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Sony still makes pretty good consumer products imho. *fapfapfap*

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longdi

Banned
Sony's camera division is the best part of the company. They produce the best sensors and camera bodies in the industry. That said, they are somehow managing to lose marketshare in the DSLR segment.

That is so disheartening, not just cameras but their other consumer stuffs. Why is this happening? The products are good, but they are losing money?

Is the whole company running on overpaid and overstaffed?
 

Lo-Volt

Member
Sony's aesthetic sensibilities were never, ever the problem. But they're hanging on to a dastardly TV unit and have been sluggish with their mobile phone efforts (the Sony Ericsson era was a downer).
 
Believe me, they know. They will sell that division ASAP.

....not sure if serious

That is so disheartening, not just cameras but their other consumer stuffs. Why is this happening? The products are good, but they are losing money?

Is the whole company running on overpaid and overstaffed?

Their DSLR segment (A-mount, not E-mount or P&S) is their red-headed stepchild. They aren't putting much effort into their new cameras/lenses because DSLRs are going extinct in the non-pro segment. Seeing as how pros almost exclusively use Nikon or Canon, it's a smart move on Sony's part.
 

ElNino

Member
Sony does generally make good products, and I loved my Minidisc player, but let's not go overboard. There are certainly well made products from dozens of other companies in all of these sectors.

In my family we have Samsung, Panasonic, LG, Sony and even Westinghouse TVs. Of those, only the Sony has stopped working and it took several months for it to be repaired.
 

harSon

Banned
I own one of these:

img63957282.jpg


And it's a damn good device. I think that's the only other Sony product I own outside of the Playstation 3 and Playstation 4. They do make great devices, but they're generally priced a little too expensive for my liking. That's their biggest issue. They need to ditch the insistence on being a "Premium" brand, and make some shit for those who are slummin' it up in life.
 

Zombine

Banned
My Sony Bravia is going on 6 years now and it has served me well. Love that thing so much that my next upgrade will be another Sony tv.
 
Sony do make the best electronics in my opinion. I don't understand why Samsung are seen as the better electronic company, cheap and affordable yes but Samsung have some of the worst products i've ever seen. Even the Galaxy is an ugly cheap phone... Samsung probably got there by offering their products for dirt cheap which is sadly what the market wants now.

Sony tvs are easily the best on the market, i'm kinda sad they're having problems with that division because i want to buy another Sony tv when mine dies.

Their smartphones since the Xperia Z are incredible. Best android smartphone.

Audio equipement, headphones are incredible.

Playstation line is the best.

I've had 2 VAIO pc and they worked very well.

Overall, Sony hardware is amazing, looks elegant and classy. My problem with Sony has been on the software side, they don't always execute that properly unlike their competitors. But they're getting there slowly. I wish their finances were doing better. Makes me feel bad for them when i see a shit company like Samsung getting all the praise...
 

trixx

Member
Looks good but usually can get alternative for same price and most likely performs better- see sony vaio laptops. exception-playstation brand imo
 

snacknuts

we all knew her
My old KV34XBR960 is my favorite TV that I've owned. Sadly, I had to leave it behind at an old house because it was too big and heavy.
 
I love the weird shit that Sony does. Like Nokia around the early 2000's, they are not afraid to experiment. They've slowed down with that in the recent years though.

I own the Sony Playstation 3D monitor for example. Strange thing, but it suits my needs perfectly. Picture quality ain't bad either.

PSP Go and the first Vita simply ooze quality, despite being shunned by the public.
 
I also think they needs to release products with better names. Those TV names are confusing as hell specially for a regular consumer.
 

Lo-Volt

Member
That's the joke/point. Sony has already sold off the Vaio division. I was assuming he was being facetious.

Vaios were definitely the best Windows-based laptops though. What could have been if they ended up running OS X.

Wow, that went way over my head. Never GAF while hungry.
 

danwarb

Member
They were a mid-range brand for a long while there, still charging a premium for ugly/inferior products. It's nice to see them turning it around.
 

TxdoHawk

Member
They are absolutely killing it in the camera segment right now, mirrorless especially.

When I think about what I got out of my Canon Rebel T3 compared to what the mid-end sony mirrorless cameras are doing for around the same price or cheaper, it's mind-blowing.
 
They are absolutely killing it in the camera segment right now, mirrorless especially.

When I think about what I got out of my Canon Rebel T3 compared to what the mid-end sony mirrorless cameras are doing for around the same price or cheaper, it's mind-blowing.

Yeah, the Alpha 6000 looks amazing.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
Always hated sony, seem to make a nice device and then you find out you have to plug some sort of expensive garbage that nobody uses into it. Almost as bad as Apple in that regard. Hated them ever since memory sticks and can't even convince myself to buy a ps4 even though it's almost universally acclaimed to be legendary. Their ecosystem is that tarnished in my mind.

Their TVs though, always loved the Bravia line
 
Below is one of their classic design, a really nice mesh of retro Trinitron + Bravia back then. And before long, the other guys /*cough* samsung, started doing their own version of the floating panel look!

sony-kdl-46xbr4.jpg

I still have an XBR1. It's really cloudy now, and there is some color distortion in the top right corner. Given that it is something like eight years old I am really fucking pleased without how long it has lasted. It's a beautiful looking TV as well, I love the design.

Sadly, the image quality doesn't compare to the newer TVs on the market, but it was really great for its day. I bought a 60" Samsung and had to have the entire panel replaced in under a year. Luckily it was still under warranty. But the picture quality is gorgeous.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
That is so disheartening, not just cameras but their other consumer stuffs. Why is this happening? The products are good, but they are losing money?

Is the whole company running on overpaid and overstaffed?

Sony is trying to get into providing lenses for smartphones and such, but they never had a real foothold against Nikon and Canon in the pro lens market and point-and-shoots are dying due to cellphones.

It's hard to say it's their "fault" so much as sometimes you have to be quick to adapt, rather than have the best products or whatnot. Hell that's an argument lots of people throw at Apple these days too, even if they appreciate the quality of their products.
 
The problem with Sony isn't the quality of their products. The problem is that they're trying to sell electronics at boutique prices in a market which is looking for value-for-money. While the economic downturn hasn't stopped consumers from buying electronic goods, it has had the effect of turning most consumers towards electronics that offer better value at a cheaper price. Sure, a Samsung TV may never offer the same quality as a Sony TV, but when it comes at half the price and still offers a perceived value that's more than good enough, it's no wonder consumers have flocked there over Sony's pricier offerings.

I'm going to use guitars as a handy example of the sort of thing I'm talking about: Fender and Gibson both used to be guitar companies that focused on high-end guitars at high end prices. However, with the rise in Japanese, Chinese and Korean manufacturing, people started being able to buy electric guitars for much less money than Fender and Gibson were asking.

Fender realised this early on, and changed their production line accordingly. They started investing and putting their name to guitars that were not as high end as their most top quality products, but which were much, much cheaper, and still offered incredible value for money. Within a few years of being set up, the cheaper Japanese branch of Fender was carrying the entire company, and turned their entire fortunes around. To this day, a mid-priced Japanese Fender guitar is still seen as one of the best value guitars on the market, simply for how it balances lower pricing with still impressive standards.

Gibson, on the other hand, put their fingers in their ears, and kept selling their guitars with incredibly high price tags. They used the Epiphone brand as a way to sell cheaper, lesser quality guitars, but anything with Gibson on the headstock still came with a premium price. The problem was, they simply couldn't compete. They had a steady market among successful musicians who could afford to buy their products, but they completely lost the market of everyday guitarists who instead bought cheaper guitars that offered better bang for buck. I believe Fender is now currently producing around 1000 guitars a day, an astronomical number in the industry.

Sony needs to start acting more like Fender, and less like Gibson. The average consumer doesn't care for paying an extra couple of hundred dollars for higher resolutions, or OLED screens. They want something that presents the best price/value possible, something affordable, workaday, and which provides the best quality at a knowingly lower price range. Until Sony deign to start competing on that front, rather than trying to dictate things from the higher end of the market, they'll never recapture the market they once had.
 

catmincer

Member
Nearly everything electronic in my house is Sony.

- Bluray player
- Home theatre system
- Vaio laptop
- Z Ultra phone
- Bravia TV
- Nex5t camera
- H200 point and shoot camera
- Playstation 2

Apart from a Nokia phone, Xbox 360 and a Samsung laptop. I actually have no idea how that happened.
 

wanders

Member
They are actually pretty good, but the prices are always above the competitors.

I woulda bought one recently if they didn't sell off their division.
I understand why someone would wanna go for sony. More money more reliability. Not the case anymore with sony.

All of their flip Vaios have issues with no easy fix. From i3 to i7 countless issues touch screen problems, fan issues, etc.
 

muu

Member
Sony does make good products. I loved the PSP... until it took a short fall and never recovered. The Vaio-Z was as close to an ultrathin but full-powered laptop you can get at the time... then the heat sink shit on itself after a year of use.

I got myself a RX100 (original) recently, definitely a beast of a camera. Doesn't do shallow depth of field as well as my DSLR w/ prime lens, otherwise it's more compact, faster AF, works better in low light. As far as point-and-shoots go my previous, Olympus XZ-1, doesn't stand a chance. Hopefully it can take more of a beating than my previous sony products, it being a travel camera and all.
 

Persona7

Banned
The only sony products that have not broken on me are a few CRTs,PSP and a MD player.

I actually want to try their cameras someday.
 

danwarb

Member
Nearly everything electronic in my house is Sony.

- Bluray player
- Home theatre system
- Vaio laptop
- Z Ultra phone
- Bravia TV
- Nex5t camera
- H200 point and shoot camera
- Playstation 2

Apart from a Nokia phone, Xbox 360 and a Samsung laptop. I actually have no idea how that happened.
Strangely I have nothing from Sony outside of their games consoles. We used to have a really ugly Sony Hi-Fi. They have their own style throughout, which is great if you like it.
 

Lynn616

Member
Pretty good. Most times you can find a better product for less. I did pick the PS4 over the competition but that is the exception.
 

J-Rzez

Member
Only thing Sony consistently failed at was their laptops IMHO. Sure, they have their flops here and there, but most of their products are great quality, but pricey.

They are the only one's who can compete with, and beat Apple, with aesthetics consistently. LG, Samsung, HTC may hit one out of the park here and there, but they're far and few between compared to Sony.
 

mekes

Member
I currently own

HX853 in 46"
XBA4's
And of course Playstations, galore.

Its not a great amount, but the TV, earphones along with the PS4 has made me very comfortable with their products. The 100M3 in the OP looks very intriguing, been considering a small camera for a while now since I've been relying on horrible shots from mobile phones for far too long. And a few years more since I opted for the HTC One M8.
 

v1lla21

Member
I normally have Earbuds crap out (break, loose sound in 1 ear) after a few months not matter how much I spend on them. Bought a 25 dollar pair of Sony Earbuds over a year ago, and I not only like the sound better than my Bose IE2's, but they are still going strong.

I love Sony products to death.
Same here! I bought some 40 dollar ones during black Friday back in 2012, but I lost my iPod along with the buds :(
 
i own the BRAVIA KDL46HX850 and the design is pretty damn good... no problems with it at all. i also own the ps4 and the sony internet player with google tv.

K0000354903.jpg
 

Akira

Member
True story: I was worried of being called a Sony shill when I started the Xperia Z rumor thread back a couple of years ago. Fast forward, I didn't like the Z for its screen and camera so I didn't buy it. The Z2 does look tempting, but I have a Nexus 5 now. That RX100 M3 is mine though. And I will get a PS4 in June.
 

Fezan

Member
I agree. Sony are still a great company. I wish they were doing better. Their design still are great and they make good stuff

e.g i had this low end tv cheaper than samsung and much better than my lg plasma

Sony-32W650.jpg


Can some one tell me why their tv branch is bleeding so much where as samsung lg and even panasoin are making money on tv
 

Olli128

Member
I have the Xperia Z1, Z tablet, 42" Tv, Ps2/3/4, vita, htc260h soundbar and Vaio E laptop, half of which I bought second hand for huge savings. None of them have any faults after extensive use, in fact my old Walkman X which I gave away is still going strong after 5 ish years of daily use. Sony = reliable as hell, Apple is their only equal imo but their locked down OS is deal breaker for me.

Panasonic, Hitachi and creative are also pretty awesome. Samsung, Seagate and Microsoft hardware is terrible though.
 

Bigfoot

Member
I like Sony products. I just hate all the proprietary shit that goes along with so much of what they put out. Not using standard memory and formats has kept me from buying a lot of Sony products in the past.
 

longdi

Banned
I like Sony products. I just hate all the proprietary shit that goes along with so much of what they put out. Not using standard memory and formats has kept me from buying a lot of Sony products in the past.

Like you said, that was the past! Right now connecting Z2 to my PC for file transfer is literally copy and paste! :D
 
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