Sony offering ePub upgrade / trade-in program for PRS-500 e-reader
By Donald Melanson 
posted Nov 16th 2009 2:31PM
posted Nov 16th 2009 2:31PM
Sony's already made its commitment to the ePub e-book format fairly clear, but it does still have a lingering problem with some older e-book readers that don't support the format. While some of those are beyond hope, the company does now have an upgrade available for the PRS-500, although it's not quite as simple as you may hope. Turns out you actually have to send your reader in to Sony to receive the firmware update, which is completely free of charge and should take less than 14 days. For those looking to make a clean break with the past, however, Sony is also offering a trade-in program for the PRS-500, which will give you either $50 or $75 off the new Reader Pocket or Touch editions. Hit up the link below for complete details on both options.
APPLE TABLET SOOO MUCH BETTAR!!!!
because you know everything about it right? can you share with us it's specs..
-1 For all caps.
-1 For mispells
-100 for trolling
-100,000 for just being you.
@smartmouth
-1 for stating the obvious
@brian
It's okay, that minus got canceled out ;)
Welcome to the party Sony. We have cake.
We sent an invite to Amazon too, but they don't like to be social.
They're worth more than that on eBay. One ending in 20 hrs is up to $175!
i got mine @180. Never gonna trade it.... PRS505 is the best sony reader ever. The touch-screen update on its newer version just make it harder to read. (reflection issue caused by the added layer)
@chancekang: Your 505 is the successor of the 500 mentioned in the article.
Agreed. I'd sell it on ebay, then buy a 505 (way better than any of the new hardware).
I dumped mine when they 1st claimed they *weren't* going to allow for the software updates. Just waiting on a real viable option. B&N will win if they make it compatible w/ Overdrive, like the new Sonys will (unfortunately I agree that adding touch capabilities really degraded the screen quality).
505 4 LIFE
Wasn't that for a brand new (i.e., never used) 500? The question is, how much do used 500's go for? Not $175 I can tell you that...
*mispelling.
thats the worst deal ever thats like going to gamestop and trading in a used $60 game and getting $12, wait both of these things happen now...
Sony is giving people a choice. If it's a bad deal for you, then say 'no'. It's probably a good deal for someone out there.
Sony's really recovered quite a bit from the consumer unfriendly practices of 7 years ago.
I think we need to respect this kind of thing, or there's no meaning behind our outrage at companies that suck.
Dont tell me what to do. The whole point of voicing an opinion on when something sucks is so that other people without an opinion can feel the same way we feel about matters of suck. I see what youre saying, i'm kind of a hero.
@Gimboa- Yeah the whole PSP-Go thing is so much better now, then 7 years ago. You sound like a sony rep. Please take your crap else where and let people voice their opinion. Sony is only doing this because of the Nook"e" not because they care about their customers, get it right.
@death_hippo2x- I completely agree. Worse deal ever. No if it was a limited time offer and not a trade in. Then it COULD be a deal. But that's Sony; always half a$$'ing everything.
Or trading in a game and getting the sequel free. remember you can send it back to Sony for new firmware to be put on it that will give it a new lease of life.
The whole point of sending it back for re-flashing is to be able to use the ePub format. Which will essentially give you a new reader, as you can then buy books from Sony and others, instead of just Sony.
The cheap trade in price is not great, but not bad either. It is an older discontinued model, so does anybody really expect a full refund? And if in 6 months time, Sony discontinue the old DRM system, and replace it with ePub, how much would an obsolete reader be worth?
A more worse deal would be Sony offering $0 to "trade in" for a newer model (i.e., simply buying a replacement). Ebay has used models from like $60 to $90. So $75 seems like a fine deal to me. I took advantage of the $100 trade in value a while ago and am very happy with that decision. Not fuss no muss. Having ePub is great as I can check out library books for free, saving me money. Sorry, but I really don't think you can sell a used PRS-500 for much more than $100.
Send me your fully working PRS-500 along with a $250 check and I'd happily send you a Sony Reader Touch edition in return.
I love my PRS-500 too much to trade it in for 75...and it's worth more than double on eBay. But I'd never sell it.
I'll probably have to send it in...as long as they don't break it.
I'm gonna do something unpopular and give Sony credit here. They've managed to keep my 505 updated with support for the latest formats and now they're giving owners of one of the oldest (if not the oldest) commercially available readers in the U. S. a chance to bring theirs up to date. Not something commonly done in this day of disposeable gadgets.
They have books on the interweb now?
Real pub > ePub
I don't trust proprietary Real formats...
What I'd really like to know is if the update will allow the PRS-500 to work with the Mac version of their eBook Library software.
lol.....pub-e
Wow, that's pretty awesome of Sony, I must admit.
Sony actually offered an upgrade from the PRS-500 to the PRS-505. I think I got $100 off. It was well worth it because the 505 is a much better version. I think it is the best model to date, with the exception of perhaps the touchscreen model. Although I'm looking forward to checking out the Daily Edition!
So I have the 505 need the firmware update?
So does the 505 need the firmware update or only the 500?