Sony products are unreliable, problem plagued, and simply just brutally horrible

[rage2]

All these years, I've been defending Sony products, and now, I'm officially fucking pissed off at their shit. Quality has gone completely fucking downhill the last few years. Don't get me wrong, the products, user interface, everything is great. The reliability and support is just fucking brutal.

The last 3 years, I've had the following break:

- Vaio laptop #1 dead ethernet port
- 5.1 DTS receiver center channel broken
- Vaio laptop #2 dead motherboard
- 7.1 DTS receiver center channel broken
- PS3 Blu Ray drive failure
- 7.1 HDMI receiver fucking up my component inputs (dark crush)

Sony products are great when they work. I've got TV's, ipod docks, BD players, tons of other Sony gear. I'd say Sony products make up the majority of my electronics purchases because everything is so easy to use and intuitive. This reliability shit is pissing me the fuck off. Today, I'm officially boycotting all Sony products after wasting fucking 3 hours last week.

Last month, I bought the new Sony flagship A/V receiver, the DA5300ES. It does everything, all next-gen audio codecs, tons of HDMI ins, upscaling all inputs to HDMI. Everything works great on it, except for the upscaled component inputs from my PVR in the basement... it looks really dark. I finally investigated and noticed if I plugged component directly into the TV, the image is perfect. After a bit of searching on the Sony eSupport website, I found this:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?mdl=STRDA5300ES&news_id=252

So there's a bug in their firmware, and it needs upgrading. First off, this is a SERIOUS bug. I've been bothered for the last month, and figured my bulb was dying on my TV. Bought a new bulb, nothing. How can you release a product with such a blatant bug... the Sony alert says "darker than expected"... fuck it's like 50% darker! So dark where I thought my TV was fucked and I bought a new bulb to fix the problem. Once again, just like the fucking PS3, I paid good money to test Sony's product.

OK, so it needs a firmware upgrade. Some dumb motherfucker at Sony decides it's not field upgradable. You have to send it in! With 8 inputs plugged in on this thing inside a rack, it's not easy at all to do it. And without the receiver, I've effectively rendered 8 pieces of equipment useless. Lucky for me, there's an advanced replacement option. So I call the Sony number...

Spent an hour on the phone with this dumbass. Had to explain the problem, the alert sony issued, and how it says there's an advanced replacement option to minimize downtime. After about 40 mins on the phone and him talking to someone, I was finally approved. So he took my information down.

This guy can not spell, nor understand my name, email or address. He was confusing M and N's, D and T's, P and B's... for name, address and my postal code. He thought CalgaryAlberta is a city, and Canada was a state. Well I guess when you outsource everything to India, they're not going to be familiar with anything at all in North America. So finally after all this is done, he needs my serial #. Turns out there's no way to pull it up from the menus! It's fucking 2008 peoples, how do you not have a status screen on the menu??? I guess they assumed shit won't break.

So, another 15 mins to pull all this shit out of my rack to get to the stucker on the back on the power plug. Not easy. OK so I got the #, everything's good. Hold for another 5 mins. Well, the guy decided that he can't do it for me now because I'm in Canada. I have to call the Sony Canada support.

Here's my problem with that. I got to the esupport website from the Sony Canada website. I found the alert through the system. I called their Toll Free #, and it was a north american number, not a US only number. They have my Caller ID info (auto knew where I was calling from) and didn't flag anything. Only at the end of all that bullshit am I denied shit cuz I'm from Canada. What's the fucking point?

OK so you'd think it ends there. Nope. Called the number he gave me, and lo and behold, the dumb fucker gave me the wrong #. Had to look shit up myself to get the number (which coincidently, was on the same esupport website). So ok start talking to someone, spent a good 40 mins on the phone. And guess what? No advanced replacement available, I have to drop the receiver off at Sony repair in the NE and wait for it. I explained how I'm still waiting for my PS3 replacement from dead BD drive, and I can't wait that long leaving all my gear useless. She couldn't help me any further.

So I wasted all this time for nothing. I could've just dropped the thing off in the NE myself, which I've done for the 2 laptops without talking to anyone. But since I had no clue WTF the problem was, nor did I want to wait forever, plus they offered this service... fuck it. This is the gayest shit I've ever dealt with. Fuck Sony. Fuck all their bullshit.

[rage2]

btw - blu ray sucks. I'm paying on average $10 more a movie now. Fuck you Sony.

[KRyn]

You just figured this out? Sony sucks donkey cock now! There are so many other companies now producing quality products for much better prices. I love all the Harmon Kardon stuff that I have picked up.

[xrayvsn]

I am also never buying Sony again.

I bought the Sony XBR4 52" LCD - KDL52XBR4 model Just after Chistmas. I am now onto my third television because after about a month of use, the TV starts growing a huge fucking vertical line of dead pixels on the screen. I can actually see the defect when the TV is off, making me think that the screen is actually delaminating. Each time it is exactly the same issue - their QC sucks balls for 3 panels to have the same exact issue.

Each time, I get a new replacement since I am just barely under the 30 day no hassle BB exchange. This last time it happend about a week after my 30 days was up. I went back to BB again and this time I have asked to replace the unit with a not defective Samsung.

Their esupport is totally bullshit. I was told the replacement screen would take 4 - 6 months to go through Sony. I guess they have a shortage of the panels because they all have the same issue.

[rage2]

Originally posted by KRyn
You just figured this out? Sony sucks donkey cock now! There are so many other companies now producing quality products for much better prices. I love all the Harmon Kardon stuff that I have picked up.
No, I've just been in denial for a little while now. I still love the interface that Sony products offer, it's so intuitive and just makes sense. That's what I love about it, and was able to be in denial over the crappy product quality. I guess the brand spanking new receiver needing a firmware upgrade so early on was just the moment of clarity for me.

I just wished other companies made products that are easy to use. A good example is my ipod clock radio dock. You should see how retarded all the other ones were just trying to setup a wake up time to play a specific song. I didn't even need to read the manual on the cheap Sony one I bought.

[ZMan2k2]

I swore off most of Sony's products when I was younger. I was always having problems with CD players, walkmans, and boomboxes. Everytime I got it fixed, it either came back with the same problem, or developed a new one related to the initial problem. Luckily, now all I have that's Sony is the PS3, and so far so good. I don't blame you rage, you feel that you do all this for a company, buying their products, supporting them to others, and in the end, all you get is treated like another #. Good luck with the problem, and I hope that's the end of them for you.

[ZorroAMG]

VAIO = Horse shit

Sony = overpriced

Sorry to hear about your crappy issues, rage! :(

[G-ZUS]

Sony sucks donkey balls.

We bought a 42 inch Wega with the 3LCD or some shit. First one broke we got a second one on warranty, not even a year later it breaks down. Now we got it traded for a 50 inch which i have no doubt will break down and be the last sony we have.

[NRGie]

our first tv whihc was sony lasted close to 10 years

[eblend]

About time this shit came up. I hate Sony, not a single sony product in my household anymore. There are plenty of good manufactures, I prefer Samsung or Toshiba for most of my stuff

[eblend]

Originally posted by NRGie
our first tv whihc was sony lasted close to 10 years

I sold my Trinitron to my dads friend and its still good as it was the day we bought it, like 15 years ago! Picture is amazing on it, was always awesome, and that still works, the problem is, that one was build in Japan and in the days when quality ment something to Sony, now most of sony stuff is made in China and noone gives a shit about quality. Unless its made in Japan, I don't even give Sony a glance

On the second hand, my parents have a Goldstart TV in the kitchen and its been there for 12 years, still works perfect without a problem. As you may know, Goldstar is LG, so I think most Korean brands are pretty good

[soupey]

ive never had any issues with sony tv's and home theater equip...but i cant say so much for anything else they sell (car audio, portable electronics, etc)...other than my sony ericsson phone, haha.

[b_t]

If you are looking for a new receiver, the Onkyo TX-SR875 blows away Sony's stuff for features and they have a fantastic reputation.

[Carlton]

They went downhill after Playstation 2, notice all the original big ones are extinct or have issues.

[Rocky]

I feel you big time, I replaced a PS2 and two of its controllers which just dropped dead over night, for the most part.

Very overpriced too, typically. Sony is definitely not what comes to mind when I think 'reliability'.

I talked to customer service at Sony once however, and the guy was very helpful. He was definitely from the USA though, not an outsourced Indian. But yeah, it should be said, he was pretty legit.

[analbumcover]

We have had no problems with our sony rear projection LCD but we have had 3 of the same Sony DVD player and it shits the bed like no ones business - the first one we had, we were able to return it in 30 days, same thing happened with this one, disc read error, so we returned it, it was working fine but then we had a flood so they automatically replaced it with the same model, during that transition we didnt open it for quite some time, while my xbox360 had the RROD we wanted to watch a movie, open the box put the movie in, disc read error

are you fucking serious??

[Das_Amaretto]

:werd:

My parents had me sony brainwashed too for a while, but I kicked the habit.

I'm now very fond of Samsung for overall excellence.

Also running Pioneer, Yamaha, Hitachi, and Panasonic now, and all are way better than when everything was all sony.

Plus now nothing ever breaks! (knock on wood)

[ICEBERG]

My TV's are pioneer plasma's, My system is Rotel, Blu-Ray is pioneer, so no Sony. But one thing i can tell you is, all the years i owned sony never had a problem with their products. Maybe recently they have gone down hill in reliability :dunno:

[Zephyr]

I'm anti-sony as well. Screw their dam cameras, I've had a few friends who bought one and ended up breaking within 6 months just randomly while my Canon sits fine after three years.

I've been reading that the bravia on Sony seems to have the richest color, but the gf bought one about a month and a half ago and the piece of crap sudden won't turn on anymore!

I've gotten a Sony Ericsson flip phone for a day and the dam internal antenna snapped! Then I went on howards forums only to find out that they screwed up on the design.

Screw Sony, all their products are good for is being pretty. All I have now is a PS3 and a cybershot that I found, and even that camera sucks.

Sony EPIC FAIL.

[schocker]

The last sony item i got was a bookshelf stereok and now sometimes when you turn it on it will spin the cds, and start the tape deck motors then it will shut off. makes it useless most days.

[sl888]

Originally posted by xrayvsn
I am also never buying Sony again.

I bought the Sony XBR4 52" LCD - KDL52XBR4 model Just after Chistmas. I am now onto my third television because after about a month of use, the TV starts growing a huge fucking vertical line of dead pixels on the screen. I can actually see the defect when the TV is off, making me think that the screen is actually delaminating. Each time it is exactly the same issue - their QC sucks balls for 3 panels to have the same exact issue.

Each time, I get a new replacement since I am just barely under the 30 day no hassle BB exchange. This last time it happend about a week after my 30 days was up. I went back to BB again and this time I have asked to replace the unit with a not defective Samsung.

Their esupport is totally bullshit. I was told the replacement screen would take 4 - 6 months to go through Sony. I guess they have a shortage of the panels because they all have the same issue.
My buddy has the same TV and his has been good so far. Compared to my other buddy's Samsung I'd take the Sony for sure. But after what you said I might just hold off on getting a XBR4. I wonder if they have this problem with the XBR5s.

[sneek]

LOL everything that I ever owned that was sony is broken now, minus one MP3 player from Japan. The rest of their stuff sucked. I bought my V1 PS2 right when it came out. Broke in about 5 months...and I didnt even use it very much, (too ADD to play games for long). My $400 PS2...dam sony. You only get 90 days warrenty too.

[GTS Jeff]

I thought everyone knew to stay away from Sony audio equipment?

Nice TVs though...

[Pahnda]

Yeah, anything Sony is a pile of crap. Some of their budget video cameras are pretty good for the price, the rest is just garbage. The thing I hate the most is they try to pass themselves off as a kind of 'premium' brand yet I would almost rather buy JVC garbage.

But Sony laptops and computer hardware in general rank down near the bottom with Toshiba in my books. I remember buying a DVD burner from them years ago and getting it with the wrong firmware, then they sent me an update that crippled it further. :thumbsup:

[A790]

Originally posted by Pahnda
Yeah, anything Sony is a pile of crap. Some of their budget video cameras are pretty good for the price, the rest is just garbage. The thing I hate the most is they try to pass themselves off as a kind of 'premium' brand yet I would almost rather buy JVC garbage.

But Sony laptops and computer hardware in general rank down near the bottom with Toshiba in my books. I remember buying a DVD burner from them years ago and getting it with the wrong firmware, then they sent me an update that crippled it further. :thumbsup:
It's funny you'd say that, as I have three Toshiba notebooks and each one of them has been stellar. In fact, I trust my Toshiba's over any other brand that I've used.

I have no experience with Sony, however, so I'm just commenting on Toshiba...

[redline]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
I thought everyone knew to stay away from Sony audio equipment?

Nice TVs though...

:werd:

I have two Sony TVs and they are great!!!! I have a sony BD player also and it has been flawless!!

[GQBalla]

the only thing i have right now from Sony is my ps3.

its been good, no sony tv or receiver experience here but ill take Rage2's review to heart when i want to purchase more electronics.

[rc2002]

I have all kinds of sony stuff too - I find the small things like MD players and discmans are high quality and stylish but the TVs are crap. Brands like Zenith and RCA outlast the Sony ones. 3/4 Sony TVs I've used have broken.

[bulaian]

i've sworn off sony and all their proprietary bullshit since the mini disc days... why the fuck can't you just support mp3 like everyone else did :drama:

[IncredibleToad]

Originally posted by sneek
LOL everything that I ever owned that was sony is broken now, minus one MP3 player from Japan. The rest of their stuff sucked. I bought my V1 PS2 right when it came out. Broke in about 5 months...and I didnt even use it very much, (too ADD to play games for long). My $400 PS2...dam sony. You only get 90 days warrenty too.

Brutal! I bought a V1 PS2 not long after it came out as well...its been almost a decade and it still runs fine!! And never had any issues with it (except recently where it had trouble loading some screens) but I guess its hit or miss.

Sony has been alright for us, we had a small stereo type setup for an office space and it crapped out in a few short months. But other than that, we have no problems with their stuff (LCD TV, etc). With so many buyers on Sony, I guess you really only hear the negatives, no one really goes out of their way to talk about the positives as much.

I guess I can't relate to the frustrations here as much, as I've mainly had a positive experience with Sony products.

rage is definitely raging haha

ps. Buying a PS3 this week so I can start playing GT5:P :clap:

[BerserkerCatSplat]

I swore off Sony audio equipment years ago and now I stick (mostly) to Yamaha, I quite like their gear.

[adam c]

i'll only buy sony if it's a last resort.

i have never liked it, anything i bought from sony has been a piece...

[Inzane]

Originally posted by b_t
If you are looking for a new receiver, the Onkyo TX-SR875 blows away Sony's stuff

As does Denon, and Yamaha, and...

I'd never consider Sony for my home theatre/stereo components.

[rage2]

Yea, I've looked at Denon, HK, Onkyo... my only complaints were that the Sony had a much nicer interface. Maybe I'm just used to Sony products over the years, and it's time to move on.

[ralliart_girl]

Speaking about being brainwashed, this is what happened when i went to a certain store to buy a new LCD.

Me: Hi, I am looking to purchase a new LCD today, I would like to look into a Samsung or Sharp.

Salesman: We don't carry Sharp, would you like to look at our Sonys'?

Me: No, I don't want to purchase a Sony. So you have Samsung, well, I will take a look at those.

Salesman: Sonys are really good TV, let me show you one.

Me: I don't want to look at a Sony, I heard they are not that good anymore. I would like to take a look at the Samsungs you have.

Salesman: Sonys are the best TVs that you can buy, says so in the Cusomers Reports.

Me: (Speaking alot slower and louder now) I....don't.....want....to...buy.....a...SONY...... I will look around myself, and if I need your assistance, i will come find u.

[heavyD]

I like Sony stuff and really I don't think their stuff is any less reliable than most consumer electronics. The fact that they make so much items makes it more probably that you will have problems with something they make.

I've had issues a car CD player, home MD player but that's really about it outside of three PS2 failures. I have a Sony 1998 DVD player that still works after a gazillion uses, a 1999 53" rear projection TV that has never been serviced, 2001 Reciever that has been flawless, plus assorted other stuff such as alarm clocks, etc.

I haven't been thrilled with my 46" XBR LCD but I'm not ready to boycott as with another kid on the way I may not have the budget for high end equipment for everything and with Sony stuff you often get great features for the money and intuitive interfaces.

BTW: If I was a high roller like you though I probably would buy higher end equipment lol!

[The Cosworth]

the whole reason I dont have a PS3 yet is that I am afraid of the crap breaking

[Eleanor]

I've got tons of sony stuff, and I have yet to have any serious problems with any of it :dunno: I've broken a couple things, but that's cause I dropped them on concrete or something. No issues with TVs, DVD players, receivers, mp3 players, VCRs or cell phones.

[D_flore]

this isnt new iv found sonys stuff to be crap for about 10 years now. had a mini system fixed 3 times and it still messes up. i also find they are terrible for user freindlyness too

[Eleanor]

Originally posted by brendankharris
the whole reason I dont have a PS3 yet is that I am afraid of the crap breaking

That's the only reason? :rofl: :poosie:

[The Cosworth]

^^ ok true, not the WHOLE reason. But it is definitely helping me not chase the 80 gig around the city.

[avow]

i am on my 4th sony ericson w580i.... in 6 months... and each time it takes 3 weeks to get them back. so if you do the math on that i have each one for about two weeks. they suck so bad.

[HPR]

I used to follow the Sony brainwashing movement. Luckily none of my Sony products have ever failed. I stopped buying their crap a couple years ago because they're in EVERY electronic type industry and overpriced. It's like an expensive President's Choice brand ;)

This whole intuitive thing they have is great for possibly developing new media sources. But, it drives me up the wall how they stick to it, and usually in a couple years drop the whole idea, making money off poor gullible people like me.

After the minidisc died, I haven't supported any Sony product. I would purchase one only as a last resort, or if was a gift :devil:

Honestly, I was hoping HD would beat out Blu-Ray hoping Sony would get off their imaginary high horse. Ah well, I won't be buying a Blu-Ray player until maybe 5 years from now or until it truly does become the standard.

[SpoonEK9@STRD]

I have a 35" tube from about 15 years back, still going strong.

I hate sony, japan can goto hell... lol j/k

[treg50]

For receivers I like Yamaha.

[IncredibleToad]

Speaking of the PS3, for the extra $100 for that 40gb of space, I really don't mind just plugging in an external hard drive into the 40gb model...they are getting pretty cheap. And for those two extra USB plug-ins, just get a usb hub. Im not very concerned about backwards compatibility, but besides these points, are there any other big factors that would make you want to get a 80GB vs 40GB?

[sneek]

Originally posted by IncredibleToad


Brutal! I bought a V1 PS2 not long after it came out as well...its been almost a decade and it still runs fine!! And never had any issues with it (except recently where it had trouble loading some screens) but I guess its hit or miss.

Sony has been alright for us, we had a small stereo type setup for an office space and it crapped out in a few short months. But other than that, we have no problems with their stuff (LCD TV, etc). With so many buyers on Sony, I guess you really only hear the negatives, no one really goes out of their way to talk about the positives as much.

I guess I can't relate to the frustrations here as much, as I've mainly had a positive experience with Sony products.

rage is definitely raging haha

ps. Buying a PS3 this week so I can start playing GT5:P :clap:

ya it isn't fully broken I guess...It just can't play any DVD games. Some place said they could do a laser adjustment....but it didn't help. Sadly I think I too will be buying a PS3 soon to play GT5.

PS: I have had really good luck with Toshiba and Apple laptops. I have seen a few people with Macbook Pros that just failed, so I guess I am lucky on that front.

[Neil4Speed]

Originally posted by IncredibleToad
Speaking of the PS3, for the extra $100 for that 40gb of space, I really don't mind just plugging in an external hard drive into the 40gb model...they are getting pretty cheap. And for those two extra USB plug-ins, just get a usb hub. Im not very concerned about backwards compatibility, but besides these points, are there any other big factors that would make you want to get a 80GB vs 40GB?

Agreed - One of the reasons why I wanted a 80GB is because it has SACD capability, something that I wanted. However Sony decided in its latest Firmware update to disable multichannel output, therefore defeating the purpose of the use of this high definition audio format. It was probably because it was hurting the sales of their SACD players.

Sony has been good to my family, but to keep in mind, the Sony products that we own are all ES line prior to 1997 or so which was all made in Japan. My Sony Ericsson T616 was awesome, and went through the wash, and the ocean a few times with no problem (I wouldn't advise it though)

To tell you the truth, I don't have very much faith in any brands anymore, consumer electronics are just that - for consumption, break it? Buy a new one.

[xkon]

totally agree... I went through 3 vaios last year, under what I consider normal usage. Anyone wants TX vaio parts let me know!

[A790]

I haven't had any problems with Sony yet. Their phones have always been good to me, and my PS3 has been fine since I got it.

[TheOneAndOnly]

either thats bad luck or u actually own a tens of laptops and receievers..

[590221010]

Sony's been fine for me, although I haven't owned much hardware from them. Off the top of my head, 1 dvd player, 1 psx, 1 ps3 and that's it I think lol. And that's all time!

[googe]

on a similar note, has anyone tried the DVD player in the PS3? not for blu-rays, but regular DVDs?

my goodness, what a huge piece of crap. the image is just terrible. my girlfriend was watching some x-files DVDs on the 360, and I told her I wanted to pop it into the ps3 between episodes just to see if there was a noticeable difference...I was thinking it might upscale a bit better being a fancy blu-ray player, but i didnt expect to see a difference. as soon as it comes on, shes like "wtf is wrong with it? the picture is way fuzzy" and it looked like analog TV interference on some scenes.

when it fails the girlfriend test, you know it sucks, because most girls i know dont notice a difference between hdtv and a dvd :rofl:

i hear its actually a pretty good blu-ray player compared to what else is available, but I'll probably never buy a blu-ray disc.

[Redlyne_jr]

ya agreed lol i can defiantly relate to alot of sony products being faulty and fucking renting video's blueray... it ain't worth the difference of 10bucks... but i do like the XBR4... that is a ballin TV hands down.

[xrayvsn]

Originally posted by ~Porsche~
... but i do like the XBR4... that is a ballin TV hands down.

Too bad mine only work properly for 30 days. That squarely removes it from my baller list, and puts it straight into pile of steaming shit list.

[Kloubek]

Lots of comments both for and against.

I think the bottom line with Sony is that you get some good stuff, some bad stuff. But it's like every other manufacturer; they have their high end, and their low end. I've had both good and bad luck with LG and Samsung as well on both sides of the spectrum.

The key factor though is this: Sony products tend to be priced 10-20% more than other known brands. And their product is most certainly not 10-20% superior.

'nuff said.

[FiveFreshFish]

My 35" XBR CRT lasted 9 years. Is that typical?

[scboss]

my friend has had an xbr 4 for more then a year now not one problem............ my sony receiver not one problem............ ps3 not one problem. Discman crapped out and ps2 crapped out but thats it. To the guy who said ps3 dvd quality is crap, did u do the update? all my regular dvds look pimp on my aquos no fuzzies, are you running hdtv?