Comments on: Sony Reduces Memory Stick Prices

Sony Electronics has lowered the suggested retail price of a number of its Memory Stick PRO and Memory Stick PRO Duo flash media cards.

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SD has the lead on MS but needs to widen the gap!

hkklife @ 7/19/2004 4:12:17 PM #

After a very positive '03 by SD cards & devices, 2004 has been a bit underwhelming. I'd really like to see 1gb SD cards drop drastically in price along with the 32x/Ultra II high-speed cards from Lexar and Sandisk.

A 256mb Ultra II Sandisk SD still costs ~$50 more than a "slow" 512mb Sandisk regular SD. Sony could stand to make inroads over SD when it comes to fast, cheap(er) high capacity cards 512mb+

Sony,however, seems to have left its customers' collective heads spinning, what with MS, MS Select, MS Pro, MS Duo and MS Pro Duo. I recently was in Circuit City and overheard a salesman tell a potential Sony Cybershot customer that it was just "too confusing to try and pick the right Memory Stick, go with a Nikon or Kodak camera". Wow.

I think that the lack of a MS slot on the PS2 and the cancellation of the Clie line is going to have more negative long-term repercussions for Sony than they might have thought in years past.

RE: SD has the lead on MS but needs to widen the gap!

ray00pal @ 7/21/2004 1:54:27 AM #

The problem with memory stick is not that it is more expensive, but the fact that no application, even the high end Sony stuff can use the high speed transfer function of memory stick pro.
This is a big joke.
What is worse is that there ARE applications that can NOT use memory stick pro.

RE: SD has the lead on MS but needs to widen the gap!

hkklife @ 7/21/2004 10:47:01 AM #

Wait a minute, you mean there are APPS that cannot "see" a MS Pro when used on a compatible Clie? So if I have a recent Clie with a MS Pro inserted I might have to stick in an old, slow, small capacity regular MS in order to utilize external storage with that particular app? WOW! I hadn't heard of this one before. I just assumed that any Clie that supported MS Pro (NX70V/NX60 and beyond) were fine and that there were no *OS* issues! Makes me really glad I've stuck with Palm/SD!

Big deal

mikecane @ 7/19/2004 5:41:06 PM #

>>>Beginning today the 512MB full-size Memory Stick PRO media will be priced around $180, down over $40.

I can get a 512MB SD for $100 retail, less via ebay. Sony storage is no bargain. And they want it that way.

RE: Big deal

mikecane @ 7/19/2004 5:49:34 PM #

And dig this:

http://tinyurl.com/5w63z

RE: Big deal

ackmondual @ 7/19/2004 11:08:36 PM #

I don't think a 512MB MS would be THAT high. If u check on pricegrabber or ebay, u should be able to get those pro formats for MUCH cheaper than wats listed in the article. They're still more expensive than SD cards tho.

And the MagicGate, Pro, Dual, Pro Dual, etc. formats compliments Sony Clie's nicely. Massive number of memory formats for massive amount handheld models. PalmOne may be lacking in innovation and features, but they're wares are easy to wade through

[signature0]the secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that's even worse[/signature0]
[signature1]My PDAs: Visor --> Visor Neo (blue) --> Zire 71.... so ends the "marathon", for now[/signature1]

What a joke.

Puppy @ 7/19/2004 5:51:39 PM #

There's no way I'm investing in Memory Stick media now that Sony canned the Clie line. Congratulations Sony!

(And I agree with everyone else that they have WAAAAAAAAY too many formats.)

RE: What a joke.

Konstantin @ 7/19/2004 8:25:37 PM #

....crippled formats.....

RE: What a joke.

ackmondual @ 7/26/2004 5:11:19 PM #

Well, The MS isn't COMPLETELY lost. SOny still makes alot of their digicams/camcorders and mp3 plyaers that use them. If the upcoming PSP is gonna be big, then some ppl may actually shell out more $$ to listen to music and vids on their PSPs

[signature0]the secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that's even worse[/signature0]
[signature1]My PDAs: Visor --> Visor Neo (blue) --> Zire 71.... so ends the "marathon", for now[/signature1]

Keep your Memory Stink Sony.

Timothy Rapson @ 7/19/2004 7:42:23 PM #

When I got my Clie NR70V, Memory Stink was half way between the price per MB of SD and CF.

Typically a 128 MB CF card was going for $50, the 128 MS was $75 and the 128 MB SD was $100. This held for the smaller and medium sized card. At the very top, the CF was always available at a size at least twice that of the others. They still are.

But, now the MS is "dropping to only $80 for a 256 card? I just saw a $256 SD card on sale for $24. I have seen several 512 SD cards for $75.

Sony, you have been too greedy and technologically inept in you handheld strategy. Give up and get a life. You are not going to set the standard form memory storage cards, MP3 player formats (take you silly already failed MP3 competitor to the iPod, for example--is anyone with half a brain going to put up with you protection scheme hassle? NOPE.) cell phones, or much of anything else anymore.

I am sure glad I don't own any Sony stock these days.

RE: Keep your Memory Stink Sony. (and cameras, mp3, etc.)

Cheap Guy @ 7/19/2004 10:11:04 PM #

I used to be a big Sony fan and defender but I began migrating away from Sony and the Memory Stick when I bought a 5.0 megpix CF camera, which was better and cheap than comparable Sony products, plus CF was about half the cost of comparable MS.

I was further pushed away from Sony when I searched for an MS digital music player and there were none, I guess because Sony is still trying to push the Mini Disk. So, I got a digital music player at $65 bucks and 512mb SD for $60.00 w/rebate. Memory Stick 512mb Duo? $142.00. (per prices on eCost.com)

What’s crazy is that a “new” memory format “xD” is also on the scene, at prices higher than comparable MS. No thanks, after the Memory Stick “multiple format” crap. And once my Clie T615 bites the dust, it's back to Palm and bye-bye Sony (except for my HDTV and HTIB).

RE: Keep your Memory Stink Sony.

RoadKnight @ 7/20/2004 2:54:40 AM #

Sony is a perfect example of what the EntertainmentIndustrialComplex wants all consumer electronics to be. Overpriced, proprietary, restrictive, wonky, and generally not something you want to buy.

The media/entertainment arm of Sony (SPIW, Sony Classics, Sony Music, et. al. ) despite being much smaller than Sony Electronics, still manages to hold the whip hand and force Hollywood and Music Industry DRM monkey-wrenching into Sony's electronic products, guaranteeing that they will be proprietary, expensive, unsecure and something the market will route around.

This sort of Jekyll-n-Hyde stuff is what let Apple yank the portable personal music market away from Sony with the iPod, even though Sony *INVENTED* personal stereo. It's also precisely why the new NW-HD1 will fail.

They're being torn apart by one part of the company that only wants to make cool devices and useful technology and another that sees customers as a necessary evil who are be regarded as thieves first and customers second.

Forget Memory Stick

vesther @ 7/20/2004 7:18:43 PM #

If I was going to make handhelds, then I would just allow my handhelds to support open-standard SD/MMC/SDIO nonetheless, no more, no less. Memory Stick requires that I pay for the Sony name. I never used Memory Stick before, but they are somewhat overpriced, because again, you pay for the Sony name.

I'm glad I averted plans to purchase a Clie because Memory Stick isn't worth the buy IMO. I'd rather have a Smartphone that supports open-standard SD/MMC/SDIO rather than Sony's Memory Stick/MagicGate scheme.

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