[gaineso]

I don't know exact numbers, but, the cost of tooling for a Titanium Die Casting would be 10 to 20 times the cost of tooling for Magnesium or Aluminum. If they're going with Ti for die castings, they'd have to be planning on a very large run of parts.

 

[?oA?]

i agree with Flasken

 

[Kubernetes]

I guess you guys have had different experiences, but every Sony portable I've ever owned (3 walkmans, 4 discmans) has been top notch and still works (except for one discman which was accidentally destroyed, through no fault of its own). Even my oldest walkman (15+ years) and my oldest discman (10 years) work perfectly.

Perhaps I've just lucked out? Perhaps I've had good fortune because I've always bought the top of the line model. I've had good luck so far.

 

[Flasken]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kubernetes ...I've always bought the top of the line model...

I kept wondering until I read that point. Damn any company if they make a top-of-the-line product that is ureliable!! Reliabilety is for me almost the main reason for buying top-of-the-line, ie; long term investment.

 

[dcg]

Kubernetes - the problem with products nowadays is that your 15 year old walkman and 10 year old discman will probably be working long after many sony (or any other) pdcps that could be bought today.

 

[Tuberoller]

Sony press releases state that a full 60% of net profits go back into R&D.I think that number to be true.If you look at all the competition they have it is impossible for them to lie flat at any time.I once heard(a rumor)that they make 122,000 different products.that is amazing,that is also,I think,why some of the products they make suffer.If you think about all the products you have seen with the sony name,you gotta believe they can't make the best of everything.I once saw on Eddie Van Halen's website were he said he had been given all sony products to build a studio,everything was sony,from the mix boards to the microphones,even the cables.He said it was all ****.I think sony has suffered from their own success.They are just too big to do things well.If they were an American company the government would probably be looking for ways to force a breakup.

 

[Ctn]

Quote:

Originally posted by Flasken What?? Is the rest of it titanium as well? Under my lid there is this round thing in the middle and the text is curving halfway around that round thing and it says, "Magnesium die casting".

Hehe just kidding

Just wanted to see if ne1 gets worked uo =)

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tuberoller Sony press releases state that a full 60% of net profits go back into R&D.I think that number to be true.If you look at all the competition they have it is impossible for them to lie flat at any time.I once heard(a rumor)that they make 122,000 different products.that is amazing,that is also,I think,why some of the products they make suffer.If you think about all the products you have seen with the sony name,you gotta believe they can't make the best of everything.I once saw on Eddie Van Halen's website were he said he had been given all sony products to build a studio,everything was sony,from the mix boards to the microphones,even the cables.He said it was all ****.I think sony has suffered from their own success.They are just too big to do things well.If they were an American company the government would probably be looking for ways to force a breakup.

I think it would be very healthy if they broke up their company to serve customers and build better (ie. more reliable) products. Like a Sony Portable electronics, Sony Home Audio, Sony Home Video, etc. They still build great tv's though.

 

[Flasken]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ctn Hehe just kidding Just wanted to see if ne1 gets worked uo =)

Oh...

Hehe.

 

[Spad]

Sony's marketing policies are the most deceptive I've encountered, and I've been using Sony products since 1965.

The worst example occurred a few years ago when I mailordered a Sony GS420 19-inch monitor. The sales literature and the Sony site all indicated that the monitor had built-in speakers as did several then current NEC models. It did not.

I contacted Sony, working my way slowly and frustratingly through a morass of underlings until I spoke to a senior marketing executive. They were very attentive and I received a few highly placed mea culpas. I was told I could return the monitor to Sony for a full refund--at my expense.

I didn't really care about the damned speakers--they would have been total junk anyway--but the principle of the thing began to grate on me. I continued prodding them until, weeks later, they agreed to pay the shipping costs. At that point I dropped the matter since I liked the display very much.

But the part that best demonstrated Sony's consumer concerns, not to mention their corporate integrity, is that the promotional information included in all the major catalogs, Sony's web site, and their product brochures all continued to reflect the built-in speakers for months afterward.

Some of the best designed and executed equipment I've encountered has borne the Sony logo. Some, such as a CDP-101 (Sony's first CDP) and a D-5 (their first PCDP) have been bullet-proof. Other items, including top-of-the-line ES models have required repairs--usually shoddily done--within days.

I believe it's a QC problem. A longterm buddy and I bought D-35 PCDPs several years ago. More recently we both bought the same Sony DVD players. In both cases his proved to be junk and mine have performed flawlessly.

With Sony, more than any company I know, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

 

[gaineso]

One of the most frightening things about Sony's quality, or lack thereof, is the fact that they are considered a standard bearer for six sigma.

Six Sigma is the quality system that is being so widely touted throughout many industries, including aerospace. It is defined as a defect rate of 3.4 defects per million opportunities.

When I was employed at AlliedSignal / Honeywell Aerospace as a Quality Engineer, Six Sigma was corporate policy, brought down from the mountain on stone tablets by Larry Bossidy from his god Jack Welch.

Sony was always held up as the best example of six sigma quality. "They are so good that they never even test their equipment. The consumer is the first to turn it on." These "Six Sigma Black Belts" did not want to hear about the widely reported and documented quality problems at Sony. "Sony is Six Sigma, and our goal is to reach their level."

I don't fly much these days. Six Sigma scares the hell out of me from experience. If the aerospace industry wants to be as good as Sony, I'm going to take up bicycles.

 

[ai0tron]

All things I have owned with the sony logo on it have broken in less than 5 years and often in less than 1 year... TV's, walkman, headphones, boomboxes, and others I am sure. However there are things with GE, Zenith, and other underspoken american named companies in my house that just keep plugging away. Not to mention some other Japanese manufacturers like JVC and panasonic. All in all sony dissapoints. My friend purchased a WEGA hometheater setup for some 3 or 4 thousand dollars and the DVD player would never work from the get go. It wouldnt eject the disk. the TV is great, but the other equipment is lacking. The surround speakers are not impressive. Kind of like best buy bargains or something.