As well as playing music in Sony's ATRAC3plus format, the Sony NW-HD3 is also an MP3 player. The Sony NW-DH3 has a 30 hour battery life. The Sony NW-HD3 comes with a range of... more
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A review by TheFirstEscapist on Sony Network Walkman NW-HD3 20 GB April 6th, 2005
Author's product rating:
Sound Quality
Excellent
Ease of Use
Simple
Look & Design
Excellent
Range of Features
Excellent
Value for Money
Good
Advantages:
Great design, hi - quality sound (Better than iPod), easy to use, smaller than iPod, better software than iTunes . AMAZING battery life .
Disadvantages:
Menus on Walkman if you have a lot of albums to get through - are a little bit time consuming to navigate .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
This MP3 player is so good, I'm selling my iPod on eBay because it has rendered the iPod obsolete in my eyes.
This is a 20 Gb model - identical to my iPod - so I can make a fair and direct comparison.
THE DESIGN:
My inital reaction was 'Wow - this looks cool'. And it does. It's also smaller than the iPod, and it's also lighter. It's very well designed and fits into your pocket a lot easier than the iPod. The navigation facilities are good, and using play, fastforward and rewind is very simple. There's not too many buttons, and the only criticism I have-is that Sony don't have a click wheel, which makes searching for albums a little bit time consuming - especially if like me - you have many songs on your MP3 player. Nevertheless - that for me - is a minor criticism - becuase there are so many positives from this MP3 player.
Another thing to note - is that Sony has developed a sensor, which means if you drop it from a height of 1 meter onto concrete - (which can happen when you're walking on the street etc..) - then nothing is damaged. I nervously tested this three times - and nothing happened - so I'm convinced. Having said that - dropping your MP3 player onto the ground is not something I'd recommend!!! BATTERY LIFE:
iPod - 12 hours - at best. Sony NW-HD3 - 30 hours. OK - it's not quite 30 hours. I tested it - I played music non-stop at full volume with EQ settings - and just left it playing, and it went for 28 hours. That's SERIOUSLY impressive, and is by far the most impressive thing about this MP3 player.
SOUND QUALITY
It's excellent. I compared the sound using the same pair of headphones with an iPod and the Sony unit. The Sony unit came out on top. The stereo image is wider, thus giving a fuller sound, and the frequency range is higher. I then proceeded to convert my files into ATRAC 256k format (a style of digital audio) - and was very impressed with the sound quality again.
SOFTWARE:
The Network Walkman comes with software called SonicStage. I find this very easy to use, and a little bit more intuitive than iTunes. The Connect Music Store has a huge range of music, but it's expensive (99p a track). I think that prices will eventually crash in the UK, and a lot of people will start using Sony's store - mainly because they acquired BMG, and have a lot of big big names on their books - and they'll be able to use the Internet to sell.
ACCESSORIES:
A very short instruction manual, with another more detailed one included on the software CD. It's testament to the good design, and the ease of use, that this unit has such a short quickstart manual. If you want to go into detail, you can use the CD manual - but you probably won't need to.
There is no iPod dock style thing for the Walkman. You can charge it directly from your computer, and with the same connection, you can also transfer songs. Very clever considering it's just a USB cable. (iPods do this as well - but you have to have the dock connected - a bit of a hassle). Charging time with out an AC adapter is 5 hours. With the AC adapter plugged in it takes between 1-2 hours. Again - excellent.
The earphones that come with the Sony Walkman are excellent (Better than Apple's iPod earphones) - they have a good frequency range and an excellent stereo image.
Other accessories include a small carrying case, and a number of different adaptors, and obviously the warranty.
The final thing to commend is the number of languages that the Sony Walkman can be used in - which is many (including symbol languages such as Japanese, Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin).
This for me is the best 20 Gigabyte MP3 player on the market. The price is high, but it's well worth it. I bought it in Japan so I got it for about 120 quid cheaper!! Nevertheless, I would still buy it over here, and I'm glad I'm selling my iPod. Yes - the iPod is cool - but it's not the best MP3 player on the market. This or iRiver's MP3 player is. This is an excellent product, and if you're tihnkig of getting an MP3 player - get this one.
Advantages: Light, Long Battery Life, slim Disadvantages: Cases unavailabe, Sonic Stage Software,
...that consumers have raised, but Sony has ignored. Nevertheless I'm still a relatively happy customer.
The NWHD3 is supplied in a box with a few bits and piece in it - a USB cable, a bulky charger (why for such a compact device did sony bundle this monstrosity), Sonic Stage 2.3 CD, Quick Start Guide, 1 pair of very cheap headphones (dispose of immediately) and a fabric case which is nothing short of useless. Just on the headphones - update to a deacent ... ...current pair are sony EX71's. Instructions are basic, if you want to know how to find out how your player works, best go and install the CD and get the instructions in PDF format.
First things first - i should state straight off that because Sonic Stage is quite awkward to use when importing MP3 collections (it leaves them scattered all over its filing systen and not in any particular order) you should arrange any mp3's you have into albums or get ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Amazing battery life, simple to use, small and pretty Disadvantages: Could be a bit louder
...a different brand.
I chose Sony as they are a company that I like to use and I have always been impressed with their products. The cost of this mp3 player has gone down in time, however it is still cheaper than the 20GB ipod. There are other brands on the market now such as the creative zen and apple so the price has gone down.
The design is very sleek. It is smaller tham a packet of 20 cigarettes, as a woman who loves tiny bags, this is the perfect ... ...super duper impressed with, that Sony get 5 gold stars from me for ,is how long the battery life lasts for. I felt I was charging my ipod every other day where as I only charge this up once or twice a week. You get about double the battery life which is good if you have a long commute ahead of you and can't charge it. Also it gives you a pre-warning by beeping and switching your music off to let you know that the battery has nearly died. I have worked ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Great sound quality and battery life Disadvantages: Sonic stage can be slightly annoying
First of all I'd like to state that this device deserves its nickname, The Ipod Killer. I've had the NW-HD3 for over a year now and haven't been let down once by it, it's a fantastic little device. The sound quality is excellent with no hesitation between tracks it plays everything smoothly and the 20GB capacity is brilliant, espeically for the size of the unit. I've managed to fit all of my music onto it, which pleases me no end!
Another thing ... ...life is amazing, it beats the ipod and others by far. Although to get the full 30 hours you'd need to convert all your music to ATTRAC2, you still get an amazingly long playing time when playing normal MP3s. To get music onto the HD3 you need to use Sonic Stage. For those of you familiar with the software, it should be a piece of cake but it can be annoying for first time users. Sometimes it's a bit slow or can stall, but it is still an okay piece ...
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Sound Quality
Ease of Use
Look & Design
Range of Features
Value for Money
helpful
22.08.2006
Sony NW-HD3 Review ofSony Network Walkman NW-HD3 20 GBby
georgeweavil
Advantages: Excellent sound quality, large capacity, good battery life and convenient size Disadvantages: Awkward to use software and low maximum volume
...equivalents, I went for the Sony as it seemed to win in almost every category. I haven't been disappointed.
The battery life is vastly superior to that of the iPod and better than all the competitors as far as I am aware (though you won't get the full 30 hours claimed unless using sony's own file format and with minimal use of the controls). The capacity is excellent for the small size of the unit and the sound quality is excellent.
On the down-side ... ...and you won't get full performace in terms of battery life and storage capacity unless you convert all your music into ATRAC2plus (sony's own file format). Unlike it's predecessor (the HD1), however, the HD3 will play mp3 files without conversion - just be prepared to not be able to store 13,000 songs and for the battery life to be reduced.
There is also a limiter on the volume, which means that the maximum volume is not as loud as some, myself ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Battery life, ATRAC compression, All round performance Disadvantages: SonicStage transfer software, Cable connections, Volume
...tag given to it by Sony is excessive. In reality it's more in the region of 10 (without doing much activity on it). I personally believe these advantages outweigh the flaws but I will go into them non-the-less. I must first clear something up: SonicStage (Sony's own and the only software that is compatible with the player) is, in places, one of the worst software packages I have used. In terms of a basic tranfer program it is fine, but when it comes ... ...some decent headphones (I use Sony base-boost ones, which are fantastic), as the supplied ones just can't give you the power you want. All in all, I do reccommend this product especially for its reduced price though with enough money, a new iPod should be on the cards. ...
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As well as playing music in Sony's ATRAC3plus format, the Sony NW-HD3 is also an MP3 player. The Sony NW-DH3 has a 30 hour battery life. The Sony NW-HD3 comes with a range of features designed to deliver quality, choice and convenience for every fan of portable music. The built-in 20 GB hard disc can hold the equivalent of 13, 000 tracks or 900 CDs worth of music when using high quality ATRAC3plus audio compression technology. It offers 30 hours of uninterrupted playtime from a single battery charge and withstands almost all kinds of movement to deliver a skip-free performance. Specially developed G-Sensor technology enables the hard disc to resist impact to protect your valuable music or other data. Its aluminum body makes it light to carry.
Miscellaneous
Included Accessories: Carrying pouch
Cables Included: USB cable
Software: Sony SonicStage, Sony SonicStage 2.3
Carrying Case: Pouch
Power
Power Device: Power adapter - external
Battery
Battery: Player - rechargeable - Lithium Ion
Run Time (Up To): 30 hour(s)
Battery Life Details: Digital playback - Lithium Ion - up to 30 hour(s)
Battery Enclosure Type: Integrated
Equaliser
Equalizer Type: Digital graphic
Equalizer: 6 bands
System requirements
System Requirements Details: Windows 98 SE or later - Pentium II - 400 MHz - RAM 64 MB
OS Required: Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft Windows XP
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