PRS-950 Where is the best place to buy the PRS-50 in the US?

NLight95 · 02-25-2011, 01:11 PM

Using the Google Product Search I found that these are some of the stores that carry the PRS-950. There are other stores as well.

Provantage
Abt Electronics & Appliances
Sony - Official Store
PC Nation
Amazon
CompSource
Best Buy

Where did you all buy your PRS-950?

While price is very important to me, good CS is even more so. I desire a store with a good return policy. I thought about buying from the Sony Store because it seems like most of the other stores don't have the unit in stock, but Sony's rating on reselleratings.com gives me pause.

natasha_fawn · 02-25-2011, 01:16 PM

Mine came from BHphoto back in November. I can't say much about their customer service except that they honored a pretty big price mistake, which gets them bonus points in my book. But they've been out of stock for a while now.

NLight95 · 02-25-2011, 06:10 PM

I ended up ordering it from Provantage even though it's considered a "special order" due to it not being in stock. I guess availability should come beginning in March. What's confusing is that their web site says the unit is black yet the model number is PRS-950SC, indicating silver. I would prefer black but I don't think black units are sold in the US market, at least not currently.

Shopaholic · 02-25-2011, 07:14 PM

My understanding is the 950 is only for the US market so I'm confused by your statement of the black not being available to the US market. As to seller ratings online, meh, I wouldn't pay attention to them for a store like Sony. People will go out of their way to post rants for imagined things they're unhappy about which don't necessarily have anything to do with reality or the product actually offered.

If you like the product and the company go with it and ignore the rants of people who don't have a clue what they're talking about. You have to take product and store reviews with a grain of salt. It's frightening how utterly clueless Joe Q Public is when it comes to a great many things. And remember too, you're not hearing both sides of the story. You're only hearing their interpretation of what they think they heard when that may not be what was actually said or had happened.

Frankly after reading the first page of so-called reviews on the Sony store on resellerratings, I'd never go back to that site for anything. Anybody can post anything they want online. It doesn't mean it's true.

natasha_fawn · 02-25-2011, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NLight95

I ended up ordering it from Provantage even though it's considered a "special order" due to it not being in stock. I guess availability should come beginning in March. What's confusing is that their web site says the unit is black yet the model number is PRS-950SC, indicating silver. I would prefer black but I don't think black units are sold in the US market, at least not currently.

There is no black.

Consensus seems to be that Sony was originally planning on releasing two colors, silver and black, just like they did for the 350 and 650 in the states. Some time before release but after announcement they decided to just offer silver, maybe they thought there wasn't enough interest to offer both. I've not dealt with Provantage, but I'd be a little wary if they can't be bothered to update their site to reflect reality for over 4 months.

Parx · 02-26-2011, 01:29 PM

I got my 950 off of Sony's "worst in class" sonystyle website. I went through there because shockingly they offered the best price, then knocked off $15 for student discount, then took the $50 credit I got from sending my old PRS-600 in for their trade in program. So they REALLY had the best price after that. Have to say that I love the 950s screen, size, and updated OS. So much so I've been trying to find a 650 (and or contemplating another 950).

NLight95 · 03-04-2011, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

My understanding is the 950 is only for the US market so I'm confused by your statement of the black not being available to the US market. As to seller ratings online, meh, I wouldn't pay attention to them for a store like Sony. People will go out of their way to post rants for imagined things they're unhappy about which don't necessarily have anything to do with reality or the product actually offered.

If you like the product and the company go with it and ignore the rants of people who don't have a clue what they're talking about. You have to take product and store reviews with a grain of salt. It's frightening how utterly clueless Joe Q Public is when it comes to a great many things. And remember too, you're not hearing both sides of the story. You're only hearing their interpretation of what they think they heard when that may not be what was actually said or had happened.

Frankly after reading the first page of so-called reviews on the Sony store on resellerratings, I'd never go back to that site for anything. Anybody can post anything they want online. It doesn't mean it's true.

Black PRS-950s are apparently sold in New Zealand and perhaps other locations. There's a thread on the forum here discussing it and one poster posted a link to a site selling them. Unfortunately I didn't bookmark the thread but it wouldn't make any difference to me because I couldn't get one anyway.

I'm not so sure I agree with you in regards to customer service and Reselleratings.com. They're one of the few reputable sites (unlike the BBB which gets funding from the very companies they rate) who report/rate customer satisfaction that in my experience has been fairly accurate. Almost every time I've ordered from a company that had a low rating on reselleratings I had a bad experience like the others who rated the company low. Likewise, the company with good ratings I've nearly always had good experiences.

NLight95 · 03-04-2011, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parx

I got my 950 off of Sony's "worst in class" sonystyle website. I went through there because shockingly they offered the best price, then knocked off $15 for student discount, then took the $50 credit I got from sending my old PRS-600 in for their trade in program. So they REALLY had the best price after that. Have to say that I love the 950s screen, size, and updated OS. So much so I've been trying to find a 650 (and or contemplating another 950).

Buying it from Sony would cost about me $20 more because the price of the unit is a little higher than Provantage and I'd have to pay tax on it ($15). I don't have an old e-reader to trade in nor am I a student.

NLight95 · 03-04-2011, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by natasha_fawn

There is no black.

Consensus seems to be that Sony was originally planning on releasing two colors, silver and black, just like they did for the 350 and 650 in the states. Some time before release but after announcement they decided to just offer silver, maybe they thought there wasn't enough interest to offer both. I've not dealt with Provantage, but I'd be a little wary if they can't be bothered to update their site to reflect reality for over 4 months.

I sent them an email concerning this and am waiting their reply. If they refuse to change the description I will cancel my order because the product is being misadvertised.

NLight95 · 03-08-2011, 04:11 PM

A follow up on my previous post...

A Provantage rep got back to me, so I am keeping my order with them as long they update the info accurately). Unfortunately they won't have any PRS-950s in stock until Mar 16. Hopefully my patience will pay off in a lower price and satisfactory transaction.

"Thank you for bringing this typo to our attention. This should be corrected on our site by tomorrow afternoon."

Diane L. Smith
National Advertising Manager
PROVANTAGE Corporation

Shopaholic · 03-08-2011, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NLight95

A follow up on my previous post...

A Provantage rep got back to me, so I am keeping my order with them as long they update the info accurately). Unfortunately they won't have any PRS-950s in stock until Mar 16. Hopefully my patience will pay off in a lower price and satisfactory transaction.

"Thank you for bringing this typo to our attention. This should be corrected on our site by tomorrow afternoon."

Diane L. Smith
National Advertising Manager
PROVANTAGE Corporation

See, now to me that's not a typo. A typo is say typing 'tyep' instead of 'type'. Black instead of silver is a plain old mistake/carelessness. Maybe I'm too picky but that would concern me.

To me, that rating site is just a venue for people who have nothing better to do to than vent their frustrations with a company. I don't find it credible but to each their own. I've dealt with the public long enough now to know just how stupid people can be. I'm not going to rely on someone's skewed opinion of a company.

Heck even on the Sony site you've got some fools posting negative reviews of the AC charger for the 350/650 because it doesn't work with the 300/600. WTF??? That's just stupid.

I was looking for reviews on some dry skin lotion and some fool gave it the lowest rating possible. I wondered why and went to read the review. This dummy gave it a poor review because the picture showed the old packaging and they received the new one. Well what's that go to do with the product? There's just too many stupid people out there for a lot of the supposed reviews and ratings to be credible IMO.

dpath · 03-08-2011, 07:05 PM

I'm new to this forum but I wanted to mention that I recently purchased a PRS-950 from Sony Style via Corporate Perks. The discounted cost was $255 plus tax (with free shipping). The eReader arrived in a few days.

Brian M · 03-08-2011, 08:42 PM

There's a lot to be said for using local resources too. I just bought mine (silver) from Craigslist. New in the box, it was still at the setup screen and had the old 1.0xxx firmware. Apparently the seller has divorced parents and got 2, she kept the pink one (not a 950 obviously). I paid $175 and spent ~60 minutes of my life dealing with the sale/driving. But I had it in my hands within an hour of finding the post on Craigslist, no waiting.

Provantage is a good company IMHO. May last job was as the head of an IT department and I did a fair bit of purchasing through them. They rarely have poorly labeled items (and it's always missing one color for another, a piddly thing) and are generally responsive and easy to work with.

As for Resellerratings, I use it extensively. It's just like every other review site, easy to discount the stupid and the fake. They do tend to be spot on with the overall rating.

02-25-2011, 01:11 PM	#1
NLight95 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 670 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: none	Where is the best place to buy the PRS-50 in the US? Using the Google Product Search I found that these are some of the stores that carry the PRS-950. There are other stores as well. Provantage Abt Electronics & Appliances Sony - Official Store PC Nation Amazon CompSource Best Buy Where did you all buy your PRS-950? While price is very important to me, good CS is even more so. I desire a store with a good return policy. I thought about buying from the Sony Store because it seems like most of the other stores don't have the unit in stock, but Sony's rating on reselleratings.com gives me pause.

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02-25-2011, 01:16 PM	#2
natasha_fawn Evangelist Posts: 414 Karma: 184633 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Sony PRS-950 (finally!)	Mine came from BHphoto back in November. I can't say much about their customer service except that they honored a pretty big price mistake, which gets them bonus points in my book. But they've been out of stock for a while now.

02-25-2011, 06:10 PM	#3
NLight95 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 670 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: none	I ended up ordering it from Provantage even though it's considered a "special order" due to it not being in stock. I guess availability should come beginning in March. What's confusing is that their web site says the unit is black yet the model number is PRS-950SC, indicating silver. I would prefer black but I don't think black units are sold in the US market, at least not currently.

02-25-2011, 07:14 PM	#4
Shopaholic Cockatoo Mom! Posts: 1,509 Karma: 1841741 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: PW4, Kobo: A1, Clara, Libra 2, iPad Pro 11, iPad Mini	My understanding is the 950 is only for the US market so I'm confused by your statement of the black not being available to the US market. As to seller ratings online, meh, I wouldn't pay attention to them for a store like Sony. People will go out of their way to post rants for imagined things they're unhappy about which don't necessarily have anything to do with reality or the product actually offered. If you like the product and the company go with it and ignore the rants of people who don't have a clue what they're talking about. You have to take product and store reviews with a grain of salt. It's frightening how utterly clueless Joe Q Public is when it comes to a great many things. And remember too, you're not hearing both sides of the story. You're only hearing their interpretation of what they think they heard when that may not be what was actually said or had happened. Frankly after reading the first page of so-called reviews on the Sony store on resellerratings, I'd never go back to that site for anything. Anybody can post anything they want online. It doesn't mean it's true.

02-26-2011, 01:29 PM	#6
Parx Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Austin, Texas Device: Sony PRS-950; Nook; and iPad.	I got my 950 off of Sony's "worst in class" sonystyle website. I went through there because shockingly they offered the best price, then knocked off $15 for student discount, then took the $50 credit I got from sending my old PRS-600 in for their trade in program. So they REALLY had the best price after that. Have to say that I love the 950s screen, size, and updated OS. So much so I've been trying to find a 650 (and or contemplating another 950).

03-08-2011, 04:11 PM	#10
NLight95 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 670 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: none	A follow up on my previous post... A Provantage rep got back to me, so I am keeping my order with them as long they update the info accurately). Unfortunately they won't have any PRS-950s in stock until Mar 16. Hopefully my patience will pay off in a lower price and satisfactory transaction. "Thank you for bringing this typo to our attention. This should be corrected on our site by tomorrow afternoon." Diane L. Smith National Advertising Manager PROVANTAGE Corporation

03-08-2011, 07:05 PM	#12
dpath Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Sony PRS-950	I'm new to this forum but I wanted to mention that I recently purchased a PRS-950 from Sony Style via Corporate Perks. The discounted cost was $255 plus tax (with free shipping). The eReader arrived in a few days.

03-08-2011, 08:42 PM	#13
Brian M Member Posts: 23 Karma: 46336 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: SE Subtropics Device: PRS-950	There's a lot to be said for using local resources too. I just bought mine (silver) from Craigslist. New in the box, it was still at the setup screen and had the old 1.0xxx firmware. Apparently the seller has divorced parents and got 2, she kept the pink one (not a 950 obviously). I paid $175 and spent ~60 minutes of my life dealing with the sale/driving. But I had it in my hands within an hour of finding the post on Craigslist, no waiting. Provantage is a good company IMHO. May last job was as the head of an IT department and I did a fair bit of purchasing through them. They rarely have poorly labeled items (and it's always missing one color for another, a piddly thing) and are generally responsive and easy to work with. As for Resellerratings, I use it extensively. It's just like every other review site, easy to discount the stupid and the fake. They do tend to be spot on with the overall rating.