The NW-HD1 can store up to 13000 tracks at 48kbps whenusing Sonys ATRAC3plus audio format. Plus it fits comfortably intothe palm of your hand and is easily carried in a pocket or purse. Itcomes with a USB cradle for PC connection and recharging and includesaccessories like headphones carrying pouch and AC power adaptor. Worlds Smallest 1.8 20GB3 Hard Drive Digital Music Player (as ofJune 2004) fits comfortably into the palm of a hand or is easilycarried in pocket or purse. Compatible with the Connect music store: Download music to your Sonyportable audio device and select from an extensive library of over650000 songs with new tracks added each week. Install the Connectmusic store/Sonic Stage software on your PC and access music from yourfavorite artists. Browse listen to samples and download songs for 99cents or entire albums for $9.99 and up. www.connect.com Up to 30 hours playback with built-in rechargeable lithium-ion batteryInternal Rechargeable Battery Provides Up to 30 Hours ContinuousPlayback (ATRAC3 Audio Playback) and can be charged in the suppliedcharging cradle. Quick charge feature allows battery to be charged to80% capacity in one hour. G-Sensor Shock Protection provides impact protection. Store up to 13000 Tracks at 48kbps when using Sonys ATRAC3plus audio format. Skip Free4 G-Protection Technology continues to provide quick recovery from both horizontal and vertical shock. Transfer Personal Downloaded Music and Recordings between your CDsand your PC creating your own music mixes for on-the-go enjoyment. Connects to USB Port for High-Speed Data Transfer5 After mixes havebeen created in the jukebox they are easily transferred at high speedto the device. USB Cradle for PC Connection and Recharging connects unit directly toPC and recharges the internal battery by simply placing the NetworkWalkman player in the USB cradle when the cradle is powered bysupplied AC adaptor. Plays Back in ATRAC3 Audio Format Supports Multiple Internet AudioFormat...
Sony enters the crowded hard disk-based music player scene with a formidable contender, the NW-HD1. Billed as the world's smallest hard drive digital music player, the silver palm-sized unit is slim and sleek-- perfect for a pocket or purse. Weighing just under 3.9 ounces, the NW-HD1 is so light, you'll want to take it everywhere. Inside the unit, a 20 GB drive stores up to 13,000 Songs in ATRAC3plus format when the songs are encoded at the 48kbps bitrate setting. A lithium-ion battery delivers up to a whopping 30 hours of playtime-- most other digital music devices can't even come close in the battery life department.
The NW-HD1 keeps the music smooth and steady with a built in G-Sensor that ensures skip-free play during your bounciest car rides, workouts and jogging expeditions. The 1.5" 7-line backlit display provides all the information you need to keep tabs on your tunes. While displaying track number, bit rate, elapsed time, song title, and artist name, it provides a spectrum analyzer for viewing your music's highs and lows, as well as play mode, bass boost, volume limiter and battery life indicators.
In addition to a standard mini headphone jack, the NW-HD1 also sports a line out jack so you can plug the player into your car or home stereo, or into a powered speaker system. The unit's USB 2.0 port is the key transferring music onto the device and charging the battery. Simply pop the NW-HD1 into the supplied cradle, connect the cradle to your PC and you're ready to transfer your ATRAC3plus encoded tracks at high speed to the device. Meanwhile, the cradle charges the NW-HD1's battery when the cradle is plugged in via the supplied AC adapter. A quick charge feature allows the battery to be charged to 80 percent capacity in just an hour.
The power to encode, organize, and manage the music you play on the NW-HD1 lies in Sony's bundled music software, SonicStage. With SonicStage, you can import, manage and easily transfer your digital music collections. First, import your audio CDs, existing MP3s or Windows Media files into SonicStage and then encode them to ATRAC3plus. Then, set up playlists and mixes on your PC. Finally, use the high speed USB connection to upload the tracks to your NW-HD1. It couldn't be simpler. The NW-HD1 is also fully compatible with Sony's robust Connect Online Music Store, which provides an easy method for downloading personal music in ATRAC3plus format. Connect offers access to over 500,000 songs including many independent titles as well as featured artist and celebrity mixes.
What's in the Box
HW-HD1 Network Walkman Digital Music Player, SonicStage software, earbud headphones, carrying pouch, USB cable, USB cradle, AC power adaptor
1 Hardware small and long battery life but software sucks
I just bought NW-HD1 for my dad and he is a 67 year old chinese man who loves to hear his chinese music. Even though he loves the machine for it's size but he can't read what is being played because the stupid machine will not support Chinese characters. Prior to the purchase of the NW-HD1, I have other mp3 players (IPOD and Rio) that display chinese characters and I never suspected that the NW-HD1 would not have the same function being Sony a big Asian electronic company with long history. What a dispointment from Sony!! From now on, I can not assume that anything from Sony is always good, they're no longer what Sony used to be.
2 Superb
I bought this a few months ago, and undoubtedly it is the best (and first) MP3 Player I have ever had. It works great, and is a great choice for taking on the go, or on trips. The recharge of the internal battery isn't too long (full-charge = 1-2 1/2 hours, maybe), and overall there aren't really any problems with it for me.
Pros:
*Slick Design - Just by Eyeing it pretty much wanted me to get it
*Battery Life - 30 Hours: iPod only has 15!
*Compact - So small, yet so powerful
*Sound Quality - Choose between 48 kpbs, 64 kpbs, or 256 kpbs. Either way, the quality will sound great coming from this baby
Cons:
*Buttons - A little too small for me, I really have to use my nails
*Playlist Selecting - Lets you bookmark 100 songs, that is if you're willing to go through all your songs to select them (I have over 3000 songs on my player, so I don't bother)
*Price - When I first got it, I got it for $400. That's a lot, considering the memory is half of iPod (though I still choose this)
Overall, this is a great MP3 Player to buy, considering it is relevant for you to buy a player with this much memory (I constantly buy more and more CDs, so I can say it's reasonable for me to get a 20 GB). I find this more doable and overall sufficient compared to the iPod (I read and hear a lot of complaints about the product), and I feel like it is more suitable for me (practically everything electronic I buy is from Sony, which I pretty much worship as a brand), and I just really love it as an MP3 Player. If you have difficulty choosing what you want, check this out. It will most likely not disappoint.
Do not listen to complaints such as not able to transfer MP3's, and the software. Those are minor problems that can be fixed, or really just ignored. This MP3 Player is a knock-out and I find it a truly amazing piece of machinery.
And you know what I hate? People who think there is a difference between iPods and MP3 Players.
3 I love this device!!!!
I bought this network player around X-mas and have loved it ever since. I love the fact that it was only $250 and has 20g of space. What sold me on this product was the look and the battery life (30hrs). I'm a person that uses this player in the car and while I work so my player is on at least 8hrs a day. Oh and I forgot to mention that I'm a music junkie and I need as much battery life as possible.
I was a little miserable when I sent my player for the fireware update to Sony but I knew it was for the better because it now plays MP3!!!
As for the SonicStage software there is some room for improvement like the music burning to Audio CD's are a little slow (takes 10 minutes to burn around 18 tracks with 48x burn speed). They need to improve that for real. My Musicmatch is much faster burning audio CDs.
People, it's worth it. Two hundred and fifty dollars plus a 20 dollar firware update is still cheaper than a 20g Ipod in the store.
4 Good player. Period.
For those who don't know: THIS PLAYER HAS NATIVE MP3-SUPPPORT NOW. You can transfer mp3 files without converting to Atrac. The catch is, you have to send it to Sony for a firmware upgrade. Thats it folks, stop complaining. This player rocks!
Maybe this ends people bitching about the native mp3 support.
5 Three GREAT tips for you!
1) Because of the introduction of the newer NW-HD3 model, this model (HD1) sells for only $270 in Sony Style stores. (not available online, though). Go to sonystyle.com, at the very bottom click on Store Locator and see if there's a store in your city (New York Boston San Fran etc.).
2) You can upgrade the HD1 so it can play back MP3 without conversion! Unfortunately you have to send it to Sony in Texas for the firmware upgrade. [...]. It costs $20 all-inclusive but comes back with a $25 Sony Connect coupon. (BTW, the dateline on the page is wrong; it should read "Feb. 10, 2005".) This offer expires in August 2005.
3) Forget about the remote controls that are only available in Japan anyway. Only the three-line remote control (model number with a "40" in it) really supports the HD1 or HD3. (The other "thin" 35-something one does not have menu and mode buttons, a major inconvenience.) They are just too expensive (even on eBay) for their simple functions and they break easily. The buttons on the HD1 (and HD3) are much easier to use. Most people don't need a remote, only want one. Sony should really have included the remote with the new HD3 to make it a better deal.
6 Very happy with my purchase
Just picked one up. Upgraded from being a minidisc user so I am already familiar with the quirks of SonicStage. Yes, I know that in two weeks here in the US the NW-HD3 is coming out and will play MP3s natively but frankly I want ATRAC, I have done simple listening tests side by side and agree ATRAC is a richer, warmer sound than MP3.
It depends on what kind of user you are I guess. All my music comes from burnt albmus so converting to ATRAC doesn't bother me. If I were someone who had a hard-drive full of MP3s from Kazaa then admittedly this wouldn't be the best choice for me as far as file-format is concerned.
But all that said, I'm already extremely pleased with my purchase. It's true - until you get one in your hand, or your pocket you don't realise how small and light this thing is. The 30hr playback for me was a big seller as I use the unit all day listening to music at work, and have gotten use to Minidisc batteries lasting these kinds of lengths. Side by side with colleagues' iPods it just feels so much smaller and lighter.
I did a lot of research and wanted to add some information that might help people thinking of taking the plunge, because I feel this is a unit that has a had a lot of unfair bad press - a chance to right some wrongs, and agree with others on some matters:
1. Volume. The unit has been cited as having low volume. It definitely depends on the headphone match-up. With in-ear solutions like the fontopia headphones, you'll never be able to blast past 1/2 - 3/4 of the total volume before your ears explode - believe me it's plenty loud enough, but with my DJ style headphones it is noticeably quieter. This can easily be corrected with a custom EQ of your choice which noticeably increases volume the moment you play with it but some tracks can get drowned out by the NYC subway.
2. Shuffle - some reviews have stated that the unit can't shuffle. Not true. I agree it is not as immediately obvious as an ipod but once you understand how it works you'll see that you can shuffle at multiple points in the folder-tree, such as shuffling the whole HD, or shuffling just an artist, or just a genre, or just an album. Plenty of flexibility here once you understand it
3. Sonicstage - seriously it's not that bad, and growing up through the various versions with my minidisc I can tell you it's a lot better than it was. My only real frustration is that you only see items on the unit displayed in the order you put them on the HD, but you can drag and drop this order to your taste. Hopefully future versions of sonicstage will address this.
4. Gapless playback - yes it's here - and if you call yourself a music fan you should demand it. It allows you to hear albums in the manner in which they were intended without false stop-gaps of silence occuring between tracks that were designed to blend together.
So there you have it - hope you have the information you need to make an informed decsion. I din't want to become another white-earbudded iPod zombie (NYC is crawling with them). I care about build-quality, battery life, and most of all sound-quality. In the display case next to the Sony the creatives, iRivers and Apples really just looked so plasticky.
Hope you enjoy yours.
7 Sonicstage is the worst and the support team is retarded
user Benjamin Murphy has entered room
analyst Donald_ has entered room
Donald_> Welcome to Sony Online Support.
Donald_> How may I assist you?
Benjamin Murphy> whene is the firmware upgrade going to be relaese for the hd1?
Benjamin Murphy> and sonic stage is the worst piece of software ever developed, is there an alternative?
Donald_> I do not have prior knowledge on firmware updates.
Benjamin Murphy> from the website
Benjamin Murphy> 12/27/2004:
Coming Soon - NW-HD1 firmware upgrade for native MP3 file support
Benjamin Murphy> thats a mnonth ago
Donald_> I am sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Donald_> We are Sony Online Technical Support Team and do not have information on new releases and updates.
Benjamin Murphy> yeah, because that would be helpful, which this has not been, i guess i'll continue to use my $400 music player as a conversation piece and spend the rest of my day submitting negative reviews to every website i can find
Donald_> I can understand your frustration.However, if the firmware for the native MP3 is available, it will be put on our website for our dedicated customers to download.
8 Do not support Atrac3!
I was so close to being sold on the sleek compact design and great battery life of this hardware (I will give them 2 stars for that) until I read between the lines about the type of software Sony is shoveling. Do not support Atrac3! Why? It is against your own best interests as a consumer. Atrac3 (just like Betamax cassettes) is not the norm, MP3 is (like VHS was). This is just a crappy attempt from Sony to continue to own the music they sell you even if you already own it on another media. So even if you rip your own CDs, that you paid your hard earned money for, there is a chance that licensing won't permit you to play it on this device. Don't believe me? Check out this article on the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4194047.stm
Why would you want to waste more time transferring your Mp3 files to Atrac3 (inferior quality to Mp3) on faulty software (read other reviews) just so you could make Sony an extra buck? I am not saying to run out and get an ipod (not perfect either), but do your research before you buy a Mp3 player and make sure that it really is an Mp3 player and not some lame excuse from some billion dollar company to continue to own your music. Hopefully in a year or two Sony will realize their shameful error and reformat this hardware.
9 Like a Porsche 911 w/ Tires Made of Solid Granite!
This thing could be not just a iPod beater, but THE iPod beater. Instead I'd rather have a $100 flash based player like the Rave-MP258 (actually had one). Why? Because the SonicStage softwear is the most crippling act of sabotague I've ever seen a manufacturer ruin their product with. It's like if Porsche decided to ship the 911 with granite tires. Hell of a product, but does not work worth a $#!+.
SonicStage has something called openMG. It checks for some kind of digital copyright but wouldn't even let me transfer ripped wma files on my pc which came from my own cd's? How goofy is that. Forget drag and drop...I like the convenience of that, but even though "My Computer" showed transfer of mp3s to the the Sony (drive H on my pc) when I tried to play them they weren't there.
Sony continues to disappoint. Years ago it was Beta. They did not share the format to others at first and then JVC came along with VHS and licensed it to all who wanted to use it. Bye, bye Betamax.
SACD will likely fail. Try to find one in a disc store...You can't. Plus while others like Marantz build universal DVD-A /SACD players, Sony in it's inane superiority builds only SACD players. No DVD-A support. If multi-channel audio has a chance the only way is through universal players, but Sony will help send the whole concept to the grave with it's tunnel vision.
Don't buy any Sony digital music player unless you want total frustration like I've got. I should have purchased an iPod by the new leader in personal audio, Apple...A #@** computer company can build finer audio equipment than the world's largest consumer electronics company...Whad'ya think about that. Sony, no baloney...but a load of something for sure!
10 Turn back now, before it's too late
Great piece of hardware. Fatally flawed software, at least for some of us.
Before purchasing, try downloading Sony's Sonic Stage from Connect.com. If you can't get that to work, you'll never get this player off the ground. If you can, you have a prayer of a chance, but you'd better be patient.
Many more headaches than it's worth, given the outstanding competition.
11 Pure Magic
I had thought about writing out a really long and drawn out review of this product, but so many other reviews (positive ones) have hit the mark on this device whats left to be said. After reading a few (and limited) negative reviews I was a bit nervous but i'm glad to say they were wrong, this product, well, Its pure magic. So I'm only going to touch on my Major Pro/Con
Pros:
Don't Blink! Man, talk about loading the music on this device! Yes the conversion from mp3 or even ripping a cd takes a bit longer but when you actually transfer it to the device itself its like pure lightning! WOW!
Con:
I don't really have any cons to be honest, the only thing I would ask of sony is that next time the upgrade this model is to add a megga bass function (I like alot of bass in my music).
You can't go wrong with the product, the software is NOT that bad and the new downloadable 2.3 version of this software is quite good.
IPOD is for the kids, the NW-HD1 if for the adult.
IPOD is like driving a Ford Focus, the NW-HD1 is pure Lexus!
Great job Sony.
A final note:
I urge anyone struggling between IPOD and this product to buy this product first, try it out for the 14 day return period. You won't be dissapointed and you won't return it!
12 NW-HD review
I just want to say that i have loved this mp3 player from the day i got it and i have had no problems using it. My friends have ipods so i have had some time to compare the two and i have found that the NW-HD1 is much better. One of my friends has 1,200 songs on his ipod and it takes up 6GB, i have 2,500 on my NW-HD1 and it takes up 4GB. My friends get 8 hours playtime with their ipods and i get 25 hours playtime. This thing is like the size of an ipod mini and the sound quality is good. I am very happy with my choice to purchase the NW-HD1.
13 iPod meets its match
My dad had bought my siblings the 20 gb iPod for Christmas, and my boyfriend bought me this Sony player, so I've had the chance to compare the two first hand.
At first I had some trouble with the software and transferring the songs, but once I had the unit on a more solid surface, the problem was greatly reduced. I still have problems with the software from time to time, but I've learned what to do to overcome them.
I also did not like the default format for the songs that were being transferred, but after increasing the bitrate, I have no more complaints. The songs take up more space and take more time to convert, but it's not a sacrifice I mind making for better audio quality. I still have plenty of room for all of my favorite music, and, being a college student, I have a whole lot of music. I currently have 235 songs and have used only around 2 gigs of space on the player.
It is nice that the iPod accepts mp3 format. I, personally, like the sound quality of the ATRAC3 format that Sony uses just as much.
The two things that I am most impressed with for this unit are the size and the battery life. The unit feels much smaller than the iPod does to me, and the battery life lasts at least twice as long with around the same time of charging. The unit is visually appealing, as well. I also like that it comes with a dock station for charging and connecting to a computer, which the 20 gig iPods do not.
The controls of the unit are not too small to control, as some people think, but I'll admit that I have small fingers. Controlling the unit became like second nature after just a few minutes of playing with it.
Just like that of the iPod, the backlight makes the screen very easy to read. I, personally, do not like either the headphones that come with the iPod or the Walkman. I recommend buying better quality headphones no matter which unit you decide to purchase.
Overall I am very satisfied with the product.
14 A Bit Pricey, But Worth Every Cent!!
I read most of the reviews of the NW-HD1 on this site and on cnet.com before I shopped. I found the reviews here balanced and found cnet's overwhelming negative (about 70% of folks there disliked the product). This was my first walkman purchase since the early 90s, and was alarmed by the poor reception of the product on cnet.com. I was doubly concerned since I am not conversant in the technical speak and the reviewers there, I assumed, knew what they were talking about. So, I gave serious thought to buying the iPod.
I am glad I did not bow to the pressure. The balanced reviews on this site and my own positive experiences with the Sony brand convinced me to purchase the NW-HD1. I LOVE it. Every aspect of this devise oozes ease of use. I have been copying CDs onto the device for the past 10 hours and I have had no problems. Admittedly, I have not downloaded songs yet from the Sony site, but based on my experience so far, I would venture to say it will likely be just as easy.
The device is absolutely beautiful, elegant, and classy. And it imparts the feel of luxury and being well made. This product is what the Mercedes Benzs of old were to the luxury car market: built to last without all the gimmicky gadgets.
My problems with this player are minor: the carrying case that comes standard is impractical, as is the earplugs. Of course the price is steep, but in this case, it is money well spent. I have no regrets and would always choose this product over the competitors. A beautiful and solid product!
15 Great buy!
I love the mp3 player, it small and compact, the software installation is very easy, and transfering songs to the device is too! The sound is wonderfull, you can set it sound as if the singer is in a studio, live, at a club and so on. This is really a great buy! I am enjoying it so far, and pretty sure anybody would! LBarbosa Houston,Tx
16 Sigh...
I really hate to say this...but anyone having trouble with the SonicStage software either has a faulty computer or is a complete idiot. I have a Vaio notebook and used the SonicStage software long before I even got this player. I actually decided on buying this player after I ripped most of my CD library into the Atrac3Plus format and learned this was the only hard drive player that plays this format. Fortunate enough this is by the far the best hard drive player on the market. I admit the ipod has a cool scrolling system but the NW-HD1 outperforms the ipod in every other department. The NW-HD1: holds more songs when ripped to the Atrac3Plus format, is smaller, and looks sleeker. Do your research but I'm glad I finally got my hands on one of these.
17 Excellent MP3 Player
When I read the negative reviews for this product, I am amazed at how well Apple has brainwashed people. They actually believe that the iPod is better that this??
-First of all, this player is much smaller than the iPod; it is about the size of an iPod Mini, but is has 20 GB of storage.
-The new iPods have 12 hours of battery life; this player has 30 hours. And they're not lying - I charged it when I got it 6 days ago and have used it constantly since then and I still have one bar remaining on the battery.
-The ATRAC3plus audio format is superior to MP3; it sounds just as good at 64kbps as MP3 does at 128kbps. If you use 256kbps, the sound quality is AMAZING. Plus, if you have tracks that run together, there is no break when it goes to the next track. Even if this player did support MP3, I wouldn't use it.
-Lightning fast transfer speeds! I have never owned an iPod, so I don't know how fast the transfer speeds are, but I transferred 3.4 GB of music to this player in less than 10 minutes - about 3 or 4 songs per second! With my old Dell DJ, it took 2 hours to transfer about the same amount of music.
-I have read lots of negative reviews for SonicStage, but I think it is very good software - much better than MusicMatch or Windows Media Player. It just requires a very fast computer.
This is definitely the best hard drive player available right now. It is the smallest 20 GB player in the world, has 30 hours of battery life, and uses a superior audio format. You can easily tell that it is a Sony product. I would highly recommend it.
Of course, there are still people who will get an iPod instead just because you have to convert MP3 files to a superior format. So, if you would rather buy an inferior product just to save a few hours of your time, the iPod is for you.
18 Succeeds at making your music portable
I am quite a gadget person, and have needed for a long time a good way of making my music portable. It's very hard to find time to sit down in front of my home stereo and listen. I recently bought a Sony DNF400 portable CD/Atrac3 player and was impressed by the ability to cram 20 CD's into one at 68k encoding, with sound quality at about 90% of the original CD's.
And so I have had the NW-HD1 now for over a week and will share my impressions.
1) Small form factor. Does indeed fit into your shirt pocket. I wouldn't use the NW-HD1 without a neck strap because if the unit falls to the ground, I doubt it'll survive because a hard drive is very sensitive to damage from shock. Or else, use a belt-loop case (not a belt clip, because someone can easily steal it when you're not alert).
2) I listen mostly to classical music, and so I need to listen to one or more CD's consecutively. If you accidently navigate away from the track you're listening, you could forget exactly where you were before. You could bookmark, but when you return to the bookmark, you only get to play what's bookmarked. Not good.
3) Equalizer is FANTASTIC, as every 'phone has it's own response and you need to check the response curve so it sounds more neutral.
4) Battery life isn't anywhere near 30 hours on my unit. More like 20, and that's when you use the player in real life (i.e. switching tracks, using the menu, etc.)
5) No remote. For a top of the line player, it should come with a remote. You can buy a remote on the internet from various sources. In some countries, I believe the player comes stock with a Sony RM-MC35ELK.
6) The case is a joke. It's not even a case, just a cover. It doesn't allow you to attach it to anything.
7) ATRAC3plus at 68k sounds very fine, as good as MP3. You can cram 600 CD's into this player (30 CD]s per gig).
8) You can switch the headphone jack between the usual variable headphone output and fixed line out for hooking up to stereos.
In summary, for a first effort, this has been a pretty good entry by Sony into the hard drive arena. A few generations from now, all your concerns will likely be addressed, but for now, it's the best of the lot out there.
19 Poorly designed & created. Don't buy into this failure.
Before anyone slams me for being an iPod lover, yes I do own one. But unlike other possible negative comments, this is not just a bash of this player. Here's some reasons why to avoid this player (which I have used too)....
-Poorly designed. While smaller than the iPod, the locations of the pots and a bad screen are just the start. This device CANNOT be used by left handed people. The screen prevents them from using the controlls. Anyone trying to convience you that the iPod's scroll wheel is inferior to the Sony's wierd mechanism should not be trusted.
-Poor software included is flawed at best.
-No MP3 support. Any MP3, WAV, or WMA needs to be converted first, making a simple 10 second transfer on the iPod a 2 hour ordeal on the Network Walkman.
-ATRAC3, the ONLY format supported, and allowed, for this player sounds really bad. How bad? Tests have shown that it's the lowest in quality compared to WMA, AAC, MP3, anyting out there. ouch
-$50 more expensive than the iPod, wich works.
There is one good thing...
-30 hour battery life.
If hour life is all that matters to you and you don't care about bad design, bad software, or bad music quality, then go for this player. If not, then look at the iPod or ANYTHING else.
20 One Word - DRM, another word - JUNK
This product is cool looking. This product is well designed. However, the DRM rules are stupid. It is my music, I should be able to do with it what I want. I do not need to be managed. Their software is HORRID and without it, the device is useless. I have a mini disc player, another cool looking, well designed product which now sits in a drawer because dealing with it is too much of a pain. This is the new mini disc player, the new cool-looking, well-designed pain.
21 A better alternative to the ipod (informative,please read)
This is a much better product than the ipod, it costs $350(20GB model)and holds 13,000 songs while the $400(40GB)model of the ipod only holds 10,000 songs and is a full $50 more. Also the Ipod(20 and 40GB models) brag about their small size but this is about the same size as the minis, with 16GB more memory(IPOD mini,$250,4GB,1000 songs)This isn't the cheapest per GB but it compacts your music better than any of the ipods so it can hold so much more music. It comes with a cradle, an accessary that costs you $40 to buy for the ipod,a case to protect it which would cost between $20 and $30(basic cases,not the H20case:$150 or GUCCI cases available)It also comes with a AC Power adapter which you have to buy for ipod. It is a beautiful product. Don't waste $ on ipods, but an IMAC G5 isn't a bad PC to consider. You can then put your music CDs onto your computer and stream them to your Sony music player directly from iTunes, which emphasizes using ipods but ends up being just as easy. DON'T FOLLOW THE TREND OF BUYING WORSE PRODUCTS JUST TO FIT IN, BUY A SUPERIOR PRODUCT, the SONY NETWORK WALKMAN
22 Work of Art Ruined By The Worst Software Ever Written
From a hardware perspective, it's a work of art. Beautiful, sleek, lightweight, and solid feeling. I got it in my hands and fell in love. And then I tried to use it. Which required installing SonicStage. I'd read all the bad reviews of SonicStage, and I'd used (what I thought was) equally bad Sony software in the past -- OpenMG for their NetMD player, for example. So I was prepared for some annoyances, fine tuning, maybe occassional bugs. I also assumed the people who complained were exaggerating about how bad it was. LET ME PROMISE YOU -- THEY WERE NOT. In almost twenty years of using computer software, tinkering with electronics, owning some version of almost every gadget known to man -- I have never seen such a promising piece of hardware CRIPPLED by such a buggy, ill-conceived, underpowered, unintuitive piece of software. It's WORSE than what people are telling you. It's so bad that I ended up returning mine and buying an Ipod -- something I swore I'd never do. The user interface isn't even consistent between the player and the software. There's no way to shuffle all the songs on the drive. User support is non-existent. SonicStage freezes and crashes for no reason, despite being upgraded to latest version and uninstalled/reinstalled. Certain songs won't transfer, others are marked as having no digital rights (even though they were tracks recorded from the same albums as other songs that transferred fine -- and that NEVER had digital rights assigned to them in the first place.) A lot of people have complained about Sony forcing you to use their proprietary ATRAC3 format instead of MP3. Honestly -- that's the LEAST of this unit's problems. The bigger problem is that the software engineers are too incompetent to program a stable program that will actually CONVERT and MANAGE those ATRAC3's. Sony's hardware engineers created this beautiful player, and their software engineers will be the cause of its failure. Words cannot do justice to how badly Sony bungled this mess. It kills me to say this, but don't waste your time.
**NEW ADDITION: To the reviewers who make comments to the effect that anyone who has problems with SonicStage software either has a faulty computer or is a complete idiot: Have you actually tried to USE the software? Or do you just sort of sit and stare at the pretty pictures on the screen? (I mean, come on. Nobody's arguing that the hardware is extremely impressive, but the software is buggy, unintuitive, and inconsistent. It's been pretty well documented by several thousand people. I can't imagine that anyone outside of the programming group that put that mess together would actually think it's a competent piece of software, and if they do, they must enjoy spending hours in front of their computer and not have much of a social life.) Second, some reviewers have disputed my claim that the unit cannot shuffle the entire HD. My claim is true, it has been substantiated by a senior marketing representative from Sony with whom I have exchanged several letters and phone calls. Yes, you can shuffle within albums (or "groups"), and you can shuffle within artists and playlists. But you CANNOT shuffle through the entire HD as a whole. The only way this would be possible would be to designate the entire library as a single playlist, and playlists are currently limited to 1000 tracks. So if you have 3,000 tracks on the player, there is absolutely, positively no way to shuffle those 3,000 tracks -- only subsets of those tracks (e.g., album, group, etc.) I suppose you could spend several extra hours of your life creating complicated playlists and shuffle between those playlists. But on an Ipod (and, incidentally, almost every other MP3 player on the market), you simply hit a menu entry titled "shuffle."
23 READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY!!!
OK, I'LL ADMIT IT. THIS MP3 PLAYER LOOKS REALLY COOL (AND PLUS IT'S A WALKMAN.) BUT BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BUY IT, THINK OF THESE POINTS:
1. THIS PARTICULAR WALKMAN MP3 PLAYER DOES NOT COME WITH A OUT LINE RECORDING FUNCTION.
2. MOST CD MANUFACTURERS (PARTICULARLY BMG) ARE NOW COPY-PROTECTING THEIR CDS, MEANING YOU CANNOT COPY THEM ONTO YOUR PC AND THEREBY, YOU CANNOT BURN THE MUSIC ONTO YOUR MP3 OR MINIDISC PLAYER.
3. SINCE THE OUTLINE RECORDING FUNCTION IS NOT AVAILABLE ON THIS WALKMAN AND WITH CD MANUFACTURERS COPY PROTECTING THEIR CDS, THERE IS NO WAY YOU CANNOT BURN THESE PARTICULAR CDS ONTO THIS WALKMAN (UNLESS YOU DECRYPT THE PROTECTION CODE ON THESE CDS WITH A SPECIAL DECRYPTION PROGRAM)
4. THERE IS NO REMOTE SUPPLIED.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT THIS WALKMAN IS COMPLETELY BAD, BUT SONY HAVE REALLY TURNED US DOWN BY NOT ADDING THIS OUTLINE RECORDING FUNCTION OR BY SUPPLYING A REMOTE. PLUS, SONY'S CONNECT WEBSITE MAY NOT HAVE SOME OF THE ALBUMS YOU WANT. I DON'T GIVE THEM THE FULL BLAME. IT'S GOES MOSTLY TOWARDS THOSE STUPID CD MANUFACTURERS (YES I'M TALKING OT YOU BMG!)
WHAT I SUGGEST IS THAT YOU SHOULD GO OUT AND BUY YOURSELF A HI-MD WALKMAN. IT HAS THE OUTLINE RECORDING FUNCTION, THUS ALLOWING YOU TO RECORD EVERY CD (INCLUDING COPY PROTECTED ONES) AT TOP CD QUALITY. PLUS, THEY ARE SUPPLIED WITH REMOTE CONTROLS (AND THEY ARE WALKMANS!)
I KNOW I WILL RECEIVE INSULTS FOR THIS REVIEW, BUT HONESTLY, THINK BEFORE YOU BUY, OR YOU MAY END UP WITH REGRETS...
24 Bad software makes it useless.
I loved it when I bought it a few months ago, but now the Sonic Stage software won't recognize the player, so I've got a $400 paperweight.
Sonic Stage is hands down the worst software I have ever used. An unexpected disappointment from Sony.
25 Geat piece of technology
After doing a lot of shopping around and comparing with similair players like the 40GB iPod I decided to buy the Sony. I was immediately blown away by the size of the unit. It is incredibly small. The metal case seems very sturdy. Software was easy to install and fairly intuitive. The software and library maintenance are not quite as user friendly as the iPod, but I feel that this is offset by the size and battery life (30 hours). The sound at 64Kbps is good enough for headphones, but I recommend at least 132kbps for hearing through a good stereo system(this will give you about 5000 songs). The sony nwhd1 may not be as trendy as the iPod, but if you are looking for the cutting edge technology i believe this is the way to go.
26 Stop complaining for no reason
No I don't have this player(yet). I am saving money to buy it though. I am just tired of reading about how this player is more expensive than iPod, or hard to use and this and that!
I am tired of you iPodians and your white short lifed cubes! Stop it. Don't write fake reviews anymore.
First things first: This player is more expensive than the iPod 20GB for several reasons. It is way smaller. When I first saw it at Dixons I was shocked! Then it is made out of magnesium and not white plastic! And yes it does look better than iPod. Further more the battery life is more than double, and you ll not have to change it in 18 months for more money. I have experience with my Sony netMD minidisk player. After three years it still lasts 20 hours (was 27 initially).
Finally it has active shock protection for the hard drive. This is something that most of you don't even know. When I read iPod reviews and tests the only assurance about the hard drives safety is that it reads music every 25 minutes so you will be unlucky if it happens to shock the player at that small amount of time that the drive is been accessed. Well i don't really want to challenge my luck! The sony walkman actively monitors the G force on the player and if it's falling or moving fast the niddle of the hard drive is parked safely on the side!
Now aren't all these worth the extra money? Oh of course. Cause sony isn't a newbie in the field. They make robust walkmans for 25 years (hey that is how old I am:) ). They know their stuff! All my walkmans from the old tape players and diskmans to my new minidisk lasted for years and years.
Now about the how hard it is to use. Some people say it is a bad user interface and they cant find how to shuffle songs or do this and that. Gee, I had the unit in my hands for a minute and i found all these features! i mean come on! I ve used iPods too (some friends have it) and appart from the wheel the rest is about the same
Then about the big song lists somebody mentioned, there should be an easy way to group your songs. My minidisk that can hold only 80 mins of ATRAC and 120 of ATRAC3 (132kbps) has the feature to group songs in folders and playlists (using the software) or create playlists on the fly on the player itself. So this one should have similar features.
Finally I come to quality. i havent heard ATRAC3Plus. Oh for those of you who say this player is bad cause of ATRAC 3, I have ot inform that the format is ATRAC3 plus, which is supposed to be way better than ATRAC3. (Can't tell cause havent't heard). BUT! I HAVE heard ATRAC3 132kbps and is the same as mp3s 128kbps when you convert from those, or better when you convert from an audio CD. You get richer music and bass when you convert from a CD. Here I want to say that I am not your average audio listener. I have passion with music, really good ears and I am using a pair of etymotics 6 earphones (for those of you who dont know these they are the best earphones I 've ever tried and they cost me about 128$ (bought them when I was in US)I compare them with Sound systems that cost thousands.
So yes MP3s 128kbps converted to ATRAC3 have noise. But they sound just the same in the MP3 format. But from a higher bitrate like a CD then ATRAC3 sounds much cleaner and richer than mp3s. Actually since I bought these earphones, I buy more audio CDs and i use mp3s encoded in 192kb or higher.
My opinion on this player? It is a piece of art. STATE OF THE ART in the Portable Audio world and great for celebrating the 25 years of the walkman. I cant wait to buy it and try the ATRAC3 plus in high bit rates. i dont care if it ll fit less osngs than 13000. Itll still be more than enough for the gym, the road, the bus the library, the plane...
27 Style Wars
I think whether or not you like the Sony comes down to a taste in style. I do not have any MP3 files on my computer, so I don't care about the lack of native MP3 support or converting CD's to ATRAC. The ATRACplus format sounds awesome and is better than Apple's AAC format because you can store more songs in a smaller space (that is, the Sony unit is smaller than the Apple 40GB unit). The 40GB iPod stores 10,000 songs in AAC format (or probably less in MP3 format). This Sony 20GB unit stores 10,000 songs in ATRAC3plus 64kbps format. These formats are basically equivalent to each other in terms of sonic quality, except that Sony allows for greater size compression. People complain about the SonicStage software and I will admit that it is not the best, but it also only took me 5 minutes to figure out without looking at the documentation. The battery life difference is not even a contest as the Sony goes for 27 hours while the iPod only goes for 12 hours.
I could have gone either way on the iPod vs Sony debate as I think both units are really nice. The Sony is just as easy to use as the iPod (admittedly, I am not as knocked out by that wheel as other people are). I am glad I got the Sony and recommend it to others.
28 Great unit...Lousy software
First of all, let me just say that prior to purchasing this player I was seriously considering getting a mini ipod. After scrutenizing both players, I ended up with this player simply because of the ff. reasons:
1. I like the metal casing w/c I think is really cool. Nowadays most electronics are made out of plastic. No fading colors here.
2. 20gb baby.. (had to shell out an extra $150 for 16Gb.) more memory = more songs...(duh)
3. Battery life 30 hrs? sweeeet!!!
Now, why I returned it:
1. Sonicstage... the v2.o that came with it SUCKS!!! crashes all the time..just downloaded the v2.2 and...hold on, wait..yep, still SUCKS!!!
2. Sonicstage... never really mind converting my mp3's to atrac but now sonicstage won't recognize my driver.. this SUCKS!!
3. SONICSTAGE!!!.. now i can't directly transfer my cd's to atrac.. TOTAllY SUCKS!!!
GREAT UNIT!!! LOUSY SOFTWARE!!!
29 Excellent Device, Very Few Cons
By this time you have probably read all the other reviews so you are already well aware of this unit's pros and con's. I absolutely love this player and was so happy to get it in my hands on a beautiful Saturday morning. It sounds wonderful at Atrac3Plus 64 kbps with my MDR-66DSL Sony Eggo's, better quality than an Ipod. I also recently bought a remote off audiocubes for the unit, which simply makes the music experience a hundred times better. Ipod remotes suck, limited in their use by 4 buttons, whereas the remote for this player can perform all the functions you can perform on the unit itself. This enables me to keep the thing in my pocket the entire time while I can shuffle through my entire collection on my remote! This is great for listening to music at my school, since all my teachers are like the electronic device gestapo. There are three things that just really really piss me off about this thing. 1. You can't make On-The-Go playlists as easliy as with an Ipod, 2. I still can't figure out a way to shuffle my entire collection, and lastly (I can't believe I'm the only one to point this out) but the one thing I can't stand about the player is that I have over 3000 songs on here already and a bunch of artists, yet scrolling through all of them takes a long ass time. Maybe I just have to get used to the super fast scroller after you hold it down for about 5 seconds, but I have just been so used to my friend click-wheel, I miss it alot. Other than those 3 cons, this is the best digital music player on the market. Don't be fooled by those ipod suckers about how it doesn't play mp3s, because how can you argue with a format that is half the size and almost double the quality of mp3s. You just need a little patience for learning how to use SonicStage, and it will pay off. Before I conclude my review, let me remind all of you Ipod advocates that I will be rocking out to my music 18 hours longer than all of you will.
30 Incredibly small, incredibly cool
Sony's NW-HD1 is an incredible piece of hardware! It's literally like a 0.5-inch stack of business cards. The buttons are well laid out and responsive. The 1.5-inch screen is sharp with green backlight. But what really impresses me, is the sound quality. MP3 music tends to sound flat and dull at the 64-kbps bitrate, but not so with Sony's Atrac3plus technology. There's a lot of "boom" and "richness" in the sound even at 64-kbps. I'm very happy with the audio quality on this. SonicStage software is not as bad as some "reviewers" claim it to be. It's very intuitive, even more so than iTunes. It's also stable on my PC. Transfering Atrac files to the Walkman is super fast. Transcoding MP3 into Atrac takes more time but just pretend you are still using old USB 1.
This walkman is not cheap, but the incredible hardware design with high quality audio and totally cool form factor make it worth every penny. This is defintely one of my best purchases in electronics.
31 Not as good as iPod
Why would you get this when you could get a better player with another 20GB for the same price? A 40GB iPod is the same price as this. Sony bases its "3000-more-songs-than-40gb-ipod" argument on its ATRAC3 compression format, at a comression rate of 48Kbps, which produces horrible quality audio. Trust me, I produce and remix music.
This player takes 20-30 seconds converting MP3 and other formats to its ATRAC3 compression format. Yes, it's nice that they will be adding native MP3 support, but it's pretty bad that they didn't include it at first. An iPod will spend 20-30 seconds transmitting 50+ songs.
It doesn't look nearly as nice as an iPod either. The interface isn't that great. Take a minute to open two windows and look at the iPod 40GB and the Sony NW-HD1 20GB. I'm pretty sure you will agree with me that the iPod looks better.
If you don't want an iPod for whatever reason, at least get something good such as the Creative Labs Zen. Just don't waste your money on this.
32 The Rolls Royce of digital music - an unbiased review
(I include real-world MP3 conversion speed below.)
OK, I just couldn't help it. I'm still unemployed, but just *had* to get this hard-disk digital Walkman. The small physical size - 3.5"x2 3/8"x1/2" and 3.88 oz. with the built-in LiIon battery - simply makes this a must-have for a gadget fanatic such as myself. (The Sony is really much smaller in real than in pictures.)
So I went ahead and bought one. I knew this player would not play native MP3 or WMA files. I knew I'd have to convert my existing MP3 and WMA files, or even re-rip some of my favorite CDs. I was curious how good this player was and how hard the conversion would be, so I took the plunge.
In one word, Sony's tiny hard-disk digital Walkman is wonderful. This is $100 more than other digital music players of the same capacity. But, alas, what you get is a stylish, high-tech gizmo that simply screams "high-end" and "superb engineering." It's a joy to hold and behold.
Beyond the small size, light weight and clean styling, I was very impressed with the sound quality on this Walkman. I ripped a jazz CD and a rock CD into ATRAC3Plus at 64kbps, and was surprised to hear the richness in the sound output on my separately purchased Sony headphones. (I never use bundled earphones.) I compare-listened to the same tracks encoded in 128kbps MP3 and played on my Archos MP3 player. The sound quality was very similar. But after I turned up the bass on the Sony, I was nearly awed by the improved bass from the ATRAC files. Since 64kbps means half the file size as 128kbps, this translates into similar sound quality for half the file size.
Speaking of customized EQ, the Sony has two kinds of sound effects. One set is called VX, which is virtual effects like simimulating a recording studio or a concert hall. The other set is the graphic EQ, with a few presets and two custom sets. There are six EQ bars from bass to treble. Each bar has seven settings from -3 to +3. I found that -1 to +1 sound very similar, but you'll notice the difference once you notch up or down to 2 or 3 either way.
The Sony is pretty easy to figure out, although I have to say it's still not quite as dummy-friendly as iPod's deservedly famed interface. There is a four-direction round button (it does not rotate a la iPod's wheel, which I dislike). In the middle of it is the play/stop button. There is no separate pause button on the Sony. In fact, the stop button works like a pause on this player: pressing it causes the audio to stop in the middle. And after you turn off the Sony (by holding down the menu button at the top), next time you turn it on again, the track resumes from the exact stopped point. This is a convenient feature, esp. for audiobook tracks.
Besides the menu button, which is used to access settings, there's a "mode" button, which lets you access the Artists, Albums, Genres, etc. lists. There's also a volume rocker at the top. I personally find the Sony's max loudness more than my ears can take, even on a noisy New York subway. You can turn on volume control in settings to keep a lid on the max volume. At the bottom player is the hold button (easier to slide than iPod's) and a battery button which allows you turn off the unit completely if you don't plan to use it for more than three months.
Speaking of the battery, Sony claims the LiIon battery can last three years under normal charging conditions. The battery charges to 80% in an hour (with the player powered off), and charges to 100% in another three hours. Of course, Sony makes a big deal of the "up to 30 hours" claim. You are supposed to get that if you play ATRAC files encoded at 48kbps continuously. But none of us does that. We use different encodings and we fast forward or rewind and we play with the buttons. My usage indicates about 20 hours of playback with lots of button fidgeting and skipping forward or backward, playing files encoded at 64kbps. (Higher the bitrate, shorter the battery life, which is true for all digital players.) Is 20 hours "long"? I think so, since my previous MP3 players lasted no more than 6 hours on each charge. This is just vast improvement.
You must use Sony's SonicStage (version 2.1) software to transfer music to the digital Walkman. I personally find SonicStage much better than some people claim. It's intuitive, fast and stable. It rips CDs faster than MusicMatch and maybe also faster than iTunes.
In terms of MP3 conversion speed, on my laptop (2.2GHz P-4, 512MB RAM and 4200rpm hard disk), each 1GB of 128kbps MP3 took about 80 minutes to convert into 64kbps ATRAC3Plus. (BTW, for those who care, this is faster than converting 128kbps MP3 into 64kbps MP3 using dbPoweramp Music Converter.) Obviously, the faster your processor, the more RAM you have and the faster your hard disk, the less time the conversion will take. It's still a hassle for those of us with tons of MP3 music, but it's nothing that can't be done either overnight, or over the course of a romantic dinner (with double servings of desserts, ha ha).
I didn't do much WMA conversion as most my WMA files are copy-protected songs purchased from MSN and Walmart online stores, so they cannot be converted into ATRAC. BTW, in the package you get a coupon for 5 free downloads from Sony's Connect music store, and the store works very well and the songs sound very good.
Judging from my own experience and reviews posted on the web, I think you can typically expect 1GB of MP3 will take anywhere from 60 to 100 minutes to convert into ATRAC3Plus.
In short, the Sony sports blow-everything-else-away physical dimensions, state-of-the-art hardware engineering and top-notch audio quality. It also has a clean user interface, a small but sharp LCD display (with green backlighting), and a very quiet 20GB hard disk. I'm in love with it. I was never in love with my iPod, Archos, Creative or RCA players. Even though with the Sony I had to convert my MP3s into ATRACs, the SonicStage program made it relatively easy and painless and I could just walk away for it to finish. And, man, I really love the 20 hours per charge battery life.
My only minor complaints are: 1) the included case is not a real case; 2) the U.S. version of this thing doesn't come with the cool inline remote control; 3) you must remember to "authorize" your PC (in SonicStage) before you can transfer music - Sony is just too crazy about music protection; and 4) Sony, please release the MP3-playback firmware soon! Better yet, add WMA support as well!
Of course, when Sony does release native MP3 playback support as widely reported, this Walkman will truly shine as the digital music player of choice.
If you are a true music buff, or a diehard gadget freak, you just *have to* get this great digital Walkman.
33 Small but perfectly formed!
I just got this device and I couldn't be happier. Photos don't really convey how small the NW-HD1 is. I urge anyone remotely interested in it to take a look at it 1st hand it truly is a beautiful piece of miniaturization. Using ATRAC3 is not a problem and is blown out of all proportion. Sound quality is good, especially if you encode in the highest bit-rate. Don't take my word for it go and have a look for yourself, you'll probably want one there and then!
34 Perfect for a first time buyer
I have been waiting for a long time to get an MP3 player to house my almost 600 cd collection. I was concerned about price and durability, so I decided to finally take the plunge and but the Sony Network Walkman. I now have a little over 6,700 songs on the player.
The process that it took to get to that point wasn't as smooth as I hoped it to be - the software gave me problems and at one point, didn't even work!!! Needless to say I was frustrated, but I did call the Sony customer service and found them to be very helpful in helping deal with the problem. They were able to help me solve it in a timely manner, and for that I am grateful.
The only problems other than the sluggishness of the software is the accessories or lack threof. I know that it is a relatively new product, but I expected more from Sony, a recognized name in the industry,
35 Why do they keep making bulky crappy software?
So i was stoked when i saw it the package. Its tiny compared to my archos jukebox. 20 gigs, 30 hours playback time AND supposedly MP3,WMA, and WAV compatible. I even asked the store guy because i had never seen the proprietary atrac format. He said yeah it'll play all the formats but the atrac would let me compress more if i wanted. I decided to buy it only to find out that you do have to convert to this format and u have to use the f$@$@ing sonicstage software...I'm used to the archos format ctrl A(select all), ctrl C(copy) and ctrl v(paste). DONE.It literally took six minutes to move 900 songs back and forth (very useful if you ever have to format your harddrive) Now i have to import all the music to some crappy my library folder then since every album needs a name you have to name every thing to proceed. For instance i have 4 Tool albums. They have all been meticulously groomed, named and categorized by me before i got the sony.on the archos i click on tool, then i get 4 subfolders of the albums, then all the songs on each album are in they're corresponding folder. Now i start to import to the sonicstage follow along. So since this is the first time ive imported this album to sonic it is catagorized by new and existing. so instead of being able to just click on the undertow album folder i have to actually go inside the folder select all the tracks and then retype in the name undertow for sonicstage. and forget about using the existing option if you have a large music collection because u have to scroll down and find it. Very frustrating and a complete turnoff for what would be the greatest mp3 player yet. Sorry ipod but your mini only has 4 gigs and i would already have it filled.....
36 Great unit with horrible software
The unit is a joy to use. It is very slick, and seems to be be well built. Sound qulaity is better with higher compression rates (these days I don't understand people who use 64 bit compression on anything other than speach)abd it is excellent at 250k. The battery life is much better than the competition. However, don't expect 30 hours if you are going to play 250 bit files. In my epxperience at this rate it lasts much less - more like 10-12 hours - which is still plenty for me.
Now the bad part: - the sofware which comes with the unit. Sonic Stage has to be nominated for the worst software ever released to a mass consumer. Ever. It is marvelously flawed. It is painfully slow, contr-intuitive, crushes several times within each 30 min of use, etc, etc, etc. I hope Sony will wake up and do something radical - like ditch the entire thing, fire the mediocrities on the development team and re-do the entire thing from scratch.
37 Pros: Compact, Durable, Nice Design --- Cons: Software
I don't think I am going to add much to the reviews written previously. However, having owned an iPod and this unit, I lean towars the Sony device. I admit however, that I am a bit biased.
I previously owned a Sony Network Walkman MS-11. This was Sony's older memory stick media player. That unit was extremely small but was limited by the memory stick capacity. Add to the fact that memory sticks are not cheap and the unit was expensive. While I enjoyed my MS-11, the software was atrocious.
Unfortunately, Sony didn't learn.
I am a Sony-phile. I own tons of their stuff and was really excited about this new product. However, I was a bit cautious as they only supported ATRAC. For those of you, including myself, who buy most of their music in CD format and then simply want to transfer your music to a portable device, this unit is fine. It is is similiar to the iPod in that the songs are transferred in a proprietary format. Apple uses AAC and Sony uses ATRAC. The problem arises with those files that are not in ATRAC format. While the iPod will accept MP3, the NW-HD1 will not. It must be converted to ATRAC.
That wouldn't be so much a pain if it wasn't for the pathetic software that comes with the unit. The Sony programmers spend WAY to much time on the visual look of the software and not enough time in getting it to work properly or quickly. As a result, even on one of the highest-end computers available on the market, it is slow and clunky. Transferring files from MP3 via the software to ATRAC on the device takes forever.
If you have a bazillion MP3's on your hard drive, stick with the iPod. If you want to digitally store your music on a portable player (and don't really care about storing them on your hard drive) I would recommend the Sony.
The unit is extremely small. About half the size of the iPod. Battery life is (comparitively) amazing. One of my biggest pet peeves with the iPod was the crappy battery. With about 25 hours of battery time, I don't need to worry with the Sony. The unit looks much better then the iPod. While the latter comes in what I like to call "puke white," the Sony is brush aluminum with a black plastic casing around the green and black screen. The headphones are crappy but that's expected.
All in all, I think the unit can command a $100 premium over the iPod simply for the size factor. If Sony were to come out with a firmware update and a software update that would allow a simple drag and drop transfer of MP3 files, I think they would not only sell alot more, but bring stiff competition to Apple.
38 It really is great
I have been using a Creative Nomad Jukebox3 for a while now (prio to that the first 6GB Jukebox), it recently lost its Firewire capabilities and somehow, I can't shuffle all my albums anymore...it also 'clicks and whirrrrrs'...and it is H-U-G-E, not to mention Creatives Customer Support policies...anyway it was a toss up, the NW-HD1, Rio Karma or the iPod.
The Karma is very nice, good (if not a bit awkward) form-factor, tons of features (great format support) and good battery life, awesome price. I was very close to purchasing this, but the build quality was terrible. It felt super cheap, like one drop and *boom* dead player.
The iPod, yeah, yeah, millions of people can't be wrong right? Well, millions of people drive Hondas and there are better cars out there. To ME, the iPod has so-so sound quality, and medicore battery life. Good Form-Factor, but I don't like the 'look' of all white (for the new 40GB). Many of my friends have them and again, the sound quality is pretty weak (even compared to Creatives and @128+). Nice size, looks slick, good interface (I do like the click wheel).
So, the SONY NW-HD1, man this this is SMALL and LIGHT the picture of people holding it their hands doesn't get the size across. It's very, VERY slick looking, great form-factor design.
There are many people who are concered about it not 'really' playing MP3s (as it converts them to ATRAC), but really, so what? I would rather have one format that allows me to have the same amount of songs, at a smaller file size and same sound quality on a 20GB player, then a 40GB player with bigger files (for same sound quality) and less battery life (going on 22hrs right now as I left in over night to check it). Transfer uses 'High Speed' USB, whatever that is (I have USB 2.0), it's seems plenty fast. Sound Quality is great, better than iPod IMO (same song recorded at same output, same headphones, etc, etc.).
User Interface (UI) is easy to usse, maybe because I am used to Creative's hack of a UI, but I had no problems. Installation of the Sonic Stage/Connect software was fast, PC found the player (unlike some PCs having issues with iPods), I ripped a song, converted it, transferred it, thumbed through the UI and listened.
As for Customer support and Firmware upgrades/fixes, we'll have to wait and see. SONY supported the Minidisc for a long time so there is hope =)
It's slick, eye catching, small, light, can fit as many songs at the same sound quality as a 40GB iPod, easy to use and it has great sound quality.
On the surface it might seem like 'lesser' of a player in the shadow of the iPod. The only 'con' (though I don't think it is) for some people might be having to convert their already existing MP3s to ALTRAC and transfer them over. It might take longer, but MP3 players are not about transfer rates (IMO). I want an easy to use UI, great sound quality and good form-factor, the SONY has it in spades.
39 Marvellous
I was first sold on Atrac when I was able to put 25 CDs on one CD, and that was in the bad old days of SonicStage 1.0. Sony says you can put 13,000 songs on the NW-HD1 using Atrac3Plus 48 kpbs. I've been using 48 for audio CD's and 64 for music and that suits my needs but you can go up to 256 kpbs for the best quality.
I don't like putting these electronic gizmos in any kind of case because that increases the heat and the NW-HD1 has a holder built into the unit so it can be worn with a neck-strap, a must for me so I can walk around without having to carry it. The iPod has no such built-in holder. When I went to an electronics store to get a neck-strap I showed the NW-HD1 to the guy there who was very knowledgeable about MP3 Players and Sony Network Walkmans. He said he much preferred Atrac because of the sound quality and said Atrac was accepted as a standard in studios but MP3 wasn't. I forgot to ask him which studios he was referring to: music or movie. While both units come with 25-minute skip protection, he said the iPod's protection was inferior because the NW-HD1 had protection built into the hard drive itself. I only have his word for it and haven't read about this anywhere so I'd check up on that to make sure. The ear-buds that come with the NW-HD1 has a long cord which make it inconvenient when using the neck-strap so I've been using the Sony MDR-G74SL headphones and they're perfect because they come with a short cord which can be extended with another cord that comes with the unit, something Sony should consider with the NW-HD1 ear-buds.
A colleague of mine at work bought one of the new click-wheel 20 GB iPods at the same time I bought my NW-HD1 and we compared notes. The iPod stops when you pull the headphone plug out, the Sony doesn't. You can run your finger around the iPod's click-wheel in a circular clockwise/anticlockwise direction to increase/decrease volume or to very quickly move up or down a list. You can't do that with the NW-HD1. However, my colleague and I were astonished with the size and weight of the NW-HD1 which is about half the size and weight of the 20-GB iPod. If you accidentally walked around with your iPod in a neck-strap in an office setting it would be very noticeable, the NW-HD1 is a lot more discreet. Not that you would ever listen to music while working. My colleague's wife, who also has an iPod, wanted to know if a copy of the music was kept on the computer so you could play back the music on a computer hooked up to a sound system. SonicStage does this, I don't know if the iPod software does.
A woman in her sixties asked me what it was so I guess you could say chicks dig it.
40 An extremely well built MP3 player
I will keep this very simple and list the pro's and the con's of this unit so you can see what I liked about it and what I did not. For reference, my last MP3 player was a Jukebox Zen 20gig USB 2.0 version but the hard drive died so I purchased this sony.
Let me get the bad out of the way first:
-No remote included in the box (for 400, there really should be one)
-Converstion of MP3s to Atrac takes a long time if you have more than 1 gig of music...but...(see the good below)
-No "on the go" playlists. That is my biggest gripe with the unit as far as operations and functions go. There is a bookmark feature that lets you remember up to 100 of your favorite songs so you can make a bogus playlist of sorts, but coming from a Zen, the playlist feature is dearly missed
-The case included cannot be hanged anywhere. It simply protects the player from scratches but has no belt clip/string/rope.
-Cheapo headphones in the box but that's expected.
Now the good...
-Visually, this unit is simply stunning. Pictures do not do it justice. It actually looks like a 400 dollar piece of technology.
-While Atrac conversion is slow, it could not be more simple. A transfer wizard asks you to select the songs you want to move to the player, and then converts them ON THE FLY without making a copy of the file in Atrac on your computer. It's great because if you have a lot of music, you can simply leave the player on overnight and everything will be done when you get up.
-The player sounds very good. I can say that I found the quality to be much better than my Zen, and the Zens are known for their awesome sound quality.
-64 kbps Atrac compression sounds pretty much as good as a 128 kbps MP3 compression.
-Menus are very simple to navigate and there are only 2 buttons on this unit not counting the standard >>, <<,play/stop buttons. All of them are used to good effect.
-The equalizer on this thing is stunning. On my Zen, I always turned it off because I could not hear a difference. Here, the unit actually sounds better depending on what settings you like.
-Battery life is stellar. Not exactly 30 but close.
-Creating playlists using the Sony software is VERY easy. Type in a name, drag and drop files either on the player already or in your computer.
I could probably go on like this for a while because this unit has tons of little things that make me just love it. For all the bad rep NW-HD1 got for the Atrac format, it really delivered in terms of audio quality, ease of use, portability, and visuals. If you like solid construction units that are reliable (it really looks reliable despite the 90 day labor, 1 year parts warranty) and have 400 dollars to spend. I would get this over the iPod anyday.
As a sidenote, the unit IS smaller than an iPod. It is about the size of the iPod mini.
41 A True Marvel
Before going into just how wonderful this player is, I wanted to address the two main criticisms from a prior review. First, you need not tell a buyer to beware when analyzing space and battery considerations. Every DAP vendor, including good ol' Apple itself, fudges on these statistics to default to the most ideal circumstances (straight playing with no menu use, no backlight, etc.) So saying that one will store fewer songs with greater encoding rates, or get less battery life under normal use is nothing new.
As for not playing MP3 files, well, that is true, you do have to convert existing files to ATRAC3/Plus. But you can also rip CDs directly to ATRAC3 Plus's 256 Kbps codec, for example, for stellar sound. And while you will lose some quality if you decide to transcode from existing MP3 files, going from one lossy format to another, I can pretty much guarantee you that again, under normal daily use on the go, in traffic, in a bus or train, etc., as long as you trancode using Atrac3 132 Kbps or greater, you will find very little to complain about soundwise. Besides, unlike the iPod, there is a 6 band EQ system which actually works and it works great.
As for the player itself, this smallest 20GB DAP to date (pictures just don't do it justice) is solidly built, remarkably light, with a sharp, though admittedly somewhat small display, and an interface that is a breeze to decipher and navigate with one hand. You won't need more than 10 minutes to use the player like a pro without reading a manual. And the sliding menu paradigm, similar to that on the iPod, is very smooth as is the whisper-quiet hard drive. What's more, you can wrap around a list when navigating from the top and the bottom, something the iPod can't do.
The sonic stage software may take some getting used to and the initial conversion of tracks may slow things down a bit, but once converted, transfer of tracks to the player takes 7 - 10 seconds per album. And unlike the iPod, you can share your music with up to 3 PCs via synchronization as long as you use SonicStage on those PCs (This is not clear from the owner's manual but an addendum is packaged with the player telling you how to authorize 3 PCs for use with the player).
You do need the USB cradle to charge the unit and connect to a PC. But while you need to take it with you if you plan to connect elsewhere, this cradle is small and so ridiculously light in its own right that the inconvenience is minimal at best. And speaking of being on the go, this unit has a 25 minute buffer, nearly that of the iPod, so it can take its fair share of jostling without missing a beat.
Some other negatives that could exist for some is that there is no way to delete files from the player itself and playlist support (bookmark) is rudimentary. You can add bookmarks to tracks while playing them, up to 100 tracks in all, and then, via the the Others Mode, you can play just those bookmarked tracks as a playlist. There is no reordering the list, however, and you need to be playing each track you want to remove from the list to delete its bookmark.
Two features I would also like to mention add to ease of use and stabilty. One involves the ability to jump back to the Mode listing from the Playing screen exactly at the point where you were before you started playing, or simply to the very top of the list, depending on the length of time you hold down the Mode button.
The other feature conserves the overall battery life and thus practical use of the battery. The underside of the player contains a switch to turn off the connection to the Li-Ion battery so that during long periods of disuse, extensive discharging of the battery is avoided and the battery will last longer accordingly (The owner's manual also shows one how to remove the internal battery under the guise of disposing of the unit so battery replacement should be a breeze even if not specifically intended by Sony).
All in all, with some warts easily outweighed by all the advantages, this is one fine player and definitely something you should consider if stability, size, sound, and cutting edge good looks are important to you. Yes it is on the pricey side, but in my experience, Sony quality is worth it.
42 Doesn't actually play MP3
In case you haven't heard, this unit will not play MP3 files. Though Sony claims to support MP3, the truth is that you are required to convert all of your MP3 files to Sony's proprietary ATRAC3 format in order to play them. The unit will not actually play MP3 files -- they must be converted, which will cause significant loss in audio quality.
What's more, the purported 30-hour battery life and 13,000 song storage is dependent on you choosing a low quality setting for the files you listen to. Higher-quality encoding will lower your storage space and shorten expected battery life. Buyer beware!
