Sony 8 GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Black) by Sony
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Digital camera reviews of Sony 8 GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Black)
Digital camera Review: No Video Conversion Software
Summary: 3 Stars
It is actually not a bad device. But given the high end price, I am somewhat disappointed by:
1) Poor video support:
It is more expensive because it has a larger screen. However, there is NO VIDEO CONVERSION SOFTWARE included. You are supposed to purchased that separately. There is LITTLE INFORMATION about the audio/video it would accept, besides MPEG4/H.264. I eventually work out how to get ffmpeg to reliably generate conforming video and audio, but it took two whole hours.
2) Poor unicode support:
Many of my MP3's have traditional chinese tags. Technically, the characters are shown correctly, but some characters have thick strokes and some have thin strokes that make them look very incongruent.
3) Can only delete songs using a computer
Other than that, it is a good device, with sleek looks and generally smooth performance. However, given the high end price, I am likely to pick a different product if I were to make a purchase again.
The usb cable to the device looks proprietary, so better not lose it. I was able to connect the other end of the proprietary cable to an iPAQ charger that I have, so I can keep playing songs while charging. (It can't play songs when connected to a computer).
Digital camera Review: Noticeable improvement over A810 but not worth upgrading
Summary: 4 Stars
I previously owned a A810 and now owns a A720. So here are the comparisons:
- Screen: Altough A720 has 2.4" that is 0.4" larger than A810, the resolutions are the same. That means texts on A810 are finer. When watching videos, the resolution becomes a non issue. A720 wins hand down, of course.
- Video: A720 finally supports .mp4 so it plays ipod videos.
- Build Quality: I have to say A810 feels much more solid.
- Interface: Interfaces are the same, but the buttons on A720 is softer to touch, which is more pleasant to use IMO.
- Battery: A720 supposely has better battery life than A720 but I don't feel the difference is huge. Both are good.
- Sound quality: The A720 still has the superb resolution that A810 has. However, A720 differs in several areas. First, the sound stage is wider. Second, the sound feels less constrained and probably more balanced between highs and lows. However, I do feel the bass and maybe even the mid-tone of A720 sound a bit soft if I only listen for those areas. In comparison the A810 sounds "harder." One issue common with A810 and A720 are the hissing. Depending on your preference, it can be annoying. Luckily, for me it is just something noticeable and fades into oblivion when the music is on.
In short, A720 is good for people who haven't had a mp3 player or for those looking for good sound quality. Unless you watches video a lot, it is not worthy to upgrade from A810 to A720.
Personally I feel the it would be wiser to wait till the next generation A series given what I see on the S730 model. Maybe Sony will update the A series with the introduction of the Z-series that is releasing soon.
[ Accessory: BCR-NWU5 ]
If you listen to music through speakers and cares about sound quality, I would strongly suggest one getting the cradle in order to get aux out capability. The aux out is cleaner. Vocals are muted a bit but overall the sound has more depth through aux out. $50 is a bit expensive just for aux out, but personally I think the $50 is worthwhile for the improvement I get.
Digital camera Review: Now it is my favorite player
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been fed up with the second generation of iPOD Video and Kenwood HD30GB9 (an expensive Japanese player which is not sold in the US) before this one came into my eyes. Sony have made lots of excellent players in the past, and the A series video players are the best they provide right now. The 8G/16G flash memory within such slim and delicate artwork is enough to keep all the collection I have, given that I'm a pure audiophile using this player only for music. The software is very easy to use and fully compatible with PC (Sure, because it's Windows Media Player), which contains one most important function missing in iTunes - library update. With regard to sound quality, neither of my previous players is a match in replaying Jpop. The vivid vocal, real and tight bass, and wide headroom make a superb listening experience every day. Now it is my favorite player that I would love to take with me all day long.Digital camera Review: One of the best media plyaers on the market.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is not going to be a super organized review and it'll be a bit long since I'm typing off the top of my head...but the last time I bought an MP3 player it was one of those crazy looking super slim (like maybe a quarter of an inch) MP3/CD players that Sony offered. This was back in high school and I wanted a cd player that would actually impress my friends at school (which a lot were already going with the iPod trend). I got it because I wanted something that could still play CDs and play burned MP3 cds. It was nice and slim and could fit in my baggy jeans real nicely...but it wasn't very durable especially when there's quite a few moving parts involved in a CD player. Something that small and still trying to be a CD player just wasn't going to be very durable. I had to replace it under the warranty like 2 times and after a while I realized CD players were just too cumbersome in an age where everyone could fit 15 cd albums in their pocket.
I needed something new a few years later and was looking at some of the MP3 players available. I was searching through a few different products like the Creative Zen and Sansa. They looked decent but some of the reviews for both weren't particularly great and they both seemed to have glaring issues. Then I stumbled across some of the newer MP3 walkmans Sony had and saw that all of their models had rave reviews. I wasn't looking for an iPod because I heard that there were other MP3 products that had better quality sound and most of the music I download is free mp3 video game music and I don't want to have to convert the music or force myself to use software like itunes to put the convert and put on the player. I wanted something I could just drag and drop and this player seemed like the product for me.
One thing I really liked about the old player I had was the really great sound quality it had. Since Sony has been known for great sound quality I knew it was great to buy a product like this since they ditched their old atrac proprietary format. Most of the music I download is MP3's anyw ays and WMP easily turns wav files into MP3 files. The actual sound quality is absolutely superb just like others have mentioned even with lower bit rate files. Another reason I bought this player was the fact that it came with 70+dollar headphones. The headphones are great right out of the box and not the tinny cheap ones that come with most players. The quailty of this player must be heard with a good pair of phones and I'm glad Sony realized that. This way you don't have to go looking to throw more money down on serious headphones to get serious sound out of a serious music player. Really adds to the value. The headphones that come with the player are designed to give off strong bass so these really work for someone who listens to a lot of electronic or hip hop music and wants to get those lows to come out nice and deep. Even bass guitar in jazz music comes out pretty nice and the bass doesn't sound as fake or exaggerated like with the bass enhancing features on other players.
Now I wasn't even really looking for something that played videos but apparently that's the new thing now and I saw that this thing was super slim (the way I like most of my gadgets) , but it could also play up to 36 hours of music or 10 hours of video on one charge. Not having to recharge batteries every day like with my old player is a great plus already just for the music aspect. I literally have to wait a whole week now before I need to recharge if I'm just playing music and that's a great thing. Plus 10 hours of video on a nice 2.5 inch screen that's just big enough to watch comfortably without having to squint your eyes.
The video screen is really nice and you can change the brightness depending on what kind of lighting conditions you're in. I would recommend getting something like Videora iPod Converter software since unfortunately you need to convert the files to MPEG4 format first before you can view them. I hate having to convert stuff but I don't see myself using the video feature on here a ton since its only an 8gb unit and I mainly got it for music playing. Which is why I'm not knocking a point off for it. Plus the Videora software is very intuitive and has an easy convert mode for people who just want a quick convert and get videos playing on their walkman.
Like I was saying with the Videora software...it is free off the internet and extremely user friendly and converts pretty much every file I've tried to use with it so far. I used some other converting softwares but they were more complicated to use and didn't work with all of my videos. I didn't really buy this for the videos but since I'm a video game nerd (like to play fighting games like SF/Tekken) this gives me a good way to look at tournament vids in a more relaxed setting than sitting in front of a computer. Sony bundles a software CD that has this feature but from reading one of the earlier reviews...it seems it's only part of the deluxe version of its media software that you must pay extra money for and download online.
Overall this player doesn't have a ton of bells and whistles but that's not really what I was looking for. I don't listen to the radio much and can live without a voice recorder. I wasn't really looking for a touch screen super innovative music player (the music quality of this player is innovative enough). I was looking for something that had great audio out of the box (especially with the great included headphones) and a little bit more customability in areas like EQ settings and what not. The features in the player used to clean up MP3 audio really helps to liven up files that aren't recorded at the highest bit rate.
Even with a completely button oriented interface...it's very easy to navigate through files and the player gives you many ways to do it. This player allows you to drag and drop folders instead of using software and putting things into albums which is a great plus. No needing to perfect id3 tags. Probably one of the best things for me since I'm rough with products is that it feels very durable despite being very thin and I haven't had any malfunctions with the player since I bought it a little more than a month ago. Doesn't have many...if any moving parts so I'm sure it'll last much longer than my old player.
The only few qualms I have with the player are that I wish it did have a few more GB's of space (now that I'm liking the video feature), a separate media card slot would have been nice, I wish there was a way you could put your screen saver or wallpaper to personalize your player with and I also wish it came in more colors. Yet...black always works for me. Plus I'm not the type that listens to a ton of music at once. I was always good with an MP3 CD or two worth of music on my old player. Otherwise it's an overall great player and by far one of the best MP3 players on the market.
Digital camera Review: Outstanding MP3 player - Best I've ever used
Summary: 5 Stars
This MP3 player is amazing. I've been searching for a replacement for my Nano who's battery only lasts about 1 hour per charge these days. I think this is a much superior product in many ways.
First off, the Pros:
1. Battery life. So far, I've been playing video and MP3s on one charge about 9 hours and the battery light is still 1/2 full. The statistics claim 10 hours of video and 30+ hours of MP3 songs. I don't know if I'll get that much, but so far I'm very happy.
2. My favorite feature of this player is that it does not rely on ID3 tags in order to catalog your music. The majority of my MP3 collection is several years old and do not have ID3 tags embedded in the file. My nano would not recognize these songs, but this player just plays based on files and folders. Adding music requires no 3rd party software, just a simple drag and drop in Windows Explorer. Couldn't be easier and I love it this way.
3. Sound quality is superb. There is a 5 band EQ, plus "clear bass" enhancement that really brings out the lows in
songs. The EQ really lets me customize my music to my liking. The sound quality is better than any MP3 player I've ever heard. Sony hit a home run on this player!
4. The video feature is outstanding. 2.4" LCD screen is bright and colorful. I didn't buy it for the video capability, but it's surely a cool bonus.
5. Navigation is a cinch. I didn't even need to read through the instructions and I was able to navigate all the menus in a few short minutes. The buttons on the unit are firm and responsive, and feel like they'll hold up for years. The volume and hold buttons are on the side of the unit and are easy to access.
6. The player will bookmark your movie file for you. So if you stop a movie and switch over to playing MP3, and then later on want to continue you movie, it will start up where you left off. Nice feature. And when the unit is powered off, and then powered back on, it remembers where you were in your last MP3 song (I've read that some Sony units won't do this, but this one does).
Cons:
1. The file transfer speed seems pretty slow to me given it's USB 2.0. Takes about 3 minutes to transfer a 500MB movie. About 50 seconds to transfer a standard MP3 album. Not a huge deal, but my Nano was much quicker.
2. When you unplug the player from the USB cable, and have hundreds of files on it like I currently have, it has to build the library, which can take up to 30 seconds, before you can access it. Again, a minor quirk, but nothing is perfect!
3. No FM radio, no recorder. I can live without these features, but they may be more important to other people. If keeping these features off the unit allows for more battery space, that's fine with me!
All in all, I'd highly recommend this player to anyone looking for a high quality, great sounding MP3 player that does not require special software (re: iTunes) to run.