I disappeared for a while but now I am back...maybe.
I disappeared for a while but now I am back...maybe.
Member since:15.04.2006
Reviews:37
Members who trust:125
After my iPod mini finally gave up after a year or so of misbehaving I was suffering going to the gym without an mp3. As my birthday was coming up I had started spreading the word (well, I had told bf) about what type of mp3 I would like just in case somebody would consider buying me one. The most important aspect was that it was NOT another iPod as I, and everybody I know who's had one, had had so many problems with it. I also wanted one that was easy to use, which could be dropped without breaking (as I'm a bit clumsy and not very careful with my things) and preferably also pretty and shiny.
Guess what I got for my birthday? A lovely shiny and new Sony mp3 - the NW-A805 in black. I couldn't wait to try it out as I had been without music for so long and decided to get started by installing the software SonicStage, which is for music play back, and Image Converter, which is for videos and photos. You do get a 'Getting Started' guide which takes you through each step but I didn't find installing the software difficult as you simply put the CD-ROM in your disc drive and it then prompts you through each step. You should ensure that you quit all activated software programs on your computer, including any anti-virus software, as it may strain the CPU otherwise.
As
the software was being installed I took the opportunity to charge the player at the same time as it needs to be fully charged before you first use it. To charge the battery, simply connect it to a running computer. When the battery is full it will tell you so. It does say in the manual that charging the battery from when it's totally run out may take up to 3 hours, however, I found that it was fully charged after about an hour.
As I was used to iTunes it took me some time to get used to SonicStage. It works in the same way really but I just had to figure out where to find things and how to transfer music. I have mainly transferred music from my CDs so far and not really used the online CONNECT store. This is pretty simple, you just need to insert the CD, find where it says transfer music from CD and you can then choose which songs you wish to transfer. It is generally pretty quick, a couple of minutes for a full CD transfer. You can then decide whether you want an automatic transfer of your library onto your player as soon as the player is connected to the computer or you can choose to manually transfer the songs of your choice. If you wish you can also create play lists which can then be transferred in full onto the mp3. I find this very useful for the gym, when a normal shuffle doesn't work so well.
This mp3 has a 2 GB capacity. For those of you who, like me, are not very technologically minded this is a measure of storage capacity. The more gigabytes the player has, the more music and/or videos you will be able to store on it. 2 GBs will enable you to fit up to 1600 tracks on it or up to 7 hours worth of video files. This is about half of what I had previously been able to keep on my iPod something which worried me a bit at first. However, I have found that 1600 tracks is quite sufficient for me, I can stick all my favourite music on there and still have space left over for any new music I might want to add in the future. If you are a serious music fan it may not be enough but for most people I think it will do nicely.
The player is very easy to operate, certainly easier than the iPod at any rate. The menus are similar to mobile phone menus which most of us will know how to handle by now. The menus are easily scrolled through by using the 5-way button. In order to start it just press any button, to switch off press the power off/option button - that's about it! The LCD screen is a reasonable size at 2 inches and can be used either horizontally or vertically. I have not spent a great deal of time either downloading or watching videos on this, as I mainly want it for the music. However, when I have done I have found the picture quality to be very good and I have not run into any problems either with the transferring or with the playback so far so it seems to lend itself well to this medium. Sound quality is also very good, I have been impressed so far that something so little can play back music so well. As with other mp3s it cannot play all file formats. This means that you will not be able to transfer music straight from iTunes, for example. The formats supported are ATRAC, MP3, AAC and WMA. I shall not go into detail about these as there is a wealth of information about all of these on the internet for those who are interested. Suffice to say is that I have not found myself excluded in any way due to the restrictions on files that can be played using SonicStage.
The headphones that come with the player come with an extension cord, which is lucky as they are ever so short. I only ever use them with the extension as I cannot even keep it in my handbag otherwise. I am not sure why they have decided to make the cord so short as I cannot imagine anyone having much use for it the way it is. The headphones themselves are of an open-air, design so they do 'leak' when you have the volume up high. However, as they are also plug shaped (you do get 3 different sizes of "plugs" with the player) they cut out much of the outside noise which should mean that you will not need to turn the volume up that much in even if you are in a noisy environment.
Something that I cannot put enough emphasise on is the fact that the battery lasts FOREVER. It is such a relief to have a music player which you can actually play when you want to and which does not run out of battery as soon as you try to change tracks unlike my iPod. According to the Sony site the battery should last for up to 30 hours playing music or 8 hours playing video. I can definitely believe this as I have never run out of battery so far in spite of only charging the player once a week and in spite of listening to it a great deal. To me, this was one of the most important qualities for an mp3 and it is lovely not to have to worry about running out of battery ever!
Apart from this I also love the fact that the player is so pretty. It is small and neat, in fact it weighs a mere 53g. In spite of this it doesn't seem "plasticy" and the screen is a good size. The player, including all controls and buttons are black with white writing and metallic along the sides. It's not the most important criteria but it doesn't hurt that it's a stylish little thing that certainly will not put you in anybody's shade.
The only things that I find a bit annoying is first of all you cannot buy a case for it. Not good for me as I tend to spill water on all my things regularly and drop them even more regularly. Luckily I have only dropped this once so far and never spilt water on it but it does worry me. The second problem is not really a problem I guess, more a matter of habit - it annoys me that the head phones are plugged in at the bottom! I am used to them being plugged in at the top and it confuses me when I try to use the buttons without looking at it. As far as problems go I guess this is of the milder variety though so I shall try not to let it bother me too much.
I have not had any need for support as of yet so cannot comment on the service provided, although I gather there is both a website and a phone number you can use in case you have a problem with your mp3 player.
In all I would warmly recommend this mp3 if you are after a stylish, small, sturdy player with excellent sound quality which is also easy to use. I cannot even compare this with the iPod mini I used to own as this is so much better in every respect that it wouldn't really be fair…if you are interested you can find the Sony NW-A805 in most of the usual electronic retailers or online. As mine was a present I'm not sure about the price but a quick search on the internet seems to suggest that you should expect to pay something along the lines of £60-£90 depending of where you go. Definitely worth it as far as I'm concerned!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
(+) Great screen quality and size, built in speaker and stand. (-) The only downside is that it is fragile, and can be hard to get used to the on screen keyboard.
A brilliant review. Sounds like this MP3 player would be ideal for me, as I absolutely loathe iPods and am firmly of the conviction that iTunes is the work of the devil. Thanks and have an "E" for your trouble. :-)
Sep 29th, 2007
(Sep 30th, 2007)
exceptional by (21%):
very helpful by (79%):
