used was that they *sound like* idiots. Let's face it: that doesn't sound like the brightest way to deal with customers, now does it?

Originally Posted by HarryT

It is a slightly odd thing to say, given that Waterstones are by far the largest, and arguably the best, chain of bookshops in the UK .

Large and best usually don't go well together when it comes to bookshop chains

Large, yes; best?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Large and best usually don't go well together when it comes to bookshop chains

Large, yes; best?

With Waterstones it actually does, generally speaking. Their staff are extremely knowledgeable (about books), and their after-sales support is excellent.

[nick101]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Why not The phrase I used was that they *sound like* idiots. Let's face it: that doesn't sound like the brightest way to deal with customers, now does it?

Large and best usually don't go well together when it comes to bookshop chains

Large, yes; best?

Don't agree. Waterstones made books a High Street commercial success. Before them, it was the dusty back-street store or WH Smith. They have done more to generate book buying in Britain than anyone else other than Amazon. Old-school types don't like them because they allows oiks to buy books, which should be the preserve only of those educated and intelligent enough to earn the right to read.

[Anne Marie]

I live in Belgium and registered my PRS600 in Dutch. Now it seems I cannot buy books from the American reader Store only from bol.com which has less books at a much higher price. Anyone can help?

[omk3]

You cannot buy books from the american reader store if you are not in the usa. However if you are in europe I think you can purchase from any european store, not just bol.com. Try waterstones, whsmith, foyles, books on board uk. There's many others as well.

[Ea]

When looking for books, I usually start with googling 'title ebook'. There'll be results for stores I can't buy at, of course, but I've found it a great way to start and a good deal quicker than searching the stores individually.