The Sony Shop - you've got to laugh

magpie

Now I'm well aware that the Sony Shop on Stephen's Green is not geared towards 'smart' shoppers, in that pretty much everything in there can be obtained cheaper in a myriad of other places (especially the interweb), but I had to laugh today in particular.

I needed to buy a new DVD player, owing to the old one being demolished by tiny hands wielding tellytubbies discs - I was passing the Sony Shop (or Centre or whatever its called) and thought "screw it, its convenient, it'll take me 2 seconds, I'll pay the extra".

So I see a DVD player for €75, not exactly giving them away, but I'd pay for the convenience. I ask the assistant if its multiregion. He says no, but we'll change the settings for you. I say grand, I'll take it. He says it'll cost €20 to make it multiregion. €20 to press a few buttons on the remote I ask? He confirms this. I leave the shop and go to Argos, buy a Philips for €55 and look up the code on the net to make it multiregion. Everyone is happy.

So the question is this? Has anyone here ever bought anything from the Sony Shop, and if so, why?

HelterSkelter

I bought a digital camera from Sony in Liffey Valley yonks ago. It was the same price as Dixons across from it so I don't think I got stung too badly!

KTRIC

The people that buy Sony are just buying it because its a label the recognise and they "think" its a good brand.

To be honest I have one Sony device, a €800 dvd recorder and I got that for free, in my opinion its not worth €800 and I wouldn't have paid a cent for it if I seen it in a shop.

Sony = over priced mainstream sh!t.

Ruu_Old

I would guess it has to do with having Sony on the label also and people get the impression that it must be good because "everyone" has them.

chamlis

ffs, man. Aldi: DVD recorder 280 bucks. DVD Divx player 60.50 bucks
Tevion brand, they also seem to be the most compatible DVD-Rs and CD-Rs I've ever used.
Solid.

ixoy

I bought my TV from the Sony Shop on O'Connell Street. I checked around beforehand but the price was as good as any other shops (and sites), especially when shipping/delivery was factored in.

I researched the product quite thoroughly beforehand, on a variety of info. sites and fora across the web before settling on the model, based on reviews of picture quality, sound quality, etc etc and came to decide on it after researching what was generally considered a good TV rather than looking for a specific Sony product.

I think that's my only Sony product currently but it's certainly not one I felt ripped off on or am disappointed with.

KdjaCL

Sony is in my exp **** with a nice look.

But i have wondered why they dont sell playstations


kdjac

garthv

KdjaCL wrote:

But i have wondered why they dont sell playstations

Something to do with the Sony stores being a franchise and not actually Sony shops per se.
I remember bringing a playstation into them once and they told me they couldn't fix it(cant remember the exact reason though....)

robinph

KdjaCL wrote:

But i have wondered why they dont sell playstations

Becasue it would lower the tone of the shop if they were then selling games in there as well and had too many kids hanging around the shop then. They do sell PSP's in some of them though but only ever have one or two games for them.

Kintarō Hattori

I know I'd rather have a Sony electrical item than a similar Philips one. It's true people do tend to buy Sony simply because it's perceived as being a very good brand. They are good though. I can't remember all the Sony items I've ever owned, there have been too many, but they are excellently built and have never broken on me.
They will cost you more, but the build uality is ususally excellent.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Well I have a sony Walkman and i cracked the screen, they were very fast and cheap repairing it so based on that I would buy their stuff again. But not from their centre, they certantly do take the p!ss there.

I bought a pair of Sony MDR 700 headphones a few years back, costing over 200 Irish at the time, from the sony centre.

Within 6 months they had literally fallen to pieces so I duly returned them to the said shop and requested a repair.

The response I got from the imbecile behind the counter ensured that I would never buy anything Sony again, he handed me a photocopy of authorised sony repair centres and told me to send it to them myself!

I then purchased a pair of Sennheiser headphones and they have worked perfectly since. Not to mention the sound out of them is much clearer then the Sonys.

Sony is completely over priced for the tat they actually sell.

Eoin

Sony do some things very well - their PC monitors are supposed to be excellent, but other items just trade on their image, which they've had for so long. Some of their MP3 players are actually very good; I think they have stopped using their own propietary file format.

I have seen PSPs for sale there, but not Playstations. I don't know if it's because they are old, and if they will have the PS3 for sale there.

Most the time, it's the same as people buying iPods, because they either aren't aware that there are either any other products out there at all, or that they are completely over-priced.

D

I remember once when mp3 players were just out, iPod first gen etc. I went into the Sony centre on O'Connell St. just to look at what they had. I ask the guy at the counter;
"What mp3 players do you have?"
"Nah you don't want to get an mp3 player, they'll never take off, you'd be better off with a minidisk."

hshortt

I bought a simple alarm clock in that same Sony Shop in St. Stephens Green. It was and still is advertised in the shop as having a blue-LED display. I got it home plugged it in and it's flippen green. I put it straight back into the box, I'll find someone to give it to at Christmas. I'd have brought it back but can't find the receipt, so I'm shagged. I did tell them that it's not blue but green and the guy told me he'd update the advertisment, but I checked last weekend and it's still wrong.

False advertising!
Cheers

Guy:Incognito

Ruu wrote:

I would guess it has to do with having Sony on the label also and people get the impression that it must be good because "everyone" has them.

I assume everything you buy is the cheapest available version?

Creamy Goodness

sony only make one good product and that is their line of phones, i have yet to use a bad Sony phone...

Ruu_Old

Stekelly wrote:

I assume everything you buy is the cheapest available version?

No, not everything. Value for the money, something a lot of Sony products are not. Don't have a problem with Sony though.

Ardent

Deleted User wrote:

I bought a pair of Sony MDR 700 headphones a few years back, costing over 200 Irish at the time, from the sony centre.

Are you talking about these bad boys?:
http://www.nusystems.co.uk/product/Sony.MDRV-700

Wow, you got ripped off. I bought these from the Sony Centre on St Stephens Green over a year ago for 150 euros and they are the best headphones I've ever clapped over my ears.

I then purchased a pair of Sennheiser headphones and they have worked perfectly since. Not to mention the sound out of them is much clearer then the Sonys.

Sorry about your bad experience but I doubt the above very much. When I'm lazy, instead of plugging in speakers to my PC/Hifi I just open the cans on these headphones and turn the volume up to last; crystal clear.

I have to say I've never been disappointed with a Sony product (bar a 14" TV which had to be repaired after 13 months). They are quality products, albeit a bit more expensive than other brands. But the staff in the Sony Centres are not exactly blessed with people skills and I'm never surprised to see another "sale" on in these stores every other week.

FX Meister

I'm still using a five disc Sony CD player I bought in 1990. I've never had any problems with it at all and it's still as good as the day I bought it. Can't complain about Sony.

bubthatub

magpie wrote:

., buy a Philips for €55 and look up the code on the net to make it multiregion. Everyone is happy.

what website did u go to to get code

PhoenixRising

I was in a Sony Centre a while back and was told by one of the staff that Sony Centre's have nothing to do with Sony apart from the fact that they sell Sony products. They are just a franchise of shops owned by private individuals which happen to sell Sony Products. If you are buying Sony gear, buy it direct form Sony Europe, I think the website is sonystyle-europe.com. I saved around €400 on my Vaio laptop on what the Sony Centre's were charging. It was when I queried this price difference in a Sony Centre that I was told 'Oh we have nothing to do with Sony at all, we set our own prices'. Needless to say I haven't set foot in a Sony Centre since..

Nightwish

My Sony mp3 player was retailing at €420 2 years ago in Sony shops. I got it in the shop where I work for considerably less than that. I find that the shops are overpriced and have poor discounts in terms of sales.

BlitzKrieg

You tend to find with electronic equipment that if you really want quality you tend to dig around the companies that specialize in those products (like Beyer dunamic for proper sturdy headphones.)

But for the most part sony have been fine with me. But thats probably because most of their products I research extensively before buying, and I usually buy because of its individual quality then the brand.

For example, they actually make damn good 3ccd camcorders. the Pd 150/vx 2000 series are wonderful cameras.

And despite the horror story that is the PS3, the PS2 delivers as a nice piece of kit. (Though the XBOX was better built.)

Wishbone Ash

eo980 wrote:

I can't remember all the Sony items I've ever owned, there have been too many, but they are excellently built and have never broken on me.
They will cost you more, but the build uality is ususally excellent.

I've been buying Sony products for 25 years and never recall having any problems with them.

hshortt wrote:

I bought a simple alarm clock in that same Sony Shop

Didn't think anyone bought alarm clocks since they starting putting them in mobile telephones.

DirtyDog

Ardent wrote:

Are you talking about these bad boys?:
http://www.nusystems.co.uk/product/Sony.MDRV-700

they are the best headphones I've ever clapped over my ears.

agreed, i have a pair and they are by far one of the best DJ headphones I have ever owned!!!

Sony centres in Liffey Valley, Blanch and Ballsbridge are owned by the owners of the old HiFi Corner - Sony in the square is owned by Peats

JDxtra

Peats own and run most of the city centre Sony shops....

DemonOfTheFall

GaRtH_V wrote:

Something to do with the Sony stores being a franchise and not actually Sony shops per se.
I remember bringing a playstation into them once and they told me they couldn't fix it(cant remember the exact reason though....)

Because theres zero margin on console hardware to shops. They'd need to bundle games to make a penny.

JDxtra

The higher end Sony digital cameras are also excellent. The chaps in the Stephens Green store helped me out getting a brand new model before I was going on holidays - and it wan't much over the best web price I could find.

With the Sony Centres you just have to know what you are looking for and what it's worth beforehand.

thebaz

i bought a sony cd walkman from a sony shop - it was fine .
I have a sony (Ericsson) phone ,which i got free (on contract) and has a great a media player , that plays better quality than ipod -- in fact i could say are we paying over the odds for Apple gear -- is the ipod itself not a little over hyped - particularly after the latest rubbish itunes 7 release.

NiSmO

This post has been deleted.

magpie

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.php?select=Philips+DVP+3020

Sparky

I bought my Bose speakers from the sony shop in Tallagh. I also got my amp there too.

They had a sale that month.

gandalf

Hmmm the only Sony Product I have bought was a AV Receiver from Richer Sounds at least 6 years ago, its still going strong.

Would never buy from Sony Centres anytime I have checked them they have been overpriced.

il gatto

Are Richer Sounds still in business? I bought a separates system there about 9-10 years ago. They had excellent prices.

Stepherunie

I've a sony discman for 10 years - bearing in mind i was 11 when i got it i've given a fair beating and it still works just fine, same with my mini disc which iv'e had for 3 years - still perfect, can't say the same for sonic stage but that's another story.

gandalf

il gatto wrote:

Are Richer Sounds still in business? I bought a separates system there about 9-10 years ago. They had excellent prices.

The bricks and mortar store has gone a few years now, which was a shame they were good. The website is still going but I have never ordered directly off it.

Sparky

Pitty, such a great place and the staff really knew how to talk to someone who knew what they wanted.

AngryBadger

Was buying a laptop last week, for €999 I got a sweeeet little HP job from the new Soundstore in Ballybricken, with an intel duo processor clocked at roughly 1.7GHz, a 14" widescreen monitor, 1Gig of DDR RAM, wireless enabled, and with a dual layer DVD burner, the frigging thing even comes with a digital tv tuning card!!!

Went to the Sony shop in Waterford just to compare prices, and for €300, and €500 more they were offering machines with half the RAm, slower processors, and no DUAl layer burner, and these weren't even widescreen beasties. these were just regu-beasties.

melekalikimaka

yeah but sonys look so much better

Faith

I bought a Sony mP3 player at the start of the summer. The software was appalling, there's a few bugs in the player, but it just looks so damn pretty! Also, the sound quality is excellent.

Thumper Long

i worked for the hi fi corner range of sony centres (dundrum, blanch, liffeyvalley, ballsbridge, swords, drogheda) while i was in college and we always knew our stuff, the others run in the city centre and the square are owned by peats and are renowned for being badly run shops with the small one in syephens green possibly the most overpriced shop in dublin. we always made sure we were on a par with did dixons power****ty etc pricewise. the reason they dont sell ps2 is there is absolutely no money to be made on the units, all the margin is in the games, cost price on the ps2 is about 15 euro less than retail, psp is about the same. i used to be able to but most sony stuff cheaper off the web than what the shops here bought it for from sony irl / uk. sony dvd players are atrocious unless you are willing to spend big big money, there dvd recorders are overpriced , some of the camcorders are good, the digital cameras are pure crapola, especially anything with a vertical lens mount (skinny cameras) the entry level lcds are overpriced, the entry level home cinema systems like all "all in one box systems are sh1te" if you dont think so clean your ears, the new 1080 lcds are fantastic tv's but quite expensive at the moment, the vaio laptops are generally overpriced with in my opinion only the S series a standout in the lovely 13.3", dear but sometimes you need to treat yourself. Sony made the greatest CRT's ever that is the only thing thay have always managed to do better than anyone else, that is where they got the name and of course the Walkman. I'm not a fan boy and i dont want to put anyone off sony or on to it, i dont work there any more i have a real job and i couldn't give a sh1te. Anyway wear sunscreen.

Dord

a friend of mine has a Vaio laptop, i have a Toshiba. we had the both of them side by side using a very memory hogging program. his slowed to a halt and the spec is lower on mine, the sony's are bogged down with useless junk theyre just crap in general. he had to bring his back several times. i've never had to do anything like that.

as for other sony products, i have a cd player walkman that i've had a few years, its working ok. but theyre earphones and headphones are absolute rubbish, i've found them to last 2/3 months of normal use. i bought sennheiser instead, still working after over a year.

Guy:Incognito

NiSmO wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Which I always found odd seeing as Ericsson used to make awfull piles of ****e. We used to have 3 boxes for broken phones when I woprked in a phone shop. One for Ericsson, one for Siemens and one for the rest. There must have been 1 half assed employee in each company before the merger, just about holding their respective companies together, who , when merged became one super employee that creates all the great phones we know and love today.

AngryBadger wrote:

Was buying a laptop last week, for €999 I got a sweeeet little HP job from the new Soundstore in Ballybricken, with an intel duo processor clocked at roughly 1.7GHz, a 14" widescreen monitor, 1Gig of DDR RAM, wireless enabled, and with a dual layer DVD burner, the frigging thing even comes with a digital tv tuning card!!!

Went to the Sony shop in Waterford just to compare prices, and for €300, and €500 more they were offering machines with half the RAm, slower processors, and no DUAl layer burner, and these weren't even widescreen beasties. these were just regu-beasties.

A souped up 97 glanza may well be quicker round town than a top of the range diesel S class..............

abetarrush

The funny thing is, all DVD players are multiregion, then locked

so when you pay more for a region free DVD player, you're actually payin more for less to be done!

Sonnenblumen

jdempsey wrote:

Peats own and run most of the city centre Sony shops....

Thats true which is why the customer service levels are as good as Dixons which sell mainly their own Matsu****a brand at half the price or less, and the Sony guys product knowledge is not much better than Woodies staff. in other words , please don't ask for a real demo or probing questions because all I know I read from the advertisement!

Sony in Ireland is crap, a great brand with some great products but it's mainly end line crap sold in Irl/UK. A quick visit to any Sony outlet in Europe will confirm this.

heggie

havnt bought anything in a sony centre. but in defence of tha brand, i love their phones, and i love their laptops, without a doubt the best screens on any laptops (possibly with exception of the new macbooks), ive yet to be dissapointed by a sony product (although some i just wouldnt buy, eg: sony dvd player, no advantages that i see)

mickd

The problem with Sony is that they have diversified into being a multimedia company e.g sony pictures ,music etc. They did take their eye off the ball the most glaring example of this is the ipod which is natural sony territory. Their Bravia line of tv has been getting rave reviews of late which still proves they are a force to be reckoned with.

monkeyfudge

I think it was something to do with a shift in the value of the sterling that made Richer Sounds close down in Dublin.

As for Sony... I was reading about an interesting study carried out by Greenpeace today on potentially harmful chemicals put into laptops.

They tested a bunch of differnent brands for 5 chemicals that can be harmful to the enviroment and Sony Laptops featured none of them... HP had all 5 in huge amounts. Dell weren't too bad either with just a small amount of 1 of the chemicals.

KTRIC

Very little of the actual Sony brand is owned and run by the company. The last company I worked for own the Sony Music brand and the record labels associated with it. We had nothing to do with Sony themselves.

Their televisions set manufacturing is outsourced to a German company to save on costs and then they are sold to the European market, so they generally have a better quality feal to them and last longer.

The only thing you will see here thats actually made by them is the small stuff like the PSP (you all know about that piece of sh!t), walkmans, headphones etc.

Then theres the Sony Ericsson phones that are made by Ericsson in Sweden.

thesteve

The only thing I've ever bought from them was a case for a Sony digital camera that I bought off the web!