This might be over your head, so feel free to ignore this. But these readers do run a Linux operating system. If you were to download a Linux LiveCD like
Knoppix 'n Friends. The idea is to download any LiveCD .ISO file, then burn it to a CD (they come in handy to fix things all the time in my world). Anyways, then you have your computer boot to the LiveCD (none of your data will be lost doing any of this).
With Linux booted up, opening up any Terminal Window (like xterm) will allow you to give us a lot more information via this form regarding what is going on with your USB connection.
Launch a Terminal
Plug in your Reader via USB.
type into the terminal
copy the last section to the forum (not the whole output)
What that accomplishes is simply taking the guess work out of what is going on behind the scenes when you plug your Reader into your computer. 'dmesg' will give you some sort of message about it which if you copy to this forum, I'll take a look at it. Plus it would help you get a replacement from Sony by going the extra mile to make sure it's faulty.