PRS-600 Screen Washed Out

[Halk]

Originally Posted by ikke

my psr also fade from direct sunlight. called sony benelux (netherlands) and i was told there was no advanced exchange program (i bought mine in june this year). they send me to FRS for the repair and ... i 've to pay for the cost to get it there.... me no happy...

I'm in Europe as well, and I'm going to have to return mine as it has the flaw. What was the end result, did you get them to send you packaging and pay for postage?

[JLukeW]

This is almost certainly a temperature problem, not a "sunlight" problem. The surface of the screen becomes hot and the ink doesn't 'stick' properly on a page refresh -- turn the device upside-down, change the page, and turn it right-side-up again and you'll see what I mean -- right back to 'normal'. Turning the device upside down every time you want to turn the page is not a "solution", though, obviously.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by JLukeW

This is almost certainly a temperature problem, not a "sunlight" problem.

Wrong, but thanks for playing.

It is without a doubt a Sunlight problem. This happens in the Winter too. As mentioned previously just tilting it out of direct sun during page turning will give you a clean refresh every time. The second it takes to turn the page in the shade does not measurably change the temperature.

[sigmax]

IT IS NOT A HEAT PROBLEM NOR A SUNLIGHT SPECTRUM PROBLEM: I grabbed my 2 AA Led lantern (cree led) and placed it right over my Sony PRS300 reader, almost touching the screen, changed page, and voila, the letters inside the light circle got washed.

Wrapping it up, it is worse yet: it is a general INCAPABLE TO COPE WITH STRONG LIGHT problem, which in my view, sucks even WORSE!!

I think that SONY is NOT being reasonable. They state from one side that they will hold as the "quality reader" not looking the lower end of pricing, but they build faulty, crappy ebook readers ... and I think this should be posted STICKY, in a prominent place of mobileread website.

I also think that SONY should start a real nice callback for their faulty readers, anywhere in the world where there is a Sony dealer, even if it wasn´t bought in there, they should accept a faulty reader and exchange it for a new one.

Lesser known brands acted just as I say (or even better)...

I am quite pissed off at SONY. I paid more than 200 U$S for my prs300 just to be able to read on the beach, on my vacations, as they said in their website "suitable to read under direct sunlight" ... I never could do so. This is a direct lie, and also even sounds like a criminal behaviour, to sell faulty products by just promoting the very thing it cannot do.

I tried to talk with SONY support. They said to me that they where UNAWARE of the light problem (which is a LIE), and they also did not offer any way of exchanging the reader on the country I was IN (even if it was within warranty). Needless to say that they had a local SONY service representative... only that the "readers are not covered by them".

AGAIN I WANT TO STRESS that this fault is at their quality line, not something that "broke during the reader´s USE ... the fault has been even traced to certain factory (outsourced to LG if I recall correctly) of e-ink screens. So then again this add lots of points for the suck factor.

Bottom line: Sony readers SUCKS, the cost top money and they are a gamble, as you don´t know if you will get a faulty one or not and it is not an "isolated case" ...

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by sigmax

Wrapping it up, it is worse yet: it is a general INCAPABLE TO COPE WITH STRONG LIGHT problem, which in my view, sucks even WORSE!!

Strong light???? I don't think so, maybe a specific frequency. You'd have to do some other experiments. Reading under a 150 incandescent or a 300 watt halogen.

Originally Posted by sigmax

I think that SONY is NOT being reasonable. They state from one side that they will hold as the "quality reader" not looking the lower end of pricing, but they build faulty, crappy ebook readers ... and I think this should be posted STICKY, in a prominent place of mobileread website.

I've purchased 2 PRS-300s and 1 PRS-505 and non of them have this error. I'm betting having a light problem is the exception not the rule.

Originally Posted by sigmax

I also think that SONY should start a real nice callback for their faulty readers, anywhere in the world where there is a Sony dealer, even if it wasn´t bought in there, they should accept a faulty reader and exchange it for a new one.

It does seem by now they would have a good idea of what batch of screens caused this problem and a proactive recall might have been positive. On the other hand since they didn't do this it may be that only a small percentage of users even notice this problem.

Originally Posted by sigmax

Lesser known brands acted just as I say (or even better)...

True, this is not a problem exclusive to Sony other devices that used this screen had this problem too.

Originally Posted by sigmax

I am quite pissed off at SONY. I paid more than 200 U$S for my prs300 just to be able to read on the beach, on my vacations, as they said in their website "suitable to read under direct sunlight" ... I never could do so. This is a direct lie, and also even sounds like a criminal behaviour, to sell faulty products by just promoting the very thing it cannot do.

You have a right to be upset, it seems it is time to return the unit.

Originally Posted by sigmax

I tried to talk with SONY support. They said to me that they where UNAWARE of the light problem (which is a LIE), and they also did not offer any way of exchanging the reader on the country I was IN (even if it was within warranty). Needless to say that they had a local SONY service representative... only that the "readers are not covered by them".

Maybe someone here can help you with the consumer protection laws in Uruguay. In the mean time I would escalate my complaint to a supervisor and point to various posts here where Sony has replaced the unit.

Originally Posted by sigmax

AGAIN I WANT TO STRESS that this fault is at their quality line, not something that "broke during the reader´s USE ... the fault has been even traced to certain factory (outsourced to LG if I recall correctly) of e-ink screens. So then again this add lots of points for the suck factor.

True again, this is not a fault of the consumer.

Originally Posted by sigmax

Bottom line: Sony readers SUCKS, the cost top money and they are a gamble, as you don´t know if you will get a faulty one or not and it is not an "isolated case" ...

I have yet to hear anyone in the EU, Canada or the U.S. being refused a new unit due to this defect. I'm not sure what options you have in Uruguay but I would push the issue further up Sony's chain of command.

I wish you luck.

[Halk]

I am certain of the following.

- Some screens have the problem, others don't.
- Something in sunlight causes it, but not in artificial light
- It makes the device useless in sunlight
- It's a defect in either each individual screen displaying the problem, or the installation of the screen.

I've got a faulty PRS600 with that problem, and I've had 3 different Cybook screens, none of which had the problem. Just in case anyone is thinking it's not that bad, it really is bad. The sun in Scotland was enough to leave the screen almost blank, on a cloudy day.

I raised a repair in warranty request with Sony, however I wasn't able to send it back as I ended up in hospital. I'm out now, and I'll send it back on Monday of next week. I do have a receipt which I can include, however I bought it earlier in the year in the USA, not the UK, and it's going to be Sony Europe I'm sending it back to. I'm anticipating a problem with that, however I'm going approach it with a zero tolerance approach. Faulty screen, their quality control missed it, Sony made it, Sony fix it. Hopefully I'll have few problems.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sigmax

IT IS NOT A HEAT PROBLEM NOR A SUNLIGHT SPECTRUM PROBLEM: I grabbed my 2 AA Led lantern (cree led) and placed it right over my Sony PRS300 reader, almost touching the screen, changed page, and voila, the letters inside the light circle got washed.

Wrapping it up, it is worse yet: it is a general INCAPABLE TO COPE WITH STRONG LIGHT problem, which in my view, sucks even WORSE!!

I think that SONY is NOT being reasonable. They state from one side that they will hold as the "quality reader" not looking the lower end of pricing, but they build faulty, crappy ebook readers ... and I think this should be posted STICKY, in a prominent place of mobileread website.

I also think that SONY should start a real nice callback for their faulty readers, anywhere in the world where there is a Sony dealer, even if it wasn´t bought in there, they should accept a faulty reader and exchange it for a new one.

Lesser known brands acted just as I say (or even better)...

I am quite pissed off at SONY. I paid more than 200 U$S for my prs300 just to be able to read on the beach, on my vacations, as they said in their website "suitable to read under direct sunlight" ... I never could do so. This is a direct lie, and also even sounds like a criminal behaviour, to sell faulty products by just promoting the very thing it cannot do.

I tried to talk with SONY support. They said to me that they where UNAWARE of the light problem (which is a LIE), and they also did not offer any way of exchanging the reader on the country I was IN (even if it was within warranty). Needless to say that they had a local SONY service representative... only that the "readers are not covered by them".

AGAIN I WANT TO STRESS that this fault is at their quality line, not something that "broke during the reader´s USE ... the fault has been even traced to certain factory (outsourced to LG if I recall correctly) of e-ink screens. So then again this add lots of points for the suck factor.

Bottom line: Sony readers SUCKS, the cost top money and they are a gamble, as you don´t know if you will get a faulty one or not and it is not an "isolated case" ...

Do not blame Sony. Some defective screens were made and these defective eink screens affect other brands besides Sony. It is not Sony's fault. What you need to do is get your 300 exchanged for one that works in direct sunlight. I've seen the problem and it is a problem. The only way for Sony to know of the problem before these units ship is to take each one outside in direct sunlight and try them. That's not feasible given that the screens are supposed to work.

[Halk]

Sorry Jon, but that isn't the way it works. If Sony use faulty parts then the consumer has the issue with Sony. It is not acceptable for Sony to pass the blame onto their supplier.

I also don't accept that Sony could only detect the problem my viewing them in direct sunlight, there must be a way to replicate the problem with artificial light, and that is what all manufacturers should be doing - either that or a suitable replacement policy.

I've still not sent mine back yet... I'm keen to post it on a Monday so that it's unlikely to be gone over two weekends, which are when I do most reading.

[sigmax]

I say it again: I tested my PRS-300 with a LED light, 230 lumenes (says the seller, but I suspect less than that) and when I turned the page on the Sony reader, the text below the light cone (I placed the led source almost touching the screen), made the text below to become faint. Not that much (with the sun is far worse) but it got washed out nevertheless.

Maybe you don´t know this, but led light is very poor in the chromatic frecuency output: that is, it is not a "rich" light.

I therefore say that this light issue is more general than "the sun source".

Bottom line, Sony says that their readers are able to be used even in DIRECT SUNLIGHT (they state so in their own readers publicity). They do not have a quality assurance on their screens. They act smuggly on the recall ... they try to minimize recalls.

This last thing about recalls: If you live in USA, or an "official sales region" it is (finally after months -or YEARS- of denying the washed screen problem) finally straightforward to get your faulty SONY reader exchanged.


But if you are travelling or live overseas like me, in South america, even if there are several official Sony representatives, and in other niches, like tv cameras (broadcast and profesional) they do honor their warranties anywhere in the world, you will not be lucky with the SONY reader.

So, I must stress the fact that MAYBE it is ok for sony to have slipped TONS (not one or two, as some of you try to minimize the impact of this situation) faulty screens, probably in search of a better profit, outsourcing the screen fabrication to third parties, as most corporations, in the end, got their first goal in making MORE money each day...

But then, when they deny the problem, and negate solutions ... they are acting smuggly and dishonestly.

I feel robbed. Period. I paid good money (more than 200 bucks) for this piece of semi-useless reader (down here we are over the atlantic coast, and there are lots of beaches, and we usually prefer to be outdoor), and basically it does not deliver what I was promised, and the seller made me loose time (hours) trying to CONVINCE THEM that there is a problem.

The only solution they gave me whas 100% unacceptable. "send the unit on your cost, to USA, to this address, and track it, to see if it reaches us or get lost ... it must arrive before the 3 months warranty period expires, and no, we don´t pre-register the warranty case: we will acknowledge it only when and IF it reaches our recall center" or something like that, which frankly made me think that I could loose both my reader and the shipping price (almost half of what the reader costs, if I used a "good" service, like fedex or ups).

So I chose the safest of the alternatives: keep it ... and obviously never again buy a Sony reader, while also make my situation known to other people that would like to buy a reader.... to give them a very real fact about Sony readers and their service.