Sony reliability or not | Clagnut § Stuff

Published in Brighton, UK

Clagnut

Sony reliability or not

Straw poll: anyone else had problems with a Sony Ericsson T68i? I’ve just sent mine for repair under warranty. A minimum two weeks just to look at it, and point blank no replacement phone, says it all to me.

And what about other Sony equipment? I had a Walkman which gave up the ghost just past its warranty date and a tape deck which spent half of its first two years at the menders.

Never again.

29 January 2004

§ Stuff

20 comments

Next

Previous

Related posts

Keywords

â–º Machine tags

Comments

  1. 1

    I can’t speak to the phone problems (I’m hear using a brand spankin’ new Motorola), but I’ve typically been satisfied with Sony’s quality.

    I’m typing this on a two-year-old Sony VAIO that’s had no problems to date with my Sony audio system to my side and a Sony TV just around the corner. They’ve all worked without issue.

    Interesting to see that you as well have had electronics break down just after the warranty expiry – I’m starting to think it’s some new sort of planned obsolescence. <_<

    David Clain
    David Clain’s Gravatar
    29 Jan 2004
    14:41 GMT
  2. 2

    some new sort of planned obsolescence

    I thought someone would mention this. I think it’s a common practice for many manufacturers to deliberately make equipment last only as long as the guaranteee, be it hi-fi or washing machines.

    Rich
    Rich’s Gravatar
    29 Jan 2004
    15:00 GMT
  3. 3

    yep. my T68i has been an almost constant source of irritation since i bought it…

    • go online and it hangs.
    • the software is the slowest i’ve ever used in a phone.
    • the tiny keys refuse to work 80% of the time…
    • etc etc ad nauseum.

    Never had an issue with a Sony TV, VHS or DVD player though…

    Joshua
    29 Jan 2004
    15:13 GMT
  4. 4

    I used to have an old Sony TV. When it died, the working parts sold well, since they were made in Japan. I guess it has to be from Japan to be very good. Where was that phone made from?

    Zelnox
    Zelnox’s Gravatar
    29 Jan 2004
    15:40 GMT
  5. 5

    PS2s and their disc read errors are rather notorious.

    insin
    29 Jan 2004
    17:31 GMT
  6. 6

    I wouldn’t blame it all on sony, i have had a few ericson phones and all of them spent more time in the hsop than in my pocket. Most likely sony just supplied a few parts and added thier name to the product.

    Tarsh Einfallsreich
    30 Jan 2004
    15:50 GMT
  7. 7

    As Tarsh already hinted, Sony Ericsson phones, especially the early ones like the t68i are more Ericsson than Sony. So don’t blame it on them (by the way, my SE T610 works just fine).
    I had mixed experiences with other Sony products, though. Once had a Discman that broke just 2 weeks after warranty. All the other devices (TV, Reciever, Z5 mobile phone) were just fine. I think Sony doesn’t have a quality problem. But because they sell a lot of kit, there are also a lot of complaints.

    Gerrit Kaiser
    Gerrit Kaiser’s Gravatar
    31 Jan 2004
    00:36 GMT
  8. 8

    I have a T69is, and you are right, I’m having a wierd problem, two or three times a week it tells me I have an invalid phone. I have to turn off the phone and turn it back on just to connect to the service provider, is AT&T. I have to pay $50 just to have my phone checked. Just sucks

    Randeep Nanák
    1 Feb 2004
    22:38 GMT
  9. 9

    I can’t comment on the phones and I don’t think I’ve bought anything from Sony recently but I once inherited an old school 70’s Sony Trinitron.

    It was around 20 years old when I got it and It lasted me a good few years, eventually the colour faded out but it was it was an impresive bit of electronics. Must have lasted near enough 24 years.

    Brent
    Brent’s Gravatar
    2 Feb 2004
    03:07 GMT
  10. 10

    No problems with my Sony TV. That’s been trouble free for about five years. I bought a Sony CD Walkman and MiniDisc player in Singapore, and these work fine except they both seem to decide to stop recharging way too early (some sort of safety cutout?). Maybe this is a problem with voltages? Thought we both used 220–240, which should be fine.

    Anyway. I’ve not had a Sony or Ericsson phone before. I had a Motorola on which the keypad failed, and a three Nokia 8210s on which the screen failed. Fortunately, Orange have superb cover (at least they did – used to be free for the first year) – every time a phone failed, I called Orange and had a replacement within 24 hours, delivered to me by courier (and once this was on a Sunday morning). My 8310’s a reliable workhorse, if a little dated.

    James Elson
    2 Feb 2004
    10:47 GMT
  11. 11

    I have a totally disproportionate number of Sony products, and they’re mostly fine. Vaio laptop, a year and a bit old, no problems; a TV, similar ago, no problems; a T100 phone, the usual slow software but otherwise the best phone I’ve ever had; a CD player, four years old, no problems; a MiniDisc, an old Walkman and an ancient Walkman Pro, all pretty reliable (crap battery life on the MiniDisc aside). The Walkman Pro is twelve years old and still sounds good.

    (I did have a less reliable Sony tape deck at uni, but that one got nicked.)

    Chris Cannam
    Chris Cannam’s Gravatar
    3 Feb 2004
    10:24 GMT
  12. 12

    Sony’s reliablity got me to buy more Sony products. I’ve got a Sony CD player that is, egad, nearly 20 years old now (bought it circa 1986) and it still works. Just recently it began having read problems on disk insert, but considering it’s been move a zillion times and never been repaired, realigned or even cleaned, I’d say I’ve gotten my monies worth.

    So, last year I picked up a Sony Wega TV and DVD player (but went with Onkyo and Polk for audio). So far, so good.

    Tim
    Tim’s Gravatar
    3 Feb 2004
    13:30 GMT
  13. 13

    Yup, two people I know had problems with the Sony Ericsson T68i. They bought them in early 2003.

    Both people have the SAME problem – problems dialling out / can’t find signal, cut-out mid way in conversation, can’t receive calls etc… the problem is intermittent.

    Both people have taken their phone for repair 2–3 times. (And the phone is still under guarantee).

    It is a shame, but Sony Ericson is going to loose customers over this. People will switch to Nokia!

    R Copalani
    29 Feb 2004
    00:21 GMT
  14. 14

    This is my experience with Sony. They SUCK!

    http://www.dontbuyasony.blogspot.com/

    Regards

    Andrew

    Andrew
    Andrew’s Gravatar
    19 Nov 2004
    14:39 GMT
  15. 15

    I have a Pacific 900 and would like it to be multi region. Does anyone know how I can do this? Thanks x

    Smith
    Smith’s Gravatar
    19 Jan 2005
    02:57 GMT
  16. 16

    All I can say is that this is my first Sony (KP57HW40) projection tv and it will be my last. I have tv’s made by magnavox and panasonic that are years older and are still working. This sony is two years old and has been nothing but problems. It will flicker and then turn off. I read up on this and because it is only about 1% of the tv’s that have this problem, sony decided not to have a recall. Not only will it be a week before the reapair folk can pick it up but then it’s strickly their call if I might get my money back that I have to pay up front if it turn out to be this “yes we have a problem but no recall we will issue.” Considering there is only one repair shop in my area with a questional rep, I wonder if it is even worth the trouble. Think I’ll go buy a Panasonic.

    Peggy
    Peggy’s Gravatar
    19 Jan 2005
    22:56 GMT
  17. 17

    SONY SERVICE SUCKS! Bought a $4,000.00 tv that broke. Paid them $65.00 to fix a part that they could not fix. Then they sold me a tv as a replacement and charged me for that tv, then I waited for a month for the tv to show up and when I called for a status update, they told me the tv they offered is no longer in stock and NO tv will be sent to me. That sucks! I waited a month with no tv for that… I WILL NEVER BUY A SONY PRODUCT AGAIN….

    Hal Hitchcock
    Hal Hitchcock’s Gravatar
    2 May 2005
    19:47 GMT
  18. 18

    Have an 29’’ Sony TV ten years old. Few days ago i opened it and there was no green colour. I called 2 Sony service centers and i asked if they can tell me by phone the repair cost. After i reported the problem, both technicians, with no hesitation, told me that the damage was “fatal” and no repair is possible!!
    Well, as you can imagine, since then i started to loose faith in Sony.
    I have a noname colour tv set for 16 years and it was broken only once. The repair cost was $20…

    Jack
    29 May 2005
    00:48 GMT
  19. 19

    I have 32 inch sony tv and only had it a month and problems began, first the picture turned blue and now it takes anywere to a hour or two to even for the picture to come on.

    I payed over a 1,000 bucks for this tv and never again in my life time will I ever purchase a SONY PRODUCT again!!

    John
    John’s Gravatar
    14 Jun 2005
    06:56 GMT
  20. 20

    I hate Sony. The Playstation 2, which I payed over $700 for only a few years ago, is already obsolete. Seems it can’t read dual layer discs. I bought the machine so I could play Gran Turismo 3, the Playstation’s flagship game. So now I would like to try Gran Turismo 4. Well, that’s not possible. GT4 uses a dual layer disc which my Playstation can’t read, unless I shell out over a hundred bucks for a new laser. If Sony had any ethics they would replace the laser for free – it’s not as though the Playstation broke, it’s just incapable of running it’s own software.

    But that not what really got me upset with Sony. I used to have a Sony MegaStorage CD Player that held 200 compact discs and the damn thing damaged my CDs. Every week, while listening to my music, I find another disc that has been ruined. I’ll be listening to a song when I’ll hear the telltale chirping sound. I kept over one hundred and sixty CDs in the player, so the extent of the damage could be enormous. Does Sony care? The cost to replace the damaged CDs will be several times what I payed for the Megadisc CD Player. So if anyone’s considering buying a Sony product, remember: “Buyer beware”. Better yet, don’t.

    Huw Brigham
    Huw Brigham’s Gravatar
    28 Aug 2005
    03:07 GMT

Add your comment

Comments are now closed on this post. If you have more to say please contact me directly.

Outside interest

Top Referrers