Tags
BY NICO VREELAND
It’s supposed to say “Enjoy the revolution in reading”
Whenever I discuss ereaders with people who are skeptical about getting one, they always say the same kinds of things. They like books. They think reading a book on a machine would corrupt the experience. And almost always they ask, “What if it broke?”
I generally just tell them that they shouldn’t worry so much. At least, I did, until I opened up my Reader yesterday and the screen was totally fragged, as you can see.
I’ve had this thing for less than a month, I haven’t dropped it or hit it, or left it on any enormous electromagnets, and it even had its cover on when whatever happened to it happened to it. It might have gotten magnetized, but by what? The alarm clock? My iPod? Honestly, I think it just broke.
Then I made the stupid mistake of calling the number on the extended warranty contract I luckily bought (I never get those things), instead of taking it back to the brick and mortar store where I got it.
They had to call me back from a different department, and then, instead of sending me a box to ship in with, they just emailed me instructions to mail it in myself. They generously offered to reimburse me for the cost of shipping if I just mailed them separately all my receipts and invoices. But, of course, if I shipped it wrong, they weren’t liable for any ensuing damage, despite the fact that it was already broken.
I told them I’d just take it in, and there was an odd silence, then the guy tried to talk me out of that. I asked everybody I talked to if this happened a lot, and they didn’t tell me much.
I’m beginning to feel like I accidentally bought a Stupid Piece of Shit (link NSFW).
More pictures of the screen frag after the jump, and more news on how Sony handles it as it happens.
The Chamber Four Archive 
I know this is a pretty old post, but wanted to comment.
It is typical for electronic manufactures to have you pay the shipping and reimburse. Nothing out of the ordinary about that process. Secondly.. you cracked the freaking screen… what part of OUT OF WARRANITY do you not understand. It is expected that type of abuse would not be covered under any kind of warranty…standard extended.. it’s not the fault of the manufacture that you sat on your readers…..
LikeLike
Yeah, again, I didn’t sit on it. It cracked, I’m guessing, from touching it. Since it’s a touchscreen, that’s bad. And it was under warranty, it was just a pain to get Sony to replace it (see day 3).
LikeLike
I see.. while that is pretty bad. It sounds like you did in fact get a bad version of the product. I actually bought a Sony Pocket Ereader Generation 1 and Just last night purchased the new Generation of the Sony Pocket EReader. I also have an IPAD and Samsung Tablet, but needed / wanted something with a super long battery life specifically to be used for reading PDFs and other documentation. I really like the digital ink in this new version of the Sony, but have to admit that the landscape leaves you with very little… ( very little space to view docs). I do like the extra room the Kindel gives you…
Sorry you had such a bad time with the Sony product. Right now in my area they have the Sony Pocket E-Reader and a free case for 129.00 @ BBuy… pretty good deal…
LikeLike
yeah, this was the first version of the touchscreen sony reader, and it definitely didn’t have all the bugs worked out. i wound up getting a 505–the early version of the Pocket Edition. It was great when it worked. the main point of this piece is that, if something goes wrong and you need Sony support, they’re pretty bad.
LikeLike
Pingback: Hands-On with the Sony Reader Pocket Edition | Chamber Four
Pingback: Are eReaders Ready For “Serious Books”? No, They Are Not | Chamber Four
Pingback: Kindle vs. Sony Reader PRS-700: Why I Chose the Reader | Chamber Four