Old Sony, New Sony

[finch]

So I ended up in the Sony store today looking at the new Sony Pocket (again). I noticed the old 300 is on sale for $80, and when I remarked to the salesman that I had one of those and I was thinking about upgrading to the 350, he mentioned I could trade my old one in for $50 and they will "recycle" it.

I have a bit of a crisis of conscience. I love my 300; he still works perfectly, and it seems... I dunno, wasteful to send a year-old device off to get recycled. I don't want to trash him just so I can get a discount on a new model, but I don't know that I could get $50 for him on Craigslist or something either.

Thoughts? Anybody know what "recycle" means in this context? I'd feel better about it if it's refurbishing or sending them off to poor kids or something than I they're just destroying them.

Edit: Immediate problem solved, as my girlfriend let me trade in her ten year old laptop for a hundred dollar credit instead, and I paid all of $30 for the 350. Thank you all for your advice, though! I'm sort of amazed that people are still paying secondhand for the 300 almost what they're selling for new.

Comments

[amalthia]

the 505 is a very solid model. I used it for 3 years without any problem and now my husband is using it.

[elf]

I adore my 505, except I managed to ding the screen at one point so it's got a permanent spot on it. Not sure I can get it fixed (I don't think it's supported at all anymore), and I'd love to switch to something with a faster processor; I'm tired of waiting two minutes after loading new books for the menu to show up.

But I want to keep the hardware and the rest of the software. Especially the hardware. Do not want touchscreen.

[amalthia]

This is one of the reasons I upgraded. I have over 1500 ebooks on my device and with my 505 it would take 40 minutes to load after disconnecting it from the USB. Now it's only 1 minute. Plus the epub looks good on the 650. For my husband I still make LRF and he doesn't read enough to run into loading problems.

[cyprinella]

I broke my 505 a little over a year ago, sent it in for repair/exchange and they wanted to give me a 300. I said no way, it's worth less than my 505, smaller memory/doesn't take cards and smaller screen and managed to get them to send me a 600 after a protracted argument. I hated it. The touchscreen was so awful with glare, especially under the lights on the bus and train where I do all my read. I ended up buying a 505 off of CL and shelving the 600. I hope I can get it to last for a while.

[cathepsut]

>600 after a protracted argument. I hated it. The touchscreen was so awful with glare
I agree, very bad glare. I am just selling my 600 again on eBay.