Are Sony crap?

CaptainNemo · Dec 19, 2002

Hi all, I have two brand new sony drives in my brand new pc (24x CD-RW & 16x DVD-ROM). Dunno why I didn't buy Liteon or something; live and learn I guess.

Anyway, the net is full of grumpy Sony drive owners who have retired their drives to doorstops (these things are effectively disposable items, but its still £70 that could have been spent on something else...)

Are they a bad brand in reliability terms (docs/support are crap)? Should I try and offload this pair (and get a pair of LG/Liteon drives), or should I just stick it out?

I know it sounds daft, but I hate the thinks-one-has-bought-a-turkey feeling...

AndrewT · Dec 19, 2002

This is just me, you do whatever you feel like. I don't touch Sony for a long time now because quality is the only thing missing from some of their newer products.

The latest scam for them is a sticker on products saying "dont take back this product if you have a problem, just call sony at 0-000-000-0000". They will send you a replacement if needed, or try to help you some way. But it will make sure you don't take it back and pick a non Sony product.

They got my dad with that, he got a vcr that record whenever it feel like it long as you put something in the time recording setup. It miss mondays, but record saturdays and sundays which are not set to record (my dad record the same show mon-fri). He called and Sony sent him another, this one still srew up with the recording but better than the first one. When I called they claimed that we set it up wrong, which is far from the truth but anyway. Now my dad refuse to buy anything Sony and sold that pos vcr to a dude at work (his new Toshiba doesn't screw up time recording and does it on the right days).

By the way, I don't know about LG drives, but as a Lite-on user I would say it's a decent product (so far).

Press 1 if you want to be on hold, 2 for disconnect, 3 for a representative who will put you on hold before disconnecting.

lhgpoobaa · Dec 20, 2002

Thats something for you to decide yourself.
Ive had two sony drives in my life, both were cd-rom drives.

the first, a 40x cd-rom was decent. The second, a 52x cd-rom was pretty aweful, slow, VERY noisy at full spin with really pathetic audio CD DAE ability.
It was reitired in favour of a pioneer DVD drive.

[Rik_] I wonder how many people have made their own phasechange system?
[LHGPooBaa] I get phasechange whenever i eat a hot chillie :lol:

orpanyd · Dec 27, 2002

Sony can make good stuff and crap stuff. My friend used to swear by Sony, he was a "Sonyman" until Sony started to put out questionable quality products, so he is no longer a "Sonyman" and therefore, he now buys Pioneer, Toshiba, etc intead; however, he just bought a Sony 40" CRT TV but he doesn't buy everything Sony like he used to. If you don't feel good about all the bad reviews that you found on the internet about the Sony CDRW and DVD drives then by all means don't keep them. As for me, I have a Toshiba DVD and Liteon CDRW. Buying Sony can be a bit of a gamble now except for maybe their TVs and computer monitors.

Edited by orpanyd on 12/27/02 10:23 AM.

bdaley · Jan 9, 2003

Over-priced crap. Way over-priced.

Sony gets by on their name recognition, but if you do your research you'll see that many of their products are unreliable and are not very good values.

"There's no such thing as gravity, the Earth just sucks."

lagger · Jan 9, 2003

the recent crop of 48x and 52x sony cdrw's are ...{drum roll} rebadged lite-ons

Of all the things I've lost in life, I miss my mind the most

bdaley · Jan 9, 2003

well then those are probably good, LOL.

but how much more expensive than liteons are they?

"There's no such thing as gravity, the Earth just sucks."

lagger · Jan 9, 2003

wel actually you can snag one cheaper in many cases .. at least here in the states due to rebates and electronic coupons etc at the large office supply stores .. it is more difficult to find a true lite-on badged as such anywhere but online at places like newegg etc. for instance <A HREF="http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=140181&highlight_key=y&keyword1=sony" target="_new"> here </A> is a thread on a hot deals forum with instructions for obtaining a 48x sony rebadged lite-on for a net cost of just under $20.00 USD

Of all the things I've lost in life, I miss my mind the most

phsstpok · Jan 13, 2003

Is everything a rebadged Lite-on these days, sheesh!

I think I just saw one of those "specials" (can't remember the name) for $20 USD after rebates. It's only (ONLY!) a 48x12x48x. Maybe it's time to dump the Cyberdrive. Time to build a homebrew external writer anyway. I'll have to make sure the "special" is a rebadged Lite-on, though.

99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability

lhgpoobaa · Jan 14, 2003

Alot yeah... Thats how liteon can sele them so cheaply. They make so damn many of them and their manufacturing quality control is pretty much top notch.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - George W. Bush's favorite childhood book.
Note: This book was first published a year after Mr Bush graduated from College.

upec · Jan 14, 2003

I agree. Lite On make a lot of CDRW drives. The Verbatim and Sony I get both are rebadged Lite On. Both drives work great.

vegandago · Jan 15, 2003

if you want to buy a TV buy a Sony...

If you want to buy anything else look elsewhere...

"There is no dark or light side, only power and those too weak to seek it."

lhgpoobaa · Jan 15, 2003

LOL You think Sony TV's are rebadged Liteon's too? hehehe

I think its good that sony use liteon drives. At least they are reliable LOL

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - George W. Bush's favorite childhood book.
Note: This book was first published a year after Mr Bush graduated from College.

4Ryan6 · Jan 15, 2003

Sonys support is the lousiest I've seen, since the beginning of my computer days I've owned three Sony CDRWs, everything was fine until there was a problem, right now you couldn't give me a Sony anything, as long as yours are working use them, whether you purchase another Sony is entirely up to you, you may have no problems at all, just one tip to leave you with as far as a CDRW purchase, make sure the CDRW has Buffer Underrun Protection, absolutely a must have.

Details, Details, Its all in the Details, If you need help, Don't leave out the Details.

dhlucke · Jan 15, 2003

Sony makes excellent home entertainment hardware. If you're buying a reciever or a TV, go sony.

Beyond that I would probably stick to what's the best right now, which is either Liteon or Plextor depending on your budget and needs.

I bought 2 of their CD-rom drives and am thrilled with them. That's about my only experience with them computer wise.


<A HREF="http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?dhlucke" target="_new">Forum Assassin</A>

zepper · Jan 17, 2003

Theoretically the new Sony 48x12 is a modified and rebadged LiteOn and can be flashed with one of the firmwares around the web to 52x24 - just like the other LiteOns.
.bh.

----------
Perhaps the only reason for your existence is to act as a warning to others...Edited by zepper on 01/18/03 01:50 AM.

BlueHornet · Feb 2, 2003

what about SONY 40x12x48...anyone hear anything about them? thx.

peace,
-=i3lue}{orneT=-

LancerEvolution7 · Feb 3, 2003

Their portable audio is always comming out with new innovations. I have had 3MDs and one "Mp3" player made by them. None had really big issues except for their lousy "mp3" player not supporting mp3. So you have to convert it to atrac3 before transfering it to the player through their lousy software which has all kinds of hassles because of their effort to try to make the mp3 copyright, but thats a whole other story. The audio hardware is good.

Their computer hardware seems alrite. I had a cdrw and a cdrom by them. The cdrw lasted me around 3 years(still working) and the cdrom died after one year. Their laptops seems ok, i know people that had them and they haven't had major issues with them.

Are Sony crap?

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