Sony can't keep up the the demand for the Sony Reader 650 & accessories

 

So I wasn't able to buy the case I wanted. The Sony Centre in George Street had run out, and told me they had been discontinued. They are still listed on the website. I called Burwood's David Jones store and they only have the hideous red ones {pic1} {pic2}. I will only buy one of the red ones if I have to. I'd prefer my pretty red Sony Reader to be in a black case. I didn't buy one when I bought my ereader because I had limited funds at the time. I do now as well, but as I explained yesterday, a girl has to do what a girl has to do! Tomorrow I am getting Lillian to scout Myer's in Toowoomba, and I'll spend the day with the phone calling around stores in Sydney. I really don't want the red one. I am not an eBay user, but the search I did on eBay today turned up no sources. I am ready to scream or cry or something emotional. If the case was cheaper I would just get the red one, but I am NOT spending $60 on something I find unattractive unless I have no other options. The "red" binding is too brown for my liking, and although the red flap is a gorgeous red, the brown detracts from it. If in doubt, go black! Not that it is my favourite colour or anything! *snickers* (coincidently, nearly all my clothes are black LOL The only colours are for contrasting the black.) Anyway, I am in a quandary. What to do, what to do!?!

I've been talking to @fangbooks, @staticsan and @SonyNZ on twitter, and apparently there is a high demand for them and they are sold out and unlikely to get new stock soon. I don't know who to believe. A busy manager who could have been fobbing off a customer or a twitter account. I'll go with the twitter account's reasoning because the girl looked busy and annoyed. Also, I would hate to think this product has been discontinued. It would be such a loss!

I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll be leaving NSW for the sticks in QLD in just under a month, and I need a case with a light. Unless I can find the black one, I'll have to buy the red one. But it may sell out. In that case, I guess I'll have to get a normal book light and *cries* clip it to my pretty red ereader.

God, these are SUCH #firstworldproblems! But I don't have much money, and when I buy something, it needs to count. Also, a month with solar power. It is lovely on paper, and I am proud that we aren't using grid power and all it's nasty associations, but I grew up on solar power, and it is not fun when you are a book worm! You either drain the batteries and get yelled up (just remember, I have been dealing with this since I was 6. I am now 27. I moved out of home when I was 16, but I visit as much as I can. Every night I was yelled at to put down the book and turn off the light!), or huddle with a torch which constantly kills the batteries, or ring your bed with 20 candles to get light bright enough not to give you eye strain. The option of not reading in bed of a night is a no brainer. So, yes, I need a solution. I will be home for nearly a month. A month of not reading of a night? Have I mentioned I am an insomniac? And books are my cocaine? I have? Well, you can see why this is the most pressing issue about visiting my parents. And that it is a problem I'll have in the future. My ereader was partly bought for travelling. I can take hundreds of books with me and they won't take up any room. I tried to take 20 books with me on a flight home once - it cost me a fortune! So this case will be an investment! All those times I am trying to read in low light - either on holiday, camping, on trains or in blackouts - I can just use the light!

Wish me luck! I have 3 or 4 weeks to find a solution! Damn you Sony! You create such an amazing product and then can't keep up with the demand? You need better planning in place!! Serious book readers are addicts! We can't not read. It is a compulsion! And we share our love with those around us. Three people at my book club last night were interested in buying a Sony Reader after Maria and I waxed lyrical. Three people! I guess they luck out. And apparently @staticsan hasn't been able to buy one for months... And Rosie from @fangbooks lost hers when travelling and has been desperately trying to find a replacement. There is such a demand out there for the Sony Reader Touch 650, but it seems everyone is out of luck. So good luck to everyone else who is on the endless search for the ereader and accessories!

Edit: A quick update. Rosie from @fangbooks called around about the Sony Reader 650 and apparently there are none to be had in Australia! The new release is apparently in a few months.

Edit: My friend Zach just made a comment on the Book Bites facebook page about the availability in America: "The 650s are becoming rare here in America, too. There are very few left even on Amazon. The Daily and Pocket editions are a bit more available, but that's understandable, considering the Touch is more popular. All three are out of stock according to Sony's website. I've decided that I want a Reader over a Kindle or a Nook, so I'll patiently wait for the release."

Travelling, so I'm off to buy a Sony Reader case with booklight...

As a change of plans, I am now going to be staying with my parents for a couple of weeks after I finish working. I am really looking forward to the peace and quiet (and puppy kisses) which I can find at the farm. I have two problems with going home to Queensland. One is I won't have internet access, and if anyone follows me on Twitter, you can see why that would be a problem! I've also recently become addicted to theforcebook, which is a social networking site for fans of Star Wars (join us!) which will be painful to abandon for any period longer than half a day. The second problem I have is our power at the farm is completely solar! I mean, yeay, us! But it also means that we have to conserve energy. All my life I have been yelled at to "turn off that bloody light and go to sleep!" ALL. MY. LIFE! And no, it wasn't so much because I was saying up until 2am reading (although I was), but that I was draining the batteries to do so. I tried everything. Torches, candles (I need 15-20 to avoid eyestrain), book lights and being sneaky. Nothing really works. But... I have an ereader! So, tonight, I am going to buy the Sony Reader case that comes with a built in book light! I don't want to clamp a generic book light onto my ereader, and although the official case is a bit expensive, I think this is the solution. I don't actually have a case for my ereader. I have a doll's rug from my childhood that I wrap it in, papoose-like, to guard it from scratches. So tonight, after work and before book club, I am going to the Sony Centre and buying this case!

And yeay, Queensland!!

I'll need to fill my ereader so freaking full of ebooks! There is NOTHING to do out at the farm except hours of reading and writing and playing with my puppy. Oh, and housework *sigh* I think I need to um.. write... *snickers* Somehow I don't think that excuse will work on my Mum.... I do plan on writing a lot though. And typing up my Nano manuscript on Mum's laptop for an hour each day. I'm getting excited!

Bookshelf joy!

It is all arranged. I am buying a bookshelf this weekend! FTW!

I have been umming and ahhing over it for ages, but I finally lined up the budget, the transport and the time to do so. My parents will be in NSW over Easter, and I am going up to the Central Coast to spend time with them (bush walking, canoeing, driving and just generally spending some quality time with two people I love dearly but never see). Originally we were planning on them picking me up and going through Wisemans Ferry to Gosford and then up to my Grandmother’s place, but with the Sydney Royal Easter Show the traffic will be terrible (apparently). So instead I am catching a train up to them and we will start the adventures from Gosford. We have a lot of half formed plans but one I have just made my folks agree to is going to Officeworks at Gosford and buying me that bookshelf I desperately need! They luckily have a ute, so it will not be too big of a problem for them. We’ll put it in storage at my grandmother’s place while we go gallivanting, and then, on Monday night, Dad sets it up for me, and I spend Tuesday reorganising my book collection!! I am SO excited! It means I don’t have as much money as I need to go gallivanting, but well worth the effort! I am getting excited!! I have needed another bookshelf for so long, but instead I buy more books. Silly really, because this bookshelf will cost as much as five or six books really – although that does not factor in delivery and taking a day off of work for it to be delivered *shrugs* But yeay, bookshelf!!!! *squee*

If they don't have this in "chocolate" I will cry! It is 2m tall, and I plan to buy more when circumstances permit - I don't need my wardrobe or bed or anything right? I can totally just fill my room with books? And maybe a little beanbag in the middle of the floor for me to sleep and read on?







Now, the big question is, what books do I take with me?! Four days away from the internet and my book collection!! :o I think I need to find some money (or freebies) and load up my ereader as a backup plan LOL Let’s face it – I never take enough books with me when I go on holiday! ;-p

BTT: Travel

Booking Through Thursday asks:

When you travel, how many books do you bring with you? Has this changed since the arrival of ebooks?

This is a timely question, as I just got back from a holiday. I normally take a minimum of three books with me when I travel. It depends how long I plan to be away, and if I have the funds to purchase during that holiday. My destination is also important, as I may be able to borrow books whilst on holiday.

This time I was visiting my family farm for a week. I knew I wouldn’t have much time to kick back and read (we have solar power, so I don’t get to read much of a night) and I also knew that I could borrow books from my parents, my friends or a local library if I needed something to read. I took three large books with me, borrowed a few paperbacks from my mum when I was there, and used her library card (apparently I still owe them money?) and borrowed a book I needed for book club tomorrow. I didn’t finish my books, because I felt like light reading, not the doorstoppers I took with me.

When I am visiting my grandmother for the weekend, I normally take three books. One I am currently reading at the time, one solid read and one light read. I get brainfog, so I need something to read when I can’t concentrate properly.

I am getting a Sony Reader, and I envision this will make it easier to travel! I can take hundreds of books with me and not need to worry about baggage allowance. I used to go home for 3 months at a time as a student, and most of my luggage was books. It made my bags quite heavy *snickers* When I get my shiny new toy *ahem* tool I can have more selection while on holiday. It means I won’t have the same problem I had when I was visiting my parents. The Sony Reader has a good battery life, so it won’t need power, and I can read of a night if I buy a booklight (I find them clunky when attached to books, because of the page turning and curve of the pages). I can have multiple light reads and heavy reads but only have the once item packed. It will save so much room in my luggage. The only issue I have is when I am flying. I know you have to turn off all electronic devices at certain times during the flight, so I guess I would still have to pack a paperback LOL

On holiday, out of books and getting an eReader

I am intermittently on holiday this fortnight. I was on the Central Coast for the last three days, and as of Thursday night I am in Queensland for a week. For this reason, my blogging will be practically non-existent for this period. I may be able to get near a computer, but I am not making any promises. I had to skip yesterday’s Manic Monday, and Booking Through Thursday doesn’t get released until late on Thursday so I am unlikely to be able to complete that before I board my flight. Next week’s Manic Monday and Teaser Tuesday will depend if I can borrow a friend’s computer in my home town as my parents don’t have the internet on. I will be updating my twitter from my phone, so if you want updates, you can follow me on http://twitter.com/obsidiantears83

I am still on a book ban because of limited finances, but I may splash out and get a book for the flight home. I hate having nothing to read!!! :( I am rereading all my novels, and have been for over a month. It is driving me crazy. I visited my (Great) Auntie June yesterday and she gave us (my Mum and I) a big bag of “sloppies” as my dad calls them. Yes that is right, I have been reduced to reading old Mills and Boons to keep myself entertained! I have reread my books SOOOOO many times that I can’t stomach much more of it. I also found out the Gutenberg Project has a mobile website m.gutenberg.org and that they have a java app for books you can download called QIOO! So I downloaded a few. It is hard though, because my screen is so small, and my phone battery gets chewed up. But I have been reading Around The World in 80 Days and have decided that I am either buying the book, or the eBook when I get my Sony Reader. I've also been reading HP Lovecraft, Wilke Collins, Dante, Kafka, PG Wodenhouse and Oscar Wilde. Yes, I downloaded a lot of books, but the only one I have read a lot of is the Jules Verne one. I will probably get the rest in hard copy or EPUB later. I keep meaning to join the Campsie library, but I am busy on weekends. My car has been fixed, so I may be able to go after work and join. I need to find a copy of Storm Front by Jim Butcher to have read by the 11th of October for book club. I bought it last year, read half, hated it, gave it away. I refuse to buy it again. Especially because it is part of a series I choose not to read. I can’t remember exactly why I hated it, but I remember thinking it was very dry and that it was a bit sexist. It felt like a noir film, in which I overlook sexism, because it was part of the times. Modern books tend to turn me off when they are sexist. I need to reread it to back up this statement, but I remember that feeling of sexism was one of the reasons I stopped reading it. That and I just wasn’t interested. Book club should be fun! I wonder if I still have this feeling when I read it again.

My other news is I have decided I want to get a Sony Reader. I give myself one present from my tax return every year, and it is that time again! I can buy cheaper books, download free classics and not lug around a million books with me. I normally take two books with me everywhere, more when I am travelling, and have six books stashed around my office. Instead I can have one slimline device and one book with me and not need to lug around a book bag with me everywhere! No, I am not forsaking the printed word! I love books with a passion! If I gave one a squishy hug, I would squish all the ink out of the pages, that is how hard I would hug it. I can’t see my life without books. My earliest memories are of books, and I am never not reading something! The smell, the texture, the tactile nature, the concept… I just don’t think I will every solely read eBooks. But I still can’t buy certain books in paperback, and I can’t afford them in hardcover. So this is my answer: http://www.sony.com.au/product/prs-650
It comes in black and red, it has expandable storage, can read EPUB, PDF, Text, RTF, Word and BBeB, plays audio files, has 12 inbuilt dictionaries (English, plus German, Spanish, French, Dutch and Italian), it has a touch screen, but it isn’t built into the screen, so it is readable in the sun! It also has 2 weeks battery life :D I am gonna love that baby! I am getting the red one, of course. I thought about getting the black one, but my twitter friends talked me out of being sensible.

Would you ever get an eReader? And if so, would that be instead of books, or as a supplement?