Epson and 400MHz with ADE and TTS:$229

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

With a price point of 199, you have to wonder how much of that is going to be pure profit, taking into account how much stuff is missing.

This is the list price, and over time retailers will provide a discount. I would not be surprised to see a street price of $169, or less, by Christmas.

[rixte]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

I feel that Sony's option to unload every non-essential embellishment from a reader, and have a solid CORE product is a good thing. Sony has had years of experience with their PRS line, and the units seems quite solid in both hardware and software. So I would have no qualms against purchasing a Sony Reader product.

The PRS-300 has no SD card (lower cost), unimpressive controller (lower cost), simple sleeve (much lower cost), no TTS, no folder support, no user-changeable battery. Just a product that does one thing, and one thing only, read a few book formats, and an ability to store a few hundred on an internal flash memory.

However, where I see absolutely nothing at all wrong with their decision to take this route, I heartily am appalled at the price they give this gimped unit.

It's only 20 bucks cheaper than Astak's unit, which, when compared, is a 20 bucks anyone would gladly spend for the multitude of improvements.

The PRS-300, in my humble opinion, should be introduced at $129.00, if not $99. The unit, in it's gimped state, is not worth the high price that they are suggesting.

I would not pay more than 129.00 for such a device. The device itself, taken for it's own merits, might be a 200 dollar device. But you have to take into consideration the competition, and price accordingly.

With a price point of 199, you have to wonder how much of that is going to be pure profit, taking into account how much stuff is missing.

Considering RobertB's said one of the reasons they couldn't go lower is the panel price of screens for 5 inches went up, I wouldn't expect Sony to be able to take such a dramatic loss.

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

This is the list price, and over time retailers will provide a discount. I would not be surprised to see a street price of $169, or less, by Christmas.

still too much for me, comparatively.

Originally Posted by rixte

Considering RobertB's said one of the reasons they couldn't go lower is the panel price of screens for 5 inches went up, I wouldn't expect Sony to be able to take such a dramatic loss.

I dunno. panels may have gone up, but they are omitted the prices of sd card reader, if memory serves, they are not increasing the memory, but are reducing it (i don't think I'm wrong on that, but I very well could be)

They are not paying the extra for the epson controller, so they are saving money there too. A lot of the costs are being left off of the device. Surely they arent including R&D costs for removal of a feature?

"We spent 20,000 downgrading the 505 to the 300, by removing many of the features for a basic unit, this cost must be made up in the price of the unit"

Egad, I hope this isn't the case.

[SDRebel]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Sony has a new 5" coming out for only 199, but it only comes with a sleeve. For a hard case it's another 40 bucks.

For 229 (20 bucks more than the new Sony), you can get the Astak that comes with the case. and so much more that the new Sony 5" will not do.

As far as costs go, it's unbeatable. Sony may have been the first with a 199 price point, but they had to butcher the unit (no case, no SD card support, no epson controller) in order to reach that price.

I saw the announcement of the Sony one, I got excited, though I know it won't have as much support or as many features as the astak 5". What I do like about the Sony one is that it is suppoed to be sold in many places, so it shouldn't be that hard to find a 10% discount somewhere and get it for around 180 plus tax

[SDRebel]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Please visit the different Forum areas - Sony, Cybook, Astak, Kindle, and Jetbook (not e-ink).

Look at the features that interest you. Look at file formats, size, cost, performance, etc. and ask questions in the various forums for opinions.

Look at who is answering your questions and HOW they answer your questions.

When analyzing responses, look at who will seem to give you an unbiased opinion.

Also look at biased opinions, in order to better understand someone's bias or opinionated views. Understanding another person's bias allows one to really peek inside a person's head.

Do research and be proactive in gathering information.

Then decide on which unit meets your particular needs.


Don

I agree, I've been doing my research and that's why I have come to the conclusion that this may be the device for me. One of the most important things being the price, but I am really liking the astak one, I am just worried about future support

[griffonwing]

Go to the Hanlin forum, and you can read all about the support.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=101

[SDRebel]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Wecome to MobileRead Forum!

I work for Astak and Astak makes the Pocket PRO. There are other 5 inch eBook Readers. Take a look at the Sony 300 and then compare.

The difference between them is as follows:

The Pocket PRO is NOT a stripped-down model. It has the user-replaceable battery and an SD card slot to 16GB and E-Ink technology. The Pocket PRO has Epson Controller and 400MHz processor for far faster page turns, Adobe Digital Editions, MP3 stereo, 8 levels of grey scale, Text-To-Speech, displays 12 formats and 20 languages, weighs under 6 ounces, is backed by USA technical support and warranty, and comes in 6 colors for $229.

While you may or may not yet understand WHY all of this is important... my point would be that after you are no longer new here... you will learn that this remains a landmark device that has all the goodies that this knowledgeable crowd loves and praises. PLUS... it will handle just about any eBook you might want to buy... from HUNDREDS of websites. I call it "landmark" because it is in a class by itself... and that is a very good class.

Also, the Pocket PRO has both left and right hand page advance and a scroll wheel... making it far easier for anyone to feel comfortable with the device! AND... despite all the technical stuff on it... it is one of the easiest devices to operate because it is intuitive!

WELCOME!!

Thanks for your response. I've been reading about the different devices and though I haven't experimented with all the advantages of the astak one, i do feel they are really good pluses.

I found another of your posts somewhere saying that you were going to have a 5" version for about $160, did that ever come true?
When do you expect you will resell the pocket pro thru Fry's and other resellers?
Thanks

[rixte]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

still too much for me, comparatively.



I dunno. panels may have gone up, but they are omitted the prices of sd card reader, if memory serves, they are not increasing the memory, but are reducing it (i don't think I'm wrong on that, but I very well could be)

They are not paying the extra for the epson controller, so they are saving money there too. A lot of the costs are being left off of the device. Surely they arent including R&D costs for removal of a feature?

"We spent 20,000 downgrading the 505 to the 300, by removing many of the features for a basic unit, this cost must be made up in the price of the unit"

Egad, I hope this isn't the case.

That seems a fairly spurious claim.

It's a matter of perspective. Sony designed a new look and feel from rather than taking an existing device and scaling it down. I'm quite sure there was research and development costs in that. The 300 also has features that the Pocket Pro doesn't, such as dictionary support.

I mean, people can debate all day about the individual benefits of each device, and it's quite fun to do so and one of the reasons I come to the board. But I get a little concerned when disinformation is being spread about one device to make another look better.

[igorsk]

Originally Posted by rixte

The 300 also has features that the Pocket Pro doesn't, such as dictionary support.

Um no, it doesn't.

[rixte]

Originally Posted by igorsk

Um no, it doesn't.

Oops, sorry, my mistake, I just remembered support from the press release. Which makes me also guilty!

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by rixte

That seems a fairly spurious claim.

Actually, I never claimed they sid it. I said that I 'hoped' that was not the case. It was never a stated claim.

It's a matter of perspective. Sony designed a new look and feel from rather than taking an existing device and scaling it down. I'm quite sure there was research and development costs in that. The 300 also has features that the Pocket Pro doesn't, such as dictionary support.

There wasn't really a lot of stuff they did to the 300, as compared to the 505, except remove a lot of stuff.

And igorsk already beat me on the dictionary claim.

I mean, people can debate all day about the individual benefits of each device, and it's quite fun to do so and one of the reasons I come to the board. But I get a little concerned when disinformation is being spread about one device to make another look better.

I'm not trying to do that. I am all for Sony gutting a reader down to the base Core product, but I feel that they should not charge the same price for their gimped unit that another company charged for a full package.

Taking off 40 bucks of Astaks price since they include a cover, the Astak actually comes out 20 bucks cheaper for so much more.

Again, I do applaud Sony for putting out a solid device backed and built by a great company, however their price needs to reflect the current comparative prices of the competition, which this one does not.

They are simply charging too much money for their product.

[rixte]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Actually, I never claimed they sid it. I said that I 'hoped' that was not the case. It was never a stated claim.

There wasn't really a lot of stuff they did to the 300, as compared to the 505, except remove a lot of stuff.

And igorsk already beat me on the dictionary claim.


I'm not trying to do that. I am all for Sony gutting a reader down to the base Core product, but I feel that they should not charge the same price for their gimped unit that another company charged for a full package.

Taking off 40 bucks of Astaks price since they include a cover, the Astak actually comes out 20 bucks cheaper for so much more.

Again, I do applaud Sony for putting out a solid device backed and built by a great company, however their price needs to reflect the current comparative prices of the competition, which this one does not.

They are simply charging too much money for their product.

I understand where you're coming from and I agree that it's really about hitting a price point that works with the competition. Personally, I think Sony succeeded, if only in part because certain price points are 'magic' with consumers. But of course, it's not going to meet everybody's wishlist.

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by rixte

I understand where you're coming from and I agree that it's really about hitting a price point that works with the competition. Personally, I think Sony succeeded, if only in part because certain price points are 'magic' with consumers. But of course, it's not going to meet everybody's wishlist.

Aye, and I fully agree that $199 is the magic price point that the public is waiting for, and has been waiting for for quite some time.

It's just unfortunate that many purchasers of the $199 Pocket Edition will be disappointed if they ever learn that for only 20 bucks more, they could have gotten a much more enhanced device that actually comes with a cover, instead of having to fork out an extra 40 bucks for one.

And Sony would have been better off reducing the price even more, to 159 or 179, in order to pick up those others who comparison shop.

[rixte]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Aye, and I fully agree that $199 is the magic price point that the public is waiting for, and has been waiting for for quite some time.

It's just unfortunate that many purchasers of the $199 Pocket Edition will be disappointed if they ever learn that for only 20 bucks more, they could have gotten a much more enhanced device that actually comes with a cover, instead of having to fork out an extra 40 bucks for one.

And Sony would have been better off reducing the price even more, to 159 or 179, in order to pick up those others who comparison shop.

Technically it's 30 bucks more Although, heck, yeah on the $179 price - that's exactly the price point I posted on another thread that I hoped Pocket Pro would end up with - before final pricing was announced. I would have bought it for that, even though the design wasn't to my personal taste. (The Sony 300 isn't exactly mine either, although it's slightly closer than the Pro - the Opus or the Pocket 360 are the ones I think are absolutely beautiful, just also absolutely out of my 5" price range)

[=X=]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Again, I do applaud Sony for putting out a solid device backed and built by a great company, however their price needs to reflect the current comparative prices of the competition, which this one does not.

Says you I think their a terrible company with nice looking products but SONY quality is a thing of the past.

=X=