Sony not so popular any more... Is this the case?

[Bltprf502]

I own the PRS 300 with lighted cover. I went shopping today for the first time in a LONG time. I noticed all of the typical places like Walmart, Best Buy and Target no longer sell the Sony E Reader line. I did see the Kindle at Best Buy and Target. I saw the Nook and BB also... Maybe they made a better offer to the box stores knowing the iPad was moving in fast and furious? I can justify the price of the iPad right now. Were there so many issues with the Sony that they were discontinued/no longer carried by so many big retailers? I know my local Target said they got a lot of returns. Are the newer generation Sony's that much better? I played with a Kindle a few days ago and I must say if given that choice again the Sony would still be in the store where I picked it up. What if anything has happened to the Sony E reader legacy? Are they losing ground?

[Salgueiros]

On the contrary.

Sony releases products that are solid, well made, well designed and reliable. I am quite impressed by the quality of the Sony reader i bought. The PRS 350 is perfect for my needs. I see them in all the good electronic stores i go.

Tablets are not true competitors. You can-t read books in it. You can browse the net and to things you do in a leptop computer, but not read a real book like you do on a Sony reader.

Besides, Sony has a good market worldwide. I remember seeing somewhere that Sony is the brand that sells more ereaders in the global market so i am pretty sure they are on the good way.

[bill_mchale]

The Sony PRS 300 was a good decent reader, if basically a smaller, stripped down PRS-505. Unfortunately the PRS 600 was not. Many found its touch screen hard to operate, the changes they had to make to the screen to allow it to incorporate touch resulted in a screen that could be full of glare and left text looking vaguely fuzzy.

The new Sony readers are certainly their best products. The touch screens work very well and look fantastic.

That being said, Amazon has put forward a remarkable product with the Kindle. The lack of Wifi and the higher price of the Sony 350 and 650 are going to make it harder for them to compete even though they are very very good readers in their own right.

--
Bill

[doreenjoy]

I think you'll see more distribution points as soon as the 350 and 650 are fully stocked.

[sithpuppet]

Originally Posted by Bltprf502

I own the PRS 300 with lighted cover. I went shopping today for the first time in a LONG time. I noticed all of the typical places like Walmart, Best Buy and Target no longer sell the Sony E Reader line. I did see the Kindle at Best Buy and Target. I saw the Nook and BB also... Maybe they made a better offer to the box stores knowing the iPad was moving in fast and furious? I can justify the price of the iPad right now. Were there so many issues with the Sony that they were discontinued/no longer carried by so many big retailers? I know my local Target said they got a lot of returns. Are the newer generation Sony's that much better? I played with a Kindle a few days ago and I must say if given that choice again the Sony would still be in the store where I picked it up. What if anything has happened to the Sony E reader legacy? Are they losing ground?

I think these points are at cross purposes to each other. The only relevant question really is: Do you need a new e-reader?

If so:

1) What specific capabilities do you _need_ ? (as opposed to Want)

2) What price are you willing to pay?

3) Does it matter what "brand" is on the box if the above are met?

Let's face it: handheld electronics (more so than in-situ electronics) are commodities, regardless of how much they're priced (more $ =! better), what reviews they've gotten, or how they're being marketed. Technology evolves so fast that getting hung up on anecdotals is more counter-productive than not as it typically leads to interminable fence-sitting and no enjoyment at all due to missed opportunity.

Without making any kind of value judgment on any brand/model, find one that meets most (if not all) of your current needs and buy it.

One sentiment I will echo, however, is that tablets are not good readers. As the old saying goes, jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

[deekbee]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I think you'll see more distribution points as soon as the 350 and 650 are fully stocked.

Over here in the UK the only ones you can readily buy in the high street are the 350 and 650.

[neilmarr]

Good to have your new company, Deekbee. I got my Sony 505 from the UK when, quite honestly, there was little to compete. It still does the job beautifully and I'm more than happy with it. Must admit, though, if and when it dies a death, there are some attractive alternatives out there now. I don't feel such strong brand loyalty that I would necessarily buy another Sony device. Best wishes. Neil

[Bro Pete]

In our local WalMart I noticed they had the Sony 300 for sale. I asked if they would be getting the 350 or 650 and I was told "Most of our customers are not interested in reading"

[SaraD]

Well, many WalMart shoppers don't exactly represent a higher end intellectual market so that response doesn't surprise me. I love to read and do shop at WalMart, but have never considered buying books or many electronics there - just groceries and "stuff" so I wonder how many people have a similar mindset?

The library branch closest to me is one of the larger ones in our county system and has a good sized parking lot. From when it opens at 10am until at least 6pm or so (it closes 9pm Monday to Thursday) it is hard to get a parking space and people often park on the surrounding streets. I think that is a better indicator of people wanting to read.

This time around Sony is simply having a little more trouble getting stock levels of the new models built up. They also have added a few more countries to the list of ones where they officially sell the unit. I wonder if needed inventory levels were underestimated a bit? Many of the retailers near me are still trying to sell off the 300 and 600 models (they started too late) and I don't expect to see many of the new ones out until that happens.

[harriska2]

I will be trying to return our Kindle 3 to Staples and purchase a 650 with case this morning from Borders. I feel somewhat confident in getting the 650 for $30 more ($139+59 case vs. $229 + $0 case). Although Borders doesn't allow returns, I'm still going to purchase from them as it is a great deal. The Kindle 3 is a fine product but the 350 I tested was really fun to use - especially if you like to highlight and write notes.

I do find that Sony's market has shrunk but the product really does seem to be great. Maybe with happy owners of the newer Sony products (never owned a reader before this Kindle 3), sales will increase and they might find more stores to carry their products.

I'm fairly certain that Target and Staples had to agree to NOT carry competing products in order to carry the Kindle.

Oh well, you can still find Sony products at Borders, Best Buy, and Fred Meyer (West Coast).

[randyflycaster]

I just started using my Sony 350. I think it's great. I'm so glad I bought it instead of a Kindle. What most people don't realize, I guess - I didn't - is that you can't borrow ebooks from public libraries. To me that is a big issue. Also, most people seem to want wireless downloads. I'm not sure why. Downloading books directly from a computer works fine for me.

Randy

[HistoryWes]

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

On the contrary.

Sony releases products that are solid, well made, well designed and reliable. I am quite impressed by the quality of the Sony reader i bought. The PRS 350 is perfect for my needs. I see them in all the good electronic stores i go.

Tablets are not true competitors. You can-t read books in it. You can browse the net and to things you do in a leptop computer, but not read a real book like you do on a Sony reader.

Besides, Sony has a good market worldwide. I remember seeing somewhere that Sony is the brand that sells more ereaders in the global market so i am pretty sure they are on the good way.

I agree with all you said about Sony. I loved my PRS-505. I am amazed at how the Kindle is being marketed so successfully and I expect it to take more and more of the eink market share.

I also disagree with most everyone here about tablets. I replaced my Sony with an iPad and I find it just as comfortable to read on, whether I'm using iBooks or the Kindle App. I especially like the new feature in the Kindle app that lets me at a touch of the screen change from reading black on white to white on black to black on beige.

[danwdoo]

Originally Posted by SaraD

The library branch closest to me is one of the larger ones in our county system and has a good sized parking lot. From when it opens at 10am until at least 6pm or so (it closes 9pm Monday to Thursday) it is hard to get a parking space and people often park on the surrounding streets. I think that is a better indicator of people wanting to read.

I've noticed a lot of times when checking out from my library that 90% of the people in line only had movies and no books at all. It made me wonder if that was becoming typical or if it might just be those times. I hope this isn't how things are going.

[Timoleon]

Originally Posted by HistoryWes

I agree with all you said about Sony. I loved my PRS-505. I am amazed at how the Kindle is being marketed so successfully and I expect it to take more and more of the eink market share.

I also disagree with most everyone here about tablets. I replaced my Sony with an iPad and I find it just as comfortable to read on, whether I'm using iBooks or the Kindle App. I especially like the new feature in the Kindle app that lets me at a touch of the screen change from reading black on white to white on black to black on beige.

Ditto on everything you said. Last night I was at Staples and they had a new Kindle display located prominently, just in front of the check-out counters. I checked out the new Kindle, and as nice as it is, the display really didn't seem to be any better than that of my PRS-505. Still, at $139/$189 it is a fabulous deal, and I'll probably pick one up...

[Cpl Punishment]

Originally Posted by harriska2

. Although Borders doesn't allow returns, I'm still going to purchase from them as it is a great deal. .

I was going to buy a 650 at Borders tomorrow, until I just read about no returns...I was all over their website and cannot find any reference to it...What happens if ya have probs right away...No return..??

* Disregard, I found their policy...They take returns up to 30 days....