PRS-600 Screen Washed Out

[emonti8384]

So I got my replacement reader today...and it's fine! The sun was fading when I tried it out so tomorrow I'm going to double check before I send my old one in. It seems to work just fine and no fadng

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by emonti8384

So I got my replacement reader today...and it's fine! The sun was fading when I tried it out so tomorrow I'm going to double check before I send my old one in. It seems to work just fine and no fadng

Wonderful!

[mapabl]

Thanks to the nice people on this forum, I took their advice and returned my disappearing screen PRS-600 to Best Buy and got a new one. The new screen does NOT wash out in the bright sun like my prior one did. When turning pages, the screen still buzzes as my last one did but it's only noticeable if the house is completely quiet after everyone but me has gone to bed. For the screen to wash out, the sun must directly shine on it and it usually appeared mid-day. It doesn't have to do with the screen being warm to the touch, it washed out as soon as I walked outside in direct sunlight and turned a page. I'm so happy I exchanged my little red companion...she's a beauty. Mary from WI

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by mapabl

Thanks to the nice people on this forum, I took their advice and returned my disappearing screen PRS-600 to Best Buy and got a new one. The new screen does NOT wash out in the bright sun like my prior one did. When turning pages, the screen still buzzes as my last one did but it's only noticeable if the house is completely quiet after everyone but me has gone to bed. For the screen to wash out, the sun must directly shine on it and it usually appeared mid-day. It doesn't have to do with the screen being warm to the touch, it washed out as soon as I walked outside in direct sunlight and turned a page. I'm so happy I exchanged my little red companion...she's a beauty. Mary from WI

Wonderful for you too!

[sigmax]

Originally Posted by lachbus

Sure, I understand. I found it somewhat annoying that the Sony Support person claimed that this is news, but that's the fault of whoever doesn't enter this into their database of known issues.

They told me the same thing .... and is a well known issue that there is a defective eink screen that has probably no uv filtering included or something like that.

My Sony prs300 is rendered totally unusable at the instant it touches not only the sun, but ANY daylight...

I uploaded photos and the whole story a couple of months back ... I even asked for the topic to be made sticky in order to warn possible future buyers of sony readers, but it seems that my sticky note was unheard.

[KDawg]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Sorry! Keep us posted. Is this a relatively new 900? i.e. can you exchange it?

My 900 was past 30 days by the time I noticed it so I couldn't return it to Best Buy.

I called Sony this week. After several rounds of me explaining the screen fades out almost completely in the sun and the phone jockey telling me that it's normal for touch-screen readers to be a little hard to read in the sun she asked me if there was anything else she could do. I said she could refund my money. At this point she agreed to an exchange. I'll let you guys know how the replacement works out when I get it.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by KDawg

My 900 was past 30 days by the time I noticed it so I couldn't return it to Best Buy.

I called Sony this week. After several rounds of me explaining the screen fades out almost completely in the sun and the phone jockey telling me that it's normal for touch-screen readers to be a little hard to read in the sun she asked me if there was anything else she could do. I said she could refund my money. At this point she agreed to an exchange. I'll let you guys know how the replacement works out when I get it.

Wonderful!

[Xochipilli2012]

I encourage anyone whose Sony Reader is still under warranty to pursue a replacement. I was a bit reluctant to go through the imagined bull-hockey, but it worked out better than I expected. Sony Customer Support was actually, supportive. And as I was within 90 days of purchasing my PRS-600, I qualified for the "advanced exchange program."

And, maybe I "lucked out" in that the replacement they sent doesn't have the problems my original one did--in fact, the screen looks better in terms of clarity and contrast, even under artificial light, as compared to the first one.

I was going to "make do" by shading the reader during page turns when reading with sunlight falling on the reader. It wasn't that big of a deal. But when I was hearing from other PRS-600 owners who were experiencing no fading problems in direct sunlight, I became motivated to pursue the matter--because if the screen was 'defective' now, maybe it would fail completely at some point later on...when the warranty didn't offer as much protection.

I was a little concerned that the replacement would have the same problem, and I've read a few stories where this had occurred. But I thought it was worth the risk, especially as Sony was paying the postage for shipping the replacement to me and my old unit back.

Hopefully other people's replacement stories will turn out as well as mine has so far.

I'm happy I took the risk.

Cheers!

[emonti8384]

Originally Posted by Xochipilli2012

I encourage anyone whose Sony Reader is still under warranty to pursue a replacement. I was a bit reluctant to go through the imagined bull-hockey, but it worked out better than I expected. Sony Customer Support was actually, supportive. And as I was within 90 days of purchasing my PRS-600, I qualified for the "advanced exchange program."

And, maybe I "lucked out" in that the replacement they sent doesn't have the problems my original one did--in fact, the screen looks better in terms of clarity and contrast, even under artificial light, as compared to the first one.

I was going to "make do" by shading the reader during page turns when reading with sunlight falling on the reader. It wasn't that big of a deal. But when I was hearing from other PRS-600 owners who were experiencing no fading problems in direct sunlight, I became motivated to pursue the matter--because if the screen was 'defective' now, maybe it would fail completely at some point later on...when the warranty didn't offer as much protection.

I was a little concerned that the replacement would have the same problem, and I've read a few stories where this had occurred. But I thought it was worth the risk, especially as Sony was paying the postage for shipping the replacement to me and my old unit back.

Hopefully other people's replacement stories will turn out as well as mine has so far.

I'm happy I took the risk.

Cheers!

I agree, in fact your story is identical to mine. There goes my post, lol! New reader works great, I agree with the comment about the better clarity and contrast. I'll be sending my original reader back to Sony on Monday. Yay!

[ziegl027]

So I called Sony today and told them that I had the problem with the screen fading. First thing the guy tried was to tell me some cock-and-bull story about it only being a problem with the 700 because of the backlighting and that it was normal operation (I really didn't pay a lot of attention to the story since it was not relevant, so didn't catch all the details). I explained that I had a new 600, and had heard of people receiving replacements that did NOT have the problem, so I considered it defective. Then he tried to get me to send it back for them to "confirm that it was not operating normally, and if we find that it is will send it back and charge you shipping." Yeah, right. Like y'all are going to take it out into some bright sunshine--you'll turn it on in some workroom and say "yup, looks fine," send it back and charge me. I expained that I had heard of several other people receiving replacement units before being expected to send their old one back, and that this was what I wanted. He capitulated immediately, which makes me think he was purely stalling to see what he could get away with before. Reminded me of my 3 year old.

So, I should be getting a new (perhaps refurbished, but as long as it works and is under warranty I don't care) unit soon. Assuming it does NOT fade, I plan on taking side-by-by side pictures to send back with my old unit.

[Xochipilli2012]

Originally Posted by emonti8384

I agree, in fact your story is identical to mine. There goes my post, lol! New reader works great, I agree with the comment about the better clarity and contrast. I'll be sending my original reader back to Sony on Monday. Yay!

Congrats! I'm glad it worked out well for you!

[KDawg]

Originally Posted by KDawg

My 900 was past 30 days by the time I noticed it so I couldn't return it to Best Buy.

I called Sony this week. After several rounds of me explaining the screen fades out almost completely in the sun and the phone jockey telling me that it's normal for touch-screen readers to be a little hard to read in the sun she asked me if there was anything else she could do. I said she could refund my money. At this point she agreed to an exchange. I'll let you guys know how the replacement works out when I get it.

Good news, my replacement PRS-900 arrived today (Next Day Air from last Friday). It is much better in the sun than the original. It still fades slightly, but I have to look for it and confirm it in a shady place, whereas the original faded to the point that it was unreadable.

A word to anyone who needs to pursue this, ask for an exchange yourself if it sounds like you've reached a dead end. My operator was about to hang up on me and asked if there was anything else she could do. I simply stated if she couldn't exchange readers (which we hadn't discussed previously, we just argued about what was "normal") then I wanted a refund. At this she perked up and said she could certainly offer an exchange.

Good luck and thanks for all the stories.

[JSWolf]

The problem is eink screens made by LG are crap. These are the ones that fade.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem is eink screens made by LG are crap. These are the ones that fade.

Who else manufactures them?

[igorsk]

AFAIK Only PVI and LG-Philips make commercially available E-Ink screens. Supposedly iRex also has a factory (in Philippines?) but those screens are used only in iRex readers.