Sony PRS-700 Possibly Discontinued

[mklynds]

A new member Starbase135 asked a question in the PRS-700 forum last night.

Originally Posted by starbase135

Hello,

I live in Germany and wanted to order a PRS-700 in the USA. I decided to get it from B&H Photo Video, but all of the sudden their online store site says that it has been discontinued. Then I went over to Adorama and they also wrote on their website that the PRS-700 was no longer available.

Anybody know anything about what's going on?

So I thought I would try and help out as best I can. I contacted B&H via their live chat feature this morning. Here is the transcript.

Welcome to Live Chat at the B&H Customer Service Department. Please wait while we connect you to an agent who will be able to assist you...
You are currently at position number 1 in the Customer Service queue.
While you wait, please turn off your pop-up blocker, in order to take a brief survey about your B&H Live Chat experience, before ending your session.
An agent will be with you shortly. Please stand by.
You have been connected to Ben W.
Mike L: Hi Ben
Ben W: Hello Mike L. My name is Ben. I see your question, "Hi, I have been looking around for a Sony PRS-700 E-book reader. I was told that your company was one of the best to deal with so I looked here and found this. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ital_Book.html and that it is discontinued. Is it no longer being made or are you just not carrying it any longer?" and I will be glad to assist you. Please give me a few moments to begin working on your inquiry.
Mike L: No problem. Thanks for the quick reply.
Ben W: Our Sales department would be best suited to assist you with this. I can connect you there if you like.
Mike L: that would be great Ben
Ben W has left the session.
Please wait while we find an agent from the Home Entertainment department to assist you.
The next available agent will be with you soon. Thank you for your patience.
You have been connected to Juan B.
Juan B: Hello Mike L. My name is Juan. I see your question, "Hi, I have been looking around for a Sony PRS-700 E-book reader. I was told that your company was one of the best to deal with so I looked here and found this. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ital_Book.html and that it is discontinued. Is it no longer being made or are you just not carrying it any longer?" and I will be glad to assist you. Please give me a few moments to begin working on your inquiry.
Mike L: Hello Juan
Mike L: Thanks for the quick reply and feel free to take the time you need to find out for me!
Juan B: This item is no longer made by sony.
Mike L: Juan, I have seen it is still on there web site. Do you know if they have released any official statement about the discontinuation of this product and where I might find it?
Juan B: I do not.
Mike L: Okay well thank you for your time Juan.
Juan B: Thank you for using B&H Photo Video Pro Audio.
Your session has ended.
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Now unfortunately I didn't get any documentation but this is definitely interesting news.

I am going to do some more sleuth work and will report back with further updates.

::::::EDIT:::::: New News ::::::EDIT::::::

I just got off the phone with Adorama and the salesman there also told me that Sony is no longer making the PRS-700!

[mklynds]

Okay I did some work over the phones and this is what I have come up with.

Sony Style Canada - Contacted them by phone at 8:07 local time.

The operator was very nice. Friendly and Helpful to a tee. She told me that "there are no plans to discontinue the 700 in Canada to the best of my knowledge. It is one of our top selling products." She also added that she had "not heard any rumors either" so I shouldn't worry about it. "Could be that they (Sony USA) are getting prepared to roll out there next model. Unfortunately for us they (the USA) get the new products first."

Sony USA - Contacted by phone at 8:19am local time.

The operator was very helpful if not friendly. Maybe a little grumpy from getting out of bed. He was less prepared then his Canadian counterpart and was therefor more forth right with some of his answers. To the question of has it been discontinued? "Not to the best of my knowledge." He did say however that they won't likely discontinue the 700 because again "It (prs-700) is one of our top sellers." I asked about the next and upcoming model and he replied, "The 700 continues to sell so we (Sony) will just release a new model and have 3 models to choose from. There is going to be wifi on the next model but as to any other changes, price or features I don't know yet" also he added "I haven't heard anything official on a release date yet so who knows when it will come out!"


Well folks it sounds like Sony might be coming close to letting something out of the bag. Maybe we will get some info on the new model soon. The Sony Style Canada rep did tell me to keep an eye on Sony USA's press releases.

I also wanted to add that both the Canadian and American reps both told me several times that the prs-700 is one of Sony's top selling products. As in all of Sony not just their portable device division.

Stay tuned...

[Lady Blue]

Very interesting. And thank you for all the sleuth work. Can't wait to hear where all this is leading.

[frozennorth]

Very interesting. Thank You.

[Wetdogeared]

Interesting also is that the replacement stylus for the PRS-700 is available at sonystyle.ca but is no longer available at sonystyle.com.

WDE.

[Wetdogeared]

An interesting development back to the original post.

I hope this doesn't create an infinite loop.

WDE.

[pking36330]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

I hope this doesn't create an infinite loop.

Using aviation terminology, this would be appropriately labeled a 'death spiral'.

[lilac_jive]

Hrmm, here's my thoughts:

Since both Sony reps said no, I think I'm with them. They may be temporarily pulling access to the 700 with smaller outlets to prepare for new wireless! device.

I would prefer they had all three devices on the market. Who doesn't love options?

[Lemurion]

I hope it's not another 6" device - this time with wireless. The added battery drain makes it very much a mixed blessing - especially as USB charging means adding new books recharges the battery rather than draining it.

I think a larger device with the Epson controller, 16-32 gray scales and folder support would be about perfect. I don't want a touch screen or added lights after what the additional layer did to the screen clarity on the 700. It would be great for PDFs.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

I hope it's not another 6" device - this time with wireless. The added battery drain makes it very much a mixed blessing - especially as USB charging means adding new books recharges the battery rather than draining it.

I think a larger device with the Epson controller, 16-32 gray scales and folder support would be about perfect. I don't want a touch screen or added lights after what the additional layer did to the screen clarity on the 700. It would be great for PDFs.

I think we're going to see a DX sized reader with wireless, but maybe one other thing tossed in to make it different from the DX.

[mklynds]

And to clarify. The Sony USA Rep did talk about wireless not 3g. If it is strictly wifi they should be able to put a wireless on/off slider on it like a lot of laptops have so that you can conserve your battery power. Unfortunately the reps wouldn't/couldn't divulge anymore than that.

[HansTWN]

Exactly just turn WiFi off, if you don't need it! Wireless is a great thing for some uses (a daily paper, for example, on a 9.7" device for those expats among us). It makes sense to install it on every device rather than make two different models. The parts cost next to nothing, anyway. And I can have free WiFi at home, in the office, in many restaurants and coffee shops, airports, etc.

[LauraLynn]

I like the wifi on my Dell Axim X30 so I can download books directly to it. After downloading I turn the wifi off.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Exactly just turn WiFi off, if you don't need it! Wireless is a great thing for some uses (a daily paper, for example, on a 9.7" device for those expats among us). It makes sense to install it on every device rather than make two different models. The parts cost next to nothing, anyway. And I can have free WiFi at home, in the office, in many restaurants and coffee shops, airports, etc.

The iLiad automatically turns it off if it's not being used.

[starbase135]

Now Datavis is also listing the PRS-700 as discontinued. Additionally, it's apparently out of stock at MacMall as well.