Prices Cut by Dollars and Pounds

Posted By: Ed Monday, October 15, 2001 11:23:35 AM

Sony has quietly dropped the price on its low end model, the PEG-S320, to just $170. In England, the m505 has dropped £60 to £339. The m500 is £270.

This $30 drop is the first since the S320 was announced over the summer. Readers have been reporting seeing the S320 at this price in stores since last week but the SonyStyle webstore has only recently been changed. There are still places on the SonyStyle store where the S320 appears at $200 but $170 is the correct price.

Sony made no announcement of this change so there were no reasons given. It is possible they are feeling price pressure from Palm's and Handspring's low-end models, which have recently also dropped in price.

The price cut in England will be a welcome change to many. Until now, the m505 has been significantly higher there than in the U.S. It is still slightly higher.

Thanks to Mike Cane, aaron w, anf Phil Yeadon for the tips. -Ed

Related Information:

Article Comments

 (26 comments)

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.

Comments Closed Comments Closed
This article is no longer accepting new comments.

Down

Er, try $169

mikecane @ 10/15/2001 11:24:53 AM #
Told you so!

RE: Er, try $169
mikecane @ 10/15/2001 11:25:41 AM #
Also:

"Sony made no announcement of this change so there were no reasons given."

-- how about the impending intro of the new mono T415?

RE: Er, try $169
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 2:07:27 PM #
Well I nknow that the s320 has been 179.99 at best buy for almost a month now. Also I see handhelds and who cares if the s320 is not "corporate immage" in the last two weeks I have sold me s320 then I have sold 500 since they came out and thats all the facts I need. Oh by the way Palm does suck all threer handhelds suck and they havent made a good one since the V series

RE: Er, try $169
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 2:52:42 PM #
nYou sur r a gud speller!

Why would anyone buy an m505 or Visor Edge?

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 12:06:23 PM #
The CLIE S320 blows them away and is over $100 less expensive!

It's becoming obvious that Palm made a HUGE mistake licensing the OS to a company that would so easily make hardware better and cheaper than Palm. Palm's sales are going to go into the toilet as average consumers become aware that Sony also makes "Palms".

RE: Why would anyone buy an m505 or Visor Edge?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 12:46:14 PM #
What an idiot!!! The only reason they would be producing the price is they are not selling well.

Well Yoshi, our units are selling even better than expected. What should we do now?

Duhhhh, let's lower the price and lessen our profit margin.

RE: Why would anyone buy an m505 or Visor Edge?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 12:56:38 PM #
Or...there's a new product coming out. DUHHHHHH, stupid Americans.

RE: Why would anyone buy an m505 or Visor Edge?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 1:01:43 PM #
"Producing the price"?

Take a look in the mirror the next time you feel the urge to call someone an idiot.

;-)

RE: Why would anyone buy an m505 or Visor Edge?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 1:05:20 PM #
I wonder if this is Sony's way of destroying Palm and Handspring - make better hardware and sell it for a fraction of the cost of the competition.

Every Palm m500 sale lost to the S320 drives another nail in Palm's coffin. Sony can then just swoop in and buy the Palm OS for a few million and walk away laughing. Yankowski is screwed. How can Palm realistically hope to compete with Sony?

RE: Why would anyone buy an m505 or Visor Edge?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 1:17:44 PM #
I agree. The Sony S-320 is such a diamond in the rough. I've had one for a couple of months now and it has worked flawlessly. Does everything I want in an incredible form factor and peeps think it costs as much as the m500. Plus, if I lose or break it, it won't cost me an arm and a leg to buy another one.

RE: Why would anyone buy an m505 or Visor Edge?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 5:07:35 PM #
I'm a 320 owner, and I love it, it's performed flawlessly since I got it a little over a month ago. It's cheaper that nthe m500 and Visor edge because it's not designed to be their compitition. It is designed to sell aginst the m10x, m125 and Visor Deluxe and Platnum. It doesn't have the exceutive look a lot of the suits like. I like it's compact size and price, and as far as looks go it crushes the ugly m1xx line, at a much better value if removiable media is your need. As far as it goes, a lot of people don't feel that's good enough because of it's lower price. A lot of people feel they have to spent big bucks to get the best.

You have to buy the one you like best, and meets your needs. Then ofcourse, it becomes the best palm ever made, because it's the one you own.

RE: Why would anyone buy an m505 or Visor Edge?
kevdo @ 10/15/2001 8:12:34 PM #
Why would I buy an m505 over the S320? Color, perhaps?

Seriously, if you really meant m500 then yes there is a significant price difference.

Reasons to buy m500 over S320
1) If weight/size matter (m500 wins)
2) Better compatibility with more peripherals, etc.
3) Hardware buttons on Sony Clie's are horrible
4) IT depts who want to standardize with a single company's devices
5) Bundled software is much better
These basically hold true for the Edge as well.

Reasons to buy an S320 over m500
1) Price
2) If you prefer memory stick
3) If jog dial is a required feature

I'm not saying the very significant price difference can be overlooked -- just that there are several advantages the m500/Edge have over the S320 and to claim there are NO REASONS is foolish.

-Kevin Crossman

lord, what is it with you sony people?

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 1:14:43 PM #
some of us don't like the clies. PalmInfoCenter should change its name to IHateEverythingButSonyCenter. Seriously. I mean, the Treo is up for what, 10 minutes, before YET ANOTHER sony article gets posted above it. And everybody bashes it why, because it ain't a sony.
This clie is cheaper because that's the price point for this type of device. It is bigger than the edge and the m500, it is not corporate-image material (LOOK at it), and therefore it is priced differently. Just because sony lowers their prices doesn't mean you have free reign to go and attack the other devices. Different strokes for different folks.

RE: lord, what is it with you sony people?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 1:44:33 PM #
10 minutes != 11.5 hours
Check your facts, pal.

Though I'm also tired of the Sony Rulz! group.

RE: lord, what is it with you sony people?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 1:59:53 PM #
I haven't seen a single comment under the Treo complaining that its not a Sony. I think they are staying low because Sony is really weak in the wireless department. They've got a modem that only the low-end models can use.

And did you notice this article was half about the m505? Sounds like you just have a grudge against Sony. That's not any better than the pro-Sony people. Knee-jerk reactions, both of them.

RE: lord, what is it with you sony people?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 2:15:29 PM #
http://www.mylo.com/clie/index.php3

Coming soon for the color CLIEs. (Don't be offended and take this the wrong way, but Sony RULEZ, Palm DROOLZ! Are you happy now?)


Another Sony Troll (A.S.T.)

RE: lord, what is it with you sony people?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 5:18:45 PM #
I'm not big on the Palm V or m50x design, not that it's not an excellent unit, I started with III style, and perfered it. I looked at Handigo and would have ordered one if not for the vurtial graffiti area that I hate, so I was planing on going with the Edge. But the nice and sleek look is killed by the Handspring backpack. So I ended up going the Clié route. It's nice to have 32 megs of storage for only $40 extra. I'm happy with the whole thing. The most important thing is the Palm OS that drives these things. That's what makes them so great, not the name embosed on the case.

RE: lord, what is it with you sony people?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 8:31:33 PM #
Well, you're right, I won't carry one of those CLIE things around the office. But CLIE users seem to be terribly enthusiastic about them, so I suppose they must be good for something. Let them put their posts up here. It's a free country. And the whole idea of having a "comments" facility is to allow ... er ... comments.

Live (or post) and let live (or post).

RE: lord, what is it with you sony people?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/16/2001 11:41:21 AM #
Why wont you carry a Clie "thing" around the office? Is it because its a little flashy? Hell, my modified 710 does everything (spreadsheets, word processing, e-mail) in 64bit color. Why aren't the Clies considered business model calibre PDAs to you morons?

RE: lord, what is it with you sony people?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/18/2001 10:17:14 AM #
Because in the business world corporates would rather be non-discript and conformist. That way no one stands out when firing time comes along. :)

m505 cuts - about time

Edward @ 10/15/2001 1:43:04 PM #
The m505 price cut in the Uk is timely. It was priced the same as the new clie n770 ... last time I was in Dixons (major electrical retailer) the sales guy had real problems explaining why the mp3 320x320 clie was no more expensive than the slightly smaller palm.

as for the US Clie price drop ... new device may be around the corner, and I still hold out hope for a superVZ colour Sony ...

RE: m505 cuts - about time
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 2:11:24 PM #
I do not know porqué PALM thinks European will pay than the Americans much more. There is no reason for which M505 and iPaq must almost cost equal. Microsoft is gaining part here because the PALM is costing too much!

RE: m505 cuts - about time
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 3:18:11 PM #
yes, and what makes me feel really bad is when friends show me their brand new iPaq and ask me for that game or app thay saw in my prism... Then I have to tell them "you idiot, you bought the wrong machine!"... and that's not fair. PPC's should stay clearly more expensive so that only rich people who likes wasting money buys them!!!

other than that, clies may be cool devices, but damn, this treo series are way cool!

I'm happy today :-D I just bought a GPRS & bluetooth phone. Does anyone know when the bluetooth springboards will be available?

Nice. . .

palm_pilot_guy @ 10/15/2001 4:49:07 PM #
According to Expedia's Currency converter, the Clie is only 275 Canadian. I am sorry Clie haters, but this is the cheapest Palm with all the stuff that are in the high-end models. I just hope they won't grow defects such as Iomega's drives developed click of death because the Clie, as did Zip drives, sound too good to be true.

I think it will be out around Christmas in Canada.

palm_pilot_guy
-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷-÷
a.k.a. Skinner @ www.trainsimstation.com
The LORD of Palms and Microsoft TrainSim, mostly the Acella and Dash 9!

RE: Nice. . .
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/15/2001 10:31:21 PM #
The 320 isn't bad but it's monochrome screen is poor. Its good for a low end device but don't think its anything like as good as the ones on the Visor Pro or m500. Not a slam, just helping people know the 320 has limits.

RE: Nice. . .
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/16/2001 10:21:10 AM #
Actually, that's a pretty blatant slam, and completely unrelated to the post you responded to. I upgraded from a Palm V to the S320, and the S320's screen is just as crisp as my old Palm V's screen. Yes, the screen is slightly smaller than that of the Palm V/m50x line, but much larger than the m10x series. Its a fair trade-off for the price/performance value, in my opinion.

Top

Account

Register Register | Login Log in
user:
pass: