Sony CLearance

[Kore]

I just bought my PRS-350 in Best Buy. They don't have Sonys for display.... only Kindles and Nooks.

[graycyn]

I was just at my local Best Buy on Tuesday. They had a number of e-readers. NOOKcolor, Nook Classic, Kindle, Pandigital Novel, Cruz, some other off brands.

They definitely DID have Sony, a display with both the 350 and 950.

I am now in LOVE with the 950! That 7" touch screen, love it, love it! Hoping hubby will surprise me with one for Mother's Day. But I suspect that is VERY wishful thinking on my part at the price. Christmas is perhaps more likely.

We'd first been to Target though, only to find they no longer carried Sony and the only e-reader was Kindle.

[tvuongpham]

Very interesting.. as an owner of a Sony 350 and previous 600... my 9yr daughter is pleading for a Nook or Kindle. Granted she has used both of my readers but she wants her own and well.. if it weren't for Calibre and the lower price of a Kindle 3... to cut to the chase..
I just (minutes ago) ordered via amazon.com the Kindle 3 for her.. she has voiced her preference for a purple cover and purple decal.

That's okay...

Well see how it goes..I don't know the build quality of a kindle ie durability.
Maybe buttons are better for her usability.
The 6" screen is a bit larger fonts.. so.. well see.

I will have to compare epub vs kindle (mobi) formats... quality etc

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by Kore

I just bought my PRS-350 in Best Buy. They don't have Sonys for display.... only Kindles and Nooks.

Congratulations! You will loved it as we all do! It is such a beautifull little device.

As for the Sony covers. They are perfect. And they don't open by themselves that is nonsense. The flap is hold to the reader by little magnets.

First I bought one of these, but it added to much bulk to the 350 so I went for a Sony cover and couldn't be happier. BTW the cover-up cover is real leather while this one is fake.

[CommonReader]

You may want to look at the covers of proporta.com. I have a genuine leather cover from them for my PRS-300 and it magnificently made. An additional advantage is that they use the same methos of fastning the reader into the cover as the original Sony covers. I wouldn't like to spend money on such a beautiful device as a Sony reader just to encase it completely in some bulky cover.

I finally managed to snap up a silver PRS-650 in my local MediaMarkt yesterday and I will get myself a Proporta cover for it next week.

[Poppaea]

They are faux leather. The description on the Properta site says:

The protective cover is made from a hard wearing, leather style material with contrast stitching.

Just another way to say it is not genuine leather. The fastening is interesting still and in the end with the shipping cost they are the same price as the Sonys.

So no gain here.

Glad you have your reader. Do you enjoy it?

[CommonReader]

The cover for my PRS-300 is genuine leather and it is beautifully made. I replaced the Sony Standard Cover with the proporta when I was able to pick it up at a sale for only 15€.
Unfortunately they don't seem to offer genuine leather covers for the PRS-350/650 any more. Perhaps they couldn't sell enough of the previous covers at the right price point.
Still, I will settle for fake leather as I am confident that they haven't compromised on production quality. I wasn't happy with the quality of the Sony Standard Cover for the PRS-300. The material started to rub off at the corners and it looked "used" within days, while the proporta cover is still flawless despite being carried around for months in jacket pockets etc. Therefore I consider the proporta cover as a better deal.

As regards the reader, yes, I am very happy. It is quite an improvement over the PRS-300 even though I was very happy with it. I only spent 99,- € for the PRS-300 while I was happy to get the PRS-650 even at full price ( 229,- € ), though.

[carpetmojo]

In Waterstones today, 350 reduced £39, down to £111.

Spoting an opportunity to do a bit of James Bondery, I enquired as to the reason (thinking of getting one for relative etc...) and was told , after some persuasion, that they only had 2 left, including demo, and staff were told all remaining stock was to be cleared, and that no more would be coming in - at all.

When I subtly (!) asked if that meant Sony were bringing out a new model, said staff member said they wouldn't think so, but that they had recieved a lot of complaints, and reliability problems with the 350, and that was why they were no longer stocking it.

I then said I had bought a 650 from them, really liked it, and that I had no problems with it, so what was the position with the 650, mild confusion reigned, and was told they didn't know about that.
Sadly someone came up to buy a book then, but I don't think I would have lerned much more anyway.

I leapt in the Aston Martin and puttered away, keeping an eye out for pursuers....................

[Asawi]

Sneaky! Guess your sipping your shaken not stirred Martini now.

Do we believe the "complaints" explanation? I sure don't! Intrigued!

[Poppaea]

You guys are hilarious!!

Now I wanna have an Aston Martini

[bZkindle]

Isn't Canada U.S. lite? Why can't we get these deals?

Oh, and please send me your old, unwanted Sony's.
thxbai

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

Now I wanna have an Aston Martini

Tee hee !!

[ How'd I miss that one - Thank you Ms. Moneypenny ! ]

[advocate2]

I got the DX for reading in the house and the 950 for travel. I really want a smaller device to keep in the inside pocket of my sports jacket. I couldn't pass up the silver 350 for $119 at Best Buy online with store pickup.

[CommonReader]

Well, I would take any such information from a sales assistant with a bucket of salt only. Perhaps Waterstones has decided to stop selling Sony readers for whatever reason.
Wouldn't it be a smart move from Sony to stop producing the one reader they are able to deliver while the other model is basically unavailable? (irony off)
Anyway, Sony really has to get its supply chain issues under control. These issues aren't limited to their reader products. Their innovative and successful alpha 55 camera wasn't available for ages in Germany.
It is simply unbelievable that Sony is developing such attractive products just to be unable to meet the demand. It is even less acceptable when they are introducing these products into new markets (Japan and Russia) while being unable to meet the demand in their existing markets.

[carpetmojo]

[QUOTE=CommonReader;1506273]Well, I would take any such information from a sales assistant with a bucket of salt only. Perhaps Waterstones has decided to stop selling Sony readers for whatever reason.
Wouldn't it be a smart move from Sony to stop producing the one reader they are able to deliver while the other model is basically unavailable? (irony off)....

I don't know what Waterstones assistants you've met, CommonReader, but the ones we have are pretty well clued up, intelligent, and, by & large, not yer average job's-worth, as well as keen readers. So I think a pinch is quite sufficient.

And yes, I'm sure Waterstones have decided to stop selling 350's for a reason, that was sort of the point of the post.
It wouldn't surprise me to find they weren't stopping, but deliberatly told this staff member that , and put it on their stock sheet, to increase sales of the 350...........

I'm afraid I couldn't quite work out the irony off bit - so you do think it's a good idea ? Shouldn't it be on ?!
I hurt my head puzzling over that - I tried different inflections and everything .......

Is Japan a new market ? I always thought that would be pretty much a top target, with some stuff being made there ? The recent sad events won't have helped that, certainly, but you're right about the supply issues - if that's what the problem is................