Quote:
Originally Posted by jen6060
Hi mgmueller. I think this thread is one of the most interesting in the whole site! Thanks for your perspectives. I'm v curious abt the irex 800s. I understand there is wifi? What do you use it for if it doesnt give you access to the ebook mall? (i read that somewhere). Also, for your B&N pdb books - do you then sideload them or can you use wifi just like for Nook to get access to your nook library?
One more qn - what do you think accounts for the huge price diff between the irex 800sg, and the 800s - at US$399 vs more than 400 euro for 800s based on irex's online shop. bestbuy has in fact taken the price down to about us$379...
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iRex 800S does
not have WiFi.
I've got WiFi on Spring Design Alex, B&N nook and BeBook Neo.
On nook, I use it to download my content from the B&N bookstore. Without direct binding to any bookstore, I've only used it once on BeBook Neo to check whether ADE actually is working (BTW: It is).
On Spring Design Alex, it's most comfortable, given it's relatively big LCD and full functional browser.
But still: In my opinion, WiFi mainly is useful if you've got content to download from the respective bookstore.
Surfing the web, checking Wikipedia or eMail isn't important to me.
So I sideload my PDBs (and ePUBs and PDFs) onto iRex 800S. No problem for me, I'm used to it with my US Kindles.
Given the price difference: You find this for all consumer products:
- iTunes movies and TV episodes are about the same in Euro in Germany as they are in Dollar in the US.
- I've ordered hundreds of DVDs from the US. Back then, they've been about 25 Euro in Germany and 15 to 20 Dollar in the US. Since the DVD business is down, prices in Germany have dropped to US level.
- I've ordered half a dozen eBook readers from the US. Some of them later on have been available in Germany (Sony 300 or 505 for example). Usually, I've ended up with about the same price from the US to Germany, as the unit later on was directly in Germany (after costs for shipping, customs and VAT). Importing to Germany doesn't really save costs (*), but the unit may be available earlier.
(*)...if you have to ship it over and pass it through customs. If someone buys it in the US and brings it with him to Germany, it's way more interesting of course.
My personal explanations:
- Many products are produced or at least assembled in the region of destination. If the product is expensive, usually it's directly linked to the higher costs for labor and manufacturing. That's true for cars for example.
- Prices are based on total costs of course. But mainly, they are based on target markets, average incomes and other criterias like that. Just an example: My employer does all the manufacturing in Asia and the US. The equipment is shipped from overseas through our headquarters in UK. But still: The very same unit in Poland is way cheaper than in Germany (list prices are similar, but "street prices" are significantly lower in Poland). And even within France, UK and Germany, there are significant differences.
In the example of eBook readers: The US economy is down, unemployment rates are huge, Dollar is weak. Marketing in companies like Apple, Dell, HP, Sony, ..... decides, for which price they'll be able to sell how many units in which target market.
Same applies for any product. Stephen King many years ago explained, why there have been 2 versions of "The Stand": Back then, maximum price the publishers could charge for a Stephen King Book was X Dollar (if I remember correctly, it was about 15 Dollar for a paperback tops). Later on, his market value did increase and they've released the extended (original) version - for nearly twice the price.
This can be highly frustrating of course. I've been one of the first to buy iRex 800S, being a fan of iRex for years. 4 weeks later they've presented the iRex 800SG, with more features for a lower price. (That's especially disturbing, considering that's it's even a European manufacturer). I wouldn't be able to use 3G in Germany - but maybe somebody finds a "jailbreak"? (On nook, I can use my own SIM card, thus having 3G and WiFi without any limitations).
This even has introduced a new kind of business. Companies, which sell iTunes gift cards or consumer products from the US to other regions, simply using the "cheap Dollar" for their advantage.
There have been extreme reports about re-importing cars for example: German cars, sold in some European countries to German customers - up to 40% cheaper than in Germany.
That's global economy...
